Remember this?

It is pretty sad and despicable that the Empire State Building in New York City lit up in the colours of communist China back in 2009 for one day. It was the 60th anniversary of the communist regime taking power in China (founding of communist China). This created a lot of controversy in New York City especially amongst many Tibetans who were present during the ceremony protesting the lighting of the building. The Tibetans from the Free Tibet movement also broadcast large protest images on neighbouring buildings as a show of defiance.

Many people had complained to the Empire State Building as even some human rights organizations had offices located in the building. The action by the Empire State Building upset many people that day. It should also upset many Hungarians as well, as they too suffered greatly under communism for 40 years. It is a well-known fact that communism killed 100 million people world-wide in the 20th century. Recent estimates of those killed by communist China is now at about 65 million people. How on earth could the Empire State Building commemorate such as murderous regime? It was either ignorance or stupidity that led them to honour communist China during their anniversary. Could you imagine them commemorating the Third Reich today in such a manner?

This whole episode shows you that there is a gross double standard in the way people view fascism and communism. Both were equally disturbing and murderous and went against everything we cherish in a democratic society. Communism still was the greater evil as it ended up killing more people. This is because it was experimented in more countries in the world and lasted much more longer than fascism did. We should never try to glorify communism but it is very difficult due to the fact that the mainstream media often hides or distorts the facts of this political ideology. This does not give society the whole story leading people to misinterpret the true nature of it. This is exactly what happened in the case of the Empire State Building honouring the founding of communist China.

István