Tags for this video have been changed from 'The, Most, Aggressive, Defense, Of, Teachers, Youll, Hear' to 'The, Most, Aggressive, Defense, Of, Teachers, Youll, Hear, taylor mali' - edited by eric3579

i would have LOVED a teacher like this.

*NSFW for the language at the end

This video has been flagged as being Not Suitable For Work - declared nsfw by Morganth.

Never mind

It is exactly the same poem -- I prefer this performance though.

He is really pissed in this version -- it is rousing!

Should be *livemusic -- his words are musical and a live performance by definition is different each time.

Adding video to channels (Livemusic) - requested by bareboards2.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'The, Most, Aggressive, Defense, Of, Teachers, Youll, Hear, taylor mali' to 'teachers, taylor mali, slam poet, education' - edited by xxovercastxx

*quality, lots of it

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by radx.

I love to see a person who is passionate about what they believe in. That kind of thing always gets mad props from me. Kudos guy. Golf clap.

But the sad reality is that there are precious few in the teaching profession that have this kind of passion. And even the rare teacher who DOES have the passion has a heckuva time working in a system that is more concerned about the welfare of the teacher's union than the education of students. I could go on for hours about screwed up teachers, regulations, and all the other garbage that cumbers our educational system. It’s all well and good to stick up for the good things, but it ends up ringing pretty hollow when you know there’s a mile of manure beneath the pretty green-grass rhetoric.

For example… I’m no fan of lawyers. But if I was a lawyer, you how I could respond to his last question?

“You what to know what kind of difference I make? I make drunk drivers go to jail when they kill kids, but walk away from the accident. I make teachers who have sex with their students tremble when I’m on the other end of the phone. I make laws that protect widows, the elderly, and orphans. I make companies clean up their messes, and pay the people they hurt with their negligence. I make government officials talk about the laws they try to sneak through the system. I make rapists and murderers go to the electric chair. I stare right in the face at all the scum, sleaze, and filth in society that YOU’RE too scared to even talk about. I hold the powerful accountable. I make the guilty pay. I defend the innocent guy who society never gave a chance. That’s the difference I make, pal…”

See – it isn’t too hard to list all the GOOD things done by a profession while desperately ignoring the slime, crap, and bologna. Golf-clapping his passion, but not impressed with his method.

I think you just helped make his point Pennypacker.

You don't denigrate an entire group of people because a few suck or are incompetent.

Do we kill all lawyers because there are some bad ones? No
Do we bad mouth all teachers because there are some bad ones? No
Do we hate on all unions because there are some bad ones? No
Do we hate on all politicians because some are corrupt? No

In other words, life is complex and not black or white, therefore you can't reduce complex situations down into a catchphrase or a sound bite like so many Republicans are fond of doing.

See, the difference between a Lawyer and a Teacher is that I didn't spend about half of the early years of my life listening to lawyers. Thats a pretty massive responsibility. So sure, I had some shit teachers, teachers who were disinterested, or passionate about their subject but awful at explaining it...but I also had Teachers that made me love Science, that showed me Maths could be beautiful.

Now, maybe if Teachers were payed like Lawyers...

like so many Republicans are fond of doing.

...and yet don't do nearly as much as so many Democrats.

Not disagreeing with your original point though, but the teacher himself is the one that was the hypocrite. I was just showing the hypocrisy. He didn't like being lumped into a big bucket, or painted with a broad brush? Yes, that is rather unfair. So why do the exact same thing to lawyers?

maybe if Teachers were payed like Lawyers

Teachers are not OVERpaid - like lawyers are. However, they are not UNDERpaid either. Between their retirement pay, their benefits, and the fact that they are pro-rated for 12 months of work in a 9-month work period they do just fine. I've always rejected the rather hyperbolic claim that teachers were somehow earning some sort of inadequate living. Bull pats. Teachers earn more than a lot of professionals do when you look at the whole picture and not the teacher's union's sob-story talking points.

and Pennypacker learns nothing as he immediately goes back to lumping everyone in a group into the same basket.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
He didn't like being lumped into a big bucket, or painted with a broad brush? Yes, that is rather unfair. So why do the exact same thing to lawyers?

At what point in this video does he do that?

"I resist the urge to remind the other dinner guests that it's also true what they say about lawyers.".

So.. if you were one of said dinner guests at this likely fictional dinner, you would have left there thinking he never fired back at the lawyer.

In his retelling of it, he never mentions what the urge was to say. It was most likely just a vulgar shot back.. as in something like 'they have small.....', or whatver. I say this because he then mentions 'they're eating, and in polite company'.

That's kinda beside the point anyways, because his rant was more about the contrast of the lawyer in the story's outlook of doing work for pay - where he teaches out of a genuine desire to teach, that's what drives him.. not money. Though he may very well desire to be rich just like pretty much everyone else. Therefore it was an insult to him for the other person to discuss pay, and snub his nose offhandidly over it. Some people do jobs because it's "what they were born to do", despite pay.. it may be something they love (or more in line with what's being expressed in the video) because they believe they're doing good in the world. I don't see the poem being so much about being stereo-typed or lumped together into some "big bucket" with other teachers.

Ontop of all this if you're take anything political / union / non-union / whatever from this, that's your baggage.

I believe your whole anti-union political thought process is what spurred you to shoot this guy down in some fashion.. work in a jab somehow.

If teachers were paid as well as Pennypacker would like to scam you into believing. EVERYONE would be a teacher.

They wouldn't be talking about going to school to be a lawyer or a doctor, they'd be talking about the best teaching colleges.

Since that isn't happening...Pennypacker is lying.

At what point in this video does he do that?

End of the video. "I make a difference. What about you?" Implying the slimy lawyer doesn't make a difference, but the teacher does. The guy had a chip on his shoulder, and the hypothetical lawyer may have knocked it off but it was already there and there wasn't anything the guy said he wasn't itching to say - including the disparagment of lawyers joke. An easy target, and perhaps a valid one but nonetheless a hypocritical one.

Since that isn't happening...Pennypacker is lying

I see - so since the ENTIRE workforce isn't trying to be teachers that means that teachers don't make a decent living? This is typical neoliberal logic - which is to say - epic failure.

I didn't say teachers made so much money that everyone should be drooling over the prospect of being one. I said they made a decent living. I did say that teachers DO make a better living than quite a few professional jobs that pay less in total wages and benefits - including some attorneys. The image that teachers are penniless, unfairly compensated, toe-rags of society is the only lie here.

I am not saying teachers are not worth compensation. They have a hard job, and have to deal with a ton of crap. There are plenty of great teachers out there who really do the kind of God's Work that the guy in this vid is crowing about. But does that mean every teacher should be paid $250,000 a year plus benefits? Heck no.

The implication some of you have is "We'd get better teachers if we only PAID them more..." Bologna. Teacher pay has been increasing for years and teacher quality hasn't improved one iota because of it. If teaching was a $250K annual gig then you'd start getting worse teachers - not better ones.

so..by that logic..our CEOs are the absolute worst.

oh wait..that actually does make sense. Thanks PP, we'll start reducing everyone's pay...starting with you!

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

I love to see a person who is passionate about what they believe in. That kind of thing always gets mad props from me. Kudos guy. Golf clap.
But the sad reality is that there are precious few in the teaching profession that have this kind of passion. And even the rare teacher who DOES have the passion has a heckuva time working in a system that is more concerned about the welfare of the teacher's union than the education of students. I could go on for hours about screwed up teachers, regulations, and all the other garbage that cumbers our educational system. It’s all well and good to stick up for the good things, but it ends up ringing pretty hollow when you know there’s a mile of manure beneath the pretty green-grass rhetoric.
For example… I’m no fan of lawyers. But if I was a lawyer, you how I could respond to his last question?
“You what to know what kind of difference I make? I make drunk drivers go to jail when they kill kids, but walk away from the accident. I make teachers who have sex with their students tremble when I’m on the other end of the phone. I make laws that protect widows, the elderly, and orphans. I make companies clean up their messes, and pay the people they hurt with their negligence. I make government officials talk about the laws they try to sneak through the system. I make rapists and murderers go to the electric chair. I stare right in the face at all the scum, sleaze, and filth in society that YOU’RE too scared to even talk about. I hold the powerful accountable. I make the guilty pay. I defend the innocent guy who society never gave a chance. That’s the difference I make, pal…”
See – it isn’t too hard to list all the GOOD things done by a profession while desperately ignoring the slime, crap, and bologna. Golf-clapping his passion, but not impressed with his method.


lawyers don't make laws
defense lawyers make ALOT more than prosecution
and they are just as likely to deny someone their just dues, and protect those in the wrong... probably more likely, because thats where the money is at

trying to put law and education in the same boat has 1 major flaw
there's no money in teaching...
its much more likely to find corruption where there is money
its much more likely to find character where this isn't