Totalitarianism in the USA

I’m not sure if the United States’ government is fascist or if the San Diego Padres’ owners and management are fascist or if the World Baseball Classic organizers are fascist but something smelled like stinky fascism last night at the World Baseball Classic championship game.

I left my office and drove down to the game from Pasadena before 2pm, arriving at 4:30pm in the vicinity of Petco Park. (Knowing I had to be at work by 6am the next morning, I was thankful for the 6pm start time.) Because it was the inaugural championship game and because Cuba was playing, I wanted to be there.

I read a biography of Che Guevara about seven or eight years ago, (Companero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara, by Jorge Castaneda.) That book, more than any other I have read on related topics, gave me a clear understanding of the Cuban revolution as well as the roles played by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. I came away from that book understanding the basic, corrupt nature of the Bautista regime Castro and Guevara took part in toppling, and the basic ideas around Marxism and guerrilla warfare the Cuban campesinos in the Sierra Maestra espoused in fighting back and taking over their country for the people.

My personal views on the relationship between my country, (the USA,) and Cuba contrast with the views of most of my countrymen. I believe we have been choking that country economically since Castro took over through embargos and what can only be seen as, mean-spirited, un-christian like policies and behavior. (One example of this would be our refusal to sell steel to Cuba. Birmingham, Alabama, [once known as the Pittsburgh of the south because of its steel mills,] could have continued to produce steel and sell it at a profit to Cuba but government policy caused the industry to dry up in that area of our country.)

As I came to understand some of these dynamics between the two countries, it became necessary for me to ask why we would demonize Cuba. The answer could either be the military threat Cuba posed or the ideological threat they represented by choosing a different economic system than the one we chose; capitalism.

Cuba is a small country of limited resources. As a military threat, they can only be so frightening. On the other hand, Cuba played up to the Soviet Union during the cold war in order to gain protection from us, which worked. Since the cold war was real and given the hysteria generated by the likes of Senator McCarthy, as far back as the ‘50s, it is understandable we might consider the tiny island nation more formidable a foe than the reality of it all.

Still, isn’t it just insecurity on our part to paint communism the embodiment of evil? Communism, after all, is merely an economic system. It is not fascism, nor is it totalitarianism.

fas·cism
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si- Function: noun
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

to·tal·i·tar·i·an·ism
Pronunciation: (")tO-"ta-l&-'ter-E-&-"ni-z&m Function: noun
1 : centralized control by an autocratic authority
2 : the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority

I got into the stadium at 4:45pm. I found my way to a place selling “Randy Jones’ pulled pork sandwiches,” and “Little Slugger” hot dogs that made the dodger dog look like a small pup by comparison. Adding a Coke, I found my way to my bleacher (obstructed view) seats. From my spot in right center field I could not see the corners of the outfield. No matter, when I got to those seats at 10 minutes after 5pm, the atmosphere was already electric and I was excited about the baseball game ahead.

I was two bites into my little slugger when two stadium security representatives approached me and my buddy as we ate. The man who spoke informed me he was slightly remiss about having to ask me to either turn my t-shirt inside out or take it off and check it upstairs.

My friend, (a French Canadien from Montreal,) asked the man if he was serious. He was. The security agent demanded an answer of me and I stalled by asking what the consequences of my refusal would be. He said we would need to go up to security to talk about it and if I refused, they would have me arrested.

My t-shirt has a picture of Che Guevara on it. Nothing more than the classic image of him, unshaven, wearing the beret. (Granted it is as famous an image of him as it is because of the remarkable way in which the photographer captured the intensity in Guevara’s eyes.)

I wondered if the security agent, (whom I put in his late 50s to early 60s,) knew Che Guevara was a doctor. He was likely a teenager when Guevara with Castro successfully fomented a revolution among the campesino, peasant farmers and country folk of Cuba. Was this man aware the CIA had gunned an already wounded Guevara down in Bolivia, as he tried again to assist an oppressed people of a corrupt regime to stand up for themselves and fight for their country? Did the security agent know Guevara was from an upper middle class family in Argentina and that he joined these revolutionary movements from pure altruism, (even going to the Congo to lend aid and support after Cuba was finding its way with Castro in charge and his own stint as representative to the United Nations was over?)

al·tru·ism
Pronunciation: 'al-tru-"i-z&m
1 : unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others
2 : behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species

This human animal, afflicted by asthma and having survived the Cuban revolution and his stint in the Congo, took to the mountains of Bolivia, (after traveling in disguise,) to handle a rifle once again in order to help the oppressed peoples, knowing it could, and likely would, die. (“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, for greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for that of his friends.” John 15:13-14) Che Guevara’s life fits both of the above definitions.

The security agent reiterated that I could simply turn the shirt inside out in order to comply but I refused to do that. It seemed worse to me than removing it, disrespectful.

My thoughts as all this was happening bordered on self-loathing. Too many times I have taken the easy road. Too many times I have chosen convenience over standing up for what I believed in. I thought of Cindy Sheehan and men setting themselves afire in protest of policies and acts they had virtually no power to stop or change. I thought it was time to get arrested. It would have been inconvenient but it would have ended the self-loathing, for a season anyway.

Instead I took off my t-shirt and folded it neatly into a square with Che on the inside, unable to see me cowering in the name of convenience. My friend had been kind enough to drive us down to San Diego. My fiancé and my daughter had graciously allowed me to go, knowing I would be out until midnight. I had just begun dinner and the teams were warming up on the field in front of me. Of course there are many excuses for my behavior just as there are a million excuses for why good people do not know better than to restrict freedom of speech or endorse oppression.

The security agent said the reason for forcing me to remove my t-shirt was because the San Diego Padres were my hosts and they would not tolerate any political statements.

Immediately after I removed my shirt and the security personnel left me to my hot dog, three guys filed into the bleachers dressed as Castro, complete with fake beards and olive drab fatigues. They screeched whistles and hoisted a Cuban flag with the words “Cuba Libre,” written across it. (“Free Cuba.”) They were never accosted by security. Rather, they were given free reign to move front and center to the right centerfield fence and pose for pictures, whistle out to the warming up Cuban players, and suck on their mock Cuban cigars.

I was honestly not sure if these men meant to free Cuba from Castro or from US oppression but it seemed the only political statement being subdued was that which clearly endorsed Castro and what he, and Che Guevara, stand for. This, in the land of the free, where the constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech?