Hardcore

I just finished a fascinating research project on the Shining Path down in Peru. Revolutionary movements like this are often romanticised in our culture. I came across this chilling paragraph in my studies that paints a more realistic portrait of these bloody conflicts.

"One of the most common (Shining Path) tactics was beheading victims. Also eyes were gouged out; men were castrated; children were disemboweled; and human bonfires were set. Shining Path socialized its young recruits to violence; children of five and six were taught to kill chickens so that they would be accustomed to blood, and by the age of nine were smashing skulls with stones." (McClintock p69).

Originally posted on December 1, 2005 on Myspace.

The world is a crazy place.