The Chinese people have stood up!

Our rhetoric professor challenged us to write a William Blake-esque poem about social ills. It's not the best, and the rhyme breaks down in parts, but here's mine.

Humor me - read it out loud.

The Chinese People Have Stood Up!

The Chinese people have stood up! [1]

Olympic and Expo fever erupts.

Tiananmen wants your land and your house,

All for national interest, you better move out.

The lonely woman living on a slope,

Wringing her hands, fingering her rope,

As she screams, Wo bu mai! [2]

Alone in her fight against Chai, [3]

And the claws of the unforgiving cranes,

And the shattering of her window panes.

But still she sits, revered and reviled,

Standing against government excess,

Standing in way of China's progress.

Finally, a Chinese person has stood up!

(Photo cred: Taipei Times "Woman Refuses to Give Up Home")

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[1] The Chinese are fiercely proud of the Olympics because it shows that the Chinese are now strong and prosperous. This line was the common cry on the streets during Olympics; it also echoes the Chinese national anthem.

[2] I won't sell!

[3] Beijing is plastered with Chai (To demolish) signs. The people are pressured to move. The government is tearing down centuries-old neighborhoods for shiny shopping mall complexes.

Our Iron Curtain

I've always been a little more sympathetic to the Communist ideology than my American friends. Maybe it's because history has treated my family better than most in China. But sometimes, I tend to forget that Communism is not about Mao's mausoleum in Beijing, old photos from my waipo's younger days, or my fashion totes.

Instead, it's about this.

We visited the House of Terror in Budapest. We saw the torture chamber where the political prisoners were interrogated for their affiliations with groups aiming to overthrow the Communist regime. We touched the cell walls where hopeless men have clawed through their desperation.

 

 

An excerpt from a documentary in the background:

Old Man 1: You can forgive but you can't forget.

Old Man 2: But you have to forget, no?

Otherwise there is no way to forgive. 

These young men came with their ideals. 

And their executioners.

Why, why?

This was their socialism.

Oh God, how could they have done this . . . and still believe?

People still put flowers on the ledge outside the House.

  

If he had lived, he would probably be a handsome intellectual 

who was constantly holed up in a cafe writing books.

Or a Hungarian Elvis slash Grease front man.

My Vote

Two years ago, on November 4, I woke up bright and early and ran over to the polling station. I made sure that I wore red, white, and blue, complete with my American flag socks. I even brought along my passport to feel more patriotic.

And I voted for Obama.

But today? Local elections? I didn't even think about voting. I have no idea who is running for what in Utah. I am slightly more up to date on Nevada, just because Sharron Angle amuses me (and I am more pro-Reid than most Mormons). There will be a predictable Republican surge. And frankly that depresses me. So my vote? Ask me again in two years during the national election.

America Numba 1?

Boy in my US foreign policy class:

"I grew up wondering why Canada didn't want to be a part of America. I thought that America is number one, and will stay that way, because the Book of Mormon said so. And the Gospel is truth, right? Then I read The World is Flat and it scared the crap out of me because apparently India will take over, with its call centers and everything. These are scary times."

I probably have too much to say about this. Any thoughts from you?

The Extent of Chinese Censorship

You know that the Big Brother is strict and unforgiving when China's own premier, Wen Jiabao, is censored on national TV. The fact that he was censored suggests that there are higher powers in the Chinese government that do not like Wen's message. Possible factionalism in the Hu-Wen camps? If that's the case, then Wen is playing a dangerous game by opening touting political reforms in an interview with CNN.  Perhaps the question is: Hu is emerging on top? 

Read here for more details.