May Day
After Russia, the other post war enemy of note was China. When Mao defeated Chiang Kai-shek, with the help of Russia, there was a big row in the states about who lost China? As if China was ours to lose. Of course, this all happened in 1949 when I was three, but it was part of the warp and woof of the fabric of my life in the 50s and 60s. We fought the Chinese in Korea and for the longest time Tawain was a real hotspot, with shooting. I knew all about the Formosa Strait.
Later on, the Cultural Revolution and Mao’s Little Red Book became big news but mostly because it was pretty obvious the country was being eaten by its young and that certainly diminished China’s ability to threaten us physically. They were killing scientists. Eventually, Richard Nixon was invited to visit China in 1972, Mao died, new leadership arrived, and the Red Guard was put down. China was pulled into the orbit of the US with money and jobs. That strategy was so effective it’s sometimes hard to remember China is a communist country.
And speaking of Communism, which was a big deal in the 50s (see Joe McCarthy), it’s disappeared from the conversation. Heck, Russia, where it all started, is no longer even considered a communist country. And that’s weird. The bugaboo now is Socialism, which is laughable, to me, because it’s entirely probable most people have no idea what it really means as an economic system. But when has that sort of thing needed to make sense? Never, really. And that’s something else I’ve learned in 77 years of living.
Part 7, Living in America, an old man’s journey into his past