How I changed from being an "overseas fifty cents"...

In 2008, when Tibetan independence was the most violent, various anti-China forces rose up. For the first time in the United States, I realized that the "humiliating China" forces were so huge. . Inspirational to fight against various Tibetan independence forces online, join a group of online army, and fight against another group of online army. This incident even affected my life, study and mentality. Every time I see some remarks insulting the country on various platforms, it is really uncomfortable and chilling.

Then I thought about it, it's not worth it for me to be with a group of invisible "accounts" every day, and ignore the relatives and friends around me. So I uninstalled all the news software with comments, and I haven't posted a message under any current affairs news for nearly ten years.

During this time, I was just a bystander and began to observe silently. Today, I resume writing and discussing politics. I want to talk about two things that changed my attitude. But these two items are not on Chinese soil:

1.

After 9/11, terrorism was rampant in the Middle East. Western netizens never stopped discussing Muslim teachings, including a group of people, Muslim women living in the Middle East. It is well known that Arab women are the most severely violated human rights groups in the world. Only a few years ago women in Saudi Arabia were banned from going to football stadiums, being in public without a man, driving, opening bank accounts (some laws have only gotten better in recent months), and still You cannot decide on your own to marry or divorce, etc.

Whenever there is such a discussion, one can always see a group of people stand up to defend, that is, Saudi women themselves. Their remarks were like: "We are doing well, we are treated like queens by our husbands at home!" "Wearing Hijab is our own choice!" "Wearing Burqa is also our own choice!" Not only that, immigrating to the United States Some people feel that they need to promote their clothing and culture, so they set up a Try on a Hijab event on American campuses. Two days ago, they had an argument with conservative Miss Michigan and was pushed. To the cusp of public opinion...

As a bystander, everyone will find it absurd. You are the one who is restricted, and you are the one who suffers. The world is just discussing this topic on an open platform. You are not defending your rights, so what can you explain to us? of? Their personal freedom is so limited, but they give the attitude of "We are fine, don't worry about it!". I think I can also understand, maybe it is to maintain the dignity of the individual or the nation and try to save some face. There is a sense of deja vu.

The above is a kind of person. There is another type of people living in democratic countries. Whenever the international media broke the news about their local demonstrations and small groups protesting against social injustice, they often leave comments like this: "Thank you for exposing!" "Thank you for speaking up for us! "Our problems need more attention." But no one would say, "Who asked you to speak for me? I'm doing fine, mind your shit!" Why? Because they hope to make progress through attention, and to improve a little bit from the society they live in.

2.

The second type of people I describe includes Americans. The election of Trump as president of the United States had a great influence on my thinking. It was not because a radical democratic group was elected president, but after he took office, various civil organizations in the United States began to rise and began to speak out. The next day, the National Women's March broke out. I was in the capital Washington at the time, and Trump's approval rating here was only 4%, which is naturally the core of Resistance.

I've been in America for more than a decade and never felt a sense of belonging to this land until I was personally involved in this parade...  

People have power, and this power cannot be given to you by the ruling class. Demonstrations are the best way to unite the masses and reflect the spirit of patriotism. A benign procession is a process that promotes social development and promotes fairness and justice in society. The parade sang and danced, and you could see various slogans and signs made by the people, and the American people were also humorous. People encourage each other, support each other, tell each other: I'm not supporting them either, so you're not alone. I saw a beggar with a begging box in one hand and a slogan in the other. There are street performers to entertain people. Even the police escorting on both sides interacted with people. The parade extravaganza went on for a few weeks before the battle moved to twitter…

In the United States, once there is a big event in your own country, other big news in the world will be pushed back. They have to settle their own business first and not care what others think of them. Who has humiliated the president of the United States the most? It's a native of the United States; who is the most powerful critic of the US government? It's the American media. In the United States and many western countries, the biggest problem is undoubtedly how to prevent more people from coming in (immigration), and the most serious problem in China is how to prevent people from leaving (split).

Don't think that the United States will only keep an eye on foreign and domestic affairs. A CNN reporter in China stationed in North Korea (and smearing China) that I follow will be transferred back as a backup once there is a major news in the U.S. election period or in China. In fact, I rarely see reports about China that make headlines in the United States. On the contrary, the word "America" is on the headlines of Chinese state media more often. How to judge whether a media is fair and fair, and whether it is serving people? It is not how he criticizes other governments, but how he criticizes his own government.

Let's add another little episode. Trump may be the most unpopular president in American history. Some people scold him for moving closer to a dictator, but in the final analysis, he has lived in a liberal country since childhood, and his thoughts have not exceeded this range. Victims, victimized communities and city leaders have repeatedly pleaded with Trump not to visit them in the wake of the two deadliest shootings of the year in a single day in the U.S. in the past few weeks, arguing that the president's remarks were The root of the matter, they didn't welcome the president, but Trump insisted on going, and when he got to the hospital, no wounded wanted to see him (not in El Paso, there were a few in Dayton), so he walked around the hospital...

Just this week, when a reporter asked Trump what he thought of the Hong Kong protesters, he offered to let Xi meet with representatives of the protesters, and he was confident that if the two sides sat down and negotiated, the matter could be resolved in 15 minutes... I saw the news breech , is he serious? I still don't know much about China's national conditions. It can be seen from this that they are both rulers, and their thinking is different.

Above I said two things that changed my thinking, and I don't see everything the same since then, and back to myself. My hometown is from an ancient capital in China. There is a huge project in my hometown - she is building roads day and night. I often encounter this situation: I get up in the morning to buy food, and the way home is gone; I go to work in the morning, and all the shops on the street have disappeared after returning home. If there is a new group of leaders, or if they don't have enough funds, then this naked road will be left there and no one will care about it for a year. I know my relatives sneered at it, but I have no way of knowing the attitude of the citizens of my hometown, they just endured it silently, watching the city buried in dust year after year. How much I wish I could find a place to brainstorm? Know what people are saying about this? A platform where the voice of the citizens can be heard? However, no, the city government website reads brightly: Civilized City, Struggle for a New Era.

I live in a small city in the United States, which is a bit smaller than my hometown. Last year, affordable housing was to be built next to our community (both home owners), and the municipality convened the community residents to have a meeting to discuss. In fact, the construction of affordable housing will not have much impact on life, and will not hinder traffic and living, but most residents in the community voted against it, and the house was not built.

A community, big or small, should be a united collective. This can be reminiscent of the people of Hong Kong. Over the past few months, throughout the whole incident, they have been helping a few people who cannot speak up and whose interests may be damaged. When one person sacrifices, they say one cannot be less. When one student was arrested with a laser pointer, hundreds of people picked up the laser pointer the next day. Are the interests of the vast majority of people damaged? No, because they understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice. (Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - Martin Luther King)

After my attitude changed, no one said I was a patriot. But I know in my heart that the former me and the current me, "five cents" and "public knowledge" (although I don't like to use this label), are all patriots. But patriotism is different. Some people think that patriotism is blindly supporting the government and maintaining harmony and stability. Some people feel that pointing out inadequacies, daring to speak up, defending the rights of disadvantaged groups, and striving for change until they usher in a change are true patriotism. I choose the latter.