(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . On IWD, We Celebrate Part Of The Russian Revolution [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-09 Women's demonstration for bread and peace, Petrograd, Russia I always marvel at the power of US propaganda and ideology. The most die-hard anticommunist can celebrate Frida Kahlo. Why? Not because they’re OK with her being a Communist. No, it’s simply because they don’t know she was a Communist, and they never will know. This easily-verifiable fact has been obliterated from our consciousness. This obliteration should scare you. The same goes for so many figures. People like Paul Robeson, Einstein, Hellen Keller, and even Du Bois. I would be disappointed, although not surprised, if there were a large group of people who don’t realize that the Black Panthers were Communists, that they had positive relationships with the USSR, DPRK, and PRC. Or that Malcolm X and MLK were turning towards Socialism as they were killed. It’s so easy to find these things out, the facts are right there on Wikipedia (and plentiful primary sources). But people don’t look, and they never will. The government (and the Ruling Class in general) doesn’t need to hide information, they just need to be skillful enough to make it so you never bother to look, or so that you don’t absorb the information if and when you find it. Another classic example is May Day. On May 1, the entire world (minus the USA) commemorates the Haymarket Affair, an incident which literally took place in CHICAGO. A typical person in the US has no idea what happens on May 1 or what is being commemorated. It’s right there on Wikipedia! They even papered over the holiday with a flimsy farce of a May 1 holiday called "law day". Nobody knows the truth, and they never will take the 2 minutes to figure out what the whole world is doing on May 1. In addition to the above (erasing the Communist character of certain people and events), there’s also the ability to erase certain people’s disgraceful anticommunism. Like, for example, the fact that Orwell compiled a list of suspected LGBT people and suspected Communists, and sent this list to the UK government. Again, freely accessible on Wikipedia (it’s called “Orwell’s List”)! People would find this disgraceful if they knew. But they don’t, and they never will! Such is the strength of propaganda in this country. There’s also the whole thing with Jimmy Carter in Indonesia. Even with all this in mind, it’s baffling to me how we can celebrate International Women’s Day. We live in an anticommunist country — you would think we would reject such a holiday! Why? Well, it’s easy to find, right there on Wikipedia: On March 8, 1917, in Petrograd (February 23, 1917, on the Julian calendar), women textile workers began a demonstration that eventually engulfed the whole city, demanding "Bread and Peace"—an end to World War I, to food shortages, and to czarism.[23] This marked the beginning of the February Revolution, which alongside the October Revolution, made up the second Russian Revolution.[4][26] Revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky wrote, "23 February (8th March) was International Woman's Day and meetings and actions were foreseen. But we did not imagine that this 'Women's Day' would inaugurate the revolution. Hell, the map of countries that officially celebrate Intl Women’s Day basically reads like a map of the former Socialist camp The US literally had a Red Scare. We’re currently entering into a new Red Scare and new Cold War (if you don’t believe me, just read the comments underneath this very blog post). So I think, on the one hand, it’s pretty funny that we effectively celebrate the anniversary of (half of) the Russian Revolution. But, on the other hand, it’s actually terrifying. Because it speaks to the fact that so many well-known facts can be erased from public consciousness. Nobody needs to bother trying to hide the information. We’re just so indoctrinated that the information can stay out in the open, and nobody will even look for it. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/9/2157042/-On-IWD-We-Celebrate-Part-Of-The-Russian-Revolution Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/