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Wednesday, July 08, 2009
On this date in history, a young man lost his faith in capitalism
In its regular Today in History feature, the Edmonton Sun reported yesterday that “On this date in 1953, Che Guevara set out to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador where he was convinced of how terrible capitalism was.” The date was July 7th, and the rest of the story is part of the bloody history of communism.
This historic factoid reminds me of another idealistic young man who lost his faith in capitalism. On October 18, 2009, the once proud fiscal conservative economist, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, declared the era of “unfettered capitalism” over before it had even begun.
But only when young anarcho-syndicalists run wild in the streets during WTO meetings clad in t-shirts with a defiant image of Harper emblazoned on the front, will I truly believe the era of economic freedom in Canada is over.
Posted by Matthew Johnston
Posted by westernstandard on July 8, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
The joys of a minority government.
Posted by: set you free | 2009-07-08 11:15:34 AM
Attacker are you insane? are you saying that the western standard staff and matthew are supporters of socialism. what is the matter with you? seriously what is the matter with you?
spending is going up under harper because he feels the need to grow the beaast (the government), a war that we cant win, stimulating economies, fighting wars on non violent canadians, etc etc. harper is never going to balace the books with these practices. he knows this too but dosent care.
attacker, find something better to do with your life. calling Matthew Johston a supporter of marxism is rediculous.
Posted by: krista zoobkoff | 2009-07-08 11:44:19 AM
Ummm ... Krista ... attacker once called Kathy Shaidle a leftist. Think about that for a second.
So attacker. Do you agree with Harper? Did unfettered capitalism cause the crisis?
And for once I agree with you. Latin America only ever knew fascism, then they unfortunately turned to socialism. The problem with Che is you have all these fashionable twits, living right here, wearing his t-shirts and supporting his politics.
Posted by: Charles | 2009-07-08 12:21:57 PM
In a book entitled "Red Star Over Cuba" (can't remember the author but do remember that he had been an ir force major under the Castro regime) the author mentioned that Fidel Castro carried a communist party membership from the age of sixteen. That was well before the revolution. Still, I think that the US gov't would have been better advised to cooperate with Castro and co-opt him than to confront him.
Posted by: DML | 2009-07-08 1:05:15 PM
Everyone, let's give a hand to Che...because his were chopped off!
Cold blooded killer, nothing more.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-07-08 1:15:38 PM
It's true that the WS criticized Harper prior to his anti-capitalist "coming out" event. However, the criticism kicked up a notch after that point, so much so that some of our more conservative commentators have noticed (Richard Evans, Shane Matthews, etc.)
I think that the increased scrutiny is appropriate. We no longer know what Harper stands for, if anything. My only qualm is that perhaps we should have been more critical earlier, and given him less of our trust in the first place.
Posted by: Terrence Watson | 2009-07-08 1:42:14 PM
Attacker (and Shawn) have been banned.
Attacker: You are no longer welcome here. Do not post to the Shotgun. Your comments will be deleted.
Posted by: P.M. Jaworski | 2009-07-08 2:17:44 PM
Good points, Terrence. I have also been guilty of the same, but the minority government excuse no longer washes. A major telling point was Harper thumbing his nose at policy decisions made at the last convention and by a large majority. He has proved that he is a fake conservative at best by his actions and inaction.
Posted by: Alain | 2009-07-08 7:57:47 PM
Here's another reason to criticize the so called conservative...
http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=51438
"You don't hear a lot about Stephen Harper's past on the campaign trail today. Now Harper rails against laws like Bill C-68, officially known as the National Firearms Registry. And if given the chance, he even says he'll repeal this law. This sounds good to gun owners, but, in actual fact,
when Harper did have the chance, he did just the opposite. On April 5, 1995, Stephen Harper was the only Reform MP to vote in favour of Bill C-68 on second reading. And after he supported Bill C-68 so did his friends Ian McClelland and Jim Silye"
Personally I think he's just as creepy and low as all the other lying politicians. That would be because he's a liar, like the rest of them.
Don't forget to vote!
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-07-08 9:49:01 PM
Che was living in Guatemala in 1954 when the CIA overthrew the democratically elected leader Jacobo Arbenz on behalf of the United Fruit Co.
This is what radicalized him towards violence.
Uncle Sam creates 'Che's' all the time, ala Frankenstein.
Posted by: Jorge | 2009-07-09 6:15:41 PM
Che was fighting against:
- American Oligarchy (United Fruit, Texaco, U.S. Sugar)
- The US based Mafia (1959 Havana)
- The Monroe Doctrine rationale for Latin American Imperialism (Bay of Pigs)
- The idea of Banana Republics (Arbenz 1953 coup)
It just kills Conservatives that such a heroic man will not go away. That is because these troglodytes cant fathom that he lives in the hearts of the hungry and the oppressed and that ideas never die.
Hence Che Lives on !
Posted by: Mike W | 2009-07-09 6:56:42 PM
Che reviewed the appeals of those who received a guilty sentence of being a war criminal during the revolutionary tribunals - and was in charge of pardoning them or not ... similar to the same role as a U.S. Governor. Does that make him a "murderer" if he refuses to commute the sentence? Hardly.
Batista's henchmen had terrorized Cuba's poor for 7 years and killed 20,000 + while torturing even more. The fact that Che saw to it that those victims got justice is not only heroic but admirable.
Posted by: Wyatt | 2009-07-10 10:34:06 AM
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