December 6, 2004
It’s More Than Just Christmas
Quite a few comments have been rolling in regarding my last post on Christmas celebrations in Shanghai. Here is one example that sums up the general feedback I’ve received:
I want to know- is it wrong that China doesn't want to lose all of its culture, that its government doesn't want it to become another America? The people can celebrate it if they want, but why encourage it?
We need to differentiate here between "China" and "its government". The quote above assumes that the Chinese people and the Chinese government are one in the same. They are not. I have no problem if the Chinese people want to keep their traditions of old and reject all Western holidays, but the issue here is that the government is prohibiting the media from reporting on the holiday. The question is not “why encourage it?” as asked above, but “why prohibit people from encouraging it?”
To put it in different terms, it would be equally offensive if the U.S. government ordered the networks to downplay Chinese New Year celebrations in order to preserve traditional American holidays. What holidays people choose to celebrate is a something that should be left to the individual, not the state. For the principle behind this idea see here.
The Chinese communist government certainly doesn't want their country "to become another America", but the issue goes far deeper than Christmas gifts and Santa Claus. Their ultimate goal is absolute control over the lives of the one billion people who inhabit the country.
If anyone is interested in a excellent documentary on the subject I'd highly recommend the PBS Special China: A Century of Revolution. It covers the overthrow of the last emperor near the turn of the century, the brutality of the leadership of the Nationalist and Communist predecessors, the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square, and much more.
While the Chinese government has expanded economic freedom over the last few decades, their goal is not to enhance the freedom of the individual. Instead, this process was started to avoid economic collapse which would have been the inevitable result of their hard line communist policies. Nowhere can this opposition to individual freedom be seen more clearly than events of Tiananmen Square.
The documentary mentioned above includes several interviews with student leaders who helped organized the protests for democracy in 1989. These protests lasted seven weeks until the Chinese army stormed the area, slaughtering many of the innocent protestors. In the video a student leader, who survived the massacre but was arrested in the aftermath, described in detail what became of this life. [1]
Jailed, he was forced to kneel with his hands tied behind his back for 4 hours at a time with 15 minute breaks. This was how he spent each and every day. The penalty for moving or swaying was a beating from an armed guard who was constantly over his shoulder. Eventually, this young man decided he would rather die than continue living in his current state, so he went on a hunger strike in an attempt to starve himself. After days of refusing food he was dragged from his cell and held down as the guards forced a tube down throat. They proceeded to shove liquefied food down the tube to force-feed their prisoner.
It was at this moment, as he was forced to swallow this mush mixed with blood pouring from gashes in his own throat, that he decided he wanted to live.
Why? To tell the world of how barbaric and inhuman his government had become.
It is this ideal that prompted my last post. Repression by any government cannot be ignored whether it involves something as trivial as a Santa in a storefront window, or something as sacred as a student demanding the right to his own life. Unfortunately, with regards to China, my last post dealt with the least of their problems.
[1] I’ve lent out my copy of the DVD but once it’s back I’ll re-review his interview to make sure all the details are correct.
Posted by Peter Mork at 6:23 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 8, 2004
They Made America
I just watched the first episode of the PBS series They Made America. It's a series that is premiering this week focusing on great innovators that changed the direction of this country. The opening segment featured the stories of Ted Turner and Russell Simons. The documentary shows how both had the ability to see a niche ignored by the mainstream, persevere to make it a success, and then once they accomplished their goals both continued to innovate so that they could maintain their success. It looks like the rest of the program, which continues tomorrow, should be interesting.
Posted by Peter Mork at 11:09 PM | Comments | TrackBack
September 16, 2004
The New Americans
This week we finished watching The New Americans, a three episode series from PBS. The series follows various immigrants during their journey to the U.S. and the beginning of their lives in the country. Filmed during the late 90’s, it is truly fascinating. I would highly recommend buying or renting the videos.
You ride an emotional roller coaster with all the families and become attached to nearly all the individuals in the film. For me though some of the most moving scenes involved young Juan Flores, the 8 year-old son of Pedro and Ventura Flores who emigrate from their home in Mexico.
Pedro has worked in the U.S for 13 years, only able to return home every 6-months to visit his family for a quick two weeks. After years of trying, he finally secures visa interviews for his family at the U.S. consulate in Juarez in an attempt to legally bring them to the States. During the the beginning of the interview they learn that although Pedro has found an additional sponsor to meet the income requirements for bringing 6 dependents across the border, this will not be enough. Since someone outside the family is being used as a sponsor, Pedro's income is not counted towards the sponsorship requirements. They are informed unless they find another sponsor they will only be granted three visas out of the desired six.
Outside the consulate they unsuccessfully call friends in the U.S. trying to find an additional sponsor. Sitting in the the consulate the next day, prepared to discuss other options with the immigration official, young Juan breaks down in tears. He approaches his parents as they ask him why he is crying and try to calm him down. In tears he gets out:
"You’re all going over there, and you’re not going to take me,"
His parents of course tell him that there is no way they would break up the family and do comfort him, but the viewer is still left heartbroken for the 8-year-old. The scene is a powerful reminder of the need to reform our immigration laws for those whose only desire is to come to this country in search of opportunity and to be with their loved ones.
UPDATE: Steve Rhodes from Blogcritics points out that several people who produced The New Americans were also involved in the making of Hoop Dreams, another of my favorite documentaries.