Elson Boles' Response to This Site

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Dear Student(s),

I would have no problem with your website's reference to me except for (1) use of my and other's photos without permission and (2) several 
very innacurate statements. I only ask that you modify your site to be more acccurate.  You don't have to of course, but if you wish to be 
accurate, you would.  If we can come to some agreement on this, I will even put a link on my site to yours to be fair.

Let me first say that students in my classes are not graded on their opinions, and they are encouraged to disagree with anything they read or 
with anything I say.  I grade students according to their ability to make sound arguments based on facts.  Students who disagree with what 
they read, or with my views, or who feel that the information is "one-sided," but who make good arguments and use of information, receive 
superior grades than students who simply agree with me or what they read and make poor arguments. 

Second, I'm not a communist, and I don't advocate or believe key communist principles, above all, that the seizeure of state power is a viable 
strategy to create a more equitable society.  Similary, I reject the underlying view held by Marxist-Leninists and Conservatives alike, that 
countries are independently developing "socities" that can develop along their own paths.  In fact, if you carefully the webpage that you 
referred to about "opening the social sciences" <http://www.svsu.edu/~boles/index/fourmyths.htm> you will find my detailed critique of Marxist-Leninism.

I oppose most policies by conservatives and the right-wing, and many US government policies, as well as many the policies of other states of 
the interstate system (our society).  In contrast, I advocate full democracy and human rights for all people of our society, and so I also 
oppose loyalty to any of the states or to entire interstate system  in favor of loyalty to principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all 
(i.e. not merely the citizens of one country or another).  Please note that founders of this country claimed that *all people* (not just citizens 
of one country or another) are created equal and are born with inalienable rights.  When the revolutionaries founded the US, they also rejected 
patroitism to their country and took up arms against it. (But to reiterate, I don't advocate the use of violence or the seizure of state power 
as the best means to achieve those principles as they did.)

Let me be specific about your inaccurate statements:

"The following faculty members oppose any and all action in the Middle East.  They do not want our troops there and do not support a victory.  
Simply put, they would much rather see our troops be killed and defeated.  They support Saddam and his brutal regime."

- Speaking for myself, I don't oppose any  and all action in the Middle East.  True, I don't want US troops there.  Once the war began, I hoped 
that Saddam's regime would collapse quickly to reduce the number of deaths of US and Iraqi forces and civilians.  Certainly, I don't wish to 
see US troops killed.  No one at the Teach-in made this claim, or did any faculty claim that they wished to see US forces defeated.  Nor do any 
of faculty support Saddam and his brutal regime.  In fact, I oppose how the US CIA helped bring Saddam and the Baath Party to power in the 
early 1960s.

"Elson Boles, sociology professor at SVSU feels that forcing his students to read his propaganda and opinions is the way to teach."

- In fact, students at SVSU are not forcedd to do anything, including take my classes.  If they do take my classes, students are not forced to 
read my opinions which are stated below the links to class information on my homepage.  They may compeltely ignore that area when accessing 
the information they need for classes.  As for the academic areas they do access, students read only factual material, the vast majority of which 
is from mainstream sources (which you fail to observe), including, for example, the Washington Post and New York Times.

"He has his students read papers that reflect his extremist views for exams and for extra credit."

- The term "extremist" is incorrrect.  The term "extremists" generally refers to those who advocate violence or hate of specific groups.  I 
advocate neither, but rather advocate peace, tolerance, equality, and freedom.  This statement would be more accurate: "Students who take the 
class will be exposed to leftist, mainstream, and conservative views in preparation for exams or voluntary extra credit."

"Along with his website, Elson Boles has a display within the halls of SVSU.  On this display, he refers to our Servicemen and women as 
henchmen for the oil industry."  

- This is most inaccurate.  *I* didn't refer to US military as henchmen or as anything.  I only posted information from mainstream news sources 
which cite US military officiers and government officials who explained their and the US government role in helping Iraq gas Iranians.  Perhaps 
you should take another look.

"He shows graphic pictures of injured Palestinians with captions that say "America has bombed us".  Other anti-Semantic views are also 
displayed."

- The display is periodically updated and  it currently contains nothing about the Palestian-Isreali conflict.

"If the social change is to spread vile, hateful speech that is based on opinion, communist principles, and not on facts, do we really want or 
need this change?"

I make no "hateful speech" (where's do you come up with that?).  There are no communist principles espoused, and in all the academic areas of 
my site (that students access for classes), there are only factual materials to be found, with the exception of two "think piece" essays on 
patriotism that students are not required to read and if they choose to do so, are welcomed to disagree with provided they apply critical 
thinking skills and logical arguments.  Even the article from Worker's World that you mentioned is based on facts, not opinions.
 
Finally, the fact that there is an article from Worker's World doesn't make me a communist or even a Marxist.  (Marx, you should know, is 
discussed in every introductory Sociology textbook.  Does that make all those authors Marxists?)

I hope you will consider modifying your website to make it more accurate. If we come to agreement on this, I'll put a link to your site on 
mine so people can read and make up their own minds. 

Dr. Boles