Happy Chinese National Holiday - to all my friends and loved ones

First proudly displayed in Tianmen square  on October the 1st 1949, the Chinese National flag represents the founding of the People's republic of China and its continuation, red symbolizing the people's solidarity.

Throughout the 20th century red has been symbolic of socialist and communist politics. Denoting the labour party in the UK, and the Russian Communist party for example being used as a symbol of power for the "red army." 

Back in UK "Red Ken" was much maligned for his looney-left wing policies in the Greater London Council (GLC). However, after arguably even bigger white elephants such as the millenium dome,"Red" Ken Livingstone was elected as the mayor of London in 2000 and continued in the post until 2008.

 

In 2009, The People's Republic of China celebrated its 60th birthday

 

 

An interesting point of note was that in 2009, China was able to look back on thirty years of "open policy" and another thirty years of closed policy."

 

Thirty Years of Closed China - Mao Tse-Tung

 

Thirty Years of Open China - Deng Xiao-Ping

 

Some interesting quotes I managed to dig up

"The winner always gets to write the history." Alex Haley

"Magnificent! Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God help me, I do love it so!" George S. Patton

"History never looks like history when you are living through it." John W. Gardner

 

"History is the sum total of the things that could have been avoided." Konrad Adenauer

  Zhou Enlai and his wife Deng Yingchao

 

"There is nothing more dangerous than history used as a defense, or history used for preaching; history used as a tool is no longer history." Marcel Trudel

 

History is politics projected into the past.  M.N. Pokrovsky

 

Comments

[Sally]

Hello Stuart: Your Blog is interesting. It is very patriotic, too. You provide much semiotoc etymology for the term "red". When I was growing up the color red represtented in politics the Labour Party. The Labour Party was mainly for the workers, cobblers, miners and the poor. Today England's idea of the Labour Party is symbolized by Tony Blair. A man who has never got his fingernails dirty, has never worked in a public school, has never experienced unemployment or the dole, has never lived in a working-class community, and now earns his living by teaching the financial elites in an American Univeristy. Why he will not teach politics in the slums of Manchester, as a true Labour Leader would have done, is obvious to me, but not to the masses who voted him in to power. I say, let those masses be sheared with a blunt shearing tool on a bitterly cold day and then let them be thrown into the ice bath. Sheep. Sheep. Sheep.

"History repeats itself" is true, but only for the sad sacks of shit that believe that doing the same thing every day gets different results. Those who vote while watching "Crossroads" or other TV junk deserve to be raided and ransacked by those that don't. And I don't think Tony Blair ever watched "Crossroads" and if he ever did, I do not think he watched in on a big-screen TV. Sheep. Sheep. Sheep. Shear them!

Nietsche remarked that it is possible that when we die we will return and live life the same way as we do now, detail by detail, over and over again. If this is true, he remarks, how would we chose to live our lives? Down at the local pub brawling and thinking it is cool? Yeah, right: that sound's hip. Or what about playing cards and saying "yea, but what can we do about it?" Ever heard that one before? Yeah, I thought so.

There was an historin in the USA who wrote a very popular American History Book. But the last chapter was too critical of the government then in power and his book didn't sell so well. So he rewrote the chapter to please the critics and his book then sold millions. The masses were happy:I learned a lesson on what writing history is really all about. And it is all about selling "units" (items or products) for profit to the masses.

History is the art of remembering what is needed to pass the end-of-term examination; few ever learn from it. There is no history for the poorer classes: they would rather forget the past experiences of homelessness, poverty, hunger and shame. History is for the Nobel classes, the blue-bloods. Since when do we read about the achievements of the local Joe who worked his entire life, never missed a day's work, never went to Bermuda, in the local mine or shoe shop? Yeah, well. I've read a lot of books and I've never read anything like that. But we read the leather-bound Volumes of Churchill's History of WW11, a man that sent millions of men to their deaths in some filthy trench far away.

I think Churchill died in the middle of painting a watercolor of a lilly in his government-pensioned and granted mansion. I know thi because it is a history book: mandatory reading to pass the local government exam. Yeah, well, shear the sheep, I say, and on a winter's day, and don't forget the ice-cold lice-dip, either.

History is created to propagate a certain culture. It is not meant as a science to depend on and learn from. remember it.

Thank you for your Blog Mr.Stuart; and I wish I too could have the power of pull quotations and font-styles.

[Administrator]

Thank you very much Rob. Never underestimate the power of full quotations and font-styles! Maybe my next job should be a new Labour "Spin-Doctor."

In fact the current state of Labour is appalling. They just got rid of the best priminister we've ever had, because he doesn't have a caring and sharing side, or listen to bicaring old women who should be making the tea.

Now aledgedly "New-Labour" is dead. The two candidates for its leadership were two brothers. Sounds more like the goings on in Southfork than any serious government contender. Now Tony Blair has plenty of time to look at re-runs of Crossroads on UK Gold. He probably is Sling-boxing them over the net to America as I write.

I sadly missed out on the joys of Crossroads. I do vaguely remember a retarded chap with a woolley hat called Benny. He used to say Miss Diane or something - I can't remember....

There was an interesting documentory charting the change in society in the UK during the 80's. When you were leaving, I guess the young ones and "alternative comedy" was just begining.

The 80'saw the end of working mans club type comedy. Possibly because the places that had the clubs had no jobs. They could have called them should be working man's clubs.

I agree with you on Churchill. He was recenlty voted the most popular British of figures by Brits, with Diana second (or visa versa). Born with a silver spoon in their mouth, sent to all the best schools. Failed at everything he ever done. Oh yes, he did send lots of people to die. Well I'm sure if it was me blown to bits, I'm pretty sure him or damn few other people in the UK would give two shits as to my wherabouts.

At least I've got you, and I'm so glad you are warming up to my font-styles, I was losing sleep over that one Rob.