Letters to the Editor

I would like someone to rationalize this contradiction for me: why is it that the same people who preach peace, love and tolerance also buy into this society’s strange fascination with and admiration of militant radicalism, namely, Che Guevara. Why is Che Guevara a fashion icon and a symbol of being hip and with it?

Some people seem to overlook the fact that he murdered thousands of innocent people for not agreeing with his violent revolution. He was a totalitarian in every sense of the word and killed anyone who got in his way. It’s a strange phenomenon of the left: a group of people so about peace and love and all that jazz with one of the most violent men of the 20th century on a pedestal.

I typed Che Guevara into a Google search and numerous photos and articles popped up with great enthusiasm for this murderer. One link read “TIME 100: Che Guevara: Though communism may have lost its fire, he remains the potent symbol of rebellion and the alluring zeal of revolution.” I found very little about the more, shall we say, unnerving aspects of his life.

The one anti-Che article I did find mentioned something that made it even more interesting to me that all of Che Guevara’s drooling fan base lie on the left: “He founded Cuba’s ‘labor camp’ system: the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents and AIDS victims.” Paul Berman, the author of this article, goes on to illustrate the hypocrisy of the cult of Che even more clearly, “Che was an enemy of freedom, and yet he has been erected into a symbol of freedom. He helped establish an unjust social system in Cuba and has been erected into a symbol of social justice. He stood for the ancient rigidities of Latin-American thought, in a Marxist-Leninist version, and he has been celebrated as a free-thinker and a rebel.”

In no way does violent revolution go hand in hand with being tolerant and open to other people’s opinions and thoughts. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Che Guevara style politicking is basically the idea that we are right and we are so right that anyone who dares disagree with us deserves to die. The death may be quick by firing squad or through slow painful torture, but hey… details, details.

How has the left come to accept this intense cognitive dissonance in its thought? Is the answer merely that the general populace has no ability to think for itself and thus goes along with trends without bothering to look at the facts? I fear it may be so.

As I search for a relevance to the election, the only one I can find is one that will probably get me stoned by the Obamaniacs. Whatever your position on the man, he has many interesting associations with radicals. The left seems to accept radicalism even to the point of saying Bill Ayers is a good man and productive member of society. Never mind that he is an unrepentant terrorist who wishes he would have bombed more and killed more.

I’m not saying Obama is a terrorist; I’m just saying he and his supporters seem strangely accepting of such behavior. It is election season and ever more important that we as people who have the right to vote (it should be noted that good ol’ Che would not let you vote, nor would he even let you voice your opinion) should exercise this right to the best of our ability. Don’t support someone just because it’s strangely fashionable. Get the facts, know what you believe and why you believe it, because our country deserves it.

- Becky Zierke (‘11)