tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post7775240415499875808..comments2023-12-29T00:08:21.051-08:00Comments on fear of a red planet: A Tale Of Two DissidentsGilman Grundyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-49696326871223141682010-10-16T17:40:30.975-07:002010-10-16T17:40:30.975-07:00@Just Recently - Great to see you're still aro...@Just Recently - Great to see you're still around. <br /><br />Nick Young isn't exactly a journalist - as far as I can work out he was some kind of consultant for NGOs, but then got kicked out of the country for writing about politics without being registered as a journalist etc.<br /><br />No doubt he's honest in his opinions, but, as you said, the assumption seems to be that there wouldn't be any dissidents if foreign backers weren't 'creating' them. Really, there would be dissidents whatever foreign organisations did, it's just that without foreign help it is difficult for them to get their message across and they have less protection against the authorities - although, even with help, they have very little protection.Gilman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-41294443251105764712010-10-16T01:55:57.970-07:002010-10-16T01:55:57.970-07:00It's Liu Xiaobo's approach to associate wi...It's Liu Xiaobo's approach to associate with foreigners, and his choice. Not to mention that it is his <b>right</b> to do so. It may help party organs to discredit him for now, but his choice apparently makes sense for him. <br /><br />It's interesting that exactly the journalist who refers to the prize (or other decent gestures) as <i>conceited self-righteousness</i> would at the same time suggest that foreign media or organizations were turning people like Liu Xiaobo <i>into prison fodder</i>. As if dissidents were unable to make choices. They have proven many times that they can make very <i>tough</i> choices. <br />What constitutes <i>patronizing</i> (or whatever people may like to call it) probably depends on if people close their left or their right eye while criticizing the phenomenon. <br /><br />It doesn't make sense to base our decisions on such "politically-correct" deliberations. We should do what we believe is right. Our responsibilities depend on us as individuals - no matter if we are Nobel Prize Committee members, dissidents, "common people" in China or elsewhere, or officials.justrecentlyhttp://justrecently.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-6156138265613576662010-10-15T08:38:00.331-07:002010-10-15T08:38:00.331-07:00I wonder whether the people who had their home des...I wonder whether the people who had their home destroyed by government to make way for close friends and family of government officials to make money by developing the vacated land will do better by not associating with foreign organizations ? If so, how, as most of these people don't have any contact, much less help, from anybody, in China, or foreign.<br /><br />Trumped up charges are the tools of the dictator. There were so many examples in CR that were even more extreme than the Liu case. You can die just because someone yell "traitor".Bill Richnoreply@blogger.com