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Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

hongkongfp.com

31–40 of 241 posts

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#31

Seems like they could use the 2nd amendment there.

That is exactly the reason the 2nd Amendment exists in the US constitution. It certainly wasn’t to protect target shooting and hunting, but to protect against precisely the sort of oppression happening in Hong Kong. Governments should fear the people, not the other way around. The 2nd Amendment is a check on tyranny. Those that are downvoting the parent, what’s the solution? In China, you can’t protest your way to fr…

> Chenoweth and Stephan collected data on all violent and nonviolent campaigns from 1900 to 2006 that resulted in the overthrow of a government or in territorial liberation. They created a data set of 323 mass actions. Chenoweth analyzed nearly 160 variables related to success criteria, participant categories, state capacity, and more. The results turned her earlier paradigm on its head — in the aggregate, nonviolent civil resistance was far more effective in producing change.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/02/why-nonviolen...

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also follows the birth of Jesus and the battle of Gallipoli. Your point being?

The siege happened yesterday, and Chinese mouthpieces and websites are calling it a blatant provocation on sovereignty by thugs.

Why does it matter what the Chinese mouthpieces say? They will always find a reason when they want to fuck someone up.

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#33
post #5

I am very curious, but worried, of the situation in HK. Concretely, it seems HKers can protest as much as they want, but when push comes to shove, the PRC will just end up crushing them and the parts of democracy they still have. I can't imagine how they may get any other outcome. Even if I wish they could just gain independence, it seems unlikely, and it's not like any foreign power would go to war to protect HK.

> Even if I wish they could just gain independence, it seems unlikely, and it's not like any foreign power would go to war to protect HK.

I never understood this. Why would HK gain 'independence'? Why would a foreign power 'protect' HK? (protect from what?)

HK has been used to build a narrative that is rather strange... Frankly people in HK calling for independence are a bit like, say, the Texas Nationalist Movement or calling for Seattle independence. It's a fringe movement at best.

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#35

Seems like they could use the 2nd amendment there.

The progressives in HN downvote you, but the truth is that being able to use violence to protect your individual freedoms is instrumental to democracy. Few places can boast the level of stability that EEUU has had in the last 150 years. Many were taken over by tyrants and armed mobs, than eventually chose their tyrant. It's no coincidence that in Venezuela the regime disarmed the people with a law that according to t…

What about the many, many other functioning democracies with incredibly strict gun control?

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#36
post #12

Seems like they could use the 2nd amendment there.

Yes, more guns is always the solution !!! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/2010_hom...

I would describe this line of reasoning as tautological. A proper analysis would compare total violence and eliminate other factors like income inequality and education. The preoccupation with "gun violence" is like fixating on, say, truck collisions-- it provides no actual insight into what variable is driving traffic fatalities, but trucks sure are big and scary!

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#37
post #34

Is there a symbolism with the white? Or was it an arbitrary colour? I believe Brown was chosen for the Nazi SA uniforms because they were cheap.

I assume it was for maximum contrast with the black that many of the protesters wear, to help distinguish friend from foe.

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#38

A co-worker of mine just returned from visiting mainland China. She said everyone she spoke to, did not know about the protests in Hong Kong. They had no idea that something was happening there.

This is not necessarily a bad thing for the protesters in HK.

Considering the humiliation that the colonisation of HK had been for 100+ years and the resulting nationalistic tendency of the people, if CCTV (Chinese state TV) had shown the pictures of armed protesters storming the HK parliament and some of them flying the Union Jack then the Chinese government would have been forced to fall on the protesters like a ton of bricks.

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#39
post #12

Seems like they could use the 2nd amendment there.

Yes, more guns is always the solution !!! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/2010_hom...

It's a hell of a lot harder (or at least more costly) to violently impose your will on people who can violently defend themselves.

Re: Chaos in Hong Kong as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists

#40
post #5

I am very curious, but worried, of the situation in HK. Concretely, it seems HKers can protest as much as they want, but when push comes to shove, the PRC will just end up crushing them and the parts of democracy they still have. I can't imagine how they may get any other outcome. Even if I wish they could just gain independence, it seems unlikely, and it's not like any foreign power would go to war to protect HK.

> Even if I wish they could just gain independence, it seems unlikely, and it's not like any foreign power would go to war to protect HK. I never understood this. Why would HK gain 'independence'? Why would a foreign power 'protect' HK? (protect from what?) HK has been used to build a narrative that is rather strange... Frankly people in HK calling for independence are a bit like, say, the Texas Nationalist Movement…

The population of Hong Kong is apparently 7+ million, and 2 million went on one of the marches. Doesn't seem 'fringe' to me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-48656471

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