“Global Humanity: The Nouveau Dictatorship” By Mimi Johnson

Wikipedia photo of Chernobyl 1986

I decided to re-visit “Chernobyl” on HBO. Americans in my generation and those before me, remember seeing it reported on the news, watching in disbelief - 1986 was a tough year. Not four months earlier, the Challenger explosion occurred, devastating the U.S., but also the globe in the midst of a continued space race.

If you have no idea what the name refers to, or if you are too young to remember it on the news, “Chernobyl” is a mini-series documenting the events in Pripyat, Ukraine, in April 1986, that led to one of the most horrific nuclear disasters thus far, in our history.

The series ebbs and flows by showing the dynamic contrasts between unsuspecting citizens and the corrupt communist Soviets who were so drunken with power, feeling that they were invincible and their science irrefutable, that they caused mass casualties and suffering reaching as far as parts of Western Europe.

It is an eerie reminder of the continued back and forth misinformation we are receiving in regards to covid-19. “Yes, trust the government scientists, they’ll always do what’s best for us.” “What could possibly go wrong?”

“Stupid people questioning the scientific deities anointed by other mortal humans. How dare you use your brains to question anything?” “Do as you’re told! Don’t you care about others? You’re a horrible person!”

This is how the Ukrainians felt as well and look what happened.  If I could ever give a concise, live action, definition of what a Dictatorship looks like, this disaster would be it.

As I’m watching and browsing Facebook, I come across posts from people on my friends list that continually refer to our country as a “dictatorship” and honestly, melancholy hits like a ton of bricks. None of you, including myself, have any idea of what true tyranny and suffering looks like, unless you’ve escaped communist and socialist dictatorships and have lived to tell your story.

Have you ever engaged people in conversations to learn what true hardships look like? Not just being poor, but being poor and frightened every single day of your life? Not targeted because of skin color, but just targeted for sport?

I continue to read posts of “friends” who claim to be so worried about the virus that they shame those who won’t wear masks, but in the same sentence, say they hope that those people die, particularly Trump supporters, and would snitch on them to ensure some punishment befalls.

What dystopian universe are we living in? Who are you to say something like that while simultaneously falsely touting being on the “right side of history.” Which is it? You’re worried about people contracting the virus and care about humanity or you want to protect only a select brood? If you don’t care about the safety of all people, you’re disingenuous and, in my opinion, a bad person.  Does that attitude sound familiar? It should, as that was many dictator’s agendas. Save only those that comply and think what I tell you to think.

How do you sleep at night knowing you’ve typed horrific rhetoric for the world to see with your name firmly emblazoned on the internet, never to be forgotten or erased? That type of attitude is exactly how the Soviets, amongst many other tyrannical governments, felt about and treated their citizens.

A true dictatorship involves instilling such fear in its citizens that they would NEVER form a march, protest, tear down statues, and attack police. They are drones, never questioning anything, not allowed free thought, and terrified to even deviate from the same path to and from home. The police would never bow to you or stand down, they would eliminate all in their way. They’d never be allowed to voice an opinion other than what is being told to them via the government.

In our society, the narrative is totally controlled by the media, not the government. In fact, in a true dictatorship, the media would be in complete alignment with the government, because it has autonomous control over the people.

You’d be taken from your home and never seen again. It is impressed upon me that Americans have so much unconsciously and consciously biased privilege, that we can’t see the reality of the amount of freedoms we all enjoy despite color or culture, even the freedom to destroy other people and their property and our own sordid history, foolishly thinking this is progress. This is regression.

The only dictatorships I see are the ones shaming and attempting to force their ideals upon others, then laugh at them, ridicule them, and want them dead, because their thoughts don’t align to theirs. I’m ashamed to be associated with anyone who feels that way, and you should be as well. That’s not the definition of democracy, that’s blatant tyranny.

I have never felt so hopeless about the trajectory of our futures. I have tried to be a bastion of reason, hoping that people would listen and analyze data smartly, not sheepishly, but alas, it has fallen on a multitude of permanently deaf ears.

Our society is being led astray by nefarious forces, having the narratives carved out for us, implanted like an evil seed, and unleashed amongst the populace. As each day goes by, those seeds germinate, causing hatred to continually sprout with no end in sight. How do we truly move forward when there isn’t a clear future to be seen? How is it possible that in the span of a couple of decades, we’ve eliminated thousands of years of evolution and act like Neanderthals toward one another? No more reason or critical thought, just victimization and violence; immediately wanting to eliminate any dissonances in thought.

The millions of people, of all faiths, cultures, and races, who died under true oppressive regimes would want more than anything to be here to tell their stories, but unfortunately were not given the opportunity. They would want to educate the masses on unity and the importance of free thought and expression, remind us how good we truly have it, and scoff at the ridiculous things we squabble about.

I don’t want to erase history, I want to be reminded of it daily. I want all to know of the countless sufferings that allow us to be the spoiled, unappreciative humans we’ve become. We’ve reached the 7th level of Dante’s inferno. How do we come back? What is the answer? I don’t claim to know many things, but a very wise person once told me, “listen and read more, talk less. Talking leads to arguing, this leads to misunderstandings, ultimately ending any peaceful means of societal balance.” I’d say listening more and talking less would be a pivotal start.

Behavior as a Communist School Subject

My second grade class

I found a photograph of my second grade classroom with students in dark uniforms, mostly devoid of smiles, with sad and serious faces.  It is a depressing moment in time that speaks volumes of the strict disciplinarian code enforced in communist schools.

Children had to stand when called upon to speak, or when asked a question. If they took notes, hands were busy writing. When asked to pay attention to the teacher, they had to keep their hands behind their backs in a very uncomfortable, back-numbing position, leaning against the wooden bench behind. If anybody entered the classroom, the entire student body had to stand and greet them according to rank. The word ‘comrade’ teacher or professor, followed by name, was required to be used at all times.

Modesty and protection of the honor of the classroom, of the school, of the communist party had to be a very important goal of learning. Nobody was allowed to use hateful and insulting language, to exhibit nationalism, superstition, religiousness, or mysticism. If anybody failed in the subject of school discipline, the entire student body was to rebuke that student and take a stance against the offender. Parents were called at school, reprimanded, and embarrassed in front of all the other parents present as inadequate members of the socialist society.

A student’s duty was to come prepared to school every day to answer any questions on that day’s subjects. They were to present, when asked, their Student I.D. Book which contained their entire school history, grades on various subjects, tests, and whether they passed a subject, failed a subject, and what grade they received. This Student I.D. Book (“Carnet de Elev” in Romanian), the size of a passport, had to be presented upon request to any teacher, professor, teacher of behavior (“diriginte”), school director, parent, guardian, and after each notation made inside by school officials. The Student I.D. Book had to be kept clean.

Students had to enter the school quietly, in single file, wearing their uniforms, their matriculation numbers on their sleeves, on hats, and on their chests, hair combed, braided, tied with a white ribbon, wearing black or brown shoes, and white knee highs or heavy-gauge cotton panty hose. No stockings, makeup, shaving, or jewelry were allowed. Each pupil had to occupy their seat immediately and remain seated in silence until the teacher arrived.

Outside and inside the classroom bad and insulting language was forbidden as it was considered hate speech. Students were encouraged to be honest, fair, and courageous in public, in line with the communist party platform. They were to obey traffic signs, respect the elderly, those younger, the handicapped, and lend a hand when asked.

Students were not allowed to attend shows, marches, and public rallies that were not age-appropriate or sanctioned by the school or by the communist party. To ask or answer questions, each student had to raise a hand first; they could not speak unless told to do so.

They were expected to help with domestic chores and care for younger brothers and sisters. A school inspector or teacher would occasionally visit each student’s home to check on their behavior and the family’s habits.

Nobody was allowed to leave the classroom without the teacher’s approval, not even for a bathroom break. During a 4-6 hour school day, two breaks were given, a 10-minute break and a 20-minute break, and no lunch was provided. No students were ever bussed, everyone walked to school alone or in a group of other students.

If too many unexcused absences were recorded, a student was made to repeat the school year. If a student failed a class, he/she also had to repeat the year. If anybody in high school became pregnant, which was quite rare and morally frowned upon, the girl and the father were expelled and forced to finish their education during night school, separate from the more rigorous day schools. There was no daycare provided for out-of-wedlock student moms.

My Student I.D. Book had been lost long time ago, having left it behind when I came to the United States. But I still have my diplomas with the picture of a little girl with pig tails tied with white bows, innocently smiling. It was a time when we believed that everyone on the planet lived the same way we did.

Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2015

Note

Fortunately, Andreea Lupsor, a young Romanian writer for Historia.ro, found a high school Student I.D. Book from “Liceul Mihai Viteazu” stamped with the school year 1964-1965.