The line on page 1036 about “schoolchildren scrambling under
their desks during air raid drills” prompted me to remember having drills in
school, where a bell would go off (sometimes we were tipped off ahead of time,
and sometimes not), and everyone would have to evacuate the building in
single-file fashion, then stand outside in the freezing cold until led back
into the building. Freaky.
The word ‘communism’ scares me, even though it when
described, it sounds sort of like it is looking for some kind of leveling of
the playing field, but nonetheless, it inhibits freedom, and that, my friend,
is not what people have been striving for throughout history.
‘Bolsheviks’ has got to be the most fun words ever to have
been conjured up, despite the fact that they were total bullies.
Reading about the rise of Chinese communism reminds me of
the 1998 movie Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down
Girl, a haunting film that has stuck with me to this day. Here is a recap from Wikipedia:
Xiu Xiu (Chinese: 秀秀), a 15-year-old girl living in the city of Chengdu, moves out to study
horses in the countryside with a nomadic Tibetan. She is told that after six
months, she will return to take charge of her all-girl cavalry unit. However
she quickly discovers that she is not returning. She learns lessons about life
while struggling against corrupt government officials who manipulate her hopes
and body. Her only friend is the eunuch
horseman, Lao Jin.
Her body is manipulated alright, because she is continually
strung along with hopes of escape and was only continually raped in
return. Very sad and not for the
faint of heart.
Interesting tidbit that “communist countries pioneered forms
of women’s liberation” (p. 1046) – I was totally unawares of that piece of
information.
Very smart of “the party” to grant women their own organization,
the Zhenotdel. They knew how to
use their resources wisely, until opposition from men began to surface, and it
was taken away. Let’s face it, men
just cannot deal with women having the lethal combination of intellect and
power. Deep down, the men who have
to take away the threat of women are cowardly on the inside. It boils down to this: Men are afraid of being outsmarted by
women.
Yep, women’s liberation is a double-edged sword, as attested
on page 1047: “the double burden
of housework and child care plus paid employment continued to afflict most
women.”
Hypocrisy is the name of the game, as reading about Stalin
on page 1050 attests.
Nature has been synonymous with the female gender, as I have
learned in various classes at NDNU, and men have always wished to control
both. Thus, it is no wonder that
our environment is in its current state.
The word “heedlessness” on page 1051 sums it up nicely.
The Great Purge was a lose-lose situation. Even if you were on the side of the
government, you did not stand a chance to survive (bottom of page 1053). “The smell of death was all around her”
as Carson McCullers expressed in The
Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
What a mess!
Mao calls for rebellion against the communist party, then has to turn
around and call in the military because complete chaos ensued. Put a woman in charge for God’s sake.
Gadzooks! My
year of birth coincides with the eerie photo of the hydrogen bomb test on page
1057. “Responsible scientists
discussed the possible extinction of the human species under such conditions.” Uh, YEAH – don’t ya think?! So, both sides, the U.S. and Russia,
continued to build up their nuclear arms, yet agreed to sidestep direct
military confrontation because God forbid if one has weapons of mass destruction
and the other does not!
Corruption and vices and drugs – Oh My! Why, this is the stuff of modern
society (China discussion p. 1062-3).
The next to last paragraph on page 1067 sums up communism
beautifully – to the oppressed, it brought hope and opportunities, yet crime
became prevalent, killings were rampant, and violations of human rights soared.
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