Who The Hell Is This Guy!

For years now you see his stern glare on t-shirts and on buildings from stenciled on graffiti, but for some reason (I don't know why it took so long) I finally looked him up to figure out who exactly this man was. Thanks wikipedia! I had a few assumptions: I new he was a cohort of Castro, thus he must be pretty hardcore and crazy. I figured he was either a either Cuban or Mexican rebel leader judging by the mega left-wing Latinos people I have seen dawn the t-shirts, as well as, most graffiti artists are not quite what you would call "conservative". I figured to be so iconic he must have died before his prime before any real accomplishments could be made because martyrs make way better iconic symbols than guys that do something and then burn out. You don’t see cool Castro spray-ons do you? What about Abe Lincoln? No because he was too normal and a do-gooder to become a black spray paint logo staring at you as you walk to class or down a street. No you need to be Che Guevara! The icon we know and love. A little history brought to you by Time Magazine.

“…Like so many epics, the story of the obscure Argentine doctor who abandoned his profession and his native land to pursue the emancipation of the poor…”

“…after a guerrilla campaign in which Guevara displayed such outrageous bravery and skill that he was named comandante…”

“…Che the romantic mysteriously leaving the revolution to continue, sick though he might be with asthma, the struggle against oppression and tyranny…”

“His execution in Vallegrande at the age of 39 only enhanced Guevara's mythical stature.”

So the question is…Was he a good or bad guy or both? The thing is I guess it all about how you look at it. He went to Cuba to stick it to “the man”, but ends up helping instate another tyrant. Did he know all along that Castro was a rat bastard or did they both begin the revolution with a pious intent? I don’t get how Che could continue spreading the band-aid of Marxism as the Soviets just prove that the Utopian ideal is simply a dream, as their people starve and the head-honchos get fat? Yes I know the good old US of A has problems too, but that’s not what we’re talking about. So what do you think? Good. Bad. Eh.

--prone