\documentstyle[11pt,doublespace]{article}
\author{David Golombek}
\title{An Impressionable Young Mind}
\date{\today}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
There is a reason children aren't allowed to vote in the United
States.  It's because children are not considered mature enough to
deal with the responsibilities that come with the right.  It's because
children don't have enough knowledge to make logical decisions.  It's
because children's minds are too malleable and open to influence by
politicians.  This last reason was exploited by Mao Zedong in running
the Cultural Revolution.  By first indoctrinating children in school, and
then hitting them through the media, Chairman Mao was able to retake
power in China and take another shot at creating a utopia in China.
However, in his quest for power, Mao changed the lives of millions of
urban youths in China.

After it became apparent that the Great Leap Forward had failed, Mao
left his place at the head of the Chinese Communist Party in favor of
Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai.  However, when the more capitalistic
policies of these two men began to show great improvement on the
economy, Mao began to grow restless.  A large part of this was his ego
reacting against the possibility of others succeeding where he had
failed, a possibly smaller part that they were succeeding by using
methods that were contrary to what he had taught.  Even after leaving
the party, Mao never fully let go of his power.  One of the major
branches of the CCP he kept close reign on was the Public Relations
department.  He began to build up what was known as the {\it ``Cult of
Personality''}.

The ``Cult of Personality'' involved a massive indoctrination of
children into believing that Mao was a living god.  History books were
rewritten, pictures redrawn, all to make Mao stand out even more than
he already did.  Children growing up learned all the good that Mao had
done, much more that was attributed to him, and none of the bad that
had come of his actions.  In general, children learned a different
history, one in which Mao was responsible for all good.  Thus, when
Mao suddenly decided that he wanted to take control of the government
again, he had a solid power base to work with.  

However, Mao initially only planned on using the urban children to
create panic in the cities.  Emerging from relative seclusion, Mao
launched a series of newspaper articles and media appearances,
culminating in a series of mass rallies in Tienamen Square, bringing
almost 8 million students in.  Millions of copies of {\underline
Quotations of Chairman Mao} were distributed in little red books, thus
becoming {\underline The Little Red Book}.  He called on the urban
youth to rebel against the existing government, and to be violent in
doing so.  The combination of having a legendary man reappear, address
the youth directly, and then ask them to do things that appeal to
youth anyways was enough to bring a massive rush of support.

Under Mao's approval, these youths terrorized the rest of the country,
centering in the large cities that they came from, but eventually
moving to rural areas as well.  Whoever was declared to be the newest
class enemy, or whoever's profession was called into question was
promptly a new target for the youths.  Instead of the traditional
courtesy they would extend to their elders, the youths now took the
offensive, first verbally and then physically assaulting those whom
they were ``directed'' to harass.  For example, teachers were among
the first to be questioned.  The former students brought teachers
before them in trial for either personal grievances or hints of
non-Communist behavior.  Then, frequently before large crowds,
question them about their activities, and just as frequently ignore
the answers given.  People who failed to impress the students with
their Communist fervor were brought under intense pressure.  They were
subject to brutal beatings, certain loss of job, possible jailing, and
ostracization by the rest of the community.  

For the students, this was a chance to run amok, breaking all the
rules that had previously held for them.  They were students no more,
because school was merely a place of propaganda.  They no longer had
to respect their elders.  They no longer had to respect property
rights.  They no longer had to restrain themselves physically.  They
no longer had any rules at all, except to be loyal to Mao.  The net
result was that a generation of students grew up without having a
morality enforced upon them.  They missed a lot of schooling because
they simply skipped school, or had no teachers, and partially because
what they were taught had been so warped by Mao's Public Relations
department to be simply lies.

As the Cultural Revolution continued, the Red Guard grew even stronger
as more and more indoctrinated children grew old enough to join.  The
older members weren't maturing because they had no pressure to do so,
and so the younger members didn't even have mature role-models to look
up to.  Thus, the cycle continued, with ever widening definitions of
class enemies and new groups to harass to feed the excitement of the
new members.  This cycle eventually collapsed when Mao died, but
otherwise could have continued indefinitely.  

The urban youths in their teens and early twenties during the Cultural
Revolution came closer to living a unstructured, unruled society than
almost any other modern history.  Of course, this only holds for those
who were members or associates of the Red Guards, but this was a
fairly high percentage.  When they finally tried to settle down to a
normal life, many found that they didn't know what it entailed,
showing the lasting effects of Chairman Mao.

\end{document}
