More thoughts on the Middle Kingdom

Yesterday, I talked briefly to David, who is in China now, and I told him about my (irrational?) propensity to be sympathetic with the Chinese government. And then David said something like “well, don’t you think that it might be good for Chinese people to be a little more aware of how they are seen in the world?”, and I answered something a little defensive, but I thought about what he said a lot that night. I wondered whether it matters what actually is going on inside the country, and how ‘okay’ it is, if so many people are condemning the actions and calling them human rights violations. Despite what hypocrisy might be in place, or the fact that universal human rights are a philosophical construct and not an absolute truth, perhaps what should matter more is how all of this is being seen.

One of my favorite quotations about the War or Terror was something I heard on Bill Maher’s show, where he referenced someone as having said: “they hate us because we don’t even know why they hate us.” If we are to apply the same logic to China (not necessarily with the word ‘hate’, although many would concede to its use, I’m sure), things become hairy.

Please listen to the following:
[audio:https://structuredmoments.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/syrtis-major.mp3]
The Flaming Lips – Syrtis Major