Marie Thorstone (she/they)
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marie-thorstone.bsky.social
Marie Thorstone (she/they)
@marie-thorstone.bsky.social
260 followers 1.3K following 77 posts
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
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marie-thorstone.bsky.social
The 10 lessons are numbered and listed in bold with a brief explanation underneath: Truth can be manipulated. When those in power control information, they control reality itself. If history is rewritten, people can be made to forget what was once true. Language shapes thought. Orwell's concept of Newspeak shows how limiting words can limit freedom. If people cannot name rebellion or justice, they may not be able to imagine them. Surveillance destroys freedom. "Big Brother is watching you" warns us that constant monitoring strips away privacy, individuality, and trust. Fear is a tool of control. The Party rules not through love or loyalty but through fear, punishment, and terror, which keeps citizens obedient. Conformity can crush individuality. Winston and Julia's attempts to love and think freely shows how hard it is to resist a system that demands total conformity. Propaganda replaces reality. Endless slogans ("War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength") illustrate how repetition can make people accept contradictions. Totalitarianism erases humanity. The Party's ultimate goal is not just obedience but domination of the human mind—destroying even private loyalties and emotions. Freedom begins in thought. Winston's rebellion starts with the simple idea: "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four." Independent thought is the first step toward resistance. Power seeks power for its own sake. As O'Brien tells Winston, the Party doesn't care about justice or progress; it wants power only to keep and expand power. Complacency is dangerous. Orwell's warning is timeless: if people ignore abuses of power, they may gradually accept surveillance, censorship, and manipulation as "normal." "Nineteen Eighty-Four is not just a story about a grim future—it's a mirror held up to society to keep us alert to the risks of unchecked power."
September 30, 2025 at 2:46 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
August 10, 2025 at 6:12 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
#MLK #NoJusticeNoPeace
It is divisive to call for peace without working for justice. It is uncivilized to ask for civility while prospering from and perpetuating devastating systemic and policy violence. “True peace,” my father said, “is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Bernice A. King. CEO, The King Center.
July 25, 2025 at 10:08 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
anti-fascist reading list. comment with your additions! 📚💙 #summerreading
ANTI-FASCIST READING LIST 1. 1984 by George Orwell 2. Animal Farm by George Orwell 3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 4. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret 5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 6. The Wave by Todd Strasser 7. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin 8. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis 9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 10. V for Vendetta by Alan Moore 11. The Long Walk Home by Stephen King 12. Anything by Hannah Arendt
June 25, 2025 at 12:48 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
There's always a tweet. Sometimes 2 or 3!
June 17, 2025 at 11:30 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
Well some details have certainly been clarified about the situation. But this is still horrible and inhumane on multiple counts. #Georgia #abortion #heartbeatbill
June 17, 2025 at 11:29 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
100% meeee 💙📚
An illustrated rabbit in soft yellow bed covers reading a green hardcover book next to a nightstand with a lamp and two more books. Text reads: "Sometimes I pretend to myself that I have insomnia but what I really have is a good book and no respect for tomorrow. ~ For Reading Addicts"
June 4, 2025 at 11:26 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
"Conspiracy theorists say things like cloud seeding exists and then don't see the connections between an administration that ended FEMA and gives tax incentives to billion-dollar companies that can afford to come in and buy up all that land after natural disasters."
June 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
All reading counts. 📚💙
A graphic with hands holding books. Text: "all reading counts. Graphic novels, audiobooks, magazines, read alouds, movie captions, the back of the cereal box." Via We Are Teachers.
May 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
My goals as an educator <3 #education #inclusion
Drawing of a white cat holding purple, yellow, and pink flowers on a pink floral background. Text reads: Be the reason someone feels welcomed, seen, heard, valued, loved, and supported. @jessicacreates
May 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
the urge to share this every time I see it is *strong* 💙📚
Image post with a drawing of a little girl facing away toward a tall chair, that reads "Students need to read books. Entire books. Our society is distracted, unfocused, and in a hurry. A curriculum that rushes through content perpetuates the anxiety of our time. Reading a book (slowly and leisurely) is a countercultural act." -Brian Tolentino, M.Ed.
May 18, 2025 at 6:30 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
Hot take I agree with. In all my years of teaching (since 2020) at the university level, freshman and sophomore students *obsess* over getting the right answer, and will do what it takes to get there. Very few actually focus on understanding & knowing underlying principles of physics. #USeducation
May 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
100% agree we should be able to write off #studentloans as a business expense. #highered #university
@DarrigoMelanie post reading: If your job requires a college degree, you should be able to write-off your student loan payments as a business expense the way CEOs write off their private jets and yachts for their jobs which require neither.
May 11, 2025 at 3:11 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
"It's interesting to hear how we're too strong for sports but too weak for military."
May 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
Imagine a system where we could successfully figure out how to do taxes effectively just from having a good quality high school education? Because that should be a thing.
May 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
📚💙 #booksky I know it says to "bring back" but I definitely bought my daughter a few newer novels that have maps. I would love a list of pronunciations!
May 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
TBR #bannedbooks 📚💙
May 9, 2025 at 12:59 PM
marie-thorstone.bsky.social
Here's our mosasaur at Georgia Southern! Also home to the Georgiacetus skelly found at the Vogtle plant site in 1983. (source: ww2.georgiasouthern.edu/academics/mu...)
April 25, 2025 at 11:24 PM