Battle between Freedom and Equality | Lee Yee
A netizen left a comment under my article from a couple of days ago, and said that if Trump is re-elected, he would turn “dictatorial”, and pursue “Trump thinking as mainstream”. He said that he “divides the United States and gave birth to racism, white nationalism, and xenophobia”, which is disastrous to human civilization, etc.
Under the constitutional system of the United States, one will have to step down after one re-election, and there is no way to bring about a dictatorship. Moreover, just look at all the stormy attacks mainstream media throws towards him, how is one to become a dictator? In a multicultural America, how could any almighty notion exist? As for racism and xenophobia, the cited example is him crowning the novel coronavirus “Chinese virus”, and the media claimed that this has caused a sharp increase in anti-Chinese speech online. But the virus did originate in China, did it not?
Other than the infiltration of Chinese interests that drove the U.S. media’s anti-Trump campaign, it has also been the “leftard” ideologies that have dominated academia and the press. How does one define “leftard”? Something that So Keng-chit said a few days ago was very appropriate, "the definition of “leftard” is that they replace strong and weak with “wrong and “right”; strong must be “wrong”, and weak must be “right”. Leftards uplift the weak by putting down the bullies to attain moral high grounds. The leftards must oppose the United States, for the see the United States as strong. The leftards sympathize with Saddam Hussein, because compared with the United States, Saddam Hussein is weak. They cannot see that Saddam Hussein is strong compared with the Iraqis. Hence the ‘tard’ in leftard.”
It is not that they cannot see, they are just intentionally not seeing. The mainstream media reports about Iraq after Saddam Hussein had fallen were that there was no longer a stronghold of a government, which led to the loss of societal management. Bombs were exploding daily, and blood flooded the land of the country. People lost homes and livelihoods. However, data showed that in the later phase of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq’s population was 26 million, and the per capita GDP was only US$625, not to mention that the inflation rate was high in the three digits. After the United States attacked Iraq and introduced the democratic system, the Iraqi population has risen to 35 million, the per capita GDP has increased to US$4,600, and the inflation rate has dropped to 6%. Despite the global economic slowdown, the Iraqi economy has grown by an average of 9.9% per year for more than a decade.
In addition, the mainstream media rarely reported the substantial progress in Afghanistan’s economy and people’s livelihood after the United States eradicated the Taliban regime before establishing a democratic system in Afghanistan. It is rarely reported that after South Africa got rid of the white regime, social security was horrifying. It is because such truthful reporting is not politically correct.
Shouldn’t the motto of news publishing be “all news worth reporting”? When political correctness overrides this creed, there is no longer press freedom.
The so-called political correctness stems from anti-discrimination. Anti-discrimination means upholding the concept that “all men are born equal”, and to protect vulnerable groups. Anti-discrimination used to be a kind of progress, since the starting point is not the interests of the majority of society, but the moral and spiritual demands. But when this kind of protection gradually develops into a disregard towards differences and the diversity of human life, it becomes leftards who wave around the banner of political correctness. If the welfare of new immigrants is treated the same as that of local residents, how is that different from obliterating the long-term tax payment of local residents? Using Black Lives Matter to rationalize violence and chaos, you get Black Lives Better, and ignore the fundamental problems of the root causes of issues such as the Black community’s slighting of education; with the police worrying that law enforcement will cause them trouble, the crime in the Black areas will increase. Anti-discrimination has developed into a state where even praising women for being beautiful is discrimination. Obama once praised the Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris as the most beautiful State Attorney General in the United States, and was then accused of discrimination by feminists. He was forced to apologize. To protect LGBT, many American college toilets no longer distinguish between men and women, making women fearful.
“All men are born equal” is a false proposition. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and others are born in the slums of Africa. How are they born equal? American conservative Russel Kirk said that we must pay attention to diversity and differences. Only before God and a fair court can there be true quality; all other attempts to achieve equality will inevitably lead to societal stagnation. If the balance of natural differences and conventions is tipped in order to pursue equality for all, then it will not be long before tyrants or despicable oligarchs start to create new inequalities.
Socialism waves around the banner of equality, and has been breeding tyranny for a whole century. Modern leftards is another form of pursuit of equality, one that is destroying the freedom of human society. Freedom is more important than equality. If there is no freedom, there will be no equality among people who are not free.
This U.S. general election may as well be regarded as a battle between freedom and equality.
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social media campaign example 在 堅離地城:沈旭暉國際生活台 Simon's Glos World Facebook 的最佳貼文
【#TheDiplomat🌍】難得The Diplomat讀者對香港有興趣:
The series of iron-fisted moves last month in Hong Kong may seem sudden to international observers: Hong Kong government’s earlier reinterpretation of the China-Hong Kong relationship, the election of a pro-Beijing legislator to be a Legislative Council chair through a controversial mechanism, and Beijing’s recent decision to impose a national security law on Hong Kong. The desire to bring Hong Kong under the banner of “one country, one system” is not impulsive. Quite the contrary, it’s a calculated campaign to initiate a so-called “second reunification with Hong Kong” — since the first reunification after the handover, using a lenient soft-power approach, has supposedly failed.
What are Beijing’s calculations that motivate this bold campaign now? And more important, will the campaign work?
While I remain highly skeptical of solely applying the realist framework to study Hong Kong, Beijing’s mentality is nonetheless entirely realism-driven. It is therefore essential to use this lens to understand more of their thoughts.
COVID-19: A Golden Opportunity on the International Stage?
To start with, the coronavirus pandemic seems to have created an ideal backdrop for Beijing to push forward its iron-fisted policy toward Hong Kong. The West has been devastated by the pandemic, more so than China, and has been slower to recover economically. Instead of decoupling from China, Beijing thinks the West is desperate for an influx of Chinese capital and markets. This notion encourages Beijing to pursue brinkmanship, in the form of confrontative “wolf warrior diplomacy,” its escalation of sharp power, and, most recently, Hong Kong’s national security law. As long as the international community does not put their condemnation into action, Beijing will keep pushing the envelope.
Beijing is convinced that the chambers of commerce representing other countries in Hong Kong will always place profits above all else as long as the national security law does not threaten them. Business deals struck at the crucial moment can entice foreign businesses to use their lobby teams in their home countries in Beijing’s favor.
Although anti-China sentiment has become more mainstream, Beijing, the major beneficiary of globalization in the past two decades, has tied its destiny with various elites internationally. These “friends of China” can be swayed to safeguard Beijing’s interests, but the up-and-coming leaders in many countries look less friendly. Therefore, the window of opportunity for Beijing to act is closing before the new value-driven generation comes to power.
The Lack of Incentive Behind the U.S. and U.K.’s Escalating Rhetoric
While U.S. politicians from left to right are vocal against China, their ultimate goal, Beijing believes, is to win votes in the November election. They would hence avoid hurting the interest groups they represent and go easy on actions aiming to punish China, such as denying Hong Kong’s status as a separate customs territory, sanctioning Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, or escalating the trade war.
Even though the Trump administration is ramping up the rhetoric to sanction China, protecting Hong Kong’s autonomy is not one of the United States’ core interests. In contrast, having control over Hong Kong is China’s core interest. Beijing would rather make concessions over other disputes with Washington in exchange for claiming victory in Hong Kong for its internal propaganda.
Britain, the co-signer of the Joint Declaration for Hong Kong’s handover, is arguably most entitled to denounce Beijing’s violation, which would give mandates to the United States to act. But Beijing is convinced that Britain, not as powerful as it used to be, will not make such a move. Beijing’s recent plans to withdraw businesses from the United States and list them in the London stock market is a move to place a wedge between the two powers. U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateralism and his harsh stance against U.S. allies also strengthens Beijing’s conviction that the West will not follow the United States’ lead.
Beijing’s Divide and Conquer Strategy in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s parliament, the Legislative Council (LegCo), is a major roadblock to Beijing’s control, as demonstrated twice since the handover — in 2003 when the national security law was first introduced and in 2019 with the anti-extradition legislation that sparked city-wide protests. In both setbacks, Beijing lost control when moderate pro-establishment legislators broke away from the party line in the face of public outcry. As the September LegCo election approaches, the last thing Beijing wants is for the election to become a de facto referendum on the single issue of the national security law, which could result in another landslide win for the democratic parties. The law would be untenable to the international community if it’s opposed by both pro-democracy voters, which according to polls account for 60 percent of the votes, and moderate pro-establishment voters.
The moderates, despite their reluctance to embrace hardline rule in Hong Kong, differ from the more militant faction within the non-establishment camp in that the former rejects the so-called “mutual destruction” option, which risks Hong Kong’s special trade status — its economic lifeline — as a bargaining tactic to force Beijing to back off. Now that Washington is considering withdrawing Hong Kong’s privileges, the possibility of mutual destruction is becoming real. As Beijing has been promoting a narrative that all supporters of the protest movement’s “Five Demands” are bringing about mutual destruction, Beijing hopes the moderates, in fear of losing their financial assets, might turn toward the establishment.
On the other hand, the pro-democracy camp is at risk of breaking apart. Moderate pro-democracy supporters have been going to rallies to keep up with the political momentum. However, marches with more than a million participants would be impossible under the current oppressive environment. For example, the authorities abuse COVID-19 social distancing measures to suppress rallies, permits for peaceful protests are increasingly difficult to obtain, pro-establishment businesses heavily censored the social media activities of employees, and outspoken individuals are often cyberbullied.
Without support from the moderates, some within the pro-democracy camp may radicalize, as Beijing expects. The radicalization would fit Beijing’s tactic of painting protests as separatism and terrorism, justifying the imposition of the national security law. The trajectory would be similar to Beijing’s handling of the 1959 Tibetan “riots,” during which Mao Zedong’s directive was “the more chaotic the scene, the better.”
The Nationalistic Agenda to Divert Domestic Attention
But after all, to Beijing, Hong Kong is not just Hong Kong. In the wake of the pandemic, Beijing urgently needs to uphold nationalism to divert unwanted attention from its economic crisis. That includes a global propaganda campaign to promote its triumph over COVID-19. Upgrading the Hong Kong protests to a national security issue — as a battle against foreign interference to complete the “reunification with Hong Kong” — best suits the nationalist atmosphere. The all-time low sense of belonging with China among the new generation in Hong Kong further justifies a strong-arm approach. The success of the strategy would offer a way to reunite with Taiwan, which would consolidate Xi’s leadership within the Communist Party.
Also, including the Hong Kong issue as part of the national agenda means that the Hong Kong government, which has already lost its will to govern, will dance to Beijing’s tunes.
This comprehensive crackdown on Hong Kong’s civil society is unprecedented. Beijing believes that the heavy-handed approach would pervade Hong Kong with a sense of powerlessness and bring it to its knees. As long as the international response is limited, the execution of the national security law, according to Chairman Mao’s “theory of contradiction,” will follow a script of “a soft hand” and “a firm hand.” That is, after its imposition, the law will initially apply restraint and be used only on individuals to set a stern example, so that the general public would feel as if the law does not impact them at all and property and stock prices would not fall. Gradually and subtly, if the realist formula of Beijing works, the “second reunification” could become a self-proclaimed success story for Beijing’s propaganda.
However, Beijing’s evaluations are not foolproof. Any single miscalculation could lead to a contradictory outcome for the People’s Republic of China. Is it really prepared?
▶️ 國安法:中國的現實主義框架
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhRbV8qTgo
⏺ 中美夏威夷峰會
https://www.patreon.com/posts/38378214
social media campaign example 在 AppWorks Facebook 的最讚貼文
Can’t seem to figure out what your customers want even after countless interviews? I’ve collected a few learnings to help you produce better results when identifying your customers’ wants. Read on to learn how to improve your interviews:
- Stop asking your customer what they like/want:
Don’t ask: “Do you like the product? Do you want XXX features?” Most customers don’t know what they like and what they want. If you are asking these types of questions, you'll be running around in circles with contradicting answers, and building features that nobody uses. Sound familiar right? To really understand what our customers want, we need to base our questions on…
- What happened and how did the problem unfold?
By understanding how the existing solution isn’t working for our customer and WHAT caused their original solution to be insufficient, we can start to unveil what they really want and WHY they are looking for an alternative. A good answer here should entail time, context, facts, and there should be no room for guesswork to the cause of their problem.
An example of a bad answer sounds like - “I have too many social media accounts to handle.” versus an answer detailing what went wrong - “I’m running a campaign on social media across Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and each post took me 3 minutes to resize, tag, and paste the description between accounts, this is a lot of repeated work.”
- To confirm your customers’ wants, turn up the WHAT:
Ask your interviewee if their WHAT contributes directly to their WHY. Following the above example, we should ask “Did your workload increase with each additional social media account?”
When we have the right WHAT, our interviewee should agree with us whilst their face scowls with unpleasantness. Fantastic! Although we never asked what our customer wanted, we now have a solid understanding of their problem and the root cause they want to solve.
If you're a founder interested in building a great customer centric product. You will love our community and mentors! Check our website to add your name to the mailing list when the next application kicks off: www.appworks.tw/accelerator
By: Jack An, Analyst
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Feb 6, 2018 - Check out these 24 social media campaign examples to see how leading brands infuse their strategy with creativity to drive their audiences to ... ... <看更多>