Subverting The Power Of The State
In the Chinese capital, an activist who wrote an open letter urging “human rights, not the Olympics” was sentenced to the maximum five years in prison on a charge of subverting the power of the state.
Chinese lawyer, Yang Chunlin, an advocate for land rights, was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison and then given shocks with electric batons during a scuffle between his family and the police, according to the AP story. The crime? Subversion of state power. Yang, a 54 year-old former factory worker, had gathered more than 10,000 signatures for an open letter entitled “We want human rights, not the Olympics.” Most of the signatures came from farmers demanding redress for land taken from them by officials for development. According to the report, property disputes and illegal land grabs have accelerated as China’s industrial economy expands.
Freedom of speech is supposed to be guaranteed in China. By whom? By some form of a constitution or a Chinese bill of rights? This is what happens when constitutions become regarded by a nations leaders as “Just a Goddamned piece of paper”, which is what our president called our Constitution. Now look at China and understand why what Bush said was so very wrong and so very dangerous to all Americans. Don’t scoff. It’s that attitude that is now wreaking havoc in China.
“Subverting the power of the state.” Is that Total Dictatorship, or what? Boycott the Olympics and stop buying Chinese filthy, polluted and poison-laden shoddy, slave-labor goods that are making fortunes for Wal-Mart and wrecking our economy by wiping out our own manufacturing.
It’s not that hard. Yes, you will probably have to either shop harder, shop at the Salvation Army store and thrift shops or maybe just not buy a few things you don’t really need anyway. You don’t have to turn your whole life upside down, just pick one thing that you were going to get at Wal-Mart and either don’t buy it or get it from a thrift store. That’s all. Just one item off your list each time you shop. It will matter.
Or you can just go on with your selfish piggy habits while your country, your income and your level of existence collapses around your feet. Baa.