This is edition 2025/133 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Necessary Truths.
Chris Trotter
- 🎓 Critique of Education: Some argue formal education is a "human sorting system" that fails to truly teach useful survival skills and strategies.
- 🧠 1960s-70s Influence: This thought emerged during the "cultural revolution" when systems like education were seen as oppressive and aimed to control people.
- 🎙️ Podcast Controversy: A podcast featuring young influencers discussing the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler was taken down after offensive remarks rationalizing Hitler's actions went unchallenged by peers.
- 🕵️♂️ Lack of Historical Awareness: The influencers' ignorance about the Holocaust reflected the gap in knowledge due to an education system that doesn't instill critical historical understanding.
- 📝 Post-Internet Education Issues: The current generation, raised post-Internet, may lack the critical thinking needed to discern false or harmful content, especially in an era where “doing your own research” is promoted.
- 🚨 Holocaust Denial & Glorification: Holocaust denial is seen as dangerous, but equally disturbing is the normalization of Hitler’s regime by some young voices.
- 💬 Free Speech vs. Misinformation: The Free Speech Union argues that the best defense against false or hateful speech is more speech, condemning the falsehoods openly.
- 📚 Holocaust Lessons: The Holocaust teaches three critical lessons: the relationship of human rights to democracy, the danger of linking human worth to ethnicity/ideology, and the corrosive effect of unchecked propaganda.
- 🏛️ Education System Failures: The American education system failed these young influencers by not adequately teaching the historical and moral implications of the Holocaust.
- 🌍 Global Concerns: A poll showing 20% of young Americans questioning the Holocaust reveals a larger problem with historical ignorance, highlighting the need for stronger education systems, as seen in New Zealand's curriculum reforms.
- 🔑 Need for Core Narratives: The essay concludes that for social cohesion and morality, core historical and moral narratives—like the Holocaust—need to be reinforced in education, alongside a focus on truths freely held and taught rigorously.
