[\/\/ayne]

One of the most ugly aspects of life in Communist China during the Mao Zedong era was the Party’s demand that people inform on each other routinely and denounce each other during political campaigns. This practice had a profoundly destructive effect on human relationships. Husbands and wives became guarded with each other, and parents were alienated from their children.

The practice inhibited all forms of human contact, so that people no longer wanted to have friends. It also encouraged secretiveness and hypocrisy. To protect himself, a man had to keep his thoughts to himself. When he was compelled to speak, often lying was the only way to protect himself and his family.

― Nien Cheng, Life and Death in Shanghai

[Flick Lives]

Nien Cheng, Life and Death in Shanghai

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Great book, by the way.

One of the scarier aspects note in the book was how many of the followers of the cultural revolution didn’t actually believe in it, they just want along because it was expedient. Tell them to round up people and they would. Tell them to torture people, and they would. Communism promotes soulless behavior while voiding the individual of responsibility. It is institutionalized mob rule.