The Rise of the Red Guard

During Mao’s return to government in the cultural revolution, a destructive force was created which could not really be controlled. In urging the young people of China to rise up and rebel at the chains that held them, Mao unleashed a tidal wave of violence and anarchy that, in Mao’s sense of the word, epitomized “Revolution”.

The Red Guards sprung up from Mao’s urging of the youth of China to rise up and rebel against the bureaucracy that they experienced in their everyday lives. The Red Guard took this advice to the extreme, not only rebelling against constraints placed on them in their everyday lives such as teachers and school work, but also against constraints in society. This rebellion against societal restraints turned extremely violent, as groups of Red Guards militarized and roamed the countryside, destroying all forms of “bureaucracy” that they saw. This, is as Mao defines it, the perfect revolution.
As Mao has been quoted “Revolution grows out of the barrel of a gun”. And in the case of the Red Guards militarization, it literally did. Also, the revolution staged by the Red Guards also held up with the view of a Communist Revolution, having the common student rise up and free themselves from the chains of bureaucracy. This Red Guard Rebellion was in fact, Mao’s perfect revolution.

Satyagraha and the Salt March

The Salt March, one of Gandhi’s successful non-violent protests en masse, was a titular moment in Gandhi’s satyagraha campaign and India’s bid for independence. The Salt March can also be said to be the perfect embodiment of Gandhi’s ideals of satyagraha. As defined by Gandhi, satyagraha is the act of non-violent protest and the conversion of your enemies to the ways of satyagraha. Satyagraha also includes the Janiast ideal of “relative truth”, that you must look at arguments presented by both sides and accept your opponents views, considering both sides as true. These ideals can all be seen in the components of the Salt March. The Salt March was based on the Salt Tax of India, a controversial tax on an everyday necessity. This attack on the everyday lives of the common Indian was a direct affront against humanity in Gandhi’s mind. Adhering to the ideas of Satyagraha, Gandhi informed the vice-roy of his plans in order to allow him to form his own opinions of the march and to take action accordingly. Then, following satyagraha to the T, he started a march of non-violent protest, all the while garnering more and more followers. This non-violent campaign and its successful result can be said to have perfectly embodied satyagraha.