http://www.dailytargum.com/opinions/rebel-culture-ignorant-of-real-issues-1.2158434
By Aaron Marcus
February 17, 2010
If someone walked into a classroom or up and down College Avenue
flaunting a Heinrich Himmler T-shirt, it would be sure to cause some
stirs, and rightfully so. After all, it is deplorable for anyone to
joyfully personify a genocidal mass-murderer. Yet for some reason,
people worldwide most notably, American college students stand
silent when their friends and fellow classmates don the image of the
Marxist, murderous, Cuban parity to Himmler, Ernesto "Che" Guevara. I
am going to make an optimistic, general assumption that the vast
majority of Che admirers know little, if anything, about this
terrible world figure.
There are many different types of Che lovers, mostly between the ages
of 18-30, who can be classified into four distinct categories: the
spoiled rich kid "rebel," the communist wannabe, the anti-war yuppie
and, worst of all, the kid who just "wants to look cool." The most
ironic of these four types of Che aficionados are by far the anti-war
yuppies. These are people who attend rallies wielding signs calling
for an end to war while wearing their favorite warmonger on their
T-shirt. How ironic that people protesting against war will wear the
face of a man who killed thousands of journalists, businessmen,
women, children and dissenters, all while defending his actions by
claiming these people were "counterrevolutionaries." When the
revolution in Cuba came to a close, Che took the reigns of La Cabana
prison, where his coldblooded torture, maiming and murder of
thousands of prisoners took full swing. These yuppies are either
extremely bipolar or should ostentatiously proclaim that war is bad
unless it is facilitated by a Marxist revolutionary.
Yet, the atrocities committed by this sociopath did not end or start
with murder. The communist wannabes who adore Che will be
disheartened to find that their iconic leader really did not despise
capitalism all that much. In fact, his largest concern was the
general public attaining too much wealth, which is why he opposed the
wage labor system of appropriating surplus value solely when it came
to private industry. But he also turned the appropriation of the
workers' surplus value into a state system, effectively distributing
the wealth of the proletariat while the government reaped the
benefits. Che and his cronies were so obsessed with attaining wealth
that they set up concentration and forced labor camps in order to
keep their dissidents in check, while creating capital for the government.
It is here the spoiled rich kid "rebel" most accurately resembles the
life of Che. Raised in an upper-class home in Argentina, Che quickly
began to witness the extreme poverty that was rampant throughout
South America. Yet instead of working toward the interest of the
individuals who were suffering, he decided to join the ranks of
Marxist and Leninist dictators, suppressing the rights of all and
shrinking the upper class while building a larger lower class. The
problem with Marxism and Leninism is that it advocates against the
bourgeoisie by leveling out the playing field through redistribution
policies that ration food, medical supplies and wealth.
However, I assume the people who just "want to look cool" do not
really care about his revolutionary past or communist tendencies.
Rather, they see a faded, rugged-looking T-shirt and are trying to
make a style statement. Why else would anyone wear a T-shirt of a man
they knew nothing about? It would be like seeing a swastika, saying
it looks cool and parading around town with it on your T-shirt. If
you wouldn't wear a swastika, don't wear a Che shirt. Sure, Che and
Fidel and Raul Castro did not kill nearly as many people as the Nazi
regime, but if they had the resources to do so they would have
definitely made the attempt. Che is recorded as saying that if he had
the power, he would have nuked New York City; concurrently, the
Castro regime embodied racist and homophobic rhetoric only paralleled
by the likes of the Hitler, Stalin and Mao regimes.
Perhaps if musician Carlos Santana knew that Che thought, "Mexicans
are a band of illiterate Indians," he wouldn't parade around in his
T-shirt at awards ceremonies and red carpet events. Perhaps if
college students knew that Che imprisoned and killed homosexuals
based solely on their sexual orientation, they wouldn't revere this
butcher of the innocent.
The scruffy, beret-wearing image of a man responsible for killing and
torturing thousands should never be celebrated. If you are fond of
the way he led a group of rebels against an establishment, I urge you
to find another role model. It is a slap in the face to the victims,
not only in Cuba, but also to the hundreds of millions of victims of
communism throughout the world. Americans are entitled to free
speech, but just for a moment, sit and think about the statement you
are making. While you might see an interesting T-shirt, most of the
world sees a cold-blooded killer.
--
Aaron Marcus is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in
political science and history.
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