Collectivism 137, Part 1: ACE Students are Made in the Image of Donald Howard

Written 1981, Revised 1998

Hey, and welcome back to Safe White Space!

This is Part 1 of my review for Collectivism 137, a PACE in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum (ACE). If you don’t know what PACEs are, and need context for the scope of these reviews, check out Collectivism 133, Part 1 posted below:

I want to start this off by responding to the criticism I’ve received for these reviews, which is, “who cares?” This is typically along the lines of, ‘It’s just one curriculum, and how bad can it be, anyway?’

First off, I care. Obviously.

But so should you. There are hundreds of thousands of kids around the world who are getting a fire hose to the face of this propaganda, all under the guise of “education.” There have already been millions of kids who graduated with ACE as their primary mode of education, and have gone on to vote for far right politicians. As demonstrated in the last 30 or so posts, these kids are primed to oppose very basic scientific laws (interfering with the Covid, climate change, and transgender conversations). ACE’s revised history makes any conversation requiring historical context absolutely impossible. Their students are taught to believe that the physical manifestations of demons and literal human possession accounts for most of human history. Something which the Right has increasingly accused even the most vanilla liberals of. And nearly all of these kids get an inadequate amount of socialization, by design. Easier to filter out opposing views that way.

Further, women don’t exist unless they are sluttin’ it up for the Devil himself [Ex. 75, Ex. 76], or unless their personal anguish can be twisted into anticommunist propaganda [Ex. 170, Ex. 171], or if their “submission” can be used to glorify men or God [Ex. 86] History is just a three thousand year fight between Fundamentalist Christianity and Communism. Which, under any kind of scrutiny, quickly boils down to (white, male, “Fundamentalist,” owner-class) supremacy apologia advocacy, in all its forms. The only notable, positively mentioned black person in ACE’s version of history is Frederick Douglas.

In most countries where ACE exists, it siphons tax funds from multiple public tax sources.

The Christian School Movement put out their plans for Project 2025 45 years ago, and then established schools in over 140 countries. Are we actually shocked to have a global fascist movement of violent, reality-hating idiots?

That’s why we should care.

Now, let’s kick off by getting Donald’s goal for Collectivism 137:

Exhibit 207

Objective

Upon the proper completion of this PACE, you will be able to reproduce the salient facts in the development of the Communist revolutionary movements in both China and Russia. You will demonstrate the degree of your comprehension of the material by correctly supplying the answers in a series of Checkups and tests.

Collectivism 137, page 1

As in PACEs 133-136, this will prove to be, not just false, but a lie.

After a long list of definitions that appear at the front of every PACE, right behind the Objective, the text begins with a review of the Collectivism PACEs so far:

Exhibit 208

It has been stated before that Communism is an international criminal conspiracy ultimately begotten by Satan, the “father or lies.” As is the “father,” so are the offspring— lies from beginning to end! Communism repeatedly claims to be the movement of the uneducated, underprivileged working class; and yet we find that a goodly number of the world’s Red leaders have been university educated and financially well-off men. Nor, contrary to Marxist theory, has any society ever gone Communist due to the popular vote of the working masses. The proletariat always wakes up one morning to find that the dictatorship in their name (The Dictatorship of the Proletariat) has come about through the clandestine machinations of an educated, elitist, secret conclave of conspirators comprising less than four per cent [sic] of the national population.

Collectivism 137, page 3, 4

In Collectivism 135, Parts 1 and 2, I obliterate this idea that Communism is really the plot of rich people who are tricking the poor into demanding a better life. Also, I have no idea where “four per cent” is coming from. That’s not something that has been or will be explained. It’s a common talking point among other John Birch Society losers like Alex Jones, but I don’t know for certain where it originated from.

I need to re-clarify that if you believe everything in the world happens because of a power struggle between God and Satan, I don’t have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is that, in the alternate reality that is constructed for the ACE student, Satan is the furthest, most “substanceless” creature on the Left [Ex. 3], and the father of Communism. Equally, God is as far to the Right on the political spectrum as one can be, and comprised entirely of (very relative) “Absolutes,” based in Republican talking points. That’s just so intrinsically stupid. When your foundation for studying history is ‘anything I don’t like or understand is Communist and the product of Satan,’ you can’t help but get everything wrong.

If the study of history is studying God’s story, how dare you reduce His story to one dimension and still get it wrong.

The zealous hatred for “Communism” is a mental illness that always has a racist element attached:

Exhibit 209

The first two major Communist revolutions of the twentieth century have also incessantly proven the whole of Marxist theory to be a series of lies. Marx himself supposed that the workers’ revolt would initially occur in a highly industrialized country, such as Germany or England. The fact that the primary Marxist-Communist revolutions took place in backward Russia and China, historians have usually assumed some kind of historical accident. The truth is that it was no accident at all, and a careful study of the facts will reveal why!

Collectivism 137, page 4

‘Backward China’ only developed “papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass.”[1] Additionally they invented alcohol, a working earthquake detector, rockets, and so much more.

Also, no historian worth their salt would ever think of these Revolutions occurring as some happy accident. That is so aggressively stupid. A “careful study of the facts” is double speak for a “study of carefully curated facts,” which is necessary when you’re writing revisionist history:

Exhibit 210

By Karl Marx’s day, mankind was slowly emerging from those centuries of social and economic stagnation of the Middle Ages, and the Industrial Revolution (which occurred at a different time and developed at a different rate in each country) was actually improving, not worsening man’s overall lot. The socialist malcontents, however, ignored that obvious improvement, pounced on every social evil of the day, blamed them on developing capitalism, and clandestinely looked back with fondness to the stability of the “good ole days.” In those “good old” Middle Ages, a person’s position in life was totally predetermined for him by the ruling elite composed of (1) the trade guilds, (2) the aristocracy, and (3) the Roman Catholic Church. Socialism/communism espoused, in essence, the same credo, but for “public relations” purposes renamed as “economic determinism” and “historical determinism” what was in reality standard feudalism. Thus, it can be seen that feudalism and socialism/communism have much in common.

Collectivism 137, page 4

It must be those “patterns of eternal reality,” that enable Donald to read Karl Marx’s mind. I cringed when he quoted his own reading of Marx’s mind… This is what happens when people who claim to “reason with the advantage of an infinite God,” talk too long.

Blaming “socialist malcontents” for all the country’s problems, merely for wanting to achieve a better world, is so classic Donald and ACE [Ex. 201, E.x 202, and all of Collectivism 135].

Also, feudalism has nothing in common with workers owning the means of production, and bears no similarities with the fight for equality. Where do workers’ unions or gender equality come into play under a monarchy?? What radical inclusion existed in a system based on Crown —> Nobility —> Vassals —> Peasants? There is no further explanation about this, just a restatement of the premise:

Exhibit 211

Since feudalism is really nothing more than a form of socialism and Communism simply another name of socialism, it is indeed no wonder at all that international socialism/communism took root in two nations already preconditioned to the tenets of same. The masses of Russia and China merely swapped one form of collectivism for another!

Collectivism 137, page 4

That transitive property could win a World’s Strong-man competition.

I want to emphasis just how easy this education propaganda workbook is:

Exhibit 212

Collectivism 137, page 4, 5

Due to ACE’s reliance on rote recall, empirical errors negatively impact the education much more than they would a flexible curriculum.

Questions (1) and (3) are based on a false premise. For question (1), being educated and/or born into money doesn’t disqualify you from holding Leftist convictions. Primarily because you have to have money and means to advance the goals of socialism within a capitalist structure. It’s this eternally stupid claim that Leftists are hypocrites if they have a house, or food, or clothes, as if survival itself within a capitalist system doesn’t require engagement with the system itself.

Without any sort of sourcing or explanation on this, what does “a goodly number” or “most” even mean, anyway? How much is that? In academia, you have to show your work. The PACEs have only covered some 5-10 Communists? Most of which you’d probably call socialists, one of which is Satan…

Question (3) is just a truism - like saying, “Liberty is good.” The problem is that the point of the question is to impress upon the student that the “socialist malcontents” never had it better. They should have just shut up about their shitty living conditions, and never challenged the aristocrats with better pedigrees.

So far, the first 5 pages -the foundation of this PACE- is entirely worthless for educational purposes. Let’s go for 6!

The two questions on the next page are really dumb, and question (6) is empirically erroneous:

Exhibit 213

(5) Name three elements of feudal society which controlled the populace:

[Answers] (a) the trade guild (b) the aristocracy (c) the Roman Catholic Church

(6) Feudalism is essentially a form of ____ [Answer: socialism]

“Communism is an international conspiracy which has restored slavery to the world…” Senator Barry Goldwater

Collectivism 137, page 6

Maybe you could say question 5’s answer is correct, but the point of the question is to reinforce within the student that feudalism is the same socialism. They’re not even similar. So much of this PACE is based on this premise, which compromises whole swaths of this PACE.

Then you get a Barry Goldwater quote. He was considered an “ultra-conservative” who moved the overton window further to the Right. The Donald Trump of the 1960s. Here is an article from the Heritage Foundation (the Project 2025 folks), opining “what if he had won the Presidency?” Goldwater is the one that said “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” Knowing what they mean by “liberty,” that’s disconcerting.

Curious that, in a discussion about Marx and Marxism, Goldwater is quoted more than Karl Marx, or any other Communist. Strange…

This PACE is divided into Chinese history and Russian history. This post and Part 2 will focus on the Russian side of things, and Part 3 and 4 will cover the Chinese. The Russian history covers the First Sino-Japanese War (China vs. Japan, 1894–95), through to the death of Stalin in 1953.

On page 7, we get the premise for this PACE. Don’t let the first few sentences fool you:

Exhibit 214

It has been said that “history is more than just a simple list of names, dates, and places, but it is people-- their interactions with one another and their interactions with God. It is based upon a cause and effect relationship, which is both a continuum and cyclic. Ultimately history is the unfolding of the plan of God versus the conspiracy of Satan.” At no point along the spectrum of time may the preceding statements be shown to be more applicable than during the period of the Russian and Chinese Communist Revolutions. Certain historical events took place within each of those two countries, and along their 5,000-mile-long common border, which set in motion a series of actions and reactions resulting in the two geographically largest and most populous nations of the world becoming Marxist dictatorships. Throughout the five decades from the 1890’s to the 1940’s were innumerable incidents which can only be explained in terms of the counter-workings of the conspiracy of Satan and the plan of God.

Collectivism 137, page 7

Donald started out describing history by using those Satanic Hegelian Dialectics he thought were so stupid in Collectivism 135, but of course, that only lasted so long before everything was just Satan and God, again. That is the fullest extent of this ‘educator's’ mind.

There were also two empirical errors in that paragraph. Russia and China have never been “the two geographically largest and most populous nations.” In the era discussed, Russia was the fourth most populous country at the time. But, even giving Donald unwarranted grace, at the time of this PACE’s original printing, 1981, and its most recent revision, 1998, Russia was the 5th most populous country (sixth most, today), while China had the most. China has been ranked 3rd on geographical size for ages, while Russia has had the most.

All of these errors, and all the ones to come, have been here since the PACE’s original printing in 1981.

Check out how easy these questions are that follow:

Exhibit 215

(1) History _____ primarily is a listing of names, dates, and places. (is, is not)

(2) The conspiracy of _______ is an attempt to thwart the plan of God.

(3) How long is the Soviet-Red Chinese common border? ________

Collectivism 137, page 7

Parents are paying out of pocket for this education, and tax dollars are getting funneled to ACE schools. This is criminal. These questions are repeated in the Checkup:

Exhibit 216

(1) The Feudal Age was _______ than the emerging Industrial Age. (better, worse)

[:worse]

(2) Feudalism is essentially a form of ____

[:socialism]

(3) The conspiracy of _______ is an attempt to thwart the plan of God.

[:Satan]

Collectivism 137, page 22

Would you believe that some of these questions are on the final Test?

Exhibit 217

(8) The emerging Industrial Age was ______ than the preceding Feudal Age (better, worse)

[:better]

(11) In Russia’s only free election, _____ of the people rejected the Bolshevik Party.

[:75% — **I explain why the question itself is entirely false in an Exhibit below]

(15) The Bolshevik Revolution _______ overthrow the Romanov Dynasty. (did, did not)

[:did not — **also an entirely false question based on revisionist history]¹

(16) The conspiracy of Satan is an attempt to thwart the plan of _____

[:God]

(19) Feudalism is essentially a form of _________

a. Monarchism - b. Socialism - c. Militarism - d. Catholicism

[:Socialism]

Collectivism 137, Test

Every one of these questions is either false, or based on a false premise, or both. This PACE is so compromised, and we are just getting started.

Here’s something you might not know:

Until 1918, Russia was on the Gregorian calendar, which was ~12 days behind our Julian calendar, in this portion of history. That means that all of the events listed have 2 dates. The Julian calendar date comes first, and then the Gregorian date is listed as (Old Style) in parenthesis. The amount of unforced errors this adds to the PACE is ridiculous. Sometimes, the math is off, and sometimes they just get it wrong:

Exhibit 218

Whereas the October Manifesto established the Duma, the Fundamental Laws [May 6 (March 24, Old Style) [April 23, (April 10, old style), 1906] greatly limited both its election and its powers.

Collectivism 137, page 24

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The Third Duma continued to exist for its full five-year term [June 22, (June 9, old style)] [July 16, (July 3, old style), 1912], when it was replaced by the Fourth Duma…

Ironically, those and subsequent actions taken by the Fourth Duma would shortly lead to its own ultimate destruction [March 11 (February 26, old style), October 19 (October 6, old style) 1917]!

Collectivism 137, page 25

The PACE has the destruction of the Fourth Duma confused with its temporary suspension by the Czar on the 25th of February, old style.

More:

Exhibit 219

Piotr Arkadevich Stolypin was born in 1863 1862, of aristocratic Russian parents…

On September 14 (September 1 old style) On September 18 (September 5, old style), 1911… Dimitry G Bogrov… walked up to Piotr Stolypin and shot him.

Collectivism 137, page 26, 27

It’s time I ping on this. The “good (Russian) guys” in the PACEs get very anglicized names. Piotr Arkadevich is presented throughout this PACE as a hero for conservative causes. His Russian name was spelled “Pyotr Arkadyevich.” This will go for the Czars in the next post. It wouldn’t be a thing, except that the inverse is also true.

Check out how Communists’ and Socialists’ names are written:

Exhibit 220

Josef Stalin The third and final member of the unholy Russian Communist triumvirate first saw the light of day some forty-four days after the natality[sic] of Lev Bronstein Bronshtein [**Leon Trotsky’s birth name**]. Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili was born on December 21 December 18 [December 9 December 6, Old Style], 1879 1878…

Collectivism 137, page 34, 35

What the fuck is that first sentence?

The people cast as the heroes are never called by their slavic names, while the “unholy Russian Communist triumvirate” get called by the most slavic version of their names possible. He does the same with Nikolai Lenin, even adding a “y” to his birth name:

Exhibit 221

In December, 1895, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov [**Nikolai Lenin’s birth name**] was arrested for revolutionary activities and, after two years fifteen months of imprisonment, he was banished to the Siberian town of Sushenskoye… On July 22 (July 10, old style), 1898, he married fellow-exile Marxist revolutionary Nadezha Konstantinova Konstantinovna Krupskaya— a woman remarkably suited to be his wife.

Collectivism 137, page 31

Not for nothing, calling Nadezha Krupskaya “a woman remarkably suited to be his wife,” in front of me might get you slapped. I’ve said before that every woman in the ACE curriculum is presented as a product of a man, whether by birth or by marriage. Women are not people, here. Notice too that this is the first woman presented in this PACE, and she’s just “remarkably suited” to be a wife, as opposed to a reknown philosopher in her time.

Acknowledging how central gender equality was in the Russian Revolution would complicate the base narrative.

Without Krupskaya, the Bolshevik revolution doesn’t pan out like it did. She was an active feminist who kept the conversation of women’s equality at the forefront of the Party’s mind. Additionally, due to Donald’s obsession with fighting the culture war through education, this PACE could have tackled Krupskaya’s theories about education: “Krupskaya upheld that access to education was key to the emancipation of women and the proletariat.”[2] There were legitimate criticisms of her theories on education, but she gets a pass in the PACE because even women with erroneous ideas are too dangerous to consider in such a rigid hierarchy.

This one takes egregious editorializing to the point of factual error:

Exhibit 222

Bolsheviks (in the name of the people) had loudly demanded the election, they dared not postpone it. On the day of the ONLY free election in Russian history, seventy-five percent (75%) of the Russian people rejected Bolshevism!!! As soon as the delegates were seated, the Red Army troops entered the building, dispersed the officials, and permanently disbanded the assembly…

Collectivism 137, page 46

The Bolsheviks played this very dirty and rejected the results of the election. Indeed, they had no intention of honoring the results.

But! the way this is being presented to the students is as if there were only two choices, Bolshevism, and whatever the student is required to imagine is the opposite. The truth of the matter is always more complicated than ACE makes it out to be.

There were six prominent parties in this election, not two. Ten political parties received over 1% of the vote. Out of these ten parties, the Socialist Revolutionary Party got ~38% of the vote, the Bolsheviks ~23%, the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party ~13%, and the next 7 parties got ~15% combined.[2, 3] The way their elections worked, the percentage of votes that a party received was how many people they could appoint to the Parliament.

Nobody soundly rejected Bolshevism, but the way this is presented to the student, they’re left to think that the voters picked something antithetical to Bolshevism. In reality, those who “rejected” Bolshevism opted for something similar by American standards. According to the previous 4 PACEs, all “liberal” ideology is equally as Satanic as the rest.

Explaining that nuance would complicate the Orcs vs Humans narrative that runs through the ACE curriculum, so best just to leave all that out. That narrative would get more difficult to maintain if he bothered explaining what a weighted voting system is to his students. You can’t live in a binary, right/wrong bubble if there is more than two sides to an issue.

We’ll wrap up with a few more basic empirical errors. Even after this list, we are not half the way done documenting the amount of false factual data:

Exhibit 223

On July 20 August 6 (July 6 July 24, old style), the Cabinet underwent another reorganization and the Second Coalition Government was formed.

Collectivism 137, page 41

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Premier A. F. Kerensky, on September 15 September 14 (September 2 September 1, old style), 1917, Kerensky proclaimed Russia a republic.

Collectivism 137, page 41

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Georgi Evgenievich Lvov… spent the remainder of his life in France, where he died March 6 March 7, 1925, at the age of 64 63.

Collectivism 137, page 42

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Aleksandr Kerensky was born on April 22 May 2 (April 9 April 22, old style], 1881…

Collectivism 137, page 42

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October revolution on November 5 November 6 and 7, 1917, (October 23 October 24 and 25, old style)

Collectivism 137, page 44

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On August 20 August 21, 1940, Leon Trotsky was murdered in Mexico City by a Stalinist Agent…

Collectivism 137, page 48

Add seven (7) more errors to the tally.

Thank you all for reading!

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 18:6

1. This is such a stupid thing to say. The Bolsheviks literally murdered the Czar and his whole family. They also played a leading role in worker organization and violent protesting: https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/russian-revolution