The Great Famine in Ukraine is mentioned in many books about Soviet Russia, but I saw it for the first time when it was made into a movie. Therefore, as soon as the source of "Mr. Jones" comes out, it is downloaded immediately-long-term network experience has long been a lesson, and many things are not saved immediately, and nothing happens.
The Great Famine in Ukraine is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. There is now a lot of evidence that Stalin-led ethnic cleansing and extermination, and many monographs have been published. In 1930, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union implemented the agricultural collectivization policy in Ukraine, which was resisted and resisted by many farmers, which led to the large-scale arrest and exile of the peasant class, especially the rich peasants, who happened to have the most skilled farming experience and skills. Groups, resulting in barren fields and empty warehouses. And the poor peasants who have not been arrested are also afraid of wearing the hat of rich peasants. Under the pressure of terror, they have no intention to produce. The two factors add up, and the direct result is a sharp drop in food production capacity. To make matters worse, the CPSU also issued a new decree on the theft of collective farm finances at this time, prohibiting farmers from owning any agricultural products. As a result, 79,000 farmers were arrested for the crime, and 78,000 of them were sentenced to death. That’s not to say, the CPSU has issued a secret order to collect all the means of production (farming tools, livestock, seeds) in Ukraine into public ownership, prohibit any grain and manufactured products from being transported into the Ukrainian countryside, and prohibit the purchase of commodities and agricultural products in Ukraine. Sale and purchase in other places. In addition, a food search team was sent to the Ukrainian countryside to confiscated farmers’ surplus grain, rations and seed grains, which directly pushed Ukrainians into the abyss of hell. Historians estimated that the death toll was more than seven million (refer to Baidu Encyclopedia for the above information). .
But the film does not directly describe this historical event, but unfolds through the eyes of Mr. Jones. Jones was a British journalist. He came to the Soviet Union because he wanted to interview Stalin. He accidentally learned from a friend that a famine was happening in Ukraine. So he turned off official surveillance and went to Ukraine to investigate in private. This led to the second article of the film. Line-Knowing the truth, when he wanted to disclose this tragedy to the world, he encountered obstacles and pressure from the New York Times reporter Walter Duranty. The reason was that the United States was preparing to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and trade with the Soviet Union. The Great Famine in Ukraine is naturally untimely. Based on diplomatic cooperation, Walter Duranti concealed the truth from the world and declared in the report that there was no famine in Ukraine, and it was impossible.
Ironically, Walter Durant won the Pulitzer Prize for this, and Jones's friend died on the street for tracking clues to the famine. As for Jones himself, after returning home in despair, he resisted pressure from all parties and published an article, and finally died under the hands of the Soviets during the inspection in Inner Mongolia.
The film was actually made in general, with many unsatisfactory features. The reason why I want to write this film review is to look back at this noteworthy historical event, but also to talk about something else, namely: the relationship between universal values, national interests, and public opinion.
These three are often inconsistent in reality.
Although Walter Durant’s practice of concealing the truth against the conscience of journalists is disgusting, he is not wrong in terms of national interests. At the critical moment of the establishment of the United States and the Soviet Union, the disclosure of the famine undoubtedly stabbed the Soviet Union, and the diplomatic preparations made in the past may be wiped out.
Whitewashing peace can protect national interests, but at the level of universal values, it is undoubtedly cast aside.
Jones resisted the pressure to publish articles and report the truth, which was in line with universal values, but it was not desirable at the level of national interest. This is why the British government has repeatedly pressured him to shut up.
As for public opinion, it is often influenced by the social environment, the direction of public opinion, and collective emotions at the time, and it is not reliable or correct. But national interests are real money, so international diplomacy and geopolitics are mostly based on national interests rather than universal values.
A democratically elected government is responsible for the people and not for God. It is impossible to build a heaven on earth.
The antagonisms, conflicts, and entanglements between universal values, national interests, and public opinion have created various complex and chaotic situations, which have directly caused many people's thoughts to be confused and their brains disabled. As in this movie, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union was in 1933. At that time, a great famine occurred in Ukraine. Did the U.S. government know that? Especially after Mr. Jones's article was published in the media, it is impossible to pretend to be ignorant, but what impact does it have on US-Soviet diplomacy?
The reason why many liberals find it difficult to face the opposition between values and facts, and to remove the rigidity of their methodology, is that their ideas are difficult to solve this dilemma.
If you dare not face the flaws in your own thinking, the cheap way is to blame the person who tells the truth. Why can't you look at the problem objectively? Why not have a positive attitude? However, what is the difference between this tone and five mao.
Then there is when values conflict with facts, modifying the facts to suit one's own perceptions, which has actually become a psychological distortion.
The complexity of the real world cannot be recognized by a few simple principles or a single set of theories, especially in a field as complicated as politics. Intervening with superficial cognition and making an improper metaphor is like ignorance. When a teenager enters a scam, he is either killed or disabled by others. After sorting out the relationship between universal values, national interests, and popular opinion, then look at "Mr. Jones", and there may be different findings.
Note: Stalin’s gold refers to Ukrainian food and is a line in the film.
View more about Mr. Jones reviews
