The Cultural Revolution kicked off on May 16, 1966, with an editorial in the People’s Daily urging people to “sweep away all the old monsters and demons”pic.twitter.com/iUbj9jEER2
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These were defined as broadly as landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, right-wingers & anybody who had not thoroughly transformed themselves.
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Groups of students at schools and universities appointed themselves as Red Guards. Many of them were as young as 13 years old. You can read about what they did herehttps://quillette.com/2018/12/18/the-children-of-the-revolution/ …
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A 1971 report from the NYT describes how sweeping the destruction of the “four olds” had been (Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, Old Ideas). E.g. It was common for Chinese homes to have altars to ancestors. Red Guards entered homes & destroyed themhttps://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/19/archives/china-transformed-by-elimination-of-four-olds.html …
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Through the Cultural Revolution Mao Zedong consolidated his power in the Chinese Communist Party. He used the students to purge his enemies *within* the party, making sure that whoever was left was loyal to him.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/11/the-cultural-revolution-50-years-on-all-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-political-convulsion …
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A similar dynamic is playing out now in institutions that many would say have been “captured” by the Left (academia/media etc). Radical factions are purging liberals & moderates (conservatives & libertarians are long gone.) Those who remain will be loyal to the cause.
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But why did Mao instruct the Red Guards to destroy the Four Olds? Well, it is easier to control a populace when they have no other loyalties such as that to their families, ancestors, customs or religious beliefs. The result is loyalty to party/ideology only.
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What is a nation? Show me one.
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