Dalrymple has a new essay at Standpoint Online reviewing Fidel & Che: A Revolutionary Friendship by Simon Reid-Henry. (Hat tip: Dave Lull)
There is no stronger proof of the power of marketing to overcome reality than the posthumous reputation of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. At a time when the death penalty was increasingly regarded as a barbarous relic of a bygone age, an enthusiastic mass-executioner – after only the most summary of trials – came to represent youthful rebellion. His puerile economic theories self-evidently entailed the most absolute form of tyranny, yet Guevara came to represent the free spirit itself – complete with wind through the hair – for the flower-power generation and all its progeny.
But in 2008 arent all of our “icons” false, including our inherited “religious” icons.
Almost everything is part of a marketing pitch so sell something, even and especially most of what passes for religion.
Buy this. Associate with this. Consume this. And you will be happy!
The whole system runs on the hyped selling of false icons.
Perhaps by contrast you think for example that Ronald Reagan was a “free spirit”. Such was one of the great marketing lies of our times.
By contrast I quite like this assessment of the “great” man.
http://www.psychohistory.com/reagan/rcontent.htm