<Issue 1> From the Restoration of Hong Kong to the Revolution of the Times

civic awakening

In 2016, Liang Tianqi put forward the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of the times" during the Xindong by-election. At that time, Liang Tianqi's votes had not yet reached half of Zhou Haoding's, and very few people had heard of Liang Tianqi. Today, you may not shout, but you will certainly hear it.

It is undeniable that Hong Kong people have begun to awaken, and the number of voters in district elections is approaching 3 million. We are no longer "Hong Kong pigs" who only know how to check in at Tiger Hall while drinking Xicha, and the remarks like "Politics? It's none of my business, don't stop me from going back to work and queuing to check in" seems to have disappeared. It can be turned into what it is today, and Carrie Lam deserves credit for it. But is it enough to care about society and pay attention to current events? There are still several evolutionary forms of Agumon, can Hong Kong people go further? Liang Tianqi's message: "In times of crisis, we must always remain vigilant and think." How should we think in troubled times?

"Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of the times" is not just a slogan: the liberation of Hong Kong refers to the awakening of citizens' consciousness; the revolution of the times refers to the actual use of actions to overthrow the unjust system and the unjust regime. On the road of revolution, the phrase "be water" has far surpassed the level of street knowledge, and the streets in the southern hemisphere are aware of this; but since we are fighting for democracy, we must understand that one of the elements of democracy is parliament Politics, debate. If the people lack the method of independent thinking and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, even if they win democracy, voters will not know how to use their votes, and all democratic systems will only be in reality.

Leap of Faith

The so-called civic awakening is not just about caring about society and paying attention to current affairs, these are just the first steps. A further awakening is to reflect on everything that happens in society and to criticize everything rationally: government policies, police enforcement, and even the actions of demonstrators. The Danish philosopher Søren Aabye Kierkegaard once put forward the theory of the leap of faith, arguing that human existence must go through three stages: the first is the aesthetic stage, in which we are dominated by emotions and feelings, according to primitive desires Making choices and actions; the second is the ethical stage, in which we think rationally and make decisions that conform to moral and social norms; the last is the belief stage, in which we abandon our knowledge and experience and believe in certain unknowns without hesitation things, such as God, also known as the Leap of Faith, the Leap of Faith.

Referring to Kierkegaard's theory, the author believes that the road to civic awakening can also be divided into three stages: First, we are driven by subjective emotions and desires to choose a position. Hate the police for images of the use of force, or Lansi sees protesters using petrol bombs and condemns young people for "making trouble." Second, abandon all subjective feelings, and choose the party we think is correct after rational criticism; third, choose one's own position after rational test, firmly support it, and regard it as a belief.

In fact, although many people have raised their attention to politics, they are still at the first stage. If so, our positions and orientations will become unreliable: you are 20 years old today, and you can go to the front by resenting that your peers were arrested and beaten to death; Even if they have to support their wives and work, they can’t lose their jobs, and they risk tear gas to go to work, and they even accuse the protesters of “preventing people from returning to work.” In this stage, our position depends only on sensory stimuli, such as news images; or is influenced by social atmosphere and peers. Anger and sadness drive us away from political coldness and have our own attitudes, which is not a bad thing. However, everyone needs to understand that this is just another kind of cynicism, a formalistic struggle; and the sensory stimulation will eventually become numb, which means that only the more serious the conflict scene, can these people keep their attention to politics. And it must be admitted that these people made up the majority in this revolution. In this struggle without a major platform, the direction of the wind can control the overall situation. Therefore, it is particularly important to have IQ online for a long time. It must not be formalistic: anyone who retreats is "scattering the water", anyone who holds the opposite opinion is "twisting in the direction of the wind", and anyone who accuses or competes The post-review is called "differentiation", which will hinder us from making correct judgments. Only by maintaining a clear mind can we find the right remedy. In the same way, even if we win democracy, our people's intelligence must keep up; otherwise, we will only end up with two outcomes - the tyranny of the majority, or being manipulated by politicians. The situation is just like when everyone sees tomorrow's headlines for Xi Jinping to step down, China successfully fights for democracy and universal suffrage for the president, it is not difficult for everyone to imagine that they will elect another Xi Jinping 2.0 to rule them. Therefore, while joining the ranks of the revolution, do not forget to keep thinking, in order to have a comprehensive understanding of the current situation and make reasonable judgments and actions.

In the second stage, these people will make rational judgments based on their own knowledge and values, and use rationale to demonstrate why the current police power is too large, and why illegal acts under civil disobedience are inevitable and should not be condemned, rather than just resorting to emotion. Due to the large number of metaphysical problems to be solved, these people are generally highly educated. The well-known Ben Sir (Ouyang Weihao) is a good example. Because of this, they are more likely to trust the judgments they have made through their own learning, resulting in more dark yellow/blue at this stage. Compared with the previous article, the political orientation of these people will be more solid, and it will be more difficult to cool down due to time. To enter the second stage, you must first abandon all your own emotions, positions, and emotions, think with rational and clear thinking, and have the ability to think independently; at the same time, you must also arm yourself with knowledge, so our "Life" will also Analyze the current situation in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

However, reason does not affect judgment based on position, so when these people find something beyond their moral bottom line, they will quickly "cut off" or even "turn around". For example, in the "Operation Dawn" on November 11, an old man was burned. When the burning is beyond their acceptable level, they have the opportunity to turn against each other. This is the limitation of the ethical stage. Indeed, even if the political views are unanimous, it does not mean that we should "blindly support" the behavior of the demonstrators. When we use "unequal force", we should not double standards and should review and improve; however, there is no need to quickly cut seats. No division, no division" does not mean that we should blindly support all the actions of the protesters. How to achieve "Nuclear bombs are not cut"? It's time to take a leap of faith.

The third stage is "faith". Believers are always firm in what they believe in, which is what we now call "nuclear bombs will not cut." The so-called belief is that even if there is doubt, we still choose to believe it without hesitation, just as someone who doubts whether the behavior of the protesters is "imperfect, acceptable, and needs to be improved", but still choose to believe in frontline decisions. Even if some behavior exceeds our moral bottom line, we will not be immediately cut off because of it; just as Christians are not perfect, there will be disputes with each other, and they may do evil; however, because everyone has a common belief, so believers They will never give up on everyone easily; on the contrary, it is unimaginable if a church immediately excommunicates a brother because of his mistake. When believers become apostles (or disciples), the division of the enemy will naturally be self-defeating. Some people will question: "What is the difference between being brainwashed and brainwashed?" From a Christian point of view, this is the difference between "disciple" and "Yanian".

Brainwashing and Faith

When talking about the difference between being brainwashed and belief, it just confirms the importance of going through the baptism of rational criticism. At first glance, brainwashing is no different from belief, and it is also about espousing and believing something in its entirety. However, the biggest difference between the two is that people who are brainwashed are blind, while political believers choose their own political inclinations through thinking. The brainwashed person only asks for the position, and as long as the position is consistent, he does not care whether the underlying behavior is correct; in fact, belief does not mean refusing to think. Simply put, believers know what they believe and they never worship blindly. Therefore, we cannot directly sublime from the first stage to the third stage, otherwise we have never chosen our own beliefs, and naturally we cannot call them beliefs. In this case, we are only driven to think by pictures and emotions, so we are forced to jump off the building; we have never made a leap of faith without thinking.

The scary thing about Lansi is exactly this: they were born in China, they must be patriotic, otherwise they are traitors and traitors. They can't choose their birthplace, or their parents' nationality, so patriotism is never an option. The so-called "I am Chinese" is a kind of identity. I am proud of China and love Chinese culture. Therefore, I choose to identify myself as a Chinese. I will be patriotic. This is the correct logical order. Patriotism never has to be forced and cannot be forced. When everyone ridiculed "Little Pink", do you know what the values you support? As a yellow silk, do you know what democracy is? Do you know why we want democracy? More importantly, democracy and freedom have never been equal, so if the Hong Kong government, or even the Chinese Communist Party, can give you a stable and free life with the protection of human rights, will you risk your guns and bullets to fight for democracy? Is democracy so important to you? Are you just anti-communist or pro-democracy?

Thinking is painful. In the "post-truth era", it seems easier to just ask the position, not to ask the truth, and not to think. British philosopher John Stuart Mill once asked a question: "Do you want to be a happy pig, or a miserable Socrates?" Indiscriminate violence and indiscriminate arrests have become commonplace; rumours of suicide are endless. In the face of the absurd, we must pick up the reason that we have long since given up, or even forgotten. In his works, Hong Kong analytic philosopher Li Tianming once compared the method of thinking to a sword, which he called the "Sifang Sword". In troubled times, fire magicians use petrol bombs to ignite the flames of revolution; righteous people also use their futures and even their lives to continue the flames of revolution. Protesters, dare to ask: Are you willing to take up your long-held Sifang sword and point it at the political power? Patriots, if you think the above statement actually supports violence and destruction, then ask: Why do the protesters spend their summers just to destroy the homes they live in? Neutral people, when you see the news showing images of violence that you hate so much every day, please think about it: Is there right or wrong in violence? How should we judge?

 The movie "Cousin, Hello! In ", Zheng Shuonan, a cadre of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, played by Zheng Yuling, has a dialogue: "Democracy is not a gift, it is to be won. But the party is very lenient. As much democracy as you want, I will pay you as much. How much do you want?"

In a country without freedom, we have lost even our right to silence. Don't worry, you just need to keep silent until your children have only the freedom of silence.