The Unbearable Lightness

of Being Teacher Guy

According to google the name of the book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” comes from a theory by Friedrich Nietzche who posited that events reoccur an infinite number of times making them heavier. Those things that happen once have a lightness. The author of the Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kiundera, felt that we all have a singular, unique life to live, and all things only happen once to us and never again, giving us an unbearable lightness of being.

I have read social media posts, articles on Substack, and reams of comments back and forth about revelations about Paul Egan that were made public by a UFT Staffer named Jamie Polzin. They were graphic, and credible, and further illustrates Paul Egan’s unfitness for office and supervisory authority.

In the comments of a Facebook post ABC presidential candidate and former UFT Queens borough rep Amy Arundell tried to clear his name. She made false claims about the results of an investigation, and falsely claimed that Paul was innocent of any wrongdoing. She asserted that Jamie was lucky to have been fortunate to have kept her job as a UFT staffer. She further tried to clear her own name by saying that she spoke to another UFT staffer to warn him of associating with Jamie not knowing that they were in a relationship.

There’s a few things about those claims I don't understand and wish would be cleared up for me. At the time Amy was serving as UFT Queens borough representative. Jamie did not share the allegations with her, and Amy was not involved in discussing the allegations with her. Why would Amy claim that they were unsubstantiated and why would she further claim that Jamie was lucky to not have been returned to a school? She had no involvement or first hand knowledge of any of this. Knowing what occurred between Paul and Jamie was traumatic, and that by revealing it publicly would retraumatize her, why would Amy publicly cast doubt on her. That seems counter to Amy’s claim of wanting to address toxic workplace issues.

The other thing that stood out to me was Amy’s claim of talking to a UFT staffer in Queens about not associating with Jamie not knowing that they were involved in a relationship. Something feels wrong about that claim. If we take it on face value, and she spoke to him not knowing that they were in a relationship, are we to believe that Amy only spoke to him and no one else? In my mind, either Amy spoke to everyone in the borough office she led at that time, and all of her many friends within the UFT, and only came across a person Jamie was in a relationship with coincidentally or she only spoke to this rep, and this rep alone. And if she singled out this rep, and only spoke to him, an intelligent and plugged in person like Amy must have known they were in a relationship and spoke to him with the intent of ending their relationship, isolating Jamie, and further harming her. Either explanation reveals unethical and immoral actions designed to protect a serial sexual harasser.

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This election is unlike any I have witnessed or have been a part of. In my reading of UFT history there hasn’t been an election as unique as this one. This election is singular in its ineluctable drama and wreckage of relationships.

We, the UFT, have never aired out our laundry like this before. We have had strongly worded arguments of policy and even had nasty name calling and accusations of all sorts, But this feels different. It really does.

I started this blog because I felt that this election was unique. I felt that a consolidated opposition presented an existential threat to Unity. I saw the potential of a political world view that in my opinion would be deleterious to teacher unions and the union movement. At that time, when the idea of this blog began to form within me there were no speakers for Unity on social media. Today there are many, and the space is filled with several great writers and content producers who I look forward to reading or engaging with.

There are days where there is an “Avengers Assemble!” feel when Unity writers and content producers rise to meet the moment and defend and fight for what they believe in. I am often left questioning what more I can add to the conversation without being redundant, while at the same time staying true to my voice and view.

The unbearable lightness of being in this moment of time is to realize that an existential threat to the UFT has presented itself. It's just not the one we all thought it was going to be. Chinua Achebe would say that the UFC coalition’s center could not hold, and it fell apart. What we are left with is a three way race to win the right to lead the largest teacher union local in the country.

I still feel a profound disagreement over policy, and political philosophy with the coalition members of Arise. I won’t vote for them and I will fight for every last vote against them. But their comportment throughout this election has been professional, political and not personal. That can change. There are 32 days left until ballots go out, and 61 until they are counted and a winner is announced; people and organizations can shift when under pressure. The jury is out on them.

The difference with ABC is that its top leadership, Amy, Paul, Leah, Arthur, and Steve have repeatedly lowered the bar of what could be expected of them. They have resorted to victim shaming, threats of lawsuits, general threats against individuals, blocking of comments, and responses, childish behavior, and the list goes on.

These incidents reinforce the notion that this is an existential election. When the dust clears and the ballots are counted will we have a union that respects members, works for everyone or will we have a vindictive, mean, and paranoid leadership that shuts out voices and shames people that don’t agree with it? ABC has become an organization whose leadership seeks to retaliate against any threat to its narrow and self interested worldview. In public, they accept no accountability, and this alarms me.

I am sure there are a number of people in ABC who genuinely want reform. They see problems in our schools that they want fixed as soon as possible. They see things they want the UFT to address as soon as possible if not sooner. I respect the idea that there is work to be done and that we must join together to do it.

I just don’t see how the leadership of ABC fulfills that mission. In my eyes they fall short in every way of the social contract leaders have with the people they must lead and protect.

It takes an ocean of understanding for people to be friends. Relationships require an ocean of trust. What I see now shows me that most of us can’t fill an empty glass with understanding or trust. I have cast stones. When this is over I will use those stones to rebuild. The sword will become a plowshare. The harsh word will become a handshake. Water will fill the sea with understanding and trust, and we will become one, united union once again. Until then we have work to do and a political season to finish.

With the victory we are working for the lightness of being will become bearable again. I can’t wait. In Unity I trust.