Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ode to Communism
This is not a post about the glory of communism. It is about a moment in my life that is fundamental to who I would become. I was real young, between 6 & 9, I think seven. My dad had come home for some reason I was spending the weekend with him and we were walking around the block and he asked me what we were talking about in school. At the time in school, we were talking about the cold war. I told him communist Russia, and he in turn asked me what I learned. I said that in Russia they don't believe in God. My dad told me that it was not true. He said that just because the govn't doesn't advocate something, doesn't mean that the people follow blindly. He told me that the govn't does not represent the morals or values of the people. That taught me a lot. The most important thing I learned was the concept of the people. Me and my dad have had many debates over the years, over a variety of things. Other things helped shape who I would become, but this moment in my life started the ball rolling.
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13 comments:
Interesting enough, many people in Russia believed in God but couldn't practice their faith. It was a bit like the Spanish Inquisition without the Virgin and the Savior. I understand why much communistic literature dislikes the effects of religion, but I can never support a society that represses free speech of any kind. That goes also for the nutjob evangelicals who want Christ hanging on the cross at McDonalds. Freedom, please!
Your Dad sounds like a very wise man, and you're a lucky Man!!
I have said for a long time, that this government does NOT represent me, my thinking, or my beliefs!!
Thank you Katron
the communist manifesto rocked, tough.
In the nineteenth century, Marx said that religion was the opiate of the masses. In the twentieth century not only is this still often the case, but now opiates have also become the religion of the masses.
In other words, the fight against the popular conception of communism was really a fight over control, and the mechanisms of social control.
Marx argued against transendence because he understood that much of the social hierarchy that relied such things as serfdom, slavery and indentured servitude stemmed in large part from the people's understanding that such was their function in life, as designated by God. Yet, people like Father Romero in South America managed to reshape Marx's doctrine to include a different understanding of religion and faith, just as Lenin and Trotsky reshaped Marxist thought to fit the needs of a primarily agrarian society.
One thing I have noticed over the years: if you talk to people--doesn't matter whether they tell you they are conservative or liberal--about their principles, and what they feel is right, you will come to the startling suspicion that the overwhelming ideology of Americans is communistic. That's not to say that people identify with communism in the way it was presented to them (e.g. Cuba, China, etc.) as a totalitarian society. Rather, as a Marxist tenet that if they produce wealth they are entitled to a more equitable share of that wealth.
I'm just amazed that you were learning about Russia in the second or third grade.
I didn't have a wise father such as yours but I always doubted what we were told about that country and its govt.
What?
The government does not represent the values or beliefs of the people?
N0, that just can't be true...
I guess that if they didn't follow their government blindly in commie Russia, there is still hope for America during what many consider to be a time when the country is headed in a direction which it never has before.
c-dell- this is in response to the blogswarm question- blue gal will have more info when she gets back from vacation- so check there next week. typically folks just do a post and link up with others doing these posts- i don't know how she is going to set it up though.
you can't kill thoughts or ideas- even if you can suppress them. wise man your dad.
Nice post, I knew there was a wise older figure in your background.
Just like you, I look up to me Dad very much when I was growing-up, though I don't get to see him or spend time with him as much as I wanted to.
He worked hours and hours in a day, only to return home late at night to feed and clothe his 8 children.
It took a toll on him when he had a bad accident that left him in a body cast due to broken rips for months at home.
Tough authority figure, he had to be... to keep all of us in check and on good behavior.
Like my country Singapore, that is tough in enforcing the law, I don't think it's communism, but for the greater good of the whole "family."
To me, the government is like a father figure appointed rightly by the "family."
Certain things or policy made is meant for the greater good of the masses, even though it may not be a popular one.
Having said that, the family must voice out and react to an abusive "father" than keep in silence... again, for the greater good of everyone.
Communism is an ideal... absolute. Absolute power corrupts, because humans aren't perfect.
Hey, e-mail me.
jamestown.james @ gee-mail.
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