Oct. 9: A confession

 This is an extra (and short) post on the subject of communism. It arises from an earlier blog in which I noted the western fury at the rise of communism in Russia of a century ago and in China today.

As I said eariler, I do not write this with any great understanding of communism. I don't know enough to either approve or condemn it. But I am interested in how our politicians and news media have dealt with it.

Russia's performance in World War One, a time when China was ruled by the Romanovs and by the Russian aristocracy. life for all others was brutal and miserable. That may explain why the performance of the Russians against a German invasion was not impressive. But it also triggered a revolt against the Romanovs and the aristocracy who had long abused the Russian people And abused them horribly. So it was that the Russian people arose against the Romanovs and the aristocracy. And they fought for a form of government called communism.

The western leaders, including those in Canada and the U.S., were horrified. In Britain, Winston Churchill pressed for an invasion right away. (Of course. The monarchy and aristocracy was all that he knew and loved.) He wanted a new war even as World War One was still going on.

The western news media demanded a western attack on Russia. Of course. They were owned by exactly the same sort of people as were the Romanovs and the Russian aristocracy. A Russian revolution would be a terrible threat to them. So, even as World War One was going on, our news media demanded an attack on Russia.

Oh - and did I tell you they accused the Russian rebels of all kinds of sins? But for the Russian royal family they had only praise. Many Canadian  papers wept over the murder of the Royal family, especially the women. But I haven't seen them at all concerned about the U.S. targetting of millions of women and children.

In 1918, Canada sent an army into Russia. It was only just over 4,000 men who immediately settled into a quiet city and did nothing much of anything. In two years, the total Canadian sacrifice was 14 men. The U.S. and Britain sent small forces - that also did much of nothing.

Japan sent in a real army of 70,000 - and with a real purpose. It wanted to bite off a chunk of Russia and to make it a Japanese imperial colony. Similarly, other countries sent in forces for their own advantage. But the Russians held on so that, by 1928 everybody else went home.

Stalin came to power in 1924. Now, Stalin was never one of my favourite people. But he would control Russia into and through the years to World War Two. He led a Russia that he had prepared for it. In fact, it wasn't us who beat Hitler. It was Stalin. Not only had he united the Russian people. He had made Russia an industrial giant that could produce weapons of high quality. Without Russia, we would have lost the war in Europe. (This is not just my idea. Scholars of the war largely recognize the decisive and essential role of Russia in defeating Hitler. Stalin had made Russia into a modern country.)

The country that has ravaged the world since the war is not Russia - or China. It's the U.S. that has been murdering women and children. It's the U.S. that has been a non-stop killer of millions for that last 70 years. (And the U.S. is the country that kills its own people by denying medical care to most of them. For the U.S., producing medicine and medical care is simply about enriching the very rich who own the health system.) 

You want to live a long time? Don't go to the U.S. Get born again in Argentina - or China.

The country that has been ravaging the world and deliberately killing women and children isn't Russia or China. It's the U.S. A pioneer of killing women and children was Winston Churchill in 1920 who bombed defenceless civilians in Kurd towns. He also pioneered the deliberate enforced starvation of millions of civilians in India during World War Two even though food supplies were easy to reach. Betcha your favourite news medium never told you about that.

The U.S. air force deliberately targets civilians - men, women and children. That became a policy after the bombing of Dresden in WW2, Pilots were directed to bomb civilian areas in Korea, Afghanistan, all over the middle east. In Guatemala, the American CIA  specialized in killing hundreds of thousands of Catholics, priests, nuns, and missionaries. Our news media have never even reported it.

Capitalism is extraordinarily cruel in a pattern going back thousands of years before capitalism when evil was the trademark of abusive kings, and other very rich people.

It was communism that led China out of the horrors of western colonialism. Capitalism and it's western bosses had horribly destroyed China for about 150 years. Through to the late 1940s, the capitalist west supported the murderous and corrupt Chiang Kai Shek who among other things, controlled and spread what must have been the biggest drug industry in the world. He also forced the people of China to live in poverty and filth while enriching himself and other capitalists.

When I was in China some 40 years ago, there were still signs of dreadful housing.When I see pictures of it now, it's marvelously improved. There are magnificent apartment buildings. Indeed, the Chinese have overbuilt them leaving a great many still empty.

My sympathies in that part of the world are with Hong Kong. But one cannot fail to notice China's progress.

Am I a believer in communism? No. I don't know nearly enough about it to make such a decision. And capitalism? No. I do understand enough about it. And I don't intend to let our news media tell me what to think.