Che's Influence On Society

[heynameless]

Greetings.

In History class we had the choice of writing a text about one historical character who influenced society greatly in the 20th century. On the spur of the moment, I chose Che Guevara, but now I realize that I only know the very very basic things one needs to know about El Che.

So I was wondering -
1) Besides being a communist, what were Che Guevara's views on the world?
2) What are your impressions of Che's influence on society back in the 60's as well as today? How do you think he influenced the world?

3) And finally - how did Che influence yourselves and your views on the world we live in / how we should be living it?

Thank you guys, so very much.
Here's to hoping that I get more politically awakened / involved!

[heynameless]

Lord -
19 views and no replies, I AM that breathtaking! Making you so speechless. :lol:

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

1) Besides being a communist, what were Che Guevara's views on the world?

-the working class is the life blood of any country's economy. Capitalism means fucking someone up...thus, the working class should make their voices heard

-all ppl should live in some unison, not divided by empirical standards set...

2) What are your impressions of Che's influence on society back in the 60's as well as today? How do you think he influenced the world?

-back in the 60s i believe it was a time when the world was ripe for revolution...decades of seeing the tired proletariat working in massive factories made ppl look at their lives more accurately....of course this was the pre-neoliberal state we're in, where globalization and corporations run everything

-Che's influence showed the world that if u firmly believe in something, although extremely radical from the norms....it can be accomplished. he gave us hope, and even died for his cause which is truly commendable.

-Che's influence today is that he has become a fashion statement, as well as a cultural icon. although alotta ppl with his shirt on know nothing about the man, some do, and that helps the world in the long run....every time i see his face on a shirt while walking around toronto, i dont really concern myself if the person knows too much about him...it just re-inforces the notion that capitalism isnt the be all and end all....although his face is posterized...it did spread awareness...which is very good.

3) And finally - how did Che influence yourselves and your views on the world we live in / how we should be living it?

-Che taught me how to treat a situation...understand how good a form is to go against it. More importantly that if you believe in something whole-heartedly u wouldn't think twice about sacrificing ur life for it...he gave his life for his beliefs...that alone should put him in a different category, and help set the standard.

[Subversive Pessimist]

It is interesting that we never talk about the others in his group, both in Cuba, Congo, and in Bolivia, who sacrificed their life.

[parecon3]

1) Besides being a communist, what were Che Guevara's views on the world?

I think that Che wanted a world where everyone took a humanitarian view to progressing the world. He thought that if we could overcome imperialism and neocolonialism we could better distribute the wealth of the world evenly instead of letting it go to the oppressors rather than the oppressed. He wanted to have a Latin America united against all imperialism because they (the other Latin American countries) eventually would be ruled by dictators under US neocolonialism. The US has supported the following dicatorships in Latin America and the Caribbean: Batista in Cuba, Somoza in Nicaragua, the Duvaliers in Haiti, Barrientos in Bolivia, (which led to Che's murder by the CIA trained Bolivian army) Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Peron in Argentina and many others.

Che throughout his life saw the exploitation of the peoples of Latin America by US corporations and military dictatorships. But even with these institutions gone from a country there was still unequal distribution of wealth among the populice of all of America. So Che went about and fought against abusive authority.

2) What are your impressions of Che's influence on society back in the 60's as well as today? How do you think he influenced the world?

Che influenced many people in America and around the world when he took action against Imperialism in many ways.
The Hippies in the U.S. were greatly influenced by Che, especially seeing that Che shared the same anger against authourity as they did. Abbie Hoffman, who wrote STEAL THIS BOOK and FUCK THE SYSTEM spoke alot about the importance of dissent and demonstrations in any country and had displayed one of Che's letters in WOODSTOCK NATION. All around the world people knew him in the sixties and his speeches at the UN and in other parts of the world greatly influenced peoples opinions and goals.
Today I think that he is still the symbol of challenging authority, resisiting oppression and standing up for others who have it worse off.

3) And finally - how did Che influence yourselves and your views on the world we live in / how we should be living it?

Che influenced me by reinforcing the idea that if you rise and organize your voice will be heard and you can make a difference. I now want to achieve this goal he had been speaking about: Stopping Imperialism and Neocolonialism. But even though he accomplished many things it is also important to understand some of the mistakes he made; In Bolivia, Che was not able to get any peasants to join his guerrilla force, and he had no support from the communist party there or other major parties, he was not well known in Bolivia and as a result of these mistakes his insurrection failed. He became a martyr when he was murdered there, but it shows that revolution takes time and that it cannot always be achieved by violence. I would like revolution in the US but I would prefer a non-violent one since it results in less consequences.

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 12:19 PM
It is interesting that we never talk about the others in his group, both in Cuba, Congo, and in Bolivia, who sacrificed their life.
i know what you mean ComradeStrawberry....

But they had ideals similar to Che and sacrificed their lives....either way, they deserve high honour, whether we recognize their names individually, or recognize the movement holistically.