Che Cliché
Che Guevara is probably the foremost symbol of anti-capitalist and anti-American sentiment in the entire world. His entire life he fought against Western capitalism, which he considered to be patently unfair and morally degrading. He believed deeply in the creation of the New Man, who would respond not to greed and power but to kindness and humanity.
Che only really became known posthumously. The romantic nature of his early and violent death, his iconic photogeneity, as well as tales of his legendary rigidity in his principals made him a prime target for American youths’ left-wing idealism.
Buoyed by charming exuberance but acting in clear ignorance of Che’s true ideals, the young would-be rebels quickly snapped all manner of Che merchandise, from posters to blankets to key-chains to t-shirts, all of it a clear representation of the cynicism of capitalist America. The very man who abhorred all material profit because a huge source of revenue for the world’s largest corporations, so much so that TIME magazine called Albert Korda’s 1960 photograph of Che the most purchased photograph in the world. In a paradigm shift of epic proportions, capitalist America turned one of its supreme enemies into one of its greatest allies.
So by buying this cliché, you are proudly further the cruel practical joke that Fate played on one of the most principled (you can call him anything you like but you can’t deny him that) human beings in history.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
