“The things which have been are the things which shall be, there is nothing new under the Sun.” The old adage that history repeats itself has held true for every generation. But, there is also the old adage about not stepping in the same river twice. Will there be another Cultural Revolution in China—probably not. Will there be something else like the Cultural Revolution—most likely.
Many years ago I read a book about the Cultural Revolution by Bette Bao Lord called "Legacies." She had been born in China then returned there with her husband Winston Lord when he was ambassador to China. She shared many stories of different people and how the Cultural Revolution affected their life. Even with the passing of time one story has stuck with me and still haunts me. She told of a man who had been a student during the Cultural Revolution. He told her of a professor whom he dearly loved. The professor was denounced by the students of the university. They dragged him to the stadium and proceeded to beat him to death. This student told Mrs. Lord that he still doesn’t know what happened to him that day. He got swept up in the fervor and found himself kicking this professor who he loved so dearly. I have never forgotten this story because I have seen it repeated so many times since. Perhaps, not in such a violent manner, but how often do we get swept up in the gossip or backbiting of the moment and find ourselves delivering that last kick to someone we love dearly. Perhaps it is the dark side of each of our personalities. During the Cultural Revolution the dark side of a whole country emerged. It would be arrogant to say that at some future time this couldn’t happen again, here or there.
Yet, times are different and China is not isolated from the world in the way it once was. New technology has given us much great checks and balances. It is harder to control the thoughts and ideas of such a vast amount of people unless you are the only thought they have. Hopefully the flow of information of knowledge will be the safety valve that never allows this history to repeat itself.
2 comments:
Excellent post, Colleen. Thanks for adding a book to my wish list (not sarcasm).
"It is harder to control the thoughts and ideas of such a vast amount of people unless you are the only thought they have."
Good point, Colleen. Mao's China was about thought control. It still can be done, but, as you say, with all the information coming at us, thought control is more difficult.
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