Looking at Hong Kong entering its 16th week of protests, I ask myself: what really is freedom and democracy?
Is the U.S. the best representation of what these concepts mean? If so, which aspect of the U.S. would that be? I have never lived in the U.S., only visited. What I see about the U.S. in terms of freedom and democracy is through TV, news, movies, and other media. But even then, I recognise that this representation of freedom and democracy that I see is not the truth. It is part of the truth, or part of an ideal; it is how the U.S. wants to be seen, but not what it actually is.
If the protestors in Hong Kong are fighting for this representation of the U.S. that they see in the media... boy, are they in for a surprise. Because the truth is probably different.
Another question springs into mind: how many of the protestors are in their forties or older? How many have actually lived as adults under British rule, to be able to give a fair and accurate comparison between Chinese and British rule? How many of them have actually had to pay taxes to the British, and continue to think that the British way was a better way?
Yes, democracy and freedom gave us the First Amendment. But it also gave us the Second Amendment and gun violence. See the stats here. And it gave us Trump and Brexit.
And if you look back far enough... it was the British who screwed the people of Hong Kong. After World War Two, the U.K. granted independence to many of its colonies. BUT IT HELD ONTO HONG KONG! Why? Was it because Hong Kong was the Pearl of the Orient, bringing in taxes to the U.K.? If the U.K. had granted independence to Hong Kong in the 1950s, when China was too weak to protest (having just fought a civil war; PRC didn't have a seat in the UN then, while the KMT had just been exiled to Taiwan), it would be a fait accompli by 1997. But no, the British held on to Hong Kong, and left the Hong Kong people's fate to China when the British left.
Instead of vandalizing the town, the protestors should sit down and really think through what is it that they want, and provide evidence of why that would work, why what they demand is going to be better for Hong Kong. Back their demands with facts, and no one can dismiss them. Talk only about ideals, and the more pragmatic will just laugh at them.
Is the U.S. the best representation of what these concepts mean? If so, which aspect of the U.S. would that be? I have never lived in the U.S., only visited. What I see about the U.S. in terms of freedom and democracy is through TV, news, movies, and other media. But even then, I recognise that this representation of freedom and democracy that I see is not the truth. It is part of the truth, or part of an ideal; it is how the U.S. wants to be seen, but not what it actually is.
If the protestors in Hong Kong are fighting for this representation of the U.S. that they see in the media... boy, are they in for a surprise. Because the truth is probably different.
Another question springs into mind: how many of the protestors are in their forties or older? How many have actually lived as adults under British rule, to be able to give a fair and accurate comparison between Chinese and British rule? How many of them have actually had to pay taxes to the British, and continue to think that the British way was a better way?
Yes, democracy and freedom gave us the First Amendment. But it also gave us the Second Amendment and gun violence. See the stats here. And it gave us Trump and Brexit.
And if you look back far enough... it was the British who screwed the people of Hong Kong. After World War Two, the U.K. granted independence to many of its colonies. BUT IT HELD ONTO HONG KONG! Why? Was it because Hong Kong was the Pearl of the Orient, bringing in taxes to the U.K.? If the U.K. had granted independence to Hong Kong in the 1950s, when China was too weak to protest (having just fought a civil war; PRC didn't have a seat in the UN then, while the KMT had just been exiled to Taiwan), it would be a fait accompli by 1997. But no, the British held on to Hong Kong, and left the Hong Kong people's fate to China when the British left.
Instead of vandalizing the town, the protestors should sit down and really think through what is it that they want, and provide evidence of why that would work, why what they demand is going to be better for Hong Kong. Back their demands with facts, and no one can dismiss them. Talk only about ideals, and the more pragmatic will just laugh at them.
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