You have to give it the old communists: They knew how to create a good slogan. Some of them are still in use today, and by people far removed from communism. Trust but verify was coined by Lenin.
A colleague and I were talking about whether we should ask for suggestions on the strategic direction of our department. “We should, like, let a hundred flowers bloom,” he said.
That’s an unfortunate choice of words. Mao Zedong’s Hundred Flowers Campaign was pitched as a way to allow the Chinese to voice ideas for how government and the Communist party could be improved. Mao was surprised by the amount and strength of the criticism that resulted. Always the pragmatist, he realized that the Hundred Flowers Campaign was an ideal way to identify troublemakers and dissidents. He had them round up, put in labor camps and executed.
For reasons of fairness, I should not end this post without making clear that I don’t think my colleague wanted to execute anyone, or that he even knew about the gory details of Mao’s campaign, when he suggested the same name for ours.
Nehaveigur 