{"id":343,"date":"2006-07-25T02:07:42","date_gmt":"2006-07-25T06:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=343"},"modified":"2018-08-22T07:28:04","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T11:28:04","slug":"14715-%c2%a0%c2%a0-jung-chang-mao-the-unknown-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=343","title":{"rendered":"14715. (Jung Chang) Mao, the Unknown Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"06-07-25<\/a>There\u2019s a com\u00admon belief, fos\u00adtered in gen\u00adtle soci\u00adeties, where peo\u00adple expect their chil\u00addren to grow up, and famine nev\u00ader stalks the land, that there is no such thing as absolute evil, and that dic\u00adta\u00adtors are con\u00adfused ide\u00adal\u00adists who took a wrong turn. This, the first seri\u00adously researched and accu\u00adrate biog\u00adra\u00adphy of Mao Zedong, should dis\u00adabuse any\u00adone of such naiv\u00adit\u00e9. I have spent most of my life\u00adtime study\u00ading the motives, ide\u00adolo\u00adgies, mech\u00ada\u00adnisms, and agents of slav\u00adery, but I was still not pre\u00adpared for the con\u00adtents of this book, which is one of the most impor\u00adtant biogra\u00adphies of mod\u00adern times. It is absolute\u00adly essen\u00adtial that this book be in every library and school in the world, for Holo\u00adcaust Denial is the endem\u00adic sick\u00adness of our age, and the wor\u00adship of mass mur\u00adder\u00aders the endem\u00adic sick\u00adness of all ages.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remem\u00adber when col\u00adlege cam\u00adpuses were adorned with posters of Mao, when Jean-Paul Sartre was pro\u00adclaim\u00ading that Mao\u2019s \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary vio\u00adlence\u201d was \u201cpro\u00adfoundly moral\u201d, when uni\u00adver\u00adsity pro\u00adfes\u00adsors prat\u00adtled the moron\u00adic, mega\u00adlo\u00adma\u00adniac slo\u00adgans of Mao\u2019s Lit\u00adtle Red Book<\/em> [\u201cPow\u00ader comes from the muz\u00adzle of a gun\u201d] as if they were pro\u00adfound phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, and a lawyer and fem\u00adi\u00adnist activist tried to slap me in the face when I told her that Mao was a geno\u00adci\u00addal crim\u00adi\u00adnal. I remem\u00adber when anoth\u00ader stu\u00addent activist glee\u00adfully showed me a pho\u00adto\u00adgraph of one of Mao\u2019s \u201cprojects\u201d \u2014 thou\u00adsands of ragged, starved, bru\u00adtal\u00adized slaves dig\u00adging up earth with their bare hands while machine-gun-tot\u00ading Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty cadr\u00e9s watched over them, smok\u00ading cig\u00ada\u00adrettes, barbed wire and wood\u00aden watch\u00adtow\u00aders clear\u00adly vis\u00adi\u00adble in the back\u00adground. This, he explained, was the ide\u00adal soci\u00adety, Utopia being con\u00adstructed for the com\u00admon good. This was not even the death camps or the lao\u00adgai<\/em>, mind you, of which no pic\u00adtures where per\u00admit\u00adted to exist, but of one of the projects the Par\u00adty liked to pub\u00adli\u00adcize. And their cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtions were cor\u00adrect. To the cam\u00adpus intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals in Paris, Berke\u00adley, or Toron\u00adto, such pic\u00adtures were appeal\u00ading. To any actu\u00adal human being, they could not be any\u00adthing but hor\u00adri\u00adfy\u00ading and disgusting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, to me, as I dis\u00adcerned even as a child, it was inescapable fact that Mao was the great\u00adest geno\u00adci\u00addal psy\u00adchopath in human his\u00adtory. In one year alone, he mur\u00addered between twen\u00adty and thir\u00adty mil\u00adlion peo\u00adple, and even the most con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive esti\u00admate of his total death count put him far ahead of Stal\u00adin and Hitler combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

But most dic\u00adta\u00adtors show at least some signs of human\u00adity. They love their pets. They use their ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal schemes to jus\u00adtify their crimes to them\u00adselves, or they grow slow\u00adly into their roles as mon\u00adsters from more nor\u00admal beginn\u00adings. Usu\u00adally they are squea\u00admish, and make sure they are insu\u00adlated from actu\u00adally wit\u00adness\u00ading most the hor\u00adrors they cre\u00adate. None of this with Mao. There was noth\u00ading in him, from the first we know any\u00adthing about him, except the desire to cre\u00adate the max\u00adi\u00admum of human suf\u00adfer\u00ading, cre\u00adate the max\u00adi\u00admum plea\u00adsure for him\u00adself, and destroy as much as he could of the world. Raised in com\u00adfort and priv\u00adilege in a wealthy rur\u00adal fam\u00adily, he showed from the beginn\u00ading, and at all times there\u00adafter, absolute con\u00adtempt for peas\u00adants and the down\u00adtrod\u00adden poor, and lat\u00ader delight\u00aded in exter\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading them. As a young stu\u00addent, he laid out his phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, which did not change one atom dur\u00ading his life\u00adtime: \u201cI do not agree with the view that to be moral, the motive of one\u2019s action has to be ben\u00ade\u00adfit\u00ading oth\u00aders.\u2026 Peo\u00adple like me want to sat\u00adisfy our hearts to the full, and in doing so we auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcally have the most valu\u00adable moral codes. Of course there are peo\u00adple and objects in the world, but they are all there only for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He soon found the atmos\u00adphere of Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty, with it\u2019s lim\u00adit\u00adless greed, bru\u00adtal\u00adity, and treach\u00adery, con\u00adge\u00adnial to his ambi\u00adtions. The racist, geno\u00adci\u00addal teach\u00adings of Karl Marx have been the mother\u2019s milk of most of the last century\u2019s tyrants, and Mao delight\u00aded in using its tools with greater skill and ruth\u00adless\u00adness than his many rivals. \u201cThe coun\u00adtry must be destroyed and then reformed.\u2026 This applies to the coun\u00adtry, to the nation, and to mankind.. The destruc\u00adtion of the uni\u00adverse is the same\u2026People like me long for its destruc\u00adtion, because when the old uni\u00adverse is destroyed, a new uni\u00adverse will be formed. Isn\u2019t that bet\u00adter!\u201d. He rose fast in the orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion, by judi\u00adciously swin\u00addling, betray\u00ading, fram\u00ading, tor\u00adtur\u00ading and mur\u00adder\u00ading every\u00adone who could con\u00adceiv\u00adably obstruct or com\u00adpete with him. In a high\u00adly com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion of swindlers, betray\u00aders, framers, tor\u00adtur\u00aders and mur\u00adder\u00aders, this was real skill. He always knew were secu\u00adrity was: in keep\u00ading in Stalin\u2019s favour, and keep\u00ading the mon\u00adey flow\u00ading into his hands. Mao adored tor\u00adture, loved wit\u00adness\u00ading it direct\u00adly, and enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adti\u00adcally added as many obscene and baroque details to its prac\u00adtice as his fer\u00adtile imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion could concoct.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biog\u00adra\u00adphy final\u00adly puts an end to the absurd myths gen\u00ader\u00adated by Mao\u2019s care\u00adful manip\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of dumb jour\u00adnal\u00adists like Edgar Snow and Simone de Beau\u00advoir. The authors uncov\u00ader the truth behind the imag\u00adi\u00adnary hero\u00adic bat\u00adtles, the lies about egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan\u00adism, kind\u00adness to peas\u00adants and grass roots sup\u00adport. Even before the Long March began, Mao\u2019s Com\u00admu\u00adnist forces had mur\u00addered a fifth of the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of the region they con\u00adtrolled, and reduced the rest to slave labour, under a regime of absolute ter\u00adror. The hero\u00adic war against the Japan\u00adese was anoth\u00ader com\u00adpletely imag\u00adi\u00adnary con\u00adcoc\u00adtion. Mao\u2019s Com\u00admu\u00adnist force nev\u00ader engaged in any fight\u00ading with the Japan\u00adese, except for one tiny skir\u00admish that hap\u00adpened by acci\u00addent (and which made Mao furi\u00adous). Mao\u2019s strat\u00adegy was, indeed, to help the Japan\u00adese con\u00adquest as much as he could. He was filled with admi\u00adra\u00adtion for Stal\u00adin and Hitler\u2019s divi\u00adsion of Poland when the Com\u00admu\u00adnists allied with the Nazis. He want\u00aded to see Chi\u00adna half-con\u00adquered by Japan, so that the Sovi\u00adets would back him as ruler of the oth\u00ader half. But the defeat of Japan by the Unit\u00aded States and its allies, and Stalin\u2019s skill in fill\u00ading Chi\u00adang Kai-shek\u2019s army with sleep\u00ader dou\u00adble agents at the high\u00adest lev\u00adels, who sim\u00adply ordered their armies into ambush\u00ades to be slaugh\u00adtered, hand\u00aded Mao all of Chi\u00adna on a platter.<\/span><\/p>\n

From his vic\u00adtory, onward, all the more famil\u00adiar hor\u00adrors unroll \u2014 the direct\u00aded famines, the count\u00adless ter\u00adror cam\u00adpaigns, the Great Leap For\u00adward, the wars in which mil\u00adlions died for obscure minor chess-moves of ambi\u00adtion, the unbe\u00adliev\u00adable suf\u00adfer\u00ading of the over\u00adwhelm\u00ading bulk of the Chi\u00adnese Peo\u00adple in order to sup\u00adport the palaces and priv\u00adileges of the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Rich, the peas\u00adantry squeezed into star\u00adva\u00adtion to pay for nuclear weapons, bribe for\u00adeign rulers and fund the glob\u00adal Cult of Mao, the attempt\u00aded destruc\u00adtion of all Chi\u00adnese art and cul\u00adture. And always, the tor\u00adture. Tor\u00adture used on a scale that bog\u00adgles the mind of even the most cyn\u00adi\u00adcal stu\u00addent of his\u00adtory. Tor\u00adture of the most incon\u00adceiv\u00adable, arcane, cre\u00adative orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adity. Tor\u00adture, tor\u00adture, tor\u00adture, and more tor\u00adture, with Mao smack\u00ading his lips in delight at every new twist, every new improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

This book is his\u00adtory. Hard, cold fact, chron\u00adi\u00adcled dis\u00adpas\u00adsion\u00adately from rig\u00ador\u00adous schol\u00adar\u00adship. It tells the truth. If any\u00adone can read this, and not grasp that evil exists, then they are pitiable fools.<\/span><\/p>\n

A curi\u00adous foot\u00adnote: In his solip\u00adsis\u00adtic uni\u00adverse, Mao had no inter\u00adest or con\u00adcern for oth\u00ader human beings. His sev\u00aderal chil\u00addren, for instance, were casu\u00adally aban\u00addoned to starve, or shunt\u00aded into insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. Wives were tor\u00admented and aban\u00addoned, and one lit\u00ader\u00adally dri\u00adven insane. But there was one inter\u00adest\u00ading excep\u00adtion. In his old age, Mao dis\u00adplayed a gen\u00aduine sen\u00adti\u00admen\u00adtal feel\u00ading for one per\u00adson, and lav\u00adished him with sin\u00adcere praise and gifts: Richard Mil\u00adhous Nixon.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a com\u00admon belief, fos\u00adtered in gen\u00adtle soci\u00adeties, where peo\u00adple expect their chil\u00addren to grow up, and famine nev\u00ader stalks the land, that there is no such thing as absolute evil, and that dic\u00adta\u00adtors are con\u00adfused ide\u00adal\u00adists who took a \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[946,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b-reading","category-bu-reading-2006"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9537,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/9537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}