Stossel Sets 'Clueless Celebrities' Straight on Thinking Che Guevara is 'Cool'
"Guevara, in the name of Communism, killed lots of people."
John Stossel explained on Fox Business exactly why honoring Che Guevara by wearing his image on clothing is not as "cool" as many "clueless celebrities" and other clueless members of society would have us believe.
He started the segment with two quotes from the communist leader, one from 1959, the other, 1962:
We must eliminate all newspapers; we cannot make a revolution with free press.
We executed many people by firing squad without knowing if they were fully guilty. At times, the Revolution cannot stop to conduct much investigation.
Stossel's guest was Michael Moynihan, who recently wrote an article on Guevara for The Daily Beast. Moynihan offered several other reasons why Guevara is not very cool and suggested people think twice before jumping on the "Che" shirt bandwagon:
- He outlawed labor unions and set up labor camps and penal colonies in Cuba
- He executed counter-revolutionaries
- He banned music that was considered capitalist and decadent, like The Beatles
- He required Cuba to remain poor
Moynihan said that many prefer to throw around words favoring Guevara, like saying he's "revolutionary," without understanding exactly what that meant during his reign. Cuba's health care and its government's claim of 99% literacy are other "positive" attributes touted by supporters. But Moynihan asked, "What is the point of full literacy if you're not allowed to read what you want?"
Stossel read from a travel guide called Lonely Planet that had this to say about Cuba:
Cuba retains a refreshing preserved quality. It's a space… that serves as a beacon for the future. Universal education, health care and housing are rights people the world over want, need and deserve.
Moynihan questioned Lonely Planet's appraisal of the country as "a beacon for the future" and said it's more like "a museum of the past." They have "cute old cars" because the country is bankrupt, he said. He added that the government controls the Internet and offers no access to citizens. "Is that quaint?" Moynihan asked incredulously.
Moynihan gave his reasons why celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Carlos Santana, or model Gisele Bündchen choose to wear Guevara's mug, or other dictators, on t-shirts, bathing suits, or bags. He implied that they may feel differently if their wealth were seized:
I chalk most of this stuff up to ignorance. These people that do this tend to be extremely wealthy, and I think that if you went and took all their money and collectivized their grain…[laughs]
Stossel suggested that they must be attracted to the concept of commune -- "we're all in this together."
Moynihan agreed: "The idea of communism is a very simple one: We should all share everything, right?
Stossel ended the segment with some very sobering statistics which shows a dramatic shift in beliefs about communism versus capitalism: only half of the adult population in America holds a positive view of capitalism.
View the clip below:
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