Posted on 09/26/2017 12:33:11 PM PDT by Kaslin
Diversity of thought is the hallmark of any good opinion page.
Unfortunately, because it's the job of an opinion editor to welcome all viewpoints, some remarkably stupid stuff gets published every now and then.
Because even a very stupid dog gets its day.
Take, for example, an op-ed published this week by the New York Times headlined, "How Did Women Fare in China's Communist Revolution?"
The main thrust of the article, which is little more than a shameful bit of apologia for Mao Zedong, who is personally responsible for more than 45 million deaths, is that Chinese women were liberated by the country's great and murderous Cultural Revolution.
And by liberated, op-ed author Helen Gao means "cloistered wives" were "ushered" into factories so that they could labor alongside men in meeting state-mandated production quotas.
Huzzah. Feel the fresh air of freedom.
There's a lot to pick at in this disaster of an op-ed, but the silliest lines are found in the story's opening paragraphs [emphases added]:
My grandmother likes to tell stories from her career as a journalist in the early decades of the People's Republic of China. She recalls scrawling down Chairman Mao's latest pronouncements as they came through loudspeakers and talking with joyous peasants from the newly collectivized countryside. In what was her career highlight, she turned an anonymous candy salesman into a national labor hero with glowing praises for his service to the people.
[…]
"The Communists did many terrible things," my grandmother always says at the end of her reminiscences. "But they made women's lives much better."
A "journalist" in the early days of the Cultural Revolution? Interviewing "joyous peasants?" Turning a candy salesman into a labor icon for his "service to the people?" Lady, your grandmother wasn't a reporter. She was a state propagandist, complicit in the spread of disinformation and agitprop. How many tells do you need?
There's more.
The article goes on to praise the Communist revolution for bringing "women more job opportunities." The op-ed also states that the 1950s collectivization of the Chinese countryside "empowered rural women by offering them employment." The story also marvels that Chinese women interviewed in China disagree with studies showing they've seen few personal gains under the revolution. People in China disagree with studies showing they're still repressed, despite the revolution's promise of emancipation. Imagine that!
It's not entirely clear whether the author is aware of what went on during the Cultural Revolution, or whether she is familiar with the word "laogai" or what the Chinese government does to voices of dissent.
Finally, after the author completely glosses over the genocide and human rights abuses that marked the birth and maturation of China's Communist revolution, she kicks off her conclusion with this line, "For all its flaws, the Communist revolution taught Chinese women to dream big."
For all its flaws, the Communist revolution taught Chinese women to dream big https://t.co/Fci82iAPxM— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) September 26, 2017
Ah, yes. The upside to a political movement marked by mass murder, labor camps ("job opportunities"!) and widespread repression.
We eagerly await the publication of similarly argued op-eds, including "For all its flaws, the Klan teaches young men about the importance of community" and "For all its flaws, sex slavery gives young people a chance to travel."
Flee at last!
Flee at Last!
Thank Mao the Mighty!
Flee at last!.........................
“For all its flaws, the Communist revolution taught Chinese women to dream big.”
Saving THAT one for a future tagline. *Rolleyes*
Oh yes, and I’m sure that the Slimes will soon publish something from an apologist for Pol Pot and his brutal 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia with the killing fields, etc.
I know a woman who was 16 when the Cultural Revolution started. She was plucked out of school, and shipped off from Beijing to a collective potato farm near the Gobi desert.
There she had to stay for 8 years “learning from the peasants.” They were subject to frostbite, wild dogs, and rape from the locals.
When the Cultural Revolution start to wind down, she and a few other women “escaped” from the farm, hopping trains and walking back to their homes in Beijing over 3 weeks. Her total savings from 8 years of labor to the state? the equivalent of $4.
Not having proper work or living permits in her home-town, they had to watch out for the street-informers in Beijing who keep an eye on all residents. So couldn’t leave their homes until the Cultural Revolution finally ended.
Anyone who says Communism is good in any way should be punched in the face.
Well, since I never read the NYT I wouldn’t know what is their worst.
I stopped reading years ago because I thought it was their worst back then.
They prob have a big list of ‘the worst’ to pick from.
Read “Life and Death in Shanghai” by Nien Chen for a woman’s perspective of China’s cultural revolution.
Yay! I can play this game...
"For all its flaws, the Challenger disaster let the crew vacation all over Florida"
"For all its flaws, the Black Plague freed up valuable real estate"
"For all its flaws, Hurricane Irma brought relief to a drought stricken Texas"
Apparently the author of the NYT article took after her propagandist grandmother.
Had she lived, Mary Jo Kopechnie would have thanked Ted Kennedy for his service to womens’ issues.
Mao was a syphilitic who impregnated dozens of virgin girls daily. He is personally responsible for millions of cases of siphilis. So much for sexual liberation.
I dunno.....they have three whole months to go.
And how could we forget his coverage of the show trials during the purges of the 1930's where he said to the world: "...that "the confessions are true". Based on these comments the editor of the journal argued: "Some commentators, writing at a long distance from the scene, profess doubt that the executed men (Zinoviev and Kamenev) were guilty. It is suggested that they may have participated in a piece of stage play for the sake of friends or members of their families, held by the Soviet government as hostages and to be set free in exchange for this sacrifice. We see no reason to accept any of these laboured hypotheses, or to take the trial in other than its face value. Foreign correspondents present at the trial pointed out that the stories of these sixteen defendants, covering a series of complicated happenings over nearly five years, corroborated each other to an extent that would be quite impossible if they were not substantially true. The defendants gave no evidence of having been coached, parroting confessions painfully memorized in advance, or of being under any sort of duress.."
Indeed. Leopards like the New York Times never change their spots.
> New York Times publishes probably its worst op-ed for 2017
I’m sure the “journalists” at the NYT are getting tired of competing to get Trump impeached. This sounds like a new challenge. I bet at least 2 “news” articles and 4 op-eds beat it by the end of 2017
And several weeks ago the NYT ran an article claiming that women in the old USSR had more orgasms than women in Western capitalist democracies.
She begs to differ:
The NYT admires communist China. Fine. I suggest they all learn Chinese and go to China. Even tho the NYT staff is nothing but fairy-a$$ sycophant marxists, they would all be in jail within months.
bump
Of course I was being sarcastic. Communism is awful. Just ask our FLOTUS! no wonder the LefTards HATE her so much!
Papers are put of control and trying to determine who gets elected. Try writing a letter to the lA Times pointing out the fraudulant science on “global warming.” not gonna be published.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.