Homework Assignment: Fun With Communism
I swear, I should have been a teacher. My Mom's been doing it since before I was born, so I guess I got it honest.
Alright class, who knows anything about communism?
*crickets, crickets*
Yeah, me too, until about a week ago. I'd heard it was "bad" all the way through school, but no one ever elaborated -- They assumed we knew. (Huh? I thought you were supposed to TEACH us...) They glossed over it and it became a faded textbook, a bloodless conflict, a thing that happened in the 1930's, not something that could ever happen anywhere else but in Europe, Asia or tiny pockets of Central America.
And when it was ever spoken of at all in casual conversation, TV documentaries, news casts and the like, I'd heard it was the wrong way to govern, a grossly catastrophic idea, etc., etc.. But again, no one ever elaborated.
Buzz words like "Nazi Holocaust" (interestingly), "Russian dictatorship", "Red Chinese control", and "Cuban embargo" hung in space, untied to any one thing. In consequence, I spent all these years assuming that it wasn't "that bad". If it was They would have spent more time on it, right? They would have shouted it from the rooftops. There would have been classes taught on it at every university. There would be public service announcements -- something! Now I realize why They stayed silent. If we knew, we would be outraged. And even more outraged when They defended it.
Where does one start on the road to enlightenment? Rent "The Killing Fields." Ignore the main character's opinions on the war. Do the correct and logical thing and blame the Khmer Rouge -- not Nixon. The storyline fortunately makes it easier to be on the side of American forces than the anti-war protagonist. (You'll scratch your head, actually, at his conclusions. This man must have been an idiot to witness what he did and blame anyone else.) You'll notice the "based on a true story" cap lines. And you'll see a follow-up tag at the end. The answer to my one question (posed repeatedly) was always the same. Yes, this happened. Mmm-hmm... Yes, indeed, Pol Pot was worse than nasty. Worse than the cowardice of the U.N. and various European governments? Barely.
Next: "S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine," which takes the "based on" part of "The Killing Fields" to the "actual" part. Over 100,000 "enemies" of the Khmer Rouge were arrested and thrown in the notorious prison known only as "S21". Seven survived. Only three are still alive. This documentary chronicles the meetings of two of the three survivors and the guards who worked there (some still wearing K.R. neck scarves).
Next up: Don Cheadle in "Hotel Rwanda." Warring Rwandan "tribes" (established upon arbitrary selections made by Belgian colonialists) results in the genocide of 1 million men, women and children. This film is one man's struggle to save as many people as he can regardless of tribal affiliation. Also based on a true story. Again, the cowardice of the U.N. and various European governments feature prominently. As do clips of Bill Clinton's radio addresses assuring the people of Rwanda that America will help. Ha.
Get going, kids. Learn about this. And then, thank God you live in America. Fight for your freedom. Because we are not immune.
Alright class, who knows anything about communism?
*crickets, crickets*
Yeah, me too, until about a week ago. I'd heard it was "bad" all the way through school, but no one ever elaborated -- They assumed we knew. (Huh? I thought you were supposed to TEACH us...) They glossed over it and it became a faded textbook, a bloodless conflict, a thing that happened in the 1930's, not something that could ever happen anywhere else but in Europe, Asia or tiny pockets of Central America.
And when it was ever spoken of at all in casual conversation, TV documentaries, news casts and the like, I'd heard it was the wrong way to govern, a grossly catastrophic idea, etc., etc.. But again, no one ever elaborated.
Buzz words like "Nazi Holocaust" (interestingly), "Russian dictatorship", "Red Chinese control", and "Cuban embargo" hung in space, untied to any one thing. In consequence, I spent all these years assuming that it wasn't "that bad". If it was They would have spent more time on it, right? They would have shouted it from the rooftops. There would have been classes taught on it at every university. There would be public service announcements -- something! Now I realize why They stayed silent. If we knew, we would be outraged. And even more outraged when They defended it.
Where does one start on the road to enlightenment? Rent "The Killing Fields." Ignore the main character's opinions on the war. Do the correct and logical thing and blame the Khmer Rouge -- not Nixon. The storyline fortunately makes it easier to be on the side of American forces than the anti-war protagonist. (You'll scratch your head, actually, at his conclusions. This man must have been an idiot to witness what he did and blame anyone else.) You'll notice the "based on a true story" cap lines. And you'll see a follow-up tag at the end. The answer to my one question (posed repeatedly) was always the same. Yes, this happened. Mmm-hmm... Yes, indeed, Pol Pot was worse than nasty. Worse than the cowardice of the U.N. and various European governments? Barely.
Next: "S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine," which takes the "based on" part of "The Killing Fields" to the "actual" part. Over 100,000 "enemies" of the Khmer Rouge were arrested and thrown in the notorious prison known only as "S21". Seven survived. Only three are still alive. This documentary chronicles the meetings of two of the three survivors and the guards who worked there (some still wearing K.R. neck scarves).
Next up: Don Cheadle in "Hotel Rwanda." Warring Rwandan "tribes" (established upon arbitrary selections made by Belgian colonialists) results in the genocide of 1 million men, women and children. This film is one man's struggle to save as many people as he can regardless of tribal affiliation. Also based on a true story. Again, the cowardice of the U.N. and various European governments feature prominently. As do clips of Bill Clinton's radio addresses assuring the people of Rwanda that America will help. Ha.
Get going, kids. Learn about this. And then, thank God you live in America. Fight for your freedom. Because we are not immune.
1 Comments:
Yep. Amen.
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