CHE: USES WOMEN

I don't really know yet if Che is a good guy or a bad guy, but he sure is a self-centered prick. (Pardon my French, but there is no better way to describe him.)

I'm on Page 194 of Jon Lee Anderson's excellent biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and it is the Cubans, already led by Fidel Castro, who are giving Che his nickname, which means "hey, you," or something like that, in Spanish. I think of it like we say "buddy" to a guy we hardly know.

Ernesto has a "girlfriend," Hilda, whom he is using for sex and as a source of borrowed money. He says in his journals, "too bad she is so ugly," but he is having sex with her because he needs a woman for that. In other words, he doesn't care about her, he only cares about himself.

Well, he is not the first man to do that. But it is not what I would call honorable.

Now, in the book, he is in Mexico, training for the Cuban revolution, along with about 40 Cubanos. He climbs mountains and goes to the gym and trains in firearms and hand-to-hand combat. He wins the respect of the other men who recognize him as a leader.

But it is hard to reconcile a man who wants to help others with the same man who is taking advantage of a woman who loves him.

He is becoming good friends with Fidel, and they are getting ready to attack Batista in Cuba.

I am learning a lot about Che. I don't particularly like him, as a man. He seems narcissistic, a person who only values himself, and everything he does for others he really does for himself, so he will look good in his own eyes.

But there is no doubt that he was charming and intelligent, and possessed leadership qualities and great talents. And he was making history. For better or for worse. Or both.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

MITT THE SHITT

Today, I heard Mitt Romney say on the radio that newly minted college graduates can't find good jobs because of Obama's policies, which he said have failed.

Good God.

Does he really think anyone will believe that horseshit? What about Wall Street sucking the economy dry? What about the recession, caused by complex derivatives on Wall Street? What about predatory lending practices?

What about globalization, where thousands of good jobs have been outsourced to India and China and other foreign countries? What about the closing of hundreds of factories in the USA? What about the decimating of the middle class by the shifting of the tax burden away from the rich?  

What about the rich idiots in Detroit who churned out gas guzzlers and let themselves get out maneuvered by Japanese car makers for 20 years?

What about right-wing immigration policies that send college graduates back to their home countries after they get advanced degrees here in the USA?

What about the fact that the richest 400 households in the USA own 60% of the wealth?

Romney blames the recession on Obama? He is either lying through his whitened teeth, or he is a complete fool.

Either way, I wouldn't vote for him if he was the last horse's ass on earth. It's too bad, too, because there was a time when he had my respect.


-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle 

SCARED OF MARX?

This is pretty interesting, about one of history's supposed villains, Karl Marx:

"There is a sense in which the whole of Marx's writing boils down to several embarrassing questions: Why is it that the capitalist West has accumulated more resources than human history has ever witnessed, yet appears powerless to overcome poverty, starvation, exploitation, and inequality? What are the mechanisms by which affluence for a minority seems to breed hardship and indignity for the many? Why does private wealth seem to go hand in hand with public squalor?"

Is there "something in the nature of capitalism itself which generates deprivation and inequality, as surely as Charlie Sheen generates gossip?"

That is from The Chronicle of Higher Education, and from an article there by Terry Eagleton called "In Praise of Marx":
http://chronicle.com/article/In-Praise-of-Marx/127027/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

I think those are damn good questions. I read the entire article, and it gave me a new outlook on Marx. He was a better guy than I thought.

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment.

PS: Don't be scared off. We studied this stuff in college, and I didn't catch a disease.

-- Roger


 

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

CHE: HIS POOR PARENTS

Last night, I felt sorry for the parents of Che Guevara.

As I was reading the Jon Lee Anderson biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, I realized that he must have broken their hearts, and that of his whole family.

He was attracted to revolution and armed resistance against the USA. Yes, I think he was right to be outraged at the exploitation of Latin America, but I also think he was grandiose, self-absorbed, and perhaps even narcissistic.

Imagine the anguish of his parents. I know how long it takes and how hard it is to raise a child. How much of yourself you invest and sacrifice. It must have been more extreme here, with young Ernesto's debilitating asthma.

Now, in the book, Ernesto is in his mid-20s. His parents have spent all these years raising him, and protecting him, and supporting him, and they have put this brilliant kid through medical school, and they are so proud that he is a doctor.

As soon as he gets his MD degree, he runs off to pursue various adventures, and he goes to Guatemala, along with a lot of other left-wing idealists, to see a true revolution in action.

Then the USA invades that country and bombs it, to overthrow the duly elected government, because of our misguided fear of socialism and communism.

And there is Ernesto, in the wrong place at the wrong time. If circumstances had created a trap for someone who was young, idealistic, and foolhardy, he dove head-first into it. The experience radicalized him, to say the least.

How sad, tragic even. How could such a brilliant mind go so wrong? 

I wish I could go back in time. I'd say to young Ernesto: OK, help the poor. Become a revolutionary doctor. Work in a medical clinic in the jungle among indigenous people. Maybe run for office when you get a little older. But don't sacrifice your life. 

Last night, I flipped to the end of the book and saw photos of Che dead.  I couldn't help but think about his mother and father, and the rest of his family.

Such heartbreak. Such a waste.   

I don't know how much good he did in the world. We'll see. The book is a great history lesson. And a cautionary tale.

More to come. I'm on Page 164. I recommend the book.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

THE STUPID CIA

What the hell was the CIA doing in Latin America in 1954, and why were they trying to overthrow the duly elected government of Guatemala? For God's sake, what a bunch of crap.

This is part of Jon Lee Anderson's bio of Che Guevara. Pages 132-133.

It is maddening. So while young Ernesto "Che" Guevara -- not yet known as Che -- was talking about violence to get the USA out of Latin America, our CIA was meddling in places where it had no business meddling.

I don't know which was worse, Che or the CIA. At least Che was young and naive. The U.S. government should have known better.

Where was our integrity? Talk about social engineering.

And Eisenhower was president, a man I used to admire. Jesus.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

CHE: THE WARRIOR

On Pages 124-126 of Jon Lee Anderson's biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, we see the first mentions of violence in Che's diaries and notebooks.

The future Che had a vision of himself as a revolutionary warrior. The year was 1954, and Che was 25 years old.

It's sad, I think. This was a time when change was sweeping through Latin America, and the most reasonable country was Costa Rica, where they had disbanded the army, nationalized the banks, I believe, and maintained political tolerance and moderation. They had what amounted to a peaceful revolution, without bloodshed.

It's too bad that Che wasn't attracted to Costa Rica as a model for reform.

But he wasn't. He was already talking about slitting throats and annihilating capitalist "octopuses."

I find that hard to identify with and even harder to admire.

I am not attracted to violence. Apparently Che was. He seems to have admired Stalin and Lenin. I don't.

But I still have not decided whether he was a good guy or a bad guy.

We'll see. Right now he doesn't look so good.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

CHE: SHALLOW FEELINGS

It's hard to have much sympathy for the future revolutionary hero, when young Ernesto Guevara, in 1953, was living like a bum in Ecuador.

He was an M.D., for Christ's sake. Why didn't he get a goddamn job? You'd think he could work in a hospital somewhere.

He seems to have preferred being a mooch.

I'm only on Page 115 of the Jon Lee Anderson bio, but the young "Che" seems like a jerk here. He says he has trouble showing emotions when he parts with his friends. He says he is "as usual cold... incapable of showing deep feelings."

Another friend recalls Ernesto "crying like a child" at their goodbyes. But I think I know whom to believe.

I hope this doesn't foreshadow him being cold later in Cuba after the revolution.

We'll see, as we plod onward.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle