Where are the American freedom fighters?
We are watching people around the world erupt. They see the writing on the wall and have decided that they aren’t going to take it anymore. In China, from The Economist:
“Under a road bridge in central Beijing, just before two o’clock in the morning on November 28th, one of that city’s most powerful men came face to face with youngsters driven to despair by China’s harsh “zero-covid” controls. The brief meeting was revealing in several ways. It offered a glimpse of the security machine built by China’s supreme leader, President Xi Jinping, and the Communist Party’s confidence in it. On the protesters’ side, it showed how, in today’s China, youthful idealism is tempered by a sober understanding of the party’s might.
“Overall, this is an alarming moment for Mr Xi and his regime. China’s covid-19 epidemic is raging and public frustration over the government’s virus controls is deep and broad. In recent days that has sparked protests in every corner of the country, binding angry workers, locked-down city residents and students. In the icy depths of that Beijing night, hundreds of young Chinese staged a rare demonstration in the capital. They lit candles for victims of lockdowns and called for an end to endless covid testing and the quarantining of every positive case. They sang the “Internationale” and a song of farewell for the dead, notably for families who died in an apartment-building blaze in the western region of Xinjiang, reportedly after fire exits were sealed. As social media spread word of this protest on the banks of the Liangma river, scores of cars drove past to sound horns in support. For five hours police in uniform and plain clothes had mingled with the crowd, filming every moment, without intervening”.
Even the workers who are paid to keep the Chinese people locked in their building are protesting – because they aren’t being paid. Nevertheless, the feel comfortable? strong? Enough to stand up to the powers that be in China. Continue reading