No. 10 - The Little Red Book

I was reading Under the Dome by Stephen King this morning and came across the following passage:

"When I was in Iraq, someone gave me a copy of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book. I carried it around in my pocket, read it cover to cover. Most of it makes more sense than our politicians do on their sanest days. One thing that stuck with me is this: Wish for sunshine, but build dykes."

I thought about that last sentence for more than a moment. Something doesn't feel right for me concerning the supposed economic recovery. It just doesn't. So although I hope for the best (who really knows, right?) I am preparing for the worst and trying to inform and educate my friends and family so that they might be able to protect themselves for what could amount to many years of economic hardship for many Americans. But I digress.

I learned that The Little Red Book was also referred to as Quotations from Chairman Mao and was published by the Government of the People's Republic of China from 1964 to 1976. It is a collection of quotations from Mao Zedong's past speeches and publications. It was the most printed book of the 20th century (with an estimated 5 to 6.5 billion copies printed) and ranks second to the Bible as the most printed book of all times. It explained to the people of China the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese citizens were unofficially required to own it, read it and carrying a copy with them at all times during the latter half of Mao's rule.