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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday. November 1, 1967
Understanding China, Maoism
"There is no construction without destruction. Destruction means criticism and repudiation. It means revolution."
The philosopher is Mao Tse-tung. The ideology is a particular kind of communism, a philosophy that so departs from the Marxist-Leninist theories that it has been given the name of its chief exponent by some.
Maoism is a philosophy born of a different intellectualism than its European and Russian counterparts. The disparity is due in part to its lack of intellectualism—its simplicity.
"Anyone who stands on the side of the revolutionary people is a revolutionary. Anyone that stands on the side of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism is a counterrevolutionary."
There is more, however, that stands between Maoism and the communism of Russia and Europe than a dictum that is easily adaptable for chanting school children.
William L. Ryan, Associated Press special correspondent, has pinpointed that difference. Mao's thoughts, he says, "express east, not west. They reflect ancient isolation and the superiority complex of the Chinese rather than acceptance of inherent western ideas of socialism."
"No one really understands what is going on inside China." That often repeated statement reveals a frightening truth. Americans are aided by China's inexhaustible supply of manpower, frightened by its chaotic political eruptions and growing nuclear threat but stymied by the forces which have shaped its character.
We do not understand China because, ironically, we are not broadminded enough to see the evolution of a distinct culture with a distinct set of problems.
Americans have a tendency to judge the entire world by western standards. That such an evaluation of China is impossible should be self-evident. We have minimized the potential of the so-called "sleeping giant" in the past, but her growing military capability is presently forcing greater concern.
Condemnation, disbelief, cries of Oriental lunacy are an affluent nation's reaction to the Chinese ideology. But to the illiterate masses who have known little but centuries of deprivation, there is a ring of truth in Mao's words:
"War can only be abolished through war. To get rid of the gun, it is necessary to take up the gun."
—Carol DeBonis
Letter to the editor
Image of Iranian king is false
To the Editor:
This week the Shah of Iran was officially crowned King in one of the most elaborate coronations in recent history. This coronation cost millions of dollars and the Iranian people will bear the burden of this cost.
Iran is a country about four times the size of California, with a population of 26 million people. Peasant farmers make up about 75 per cent of the population. Though Iran is one of the richest nations in natural resources, most of the Iranian people live in stark poverty.
In recent weeks articles have appeared in American magazines heralding the Shah of Iran as a king devoted to the betterment of his people and citing the great contributions he has made to his country.
We, the Iranian Students Association of Kansas, on behalf of the Iranian people, wish to tear down the facade the American government and press have erected for
the shiah of Iran and present the truth to the American people. The Iranian people do not have the opportunity to speak for themselves; their voice is suppressed.
The image of the Shah presented to the American people is false. He is not a king devoted to his people, but a king devoted to himself and the subjection of his people.
It is said he has instigated land reforms that have freed 98 per cent of Iran's 50,000 villages from landlord control and changed some 16 million peasants from feudal serfs to land owners. In fact, less than one-fifth of these 50,000 villages have been distributed among the peasants.
The American people are also led to believe that the Shah has invested most of Iran's oil earnings and American foreign aid (of which the American taxpayer bears the burden) in the country's development. The bulk of the oil earnings and foreign aid have gone to line the pockets of
the royal family and select government officials and to sustain Iran's 200,000-man Iranian Military Police, the largest in the Middle East, and the Shah's Secret Police.
Since formation of the Shah's Literary Corp. to educate the peasants, the government states illiteracy has been practically wiped out. Yet of the two million children who enter grade school each year, three per cent enter high school and less than .25 per cent enter a university.
Over 90 per cent of the Iranian people live in dark, damp, cave-like holes and the average Iranian family sustains itself on a per capita income of $120 per year.
The contradictions of the facts on the situation in Iran, should at least raise the question of American support of the Shah's regime.
The Iranian Student Assn. Wichita, Kan.
The Hill With It by john hill
It was a beautiful, sunny day as Socrates slowly climbed a hill that overlooked ancient Athens.
He paused at the top under the shade of a huge tree, where a small group of young men sat in the grass, awaiting his arrival.
"My students, my young scholars." began the respected Teacher, "we once more gather together, freely, so that we can Learn."
The five or six young men listened intently to his every word.
"C—— discussions such as this are hot—"
“—excuse me, sir,” spoke up one of the young men, “but it does not appear to me that this is the best manner to learn.”
It was suddenly very quiet as the group turned and stared at Hamlock, a young man who was well known to them for both his great potential and somewhat radical ideas, the latter having caused him to scorn the wearing of a beard and sandals like all his companions.
"My son," said Socrates, paternally, "how can you find fault with this almost idyllic learning situation?"
"With the greatest respect to you, sir," said Hamlock, "I find it too restrictive. The completely free and open nature of how we learn restricts great numbers from joining our group of friends. The extremely personal nature of self-evaluation of how well I am learning is a restriction to me, since I learn more quickly when I have specific, objective indications of my progress or my ability."
"Young Hamlock, you know of my future plans to one day have a whole university established on the nature of our small informal meetings in spite of their restrictions, but—"
"But sir," continued Hamlock, "If you structured it so that we could meet in great numbers at specific times and places, it would mean freedom for more people to learn."
"But how could one evaluate a large group, since—"
"Give each student an identical examination of some kind, and then assign him some mark or grade based on a scale to indicate his progress."
"But what you sav has no—"
"Assigning such a mark after about six weeks would free the pupil to proceed in his learning with a specific idea of how he is doing—"
"Enough!" roared Socrates, and hurried away, down the hill. "The Army postponed by execution so I could meet with you, but these radical ideas are enough to drive a man to drink!"
"I only wanted a freer university," mumbled Hamlock. . . .
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