I’ve just finished reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, a novel by Dai Sijie . It’s the story of 2 students who were sent to do hard labor during China’s Cultural Revolution. Chairman Mao Zedong was sort of an “egalitarian on crack” who altered Chinese history in the 1960s and '70s, forcibly sending hundreds of thousands of young Chinese intellectuals to peasant villages for "re-education." These students were taken from their families and robbed of any opportunity for education. The Cultural Revolution in China, and the ensuing death and destruction at the hand of Mao Zedong and his Red Guard happened in our lifetime. This is not ancient history.

It’s a great book, although as a priviledged American, I always get uncomfortable reading about any kind of suffering that I am not willing or able to help alleviate.

And then, of course, there’s the political issue. I get just plain pissed off. But if I examine my heart do I totally disagree with the theory of what he was trying to accomplish? I pulled into a 7-11 parking lot the other day. It was full of kids that just didn’t seem to have anything better to do than block my car. They were hanging out, smoking and talking on their cell phones, listening to their ipods, and looking incredibly spoiled and bored with life. I live in an affluent community. These kids didn’t seem to have a care in the world, not for each other, not for themselves, not for anyone less fortunate or humanity as a whole. Maybe a few months working in a homeless shelter, a hospice or in the fields with the migrant workers isn’t such a bad idea after all. What did Mao call it? Re-education?