Willing Recruits

It may seem odd, now, but the fact is that some 25,000 recruits, initially, at least, did go willingly into the Russian wilderness (laying actual and physical cornerstones, ultimately, for the Gulag system) - in obeisance to the V.I. Lenin-Karl Marx vision of a communist utopia.

University of Toronto Professor of History, Lynne Viola, reportedly "the first Western scholar to gain access to the Soviet state archives on collectivization" writes about it here in a 1989 volume entitled, The Best Sons of the Fatherland, Workers in the Vanguard of Soviet Collectivization.

A rebellion (too late) would come amidst the turmoil of the 1920s and early 1930s.
And that has been documented by the same author/researcher (1998) here.

Lessons learned?

Occupied Requiem

Of course, it all began long, long ago in a little town called Berkeley.

And the internal, at least socio-political roots, truly are very much the same.

[Except, where's Nixon?]

With tacit-explicit approval from the incumbent leadership, what more is there to protest (and redeem) when you also [apparently] claim to have invented the internet?

As spectacle, diversion and unfinished "history lesson," it seems to be working as even this brief account from Wired attests:

"To [Lee] Felsenstein how the participant[s] and witnesses are shaped by this historical moment may be one of the most consequential effects of the movement."

"One of the effects of the Free Speech Movement, and that outbreak of freedom really, was manifested in the development of the internet," Felsenstein said. "We see the structure of the internet being an open structure, and open structure is what we were fighting for."

There is no unified vision of what Occupy wants, besides a general feeling that the system is rigged in favor of the privileged, though for Occupy Cal, there is a special focus on rising tuition, rising student debt, and continually cut-back school services.

Of course, some (enough?) folks have actually wizened up over the years (and are occupied at home, school, even work other than saving the world).

Not sure about this guy either though:

My dad had a faith (though it could be shaken) that a more just world is possible and that such a change can only come about through people working together and caring for one another. He was never a Marxist, but he loved the iconic statement: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." What I have found most moving and most hopeful in the Occupy movement is the embodiment of this sentiment in images and stories of simple communal living and spontaneous caretaking. I believe my father would have been deeply moved simply to see a broad spectrum of people coming together, laying their bodies on the gears and helping each other face an unjust, inhumane machine.

Nadav Savio is the son of Mario Savio, the iconic leader of the Free Speech Movement.

It must be hard being iconic (feeling you, man).

But say, whatever happened to just protesting fur or the whales?

Distant memories, easily googled and brought forth in vivid, easily digested[?] and encapsulated, multimedia life.

Rerunning, over and over again; whatever.

Thank you, internet!

Thank you.

Gulag Cultural Center proposed

A brief blurb on that here with several related links of interest.

Meanwhile, in Chechnya -- Damme!

And near the cold, "ecologically unfortunate," lonely Siberian outpost of Norilsk-- Putin (of course)!

From abstracts of February 9-10, 2011 with pictures by Arsen Tomsky:

“Recently Putin visited Norilsk and he promised 10 billion for moving pensioners, 10 for city development and other 10 for something.”

“People are really good, hospital. It’s easy to find a common language. Economy is active, but no growth is noticed and no declines felt, business works.”

History:

The Norilsk (Norillag) uprising was the first major revolt within the Gulag system in the summer of 1953, shortly after Joseph Stalin's death. Estimates put the total number of its inmates over the history of the camp at 400,000, with about 300,000 being political prisoners. According to the archives of Norillag, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk under the conditions of forced labor, starvation, and intense cold throughout the existence of the camp (1935–1956).

May such culture never be forgotten and end very soon.

Finally, it seems, that the end for Vladimir Putin has possibly been predestined.

Remains to be seen . . .