Pearson’s College Textbook Claims Al Qaeda is a Liberation Movement

pearson education

“The Other World: Issues and Politics of the Developing World” is a college textbook that appears to be put out by Pearson Education.

Pearson itself is a billion dollar company that owns everything from Penguin Books to Prentice Hall. When it comes to educational materials, they are the 800 pound gorilla of the marketplace buying up software educational publishers and the educational division of Simon and Schuster.

Pearson controls how a lot of educational funding is spent and has its tentacles in teacher certification as well. And this is the kind of content that you can expect to find in its textbooks.

How would you define al-Qaeda? Most would use the word “terrorists.”

But here is my professor’s stab at it: “The Al Qaeda movement of Osama bin Laden is one example of an attempt to free a country (in this case, Saudi Arabia) from a corrupt and repressive regime propped up by a neocolonial power (in this case, the United States).”

That’s word-for-word from his own textbook, “The Other World: Issues and Politics of the Developing World, Ninth Edition.” Here is the full quote in context:

“Much of the political instability endemic to Other World political systems stems from the fact that governments operated openly for private gain (or kleptocracies) have little legitimacy among, or acceptance by, a significant proportion of the population, in neo colonial times as in the past. The Al Qaeda movement of Osama bin Laden is one example of an attempt to free a country (in this case, Saudi Arabia) from a corrupt and repressive regime propped up by a neocolonial power (in this case, the United States).” *

Allow me to tell you about a quintessential course I just took which proves out that generally agreed-upon understanding about the modern college experience: World Food Systems at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It’s the class in which we used “The Other World” textbook, co-authored by the same scholar who taught the course: Emmit B. Evans, Jr.

There is little that can be expected from Emmit B. Evans, Jr. Academia is chock full of people like him. But Pearson Education’s willingness to publish hateful material of this sort supportive of the terrorists who murdered thousands of Americans is very troubling.

Pearson is a UK based company, but it does quite a bit of business in the United States. And Al Qaeda has also killed large numbers of Brits.

Questions about the content of “The Other World: Issues and Politics of the Developing World” are also questions about the integrity of Pearson Education’s content.

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  • guest

    For a neo-colonial power the U.S. doesn’t control much. Look at the examples of Brasil and Saudi Arabia. It is my understanding that no foreign corporation can own more than 49% of a Japanese company. It is also my understanding that Brasil copied some of their laws pertaining to foreign investment form the Japanese. The U.S. beat the Japanese in WW2. Seems like the U.S. is doing a lot of colonizing NOT!

    These professors are lying idiots.

    “Get ready for takeoff: Brazil to loosen foreign ownership rules for airlines

    With Brazil preparing to lift the foreign ownership cap on its air carriers from 20% to 49%”

    https://brazilportal.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/get-ready-for-takeoff-brazil-to-loosen-foreign-ownership-rules-for-airlines/

    “To preserve job opportunities for Brazilians, the government generally requires that at least two-thirds of the employees in any Brazilian company are Brazilian citizens, and that two-thirds of the total remuneration is received by Brazilians. Companies must prepare an annual report for the Ministry of Labor with a statement showing the proportion of national to foreign employees.”

    http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Doing_business_in_Brazil_2011/$FILE/Doing%20Business%20in%20Brazil%202011.pdf

    “In 1950, King Abdulaziz threatened to nationalize his country’s oil facilities, thus pressuring Aramco to agree to share profits 50/50.[17] A similar process had taken place with American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. The American government granted US Aramco member companies a tax break known as the golden gimmick equivalent to the profits given to King Abdulaziz. In the wake of the new arrangement, the company’s headquarters were moved from New York to Dhahran.

    In 1973, following US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, the Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% stake in Aramco. It increased its shareholding to 60% by 1974, and finally took full control of Aramco by 1980,[18] by acquiring a 100% percent stake in the company. Aramco partners continued to operate and manage Saudi Arabia’s oil fields.[19] In November 1988, a royal decree changed its name from Arabian American Oil Co. to Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (or Saudi Aramco”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramco#History

  • Omar

    Since Pearson is a UK-based company, the people in that company would most likely wished that King George III’s Britain had won the American Revolution against the American colonists. The leftists at Pearson are upset that their beloved 18th century king failed to prevent the creation of the United States of America, the world’s greatest democracy. So now, in the 21th century, the leftists at Pearson are glorifying terrorists if they are of the radical left, Islanders, hate America (and to a lesser extent, other Western countries). Most likely, the leftists at Pearson support terrorists if the terrorists have all three elements (radical left, Islamist and anti-American/anti-Western). The left’s twisted worldview lives on, but it must be defeated.

    • Bamaguje

      Pearson’s Islamophillic sophistry has nothing to do with being a British company, or Britain’s erstwhile colonization of America.
      It is rather another manifestation of the servile capitulation and willful blindness of the dhimmi West’s lamestream media and leftist academia… making silly excuses for Islam’s violent intolerance.

      • SCREW SOCIALISM

        Britain is so overrun by socialists and regressive progressives that it is on the verge of collapse.

        The UK gives Islamists the right to spout evil, vile things – and arrests any counter protestors.

        Personally, I am disgusted by the UK.

        Did I mention that the UK/Scotland – whatever – Americans don’t see the difference – released the convicted bomber of Pan Am 103 – for Libyan oil contracts – masked as “compassionate release”.

        Disgusting.

        • Bamaguje

          And what about the Islamist in Democrat clothing in America’s White House?

  • Bobby Leo

    So Mr Prof.and publisher …… join Al Qaeda…..see ya…

  • carltjohnson

    Liberation Movement?…yea right. More like a liberation from conscious human thought and behavior. Bicameral pagan Barbarians, I say!

    • john spielman

      actually they are referring to “liberating “one’s head from one’s shoulders if we dont submit to Islam, that Satanic doctrine of murder lying stealing misogyny fornication and pedophilia

  • Veracious_one

    it’s not a secret, Islam get a lot of white washing in school textbooks….

  • De Doc

    And Che Guevara was a peace loving revolutionary.

    • iluvisrael

      and don’t forget mao and all the other ‘agrarian reformers’

  • American1969

    Disgusting.

  • george

    “…appears to be put out by…?” You’ve got to be kidding. I think I’ll look for a credible source.

  • ObamaYoMoma

    How would you define al-Qaeda? Most would use the word “terrorists.”

    This is what routinely happens when we let the PC multicultural Left frame our perceptions of reality for us, as the debate, like the global warming debate too, apparently is already settled according to them.

    Thus, what are in reality violent jihadists fighting a holy war against all religions and all infidels in the cause of Allah to ultimately make Islam supreme, is being redefined by the PC multicultural Left as a tiny minority of radical Muslim extremists who not only misunderstand the so-called “religion of peace”, but also apparently are perpetrating terrorism to liberate Saudi Arabia from the grasp of neo-colonial America.

    Moreover, the PC multicultural Left is also not only totally oblivious to the existence of non-violent stealth and deceptive jihad, which manifests astronomically far more prevalently relative to violent jihad, but it also totally ignores its very devastating effects as well, and, of course, the most prevalent form of non-violent stealth and deceptive jihad being waged today is mass Muslim immigration to the western infidel world with all of its excess baggage.

    Nevertheless, Islam is not a so-called “religion of peace”, as the sole fundamental purpose of Islam is the subjugation of all religions and all infidels into Islamic totalitarianism through both violent and non-violent stealth and deceptive jihad and the eventual imposition of Sharia (Islamic totalitarian law) to ultimately make Islam supreme.

    Furthermore, waging jihad in the cause of Allah to ultimately make Islam supreme is not only a fundamental holy obligation incumbent upon all mainstream orthodox Muslims in one form or another, it is also the sole path to salvation for all Muslims as well. Meanwhile, all Muslims that refuse to wage jihad in the cause of Allah in one form or another are not only automatically condemned to hellfire and brimstone, but also if they refuse to wage jihad openly, they are also automatically condemned to death, as blasphemy and apostasy, in stark contrast to true faith-based religions, are capital offenses in Islam. Which means, by the way, that Islam is really a cult as opposed to being a religion, and the last time I checked cults aren’t protected by the first amendment of the US constitution.

  • disqus_Imoi7LGhwf

    I don’t believe it, I actually study with these Pearson books … This came as an ABSOLUTE shocker. Am I the only one to think that leftism is gradually creeping in … ? Time to stop the tide and push back in the other direction !

    • Kullen

      “gradually creeping in”? More like steaming like Titanic

      • disqus_Imoi7LGhwf

        No it is gradually creeping in. Otherwise we would be able to see it. The problem here is that NO one can see it, apart from some individuals, through ‘simple’ actions such as calling the Christmas tree a holiday tree, letting Obama get away with his ‘you didn’t build that’, etc. etc.

        • Kullen

          Most ppl are blind to whats infront of them,

  • Erudite Mavin

    Thank you Daniel, a needed article to wake up the Looking the other way population.

    I have posted comments here over time and on other sites about elementary thought University liberal to radical left propaganda fro the teachers, to the text books.

    This just did not happen in the past few years but well over 60 years and more.
    When so called Conservatives pull their kids out of public schools and put them in parochial or private schools is when the funds from the Gov. to Public schools will start to dry up.

    Also, if your kids want to attend one of the usual leftist Universities, don’t give them a dime, make your kids work they way through.
    Better yet, join the military and take classes in the evening.
    I have one relative who took his lap top with him to Afghn and continued
    his classes while fighting a war.
    He now has a Bat. of Science degree and a Marine Capt.

  • PG

    What is this “developing world” nonsense anyway?

  • Porkys2istan

    Pearson is actually half true, and all wrong.

    Saudi Arabia is corrupt, and IS propped up by American military aid.

    It’s just that Al-Qaeda are NOT freedom fighters. They want to replace the corrupt Saudi government with one that is even MORE repressive and LESS democratic. They fit all the criteria of a fascistic movement.

    Many liberals automatically assume that anybody who opposes a corrupt government is the ‘good guy’ or the ‘freedom fighter’. The Shaw (in Iran) was corrupt but the islamists were worse. Mubarak was corrupt but the Muslim Brotherhood was worse. The Bautista government (in Cuba) was corrupt but Fidel Castro was worse. Assad (in Syria) is more evil than you can imagine, and yet, there are no heads adorning the gates of his presidential palace, like the rebels have.

    Many liberals (like many conservatives) can only see the world as black and white. You are either the ‘good guy’ or the ‘bad guy’. In a great many places there is only the the ‘bad guy’ and the ‘worse guy’.

    Islam is the worse guy.

    • David

      I am glad you are thinking through consequences. The good guy and worse guy is great, but you seem to have a few facts wrong. Actually, “Freedom Fighters” is what the US government called them when US taxpayers were footing the bill, founding, and training them and they were fighting the Soviet Empire. The media which pretends to be “liberal” or “conservative,” but is actually a shill for the government always supports centralized power, and calls them the same more or less. Those people always called themselves the mujihadeen… still do.

      What you see is largely political theater. The more contrived than real organization Al-Qaeda was the mujihadeen and were the good guys. Then they became the bad guys, then supposedly the US government had to kill (a probably long dead) bin-Laden because Al-Qaeda was associated with Libyan rebels who were supposedly good guys. More switches than pro wrestling.

      Perhaps the islamists are worse than the Shah (correct spelling), but again that is more political theater. The CIA overthrew an elected government and installed the Shah as a dictator. Had there been no US government intervention and Shah dictatorship, there likely would have been no “islamist” regime. The CIA has a term for this, and it is called “Blow Back.” And really, you seem to forget that the muslim world had two dynamic Christian communities until the US government continued to spit on the wisdom of the founders (a.k.a. the John Quincy Adams quote “The US goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy…..) and occupied Iraq (a country founded in the wake of WW1 by the allies by the way). Now there is one – Iran. Go figure.

      Despite the US government’s story, Castro did not really overthrow the Batista (again correct spelling). They had plundered the country for all they could and took off knowing there were rebels all over the place. Unfortunately, Castro was the first to figure it out and occupy the governmental offices and took defacto power.

      Unfortunately the US founders were among the few good guys history really has shown. The modern US government is not among the list of good guys.

  • Ganesha_akbar
  • David

    While Islam is indeed evil, unfortunately so is neo-conservativism, (which is not new and is not conservative). If you are truly an American who believes in the wisdom of the founders, you owe it to yourself to investigate the neo-conservatism’s Trotsky influenced heritage.

    Please read this all and think deeply before getting upset.

    Despite the foolishness of these “liberal” professors, a person who admires the genius of America’s founding generation should be able to see that a broken clock is actually largely correct here. While Al Qaeda is more fiction than fact as an organization, remember that it got it’s start with American funding to fight the Soviet Empire. Remember, back then, we used to call the Mujahadeen “freedom fighters.” Now that they have turned on us, we call them terrorists.

    in fact we do not learn from history anymore. For at least 3500 years, foreign mercenaries have been know to turn on you, so believing now is different is naive at best. Unfortunately, Americans have given up the wisdom of an earlier generation, such as John Quincy Adams’ “America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy” (please look up the whole speech).

    And we cannot even learn from our own history. During his last speech to the House of Lords in 1778, Lord Chatham said “If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed on my soil, I would never lay down my arms. Never! Never! Never! Tragically Americans today no longer think like the 1776 Sons of Liberty, but like those the 1776 Sons of Liberty were fighting – the British Empire.

    Finally, take a look at a pre-WW2 map. There is no Saudi Arabia. Just Arabia. America did indeed put the Saudi family in power, and keeps it there. It is one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships. Think of it like this – say the US government put the Gambino crime family in power in Canada, and renamed it Gambino Canada. Would it be a surprise if many Canadians then hated the US government. Why should Arabians be different?

  • damifinoone2

    Pathetic.

  • jim

    Brit here. The quote from the book is objective, fair, and in many cases very accurate. This article ont he other hand is ideological and juvenile byle.