Monday, January 31, 2011

Nonie Darwish/Dictatorships and Revolutions 专制暴政与蜕变革命/埃及


Muslim Brotherhood - From Wahhabi Islam To Islamic Jihad 穆斯林兄弟会/视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯一语:

惯于“以毒攻毒”的华语系专制文化与伊斯兰的专制文化在对“革命”的理解上是同出一辙的。 对邪恶的无限容忍导致了在活不下去的时候“造反革命”。 新的、更暴虐的专制往往是这种“革命”的结果:苏联、中国、古巴、伊朗与今天的埃及就是这种朝代恶性循环的众多例子。

Kai Chen's Words:

"Using poison to subdue poison" is deep in the Chinese cultural habit, as is in the cultural habit of Islamic world. Excessive tolerance of evil in every day life in such societies leads to regressive "rebellions and revolutions". More cruel despotisms often replace the old despotisms: USSR, China, Cuba, Iran and today's Egypt are all such examples.
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Dictatorships and Revolutions
专制暴政与蜕变革命/埃及

Posted by Nonie Darwish

on Jan 31st, 2011 and filed under Daily Mailer, FrontPage.

The pressure in Egypt has been building for a long time and has now finally exploded – inspired by the events in Tunisia. The fact that the Egyptian government has been taken by surprise is a sign of how disconnected the regime has become from the reality on the ground. Mubarak has wasted many opportunities to transfer power to another administration peacefully. He could have gone down in history as the first Arab leader to conduct a fair election, but instead, he kept ignoring the inevitable and kept re-electing himself for 30 years, followed by grooming his son to take over. Now he will go down in history as just another Arab tyrant in the dysfunctional political history of the Muslim world.

Having been born and raised in the Muslim faith during the generation of the 1952 Egyptian revolution, in which my father held a prominent role in the Nasser revolutionary government of that time, I see things repeating themselves. The Nasser 52 revolution promised freedom, democracy, Arab Nationalism and self-rule. Nasser toppled what he called the tyrant King Farouk, promised a new era of freedom, democracy and prosperity, but ended up giving Egyptians more of the same. The era of Nasser was one of the most oppressive periods in Egyptian history, ushering in a long period of wars, socialism, poverty, illiteracy, and a police state.

Judging from Arab history, revolutions do not necessarily bring about democracy or freedom. Will the current Egyptian uprising bring what it was intending to bring? Or will it end up in a vicious cycle of uprising and tyranny following the footsteps of the earlier 52 revolution? In a recent poll, over 70% of Egyptians stated that they want to live under Sharia Islamic law.
And most of these people do not understand that Sharia law will result not in a democracy but in a theocracy like Iran or Saudi Arabia. That unrealistic expectation by the majority of Egyptians will probably end up in a great disappointment — the same way the Iranian revolution could not deliver the freedom and democracy the Iranian people had hoped for. Many Egyptians chant “Allahu Akbar” and “Islam is the solution.” But the truth is, Islam or more accurately, Sharia, is the problem.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which is entrenched in Egyptian society, has announced that it is currently in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei – the former UN nuclear watchdog chief – to form a national unity government. They have chosen to ally themselves with a well known moderate international figure which might make them more acceptable to the moderates and reformists in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood will use the democratic process to come to power but the true nature of the Brotherhood will come out as soon as they take power. According to their basic beliefs, they must rule according to Sharia, which is the official law of Egypt anyway.
Perhaps the most dangerous law in Sharia that stands in the way of democracy is the one that states that “A Muslim head of State can hold office through seizure of power, meaning through force.” That law is the reason every Muslim leader must turn into a despotic tyrant to survive, literally. When a Muslim leader is removed from office by force, we often see the Islamic media and masses accept it and even cheer for the new leader who has just ousted or killed the former leader, who is often called a traitor to the Islamic cause. Sadat’s assassination followed many fatwas of death against him for having violated his Islamic obligations to make Israel an eternal enemy. He became an apostate in the eyes of the hard-liners and had to be killed or removed from office. This probably sounds incredible to the Western mind, but this is the reality of what Sharia has done and is still doing to the political chaos in the Muslim world.

Westerners often described the Mubarak administration as secular when in reality it is not. It is true that Mubarak comes from a military background and neither he nor his wife wear Islamic clothes. But no Muslim leader can get away with or even survive one day in office if he is secular in the true sense of the word. It was during Mubarak’s rule in 1991 that Egypt signed the Cairo Declaration for Human Rights stating that Sharia supersedes any other law. So even though Sharia is not 100% applied in Egypt, it is officially the law of the land. Mubarak, like all Muslim leaders, must appease the Islamists to avoid their wrath. According to Sharia itself, a Muslim head of state must rule by Islamic law and preserve Islam in its original form or he must be removed from office. That law leaves no choice for any Muslim leader. Because of that law Muslim leaders must play a game of appearing Islamic and anti-West while trying to get along with the rest of the world. It’s a game with life and death consequences.

The choice in Egypt is not between good and bad, it is between bad and worse. Many in the Muslim world lack the understanding of what is hindering them as well as a lack of a moral and legal foundation for forming a stable democratic political system. I fear that my brothers and sisters in Egypt will end up embracing extremism instead of true democracy and thus will continue to rise and fall, stumble from one revolution to another and living under one tyrant to another looking for the ideal Islamic state that never was. The 1400 year-old Islamic history of tyranny will continue unless Sharia is rejected as the basis of the legal or political systems in Muslim countries. Sharia must be rejected if Egyptians want true democracy and freedom.

-- Nonie Darwish is the author “Cruel and usual Punishment” and the President of FormerMuslimsUnited.org.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

陈凯再版:抑制专制必建立强大个体民间 Kai Chen Reprint: Empower Individuals to Combat Tyranny


Ronald Reagan on Liberty and Tyranny 里根谈自由与专制/视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯再版:抑制专制必建立强大个体民间
Kai Chen Reprint: Empower Individuals to Combat Tyranny

“自由人”对抗“中国人”序列
“Free Beings" vs. "Chinese" Series

价值一语

We reject the idea that any American is a "common man." No man is "common" and no man is "average" in the sight of God. This is the faith on which we base our mission for human freedom. --- Arthur B. Langlie

我们反对这样的说法: 一个美国人只是个普通人。 在上苍的眼中没有任何一个人是普通与平凡的。 这就是我们为人类自由奋斗的信仰基点。 --- Arthur B Langlie

陈凯一语


没有自由的民主只是一个专制的代言词罢了。 “中国式”专制朝代循环就是一个以宏大的虚无逃避、压抑、消灭真实的个体存在的外在体现与结果。 那些“求民主而摈自由”的所谓反共人士们不过是在做另一个专制的幻梦罢了

Kai Chen's Words:

"Democracy" without individual freedom is only another word for tyranny. In China's despotic culture that worships collectives and destroys individuals, a dynastic tyranny is only a logical and necessary result. Those who have no individual identity but only an identity of "being Chinese" will do everything to perpetuate this man-eating dynastic cycle.

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陈凯再版:抑制专制必建立强大个体民间
Kai Chen Reprint: Empower Individuals to Combat Tyranny

Kai Chen 陈凯 1/30/2011 reprint (Written 9/5/2006)

Can we have a true democracy based on individual freedom without strong and independent individuals? What would happen if we replace the current Chinese despotic government that is based on collectivism with another government that is based on the same principle of "collectives above individuals"? Can a true democratic government be established and continue to survive without a strong, individual-based civil society? Can a crowd of self-effacing, self-demeaning, self-castrating small men form the basis of a great human society that values life, liberty and pursuit of happiness?

All these questions must be answered before we start our quest for freedom, justice and a democratic form of government.

Today there is an article on the LA Times about Chinese Cyber-Vigilantism (people set up certain individuals for persecution without court proceedings -- not a surprise since China has never had independent judiciary), coupled with the current events in Taiwan in which democratic institutions are not respected and a form of "Mob Rule" is in full swing to overthrow a democratically elected president. One does not need great intelligence to conclude that only in a society with weak and crippled individuals such phenomena can happen.

A strong civil society must emerge and be strengthened if a true democracy is to survive. And free, strong individuals with unshakable faith and capability to reason with logic and rationality must form the foundation of such a civil society. Then what is an empowered, strong, free and rational individual?

1. He/she must have strong faith in his own conscience -- God, so that he will not be swayed by the tide of time and crowd.
1. 他/她必须有对道德良知--上苍的坚定信仰。 真实与正义的原则是不会因时间的流逝与人数的多少而改变的。

2. He/she must be courageous facing overwhelming odds in overcoming difficulties to strive for justice.
2. 他/她必须有道德勇气为了自由与正义去面对似乎不可克服的困境与似乎不可战胜的敌人。

3. He/she must be independent in judging what right or wrong is based on moral absolutes.
3. 他/她必须是一个独立思考基道德原则去鉴别是非、真假、对错与正邪的个体。

4. He/she must be intelligent enough to recognize facts from fantasies, truth from falsehood, reality from illusion... Common sense is his weapon.
4. 他/她必须有基本的逻辑理性思维并能用简单常识性思考去识别幻觉与真实现状,去识别骗子与诚实者。

5. He/she must be tolerant to differences while fighting without compromise against evil.
5. 他/她必须懂得容忍不同的美德与绝不容忍邪恶的道德清晰。

6. He/she must treasure life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and reject all temptations based on Power.
6. 他/她必须将永恒的价值--生命、自由与对真实幸福的不懈追求作为自身的言行准则,并回绝所有强权/权力的诱惑。

Only with such strong, empowered individuals (we often call them Americans), human progress toward better tomorrow can be possible. Everything starts from only one - you and I. Anything that starts with government, with crowds, with a mysterious cultural habit and tradition can only be counter-productive, not to mention it is by nature regressive, repressive and reactionary.

Do not follow the crowd, follow your own conscience and mind. Do not fear the crowd, fear only God. Do not be a slave of your own culture, tradition, government, environment, be the master of them. Do not be passive when encountering obstacles and difficulties, be brave to take actions, be the engine with a compass to push history forward into a better future.

I indeed have such faith in humanity, in each and every individual human being, in you and me and in God.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Rabbit Cartoon Film Satire Axed 小白兔咬老虎漫画片被禁


小白兔咬老虎漫画片 Little Rabbit Revolts against Tiger/Video

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯一语:

中国社会的不稳定与一触即发的状态被这部卡通片表现的淋漓尽致。 当今任何突发事件都有可能造成中共党朝的倾覆。

Kai Chen's Words:

The instability of the Chinese society and the precariousness of the China's communist regime is clearly depicted in this cartoon video. Today any incident in China, small or big, has the possibility to get out of hand and topple the communist regime.

Rabbit Film Satire Axed
小白兔咬老虎漫画片被禁


RFA

2011-01-27
Censors ban an animated video which bashes China's human rights record.
A screen grab from the video, originally posted on Tudou.com, shows a baby rabbit drinking tainted milk formula.

A violent animated film depicting an unjust world in which rabbits revolt against their tiger overlords has been deleted from a Chinese video-sharing website ahead of the Year of the Rabbit, its creator said.

"It has been deleted," said director Wang Bo, who created the South Park-style cartoon, which features babies poisoned by toxic milk and rabbit children run over by tigers.

"It's probably because the cartoon is very violent," said Wang, whose film references the recent Sanlu tainted milk scandal, which sickened thousands of infants, and the death of a Hebei college student hit by the car of a 23-year-old police chief's son.

"I don't know how other people will see this," Wang said. "But the inspection authorities frequently delete things that I create."

A Chinese video, featuring barely disguised satire of today's authoritarian regime, disappears without explanation.

"Of course I don't like to have my stuff deleted, but maybe it broke one of their rules ... I'm not sure exactly which rule ... There's not really much I can do about it," Wang added.

But other commentators said the gruesome content pointed at real problems in today's China, and gave vent to simmering public anger over widespread official corruption and shoddy safety standards.

'Background of social realism'

The cartoon went viral on video-sharing sites in recent days, suggesting it touched a nerve with Chinese netizens.

"I have seen this cartoon," said Ai Xiaoming, literature professor at Guangzhou's Zhongshan University. "I thought it was extremely clever. Everything that happens in it is the sort of thing that people today are worrying about."

"It was made against a background of social realism, and especially the anger depicted," Ai said. "They have turned people's real feelings about events into a whole meaning system."

"They have managed to express things which people are unable to express in any other way."

Guangxi-based author Jing Chu said the authorities appeared to be stepping up controls over the Internet, inhibiting ordinary people's freedom of expression in favor of social stability.

"I saw the rabbit cartoon. It exposes a number of problems which we find in contemporary Chinese society," Jing said.

"The authorities are controlling the Internet ever more tightly now, because they are afraid."

"The government has always relied on lies and terror to control China, [but] sometimes on the Internet you can still see something authentic."

Creating 'a pressure cooker'

Jing warned that suppressing the Internet as the last forum for free expression would lead to greater social instability.

"If you close off every possible [outlet] then it turns into something like a pressure cooker, which is extremely worrying," Jing said.

The cartoon opens with baby rabbits who die horribly from drinking "Sanlu" milk formula, made by the now-defunct Chinese dairy giant that was at the center of a huge scandal in 2008 over tainted milk.

The milk was blamed for killing six infants and sickening 300,000 others.

The rabbits in the video refer to the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, which begins on Feb. 3, while 2010 was the Year of the Tiger.

At the end of the video, the rabbits stage a mass uprising against the tigers, sparking general bloodbath.

Reported by He Ping for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Song and an Obscenity 朗朗 - 华奴对专制的献媚与奥巴马对极权的崇尚


Today's Art Collector in China 当今上海革命宣传画展览/视频

Lang Lang - Pianist 钢琴家朗朗

Basketball Player Wang Zhizhi 篮球运动员王致治

Hacienda La Puente School Board Member Norman Hsu 哈崗学委徐乃星

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯一语:

对专制强权的崇尚与无灵“宦奴娼”的献媚是那些从朗朗到王致治到徐乃星们的腐儒文化孕育出来的奴们的典型特征。 生活在自由的国度而向往专制奴役的“祖国”- 人类历史上最大的奴役国度,是许多当今海外华奴的病态写照。

Kai Chen's Words:

Worshipping power from despotism/tyranny and dismissing freedom with individual responsibility is a typical mindset of a "Eunuslawhore" (eunuch, slave, whore rolled in one), from the likes of artist Lang Lang, to the like of athlete Wang Zhizhi, to the likes of Norman Hsu (Hacienda School Board member). Their mentality has been formed/warped by Confucian despotism. They live in a free country, but yearn for the anti-human anti-values and anti-freedom life styles of the largest slave state in human history-China.

Segment of the article 文章节略:

"Well, nice going, Lang Lang. In and around every dictatorship, there are official artists. The Nazis had them, the Soviets had them — all the worst have them. Lang Lang has chosen to be an official artist."

“弹琴弹得不错嘛,朗朗。 在每一个专制集权的社会中都有一些御用文人艺人为专制者屈膝献媚。 纳粹德国曾有过。 前苏联曾有过。 所有人类的渣滓社会都曾有过。 今天朗朗自己选择了去作这样一个渣滓社会(中国)的御用艺人。”


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A Song and an Obscenity

朗朗 - 华奴对专制的献媚与奥巴马对极权的崇尚

January 24, 2011 10:18 A.M. By Jay Nordlinger

Last week, I had a note in this space about Lang Lang, who has become a kind of court pianist for President Obama and the Chinese leadership — the Chinese dictatorship, to put it more bluntly.

He played at the Beijing Olympics. He played at Obama’s Nobel ceremony. He played at the White House event for Paul McCartney — the one at which McCartney made a ridiculous anti-Bush crack, which caused Lang Lang and the Obama crowd to laugh like hyenas. And he played at Obama’s state dinner last week for Hu Jintao.

What did he play? Most notably and significantly, he played a famous anti-American propaganda song.
Famous in China, that is. Wei Jingsheng, the great Chinese democracy leader, exiled in the United States since 1997, wrote a letter to Congress and Secretary of State Clinton. He said, “I listened to that music with a big shock.” Wei explained that the song, “My Country,” or “My Motherland,” comes from “the best-known Communist propaganda movie about the Korean War,” depicting the Chinese army’s fight with the Americans. The movie is called The Battle of Triangle Hill. Wei said that the movie is as well-known in China as Gone with the Wind is here.

The song refers to the Americans as “wolves” or “jackals,” and says that the Chinese will use weapons to deal with them. Wei commented, “Is that not an insult to the USA to play such . . . music at a state dinner hosted by the US President? No wonder it made Hu Jintao really happy.” Yes, no wonder. As Wei pointed out, Hu is not ordinarily given to public emotion, but he emotionally embraced Lang Lang.

An article in the Epoch Times reports on an interview that Lang Lang gave to a Hong Kong-based TV outlet. He said that he himself chose to play that song. “I thought to play ‘My Motherland’ because I think playing the tune at the White House banquet can help us, as Chinese people, feel extremely proud of ourselves and express our feelings through the song.” The act of playing this song at the White House will have, and has had, an effect that most Americans would find difficult to comprehend.

The Epoch Times quotes a Chinese psychiatrist living in Philadelphia, Yang Jingduan: “In the eyes of all Chinese, this will not be seen as anything other than a big insult to the U.S. It’s like insulting you in your face and you don’t know it, it’s humiliating.” In his letter, Wei said that so-called patriotic Chinese — supporters of the Communist party and the dictatorship — were ecstatic over “My Motherland” at the White House. One such “patriotic Chinese” exclaimed, “The right place, right time, right song!” (This is a phrase with roots in CCP propaganda, as the Epoch Times article explains.)

Well, nice going, Lang Lang. In and around every dictatorship, there are official artists. The Nazis had them, the Soviets had them — all the worst have them. Lang Lang has chosen to be an official artist. Of course, the bad old USA has helped him a lot. He came here to complete his musical education. He studied at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia with Gary Graffman. He has had the countless benefits of living and working in a free society. What a contrast with Lang Lang’s fellow Chinese who languish in laogai, that country’s gulag.

This is one pianist who stands with the persecutors, not with the persecuted. Wei Jingsheng, Gao Zhisheng — those are great Chinese, the pride of the nation. Lang Lang, and Hu Jintao, for that matter, are very different Chinese.

Obama’s hosting of Hu, and what amounts to a celebration of that dictatorship, has been a disaster, from nearly every point of view. George W. Bush did not grant Hu a state visit. Hu settled for a more modest visit — the kind the head of a police state should settle for, in a liberal democracy. Bush gave him a polite lunch and sent him on his way. Obama created the opportunity for a great CCP propaganda victory. The dictatorship is delighted, and the prisoners, dissidents, and democrats feel something else.

Nice going, Obama. Real nice. Is it 2012 yet?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

毛泽东如何杀人——读杨继绳的《墓碑》 How Mao Murdered Millions


Killer Chic (Kai Chen Interview) 崇魔的时尚(陈凯访谈)视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

泽东如何杀人——读杨继绳的《墓碑》

How Mao Murdered Millions
来源:《人与人权》12月号

刘晓波 Liu Xiaobo

与纳粹法西斯的种族灭绝相比,共产极权的阶级灭绝,持续时间更长,屠杀面更广,手段更残酷。


2008年,中共现政权眼中的奥运年。

2008年,中共毛泽东政权制造“大跃进”人祸50周年。

在毛泽东时代的罪恶历史仍然是政治禁忌的今日中国,当胡温政权用金钱和恐怖确保北京奥运成功之时,感谢杨继绳先生(曾任新华社高级记者,现任著名杂志《炎黄春秋》副社长)写出记录大跃进的历史巨著《墓碑——中国六十年代大饥荒纪实》(香港天地图书公司2008年5月版)。关于大跃进的历史,这是我所读到过的最为震撼人心的记录,的确是压在中华民族脊背上的墓碑。这块沉重得不能再沉重的“墓碑”由80万个汉字建成,每个字都在血泪中浸泡过,以翔实而丰富的资料和亲临历史现场的调查,记述了大饥荒饿死几千万人的史实,并重点记录了最为惨烈的12个省的人祸,可谓再现了史无前例之人祸的全景图。

这块墓碑的重量,足以压垮金牌第一的辉煌,也足以让“崛起大国”的神话变得轻如鸿毛。

“读者将会在本书的第22章中看到,我参照中外多方面的资料,确认从1958年到1962年期间,中国饿死3600万人。因饥饿使得出生率降低,少出生人数为4000万人。饿死人数加上因饥饿而少出生人的数,共计7600万人。”

天地之间,最可宝贵的是生命。因而才有“人命关天”和“死者为大”的古训。但在毛泽东时代的中国,人的生命甚至连草芥都不如。那些走投无路且眼睁睁地看着亲人饿死的人们,不但没有揭竿而起,而且“没有呼天抢地的哭声,没有披麻带孝的礼仪,没有送葬的鞭炮和纸钱,没有同情,没有悲哀,没有眼泪,也没有震惊和恐惧。几千万人就这样无声无息地,精神麻木地消失。有的地方用大车将死人成批地拖到村头的大土坑里,有的地方因无力掩埋,死人的胳膊和腿还露在外面,有的地方死人就倒在寻找食物的路旁,还有不少死人长时间放在家里,被老鼠啃掉了鼻子和眼睛。”

当年,面对大跃进的严重后果,刘少奇对毛泽东说:“饿死这么多人,历史要写上你我的,人相食,要上书的!”“刘少奇还说过,对这场灾难要刻上碑,记上账,‘要子子孙孙地传下去,以后再也不犯这个错误。’”然而,在今日中国,不要说为半个世纪前的几千万死者立碑,就连大饥荒本身都还是禁忌,杨继绳的巨著也只能在香港出版。

为了修筑这块“墓碑”,杨继绳先生历时十年,不仅披阅了近千万字的原始资料,而且亲身前往大饥荒严重的地方进行实地考察。他在《永久的墓碑——【墓碑——中国六十年代大饥荒纪实】前言》中说:“从20世纪90年代初开始,我利用到全国各地采访的机会,查阅全国各地的有关资料,访谈经历过大饥荒的人。我从大西北到大西南,从华北到华东,从东北到华南。查阅了十几个省的资料,访谈了上百位当事人。经过十年的努力,我收集了上千万字的资料,记下了10多本当事人谈话记录。我终于比较全面和比较深入地得到了这场持续三四年的大饥荒的真实情况。”

这场半个世纪前的大灾难,发生在并无天灾、瘟疫、战争的年份,带来的却是几千万人活活饿死和大规模的人吃人,可谓史无前例的人祸。但杨继绳先生并没有停留于历史记录,而是深入地探究了大跃进的根源。他在“前言”中告诉读者,这场大规模的人权灾难之所以发生,毛泽东及其独裁集团固然是祸魁,但包括他自己在内的愚昧大众也负有责任。

杨继绳先生的反思是坦诚的、勇敢的,基本围绕着自己的亲历展开。他的父亲在1959年死于饥饿,他也亲眼目睹了家乡“一片死寂”的惨状,但是,如此惨烈的现实并没有让当时还年轻的他有所醒悟,而是仍然坚定不移地相信党、政府和三面红旗。他说:“我不认为这和政府有什么关系,也不认为这和‘三面红旗’有什么关系。我对当时宣传的‘大跃进’的成就、人民公社的优越性依旧深信不疑。我不知道更远地方发生的事情。我以为我家乡发生的事是个别现象。我以为父亲的死只是我一个家庭的不幸。想到伟大的共产主义即将到来,家庭的这点不幸算什么?党教导我遇事要牺牲‘小我’,维护‘大我’,我绝对听党的话。这种认识一直保持到文化大革命时期。”“1960年我考上了北京清华大学。一进学校,就参观清华大学反右派展览,进行忠诚教育。接着下乡劳动50多天,一方面接受劳动教育,一方面开展保卫“三面红旗”的辩论。虽然我们饥肠轆轆,但不怀疑‘三面红旗’。”“在大学期间我还是很听话,一直担任团支部书记,1964年5月加入了中国共产党。”

这样的相信一直持续到文革时期,杨继绳先生认为,毛泽东时代的中国之所以变成灾难之国,一是传统独裁发展为现代极权,皇权崇拜发展为绝对的个人崇拜,“权力中心和真理中心的合一”,使全中国只有一个权威,也只有一个思想家。二是制度性谎言通过意识形态灌输,使人变成“单纯”的无知者和蒙昧者。他说:“我们的‘单’,是指脑子里只有舆论机器所灌输的信仰,信仰是单一的;我们的‘纯’,是除了当时舆论所灌输的思想以外,再没有别的东西。”三是制度性恐怖深入每个人的骨髓。这恐怖,不但通过强大的专政机器,而且通过无所不在的群众监视,首先从心理上根绝异见的产生,其次从传播上堵死了异见表达的渠道。恐惧使人进行效忠表演和谎言竞赛,久而久之,变成了自觉的奴隶。

在各类政权性或国家化的暴力杀戮行为中,最令人震惊、也最残忍的杀戮,不是战争时期的相互杀戮,而是强权者对无权无势者的单方面杀戮。这类政权所杀戮的人们,不是传统独裁下的反抗者或颠覆者,而是现代极权下力求作顺民的普通人。

在二十世纪的历史上,产生过两类现代极权——法西斯主义和共产主义。但与纳粹法西斯的种族灭绝相比,共产极权的阶级灭绝,持续时间更长,屠杀面更广,手段更残酷。纳粹极权的种族灭绝政策,虽然开始于二战之前,但大屠杀的实施主要发生在二次世界大战期间,屠杀所针对的是单一种族;而共产极权的阶级灭绝主要发生在和平时期,屠杀所针对的是除了暴君本人之外的所有人,普通平民固然是被杀的对象,但共产党高官也难逃脱被杀的命运。斯大林杀了托洛斯基、布哈林等列宁的战友,毛泽东杀了高岗、刘少奇、彭德怀、林彪等最亲密的战友。在共产主义的名义下,斯大林及其苏共和毛泽东及其中共,以及东欧、亚洲和拉丁美洲的共产政权,所屠杀的人口居然高达一亿多人。

即便按照中国古代“家天下”的统治常识,发生了大规模饿死人的大饥荒的当朝皇帝,是要下“罪自诏”的。何况,大饥荒还是由最高统治者的错误决策造成的。但是,在党天下的当代中国,毛泽东发动一系列政治运动,名正言顺地公开杀人。他制造了史无前例的大跃进人祸,居然连“罪自诏”都不下就继续稳坐权力顶峰,继续让亿万民众顶礼膜拜,继续发动轰轰烈烈的杀人文革。更令人不可思议的是,一路杀下来的毛式暴政,居然没有“官逼民反”!

显然,个人崇拜、制度性的谎言和恐惧,并不足以解释这种人类历史上的罪恶奇观。蒋介石政权也是“党天下”独裁,政治恐怖也是维持党国体制的主要手段,但在当年反对国民党独裁的抗争中,很有些理想主义者是不怕死的,正像中共一贯宣传的那样,“红色江山是无数烈士抛头颅、洒热血换来的”。而这,正是共产极权最具魔力的邪恶之所在。

共产极权在和平时期进行单方面的大规模屠杀,依靠一连串“崇高而纯洁”的理由:为了实现最美好的共产主义就必须进行无产阶级专政下的继续革命,为了继续革命就必须造就“共产新人”,为了造就新人就必须“纯洁阶级队伍”,纯洁的主要手段就是进行大规模的思想改造、政治迫害和暴力杀戮。正是在这种“崇高而纯洁”的意识形态理由的庇护下,共产极权才能把屠杀合法化和日常化。

一、共产极权把杀人合法化了。这个“法”,不是指法律上的合法化,而是指意识形态上的合法性,是把“杀人不眨眼”变成高尚的道义指令,于是杀人者变成了签发处决令的道德法官,可以堂而皇之地滥杀无辜。在人类历史上,还没有一个政权及其统治者公然取消“你不应杀人”的底线道德,把杀人转变成国民乐于服从的道义命令。只有高喊“种族纯洁”口号的纳粹政权和高举“解放全人类”大旗的共产政权,才会无法无天地践踏这条人类的底线道德,使大规模屠杀顺民具有充分的正当性。

在共产极权制度中,阶级斗争理论是合法杀人的意识形态理由,无产阶级专政是合法杀人的执行机关,革命群众是合法杀人的民意基础,举国百姓都或直接或间接地参与这场杀人游戏,一小撮阶级敌人在低头认罪中被杀,大多数“革命群众”全部变成或直接或间接的刽子手,他们可以一个也不放过地杀人,可以满怀理想且义正词严地杀人,可以毫无愧疚且充满自傲地杀人。

把普通人变成刽子手,而且屠杀的是那些努力做顺民的人们,就必须让杀人者卸下道德负担,视杀人为某种崇高事业的必要组成部分。这是屠杀合法化的前提,所谓“阶级斗争”理论正是这样的前提。它首先是划分阶级分清敌我的理论,把一国国民分为“人”与“非人”,“人”杀“非人”, 如同人杀动物,不会有任何道德负担。比如,毛泽东指控阶级敌人为“牛鬼蛇神”,还把阶级敌人轻蔑地形容成“灰尘”,用无产阶级铁扫埽将之一扫而光,才能解放世界上三分之二被压迫的人民,让毛泽东思想的光辉普照全球。

在意识形态上把人群分为友与敌两大完全对立的阵营,无产阶级专政是多数群体对少数群体的施暴,前者是具有道德正当性的正常人,后者是不具有道德正当性的畸形人或非人,两类人落实到暴力统治上就是“合法的”施暴者和被施暴者,施暴者被“神圣化”,被施暴者变成“非人化”,从而使施暴者卸下了施暴和杀人的道德负担。个人处在这样的多数群体中,千差万别的个人目标被一个集体目标所取代,个人意识和个人利益消失了,个人责任和个人犯罪感也随之混灭,为领袖为革命为祖国为人民而杀人,非但不是犯罪,反而是必须履行的革命职责。另一方面,为了抽象的集体目标而杀人,与个人责任无关,所谓“法不责众”,是也。

如果说,毛泽东整肃彭德怀和刘少奇主要是“私仇”使然,因为看不下去大跃进人祸的彭德怀和刘少奇,一个在党内高层会议上公开向毛泽东叫板,一个在两人私下谈话时提醒毛泽东注意历史评价。那么,参与打倒彭、刘的成百上千的中共高干、几百万中共党员、几亿中国百姓,与彭、刘并无“私仇”,更谈不上权力之争。如此庞大的群体跟随毛泽东杀人,显然是中了“共产主义理想”之魔。

更为夸张的中魔状态还在于,甚至被杀的人在临死前也要以“崇高的事业”为暴政寻找合法性。比如,苏共元老布哈林在临终前给斯大林的信中写道:“宏伟计划、重大设想和重要利益是压倒一切的。把个人问题与首先担在你肩上的世界历史性重任相提并论,是低级趣味的。”(拉津斯基《斯大林》,新华出版社1997年版P428)再比如,因不堪迫害而自杀的邓拓在遗书中写道 “我对待所有批评我的人绝无半点怨言。只要对党和革命事业有利,我个人无论经受任何痛苦和牺牲,我都心甘情愿。过去是这样,现在是这样,永远是这样。”(《邓拓全集》第五卷,花城出版社2002年版P427)

在此意义上,共产极权下的杀人,可称为“理想主义的杀人”或“形而上学的杀人”。在杀人者与被杀者之间,没有“私仇”而只有“公仇”,没有“利益竞争”而只有“信念歧途”。在当时的中国,毛泽东就是理想的化身,也是最大的“公义”,所以才会有“爹亲娘亲不如毛主席亲”的歌声响彻中国。而为了实现毛泽东的理想和公义,甚至要斩断血缘、“大义灭亲”。

大跃进饿死几千万,首要祸魁毛泽东之所以不受追究,“三面红旗”之所以不倒,不仅在于毛泽东仍然大权在握和封锁灾难信息,更在于当时中国的主流民意认同“赶英超美”、早日实现共产主义的理想。在这样的主流民意之下,饿死再多的人,与大跃进所要实现的伟大理想相比,也不算什么。如果没有主流民意对共产意识形态的高度认同,纵使毛泽东长出三头六臂,也无力把他的绝对权力维持到自然死亡。

二、共产极权把杀人日常化了。当杀人有了意识形态合法性的支撑,当中国社会被革命事业高度政治化,暴力行为也就会当作革命事业中的“例行公事”,进而变成全民生活的日常性组成部分。

首先,官方意识形态以钦定的政治标准来决定每个国民的生死存亡,“阶级觉悟”的高低或“敌人意识”的强弱就成了衡量每个国民的政治觉悟和道德水平的主要标准,扩展到每个人生活的方方面面,贯穿于日常生活的年年月月天天,甚至对人们的衣食住行和血缘亲情也要按照“阶级标准”来衡量。正如毛泽东所言:“阶级斗争要年年讲,月月讲,天天讲”。

其次,“无产阶级专政”理论使暴力治国成为政权的主要职能,政权的雇员们变成“革命机器上的齿轮和螺丝钉”,实施暴力仅仅是“例行公事”, 如同泯灭个人的良知和人的恻隐之心的杀人机器,也就是把暴力屠杀的“非人化”。甚至在丧失意识形态热情的情况下,他们仍然把执行上级的屠杀命令当作一项工作或一种例行公事。在常规的统治时期,主要开动军队、警察、监狱等暴力机器杀人;在非常时期,一要发动群众实施“多数暴政”(中共当代史上的多次政治运动最为典型);二要动用正规军队实施镇压和军管(六四是最近的例证)。

共产极权的合法化日常化的杀人,来自一种狂妄的思维逻辑。这种逻辑认为,世界只有一个终极本源,社会进步只有一个动力,人类未来只有一个终极目标,发现和把握了这个本源、动力、目标的人,就掌握了绝对的真理和至善,能够领导人类创建最完美的社会和提供最大的幸福。这样的人自然要成为人类的大救星,自然要掌握绝对权力,使其能够按照个人意志为所欲为。他可以不择手段,可以为成全完美的未来而牺牲有缺欠的现在,可以为实现抽象的理想而牺牲活生生的个人。如果这种逻辑仅仅停留在哲学思辩上,还不失为形而上学的智力游戏,而一旦把它用于指导现实的社会变革,就将变成狰狞而暴虐的杀人哲学。

在此意义上,抽象化的终极理想是疯狂屠杀的温床。或者说,没有具体的制度安排把自由落实到具体的个人权利之上,无论多么美好的理想,也都与每个具体个人之权益无关,也与人类的整体权益无关,反而沦为国家化杀人的理由。在此意义上,所谓的共产主义理想,无疑是人类有史以来最暴虐最血腥的意识形态。

可悲的中国,在你广袤的土地上,居然至今还没有几千万死于大跃进人祸的无辜者的纪念碑!

再次感谢杨继绳先生,当中国的土地上还不允许为几千万冤魂建造墓碑之时,你用史家的良知和忠实记录历史,你用心为将来的墓碑奠基。

2008年11月21日于北京家中

(毛泽东如何杀人——读杨继绳的《墓碑》 全文完博讯www.peacehall

How Capitalism Civilizes Greed 资本主义制约了人性的贪婪


Ayn Rand on Moral Principles of Capitalism 安. 兰德论资本主义的道德原则/视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

“自由人”对抗“中国人”序列
"Free Beings" vs. "Chinese"

陈凯一语:


人对权力的贪欲要用宪政制度与言论自由去制约。 人对物质金钱的贪欲要用资本主义制度去制约。 这两种制约都是基于自由的道德原则上的。 现今中国并不存在基于个体自由的“资本主义”。 现今中国的制度是“共儒官僚商业体”。

Kai Chen's Words:

Greed is part of human nature. Therefore, human greed for power must be restrained by a constitutional democracy with separation of powers and freedom of speech. By the same token, human greed for money and material gains must be restrained by capitalism. Both systems of controlling human greed are based on the moral principle of individual freedom. Today's China does not have a capitalist system at all. Today's China is following a mutated collectivism, what I call "Communist Confucian Despotism" (Neo-Fascism) that degrades human beings into governmental slaves and plunders the world for the interests of government bureaucratic interests.

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How Capitalism Civilizes Greed

资本主义制约了人性的贪婪

(NPR Commentary)
By Dinesh D'Souza

Suddenly we are hearing the word “greed” again. The 1980s were dubbed the Era of Greed—it was the era of Ronald Reagan and Michael Milken—but wealth in the nineties was perceived as more virtuous, because it was associated with tech entrepreneurs who were making new things. Now in the aftermath of the Microsoft trial, and with Al Gore running for the presidency, we are seeing a revival of the charge of greed.

Most surprising, this accusation is being leveled by some in the tech world. “When greed becomes this prevalent,” telcommunications mogul Craig McCaw says, “something bad always happens.” Kim Polese of Marimba worries about what she calls “the greed factor.” And in a recent article in Fast Company, author Jim Collins complained that Silicon Valley used to be about inventing new things and developing “insanely great” products, but now people mainly come there to get filthy rich.

What this rhetoric proves is that capitalism has won the economic war but it hasn’t won the moral war. The failure of socialist planned economies has convinced most people that technological capitalism is the best way to create wealth. But there remains the long-standing belief that the capitalist is a greedy, selfish person. This is a very old accusation that long predates Marx. It goes back to the Greeks and Romans, who saw the trader as a contemptible, low figure, and to the Bible, where it is written that “love of money is the root of all evil.”

But is this prejudice against money-making justified? Adam Smith, who first made the case for capitalism in his book The Wealth of Nations, acknowledged that capitalism is based on self-interest. The reason for this, he said, is that human nature is self-interested. In Smith’s view, it is ridiculous to expect farmers in rural England wake up at four o’clock in the morning to tend cattle and plant potatoes so that Londoners can have steak and potatoes for dinner. What motivates the farmers is the desire to benefit themselves and support their families. This is not a base motive, it is a decent one. It is rooted in self-interest, but it is self-interest ennobled by filial attachment and responsibility.

Smith pointed out a further paradox of capitalism: although it is motivated by the desire for personal gain, the way that the entrepreneur maximizes his profits is by focusing his everyday attention on meeting the needs and wants of others. So greed leads to empathy. At Wal-Mart, for example, Sam Walton became rich by developing an efficient inventory control system so that he could monitor consumer preferences and satisfy them as promptly and cheaply as possible. The most successful entrepreneurs do not merely identify and gratify people’s wants, but they anticipate desires before people have them. Think about the portable computer, the Palm Pilot and the cell-phone: entrepreneurs figured out that we would want and benefit from these things even before we knew we couldn’t function without them.

The moral argument for capitalism is that it makes us better people by regulating the vices of greed and selfishness. Capitalism civilizes greed in much the same way that marriage civilizes lust. Greed, like lust, is part of our human nature; it would be futile to try to root it out. What capitalism does is to channel greed in such a way that it works to meet the wants and needs of society.

More than any other social type, excerpt perhaps the clergy, the capitalist is, in his everyday conduct, oriented to the task of helping and serving others. There is no reason for entrepreneurs to feel bad about doing well, because their success is proof that they have effectively met the wants and needs of their fellow human beings.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

陈凯:自由谈(中文再版)Kai Chen: On Freedom (Reprint in Chinese)


Ronald Reagan on Freedom 里根自由谈视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

陈凯:自由谈(中文再版)
Kai Chen: On Freedom (Reprint in Chinese)

价值一语:


He who feels that his will is not free is insane; he who denies it is foolish. --- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

那些觉得自己的意志不是自由的人是精神上不健全的人;那些否认自己是自由的人其实只是些傻瓜。 --- 尼采

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. --- Thomas Jefferson

当人们害怕他们的政府的时候,那就是专制暴政;当政府害怕人们的时候,那就是自由。 --- 杰佛逊

But a Constitution of Government once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. --- John Adams

但政府的宪法开始从自由蜕变的时候,那就太晚了。 自由,一旦丧失了,就很难找回来了。 --- 亚当斯

陈凯一语:


中国腐儒传统文化中的“相信政府皇帝、父母官、找救星、抱怨哀嚎寻怜悯、自阉他阉谋忠诚、贬神崇偶、宿命被动、灭个保群、以虚伪宏大压真实存在、以腐朽的博大精深贬生命的不可侵犯、以专制的伦理/礼窒息个体的自由幸福、、,是中国的人们必须认知并要抛弃的充满毒素病源的伪价值。

政府基其自然权力属性是决不能被当作救星去被信任的。 健康的政体是在有健康心态的个体的文化中被监督、被批评、被控制、被利用的。 脱离“救星政府”心态、建立“主动自救”的个体权利与自由的健康文化心态是中国社会开始走向正常健康的先决首要。 以个体与其与神(良知)沟通为基点而不是以政府与群体为基点是未来自由社会的哲学栋梁,是一个习于奴役心态与奴役制的社会走向自由民主社会的艰难而又必经的、充满产前阵痛的第一步。


Kai Chen's Words:

To walk toward freedom, the Chinese must first cast aside their slave mentality -- the "government as the savior" mindset. It is indeed very difficult to take the first step toward freedom, yet it is a must. Individual human beings under the guidance of God (his/her own conscience), not the government or emperor/chairman/president/ancestors/culture, must form the philosophical foundation for such a free society. God only saves those who save themselves.

陈凯博客: http://www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com/
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自由谈--中国,美国自由观对照
On Freedom - Contrast between America and China

作者:陈凯 Kai Chen 6/4/2008

一位从中国大陆来的人曾激情的与激烈的与我争辩说: “美国也不是自由的。 你看,美国也有红绿灯去限制人的自由,不是吗?” 他用手指着街上的红绿灯,慷慨激昂地反驳着我。

无怪乎他是一位支持中共政府镇压1989年天安门学生抗议的人。 “不镇压国家不就乱了吗! 我们也就做不了生意了。” 他并不掩饰他的利益动机。 我周围的那些来美已久的中国生意人对他的话宜无动于衷,未置可否,用沉默来认可。

我突然意识到中美的人们对自由认知与理解的差异居然大到了针锋相对,水火不容,天壤之别的程度。 我觉得不得不插一言: “你觉得法律是去限制人与约束人的自由的,而不是去保护,保障人的自由的。你对自由如何理解? 你对人如何理解?” 他一下说不出话来,好像他是第一次想到这个问题, 也好像第一次有人问他这个问题。

他的表现使我认识到“自由”二字在中国从来就被误解,曲解,反解。 因而中国人也从来就怕自由,厌自由,排自由,逃避自由,甚至憎恨自由。 俗化自由,丑化自由,将自由负向解义一直是中国专制政权,专制政治文化毒化人灵,毒化人脑的有效的强力手段。 在这里我想用相当的篇幅去论述自由的概念,去传播自由的理念,去大声地宣扬自由的价值,去无畏的,无羞的,无束缚的为自由的精神高声唱赞。 我也希望有一天中国的人们也会像美国的人们一样,加入到世界自由大军的行军行列中去,激情地去热爱自由,勇敢地去追求自由,清晰地去传播自由,坚定地去捍卫自由。

自由(Freedom, Liberty)是由西方语言翻译而来。 中国文化,文字从未产生自由的概念。 自由是上帝赋予人的,而不是皇帝与国家政府贱予奴的。 在一个没有上帝与人的社会里自然就不可能有自由的概念的产生。 这是一个必然的逻辑。 在一个只属于皇帝与国家政府的社会里,“奴”的产生与泛滥是一个必然。 “奴”是一个压迫体(与或)被压迫体对自由的反动。 有奴处定无人,定无自由。 在一个属于皇帝与国家的社会与群体文化中,“人”是不存在的。 无人的社会自由便无处依附。 无 “上帝”的社会自由便无从起源。 自由没有主谓便是虚无。 中国的寺院,庙堂中到处可见是“虚”,“无”,“空”三字,就是因为无“人”的逆向价值只能用“虚无”作解。 “虚无”从有中国起便是所有中国人追求的伪价值,基其反价值的定义。 “三国”,“水浒”,“红楼梦” -- 从“大江东去浪淘沙” 到 “招安侍皇” 到 “空空道人”-- 无一不是反人,反上帝,反自由,反存在的崇尚“虚无”的奴役制下的产物。

在纽约的洛克菲洛中心有一块刻着洛克菲洛本人信仰名言的石碑。 那上面的第一句话是用最大的字母写成: “I believe in the supremacy of the individual.” (“我坚信个体价值的至高无上。”) 自由作为价值的前提是“个人意志”。 无个人便无选择与意志可言。 个人是自由的基点。 群体的自由是专制政治文化制造的伪自由,因为无个体的群体是否认个体,压抑个体的虚无。 而虚无是与自由格格不入的。 自由只对存在的实体有意义,而任何存在的实体只能是个人。 上帝只能通过个人将生命,灵魂,自由传给人间。 世上从无群体灵魂,从无“国魂”,“民族魂”, “种族魂”。 由此世上也不可能有“国格”,“民族感情”,“民族品质”。 “群体特质”也只能是学术词汇供理解某种概念而用,而绝不能泛化到个人的品质鉴定上, 或个人存在的定位上。 中国的所谓 “群体自由” 是中国专制骗人的产物,是中国式文化毒品的一个基点组成部分。 个群不分,本末倒置是中国人“难得糊涂”心理情结的起源。 以个袝群,以群压个的社会即没有自由,也不会将自由作为价值。 在这种社会里,只有代表群体的国家,政府与皇帝才是价值的准则。

既然自由是天赋的,是上帝赐予人的基本权利,(生命与对幸福的渴望与追求是其他两个上帝赋予的基本权利。)国家,政府与法律的建立只能是以保卫这种权利为动机和基点的。 宪法的建立就是在最大程度上去保障与扩大个人的自由,并在最大程度上限制政府与群体的权力为目的与始发点的。 中共政府制造的“发展权”,“生存权”是相反的、旨在无限扩大政府与群体权力的、专制的伪词汇。 这种伪词汇所宣扬的伪价值旨在否定个人,否定存在,否定真实价值并对专制政府的滥用权力制造理论依据。 由此中共政府基于反价值(保政府)而设立的宪法只能是一部伪宪法。 一个没有个人自由的国度是伪国度。 一个不基于个体而基于群体(人民、大家)的政体、政治是伪政体、伪政治。

无意义的、伪意义的语言腐蚀人的精神和思想。 在中国俗化,伪化、反化、虚化“自由”这个字眼的时候,我只想在此真化、实化、正化、价值化“自由”。

自由来自上帝,来自天赋。自由落实,赋义在个人。 这是自由的来龙与去脈。 人所创造的一切政治实体与机构的唯一目的就是保障与扩大人的自由。 那么自由意味着自由于什么呢?

自由于其他人。 自由于其他人的干预,压抑,阻挠与伤害。 这是自由的唯一内涵。 人不能自由于人性,也就是不能自由于上帝。 人自由于上帝所赋与的性质与特征便不配称人:

自由于灵魂的人是鬼;自由于头脑,理性,智慧的人是痴呆的残疾;自由于欲望的人便不能生存与繁衍;自由于感情的人便不能有健全的心理;自由于尊严的人不能赢得尊重;自由于权利的人永远受辱作奴;自由于独立个性的人永无成就感;自由于个人意志的人永不知选择与责任;自由于良知的人永无道德指南与方向并走入恶性循环;自由于自由的人永远痛苦,烦恼,绝望与虚无。

中国人对自由的理解正是对美国人(西方)对自由理解的反动反向: 中国人的“自由”正是要自由于上帝所赋予人的性质与特征,正是要把个体的自我依附于他人作为“中国人”对自由的定义。 这就是为什么在美国(西方)承认人的个性与特质的时候,中国人却一味迷恋在儒家等级伦理与人的优点和缺点上。 只有首先面对上帝而建立绝对道德价值准则的社会才会承认人的个性与特质并发挥每个人的天才。 迷恋在等级观念与人的优点缺点上的社会一定是没有上帝只有国家群体的社会: 人在这种社会里被由群体口味价值而建立的“优点缺点说”而将个性灭绝。 个性的灭绝加剧了“奴”,“虚人”,“伪人” 对上帝的诋毁和对群体祖先的崇拜。 群体,祖先,国家,政府,人民,皇上变成了伪上帝。 “全面”和“成熟”成为了这种无上帝社会,无“神”国,无“人”民的口头语和群体奴隶,政府奴隶特质的定义。 虚无宏大的“祖国”(Ancestral Land)成了中国人顶礼膜拜的“伪神”也就不足奇了。

自由作为一个绝对价值和天赋权利并不保障自由的人都能幸福,只保障人对追求幸福的权利和得到幸福的可能性。 一个无自由的奴隶既没有这种权利,也没有这种可能性。 一个声称保证给人幸福的国度是一个奴役制的自欺欺人的国度。 中国就是这样一个许诺幸福,毫无幸福,但又不许人说不幸福的社会。 它是一个人既笑不出来,也不允许哭的半死半活的社会。 这是一个人如生活在他人粪便里的蛆虫,即吃不好也饿不死的奴隶的社会。 那在自由的国度中,有没有人生活的不如意呢? 当然有。 在自由的社会里,个人们用他们的自由做出不同的选择。 每一种选择的后果自然就不同。 有人用他的时间去上学;有人用他的时间去工作;有人用他的时间去游玩;有人用他的时间去喝酒赌博、、。 人的侧重不同。 人的幸福取向也不同。 但人们都在自由的寻找,追求着幸福。 有的人找到了;有的人找不到;有的人放弃不找了;有的人一直都在找、、。 但有一点:人有找或不找的自由。 人也有选择如何找的自由。 一个奴隶永远不会有个人的成就感与满足感。 一个自由人却有找到这种成就感、满足感的可能并常常找到它们。 幸福是在一个人实现了自己生命意义之后的一种深沉的平静。 没有基于个体的自由,幸福只能是自欺的空谈。

自由常常意味着自由的去尝试,去冒犯错的风险并承担其后果。 不冒风险,不犯错误,人就不可能真正学习与进步。 只有由自由人组成的自由社会才有进步的因素。 美国二百多年的成就超过了中国,世界其他国度几千年所取就是因为这个道理。

逻辑决定了一个自由的人往往尊重他人的自由。一个奴隶往往压抑其他奴隶。 一个自由于他人的人会释放巨大的原动力,创造力与生产力, 因为他的精神,思想与躯体是解放的,无束缚的。 他与其他人的交往与合作是主动的,积极的和有机的,建设性的。 在一个奴役制下生活的人往往是消极的,被动的,被嫉妒感支配的,有破坏心理的不幸之人。 创造,生产,探索,追求不在他的语言之中。 他的一切精力都集中在防备他人,取益他人上。 他自身并不生产价值。 他幻觉的认为价值来自群体。 他认为群体,国家,人民,政府和皇帝用天上掉下来的价值赡养了他,因此他也永远不会有主人感。

自由不是一个政治的发现,不是一个经济的发现,也不是一个哲学的发现,更不是一个科学的发现。 自由,在对结论的分析中,是一个人对终极价值信仰的发现。

一个自由的人是有坚定信仰的人。 他深知人的不完美,也由此对人的巨大潜力充满希望。 他深知自由精神的伟大并珍视自由的价值。 他绝不会卖掉自由去换取物质利益,不会去吸毒昏脑去寻求虚幻满足,不会自我阉割去卖我求忠,不会去抛弃尊严去为群所用,不会去否定个性讨好大家,更不会丧失灵魂去为皇,为国捐躯。 他捍卫着他灵,智,值,躯一体的完整。 他绝不妥协。 他只听从上苍的召唤。 他只尊崇他灵魂中的声音。 他绝不屈从强权,暴力和无知无灵的多数的暴政。 他保卫着他自身的人的权利与自由。 他绝不垂涎权力与他人所得。 他只要平等地用自己的创造与他人交换,交流。 他捍卫着他的生命,他的自由,他的财产,他的爱。 他也珍视他人对自身生命,自由,财产和爱的捍卫。

他深深地懂得自由的代价。 他深深地懂得在这世界上没有不要钱的午餐。 他深深地懂得自由是属于勇敢者,而不属于懦夫胆小鬼的。 他无所畏惧地面对那自由的代价,因为他深深地懂得: 没有自由他就永远看不到自己的价值,也就永远看不到生命的意义。 在肉体的长生不老与生命的意义之间,他将永远选择生命的意义。

他是一个真正的人,属于自己的人,尊崇上苍的人。 他是一个自由人。


Monday, January 24, 2011

Anti-American Tune at White House 奥巴马在白宫欣赏反美乐曲


陈凯一语:

奥巴马的反美拥共早从他的父亲开始(他的父亲是一个共产党员)。 奥巴马自传的书名“继承父亲的梦”(“Dream From My Father")就是他的拥共反美的公开写照。 美国的人们应该清楚:被人骗一次是骗子的邪恶。 被人骗两次是傻瓜的愚蠢。

Kai Chen's Words:

Obama's anti-American and pro-communist mindset is well known. His autobiography's title "Dream from My Father" tells all, since his father was a communist. American people should be clear about this: Being cheated once is the cheater's fault. Being cheated twice only shows the stupidity of the cheated.

Chinese Pianist Lang Lang Plays Anti-American Tune at White House

奥巴马在白宫欣赏反美乐曲

Posted on January 23, 2011 at 3:14pm by Scott Baker Print » Email » The Epoch Times adds this subhead to their story — US humiliated in eyes of Chinese by song used to inspire anti-Americanism:

Lang Lang the pianist says he chose it. Chairman Hu Jintao recognized it as soon as he heard it. Patriotic Chinese Internet users were delighted as soon as they saw the videos online. Early morning TV viewers in China knew it would be played an hour or two beforehand. At the White House State dinner on Jan. 19, about six minutes into his set, Lang Lang began tapping out a famous anti-American propaganda melody from the Korean War: the theme song to the movie “Battle on Shangganling Mountain.”

The film depicts a group of “People’s Volunteer Army” soldiers who are first hemmed in at Shanganling (or Triangle Hill) and then, when reinforcements arrive, take up their rifles and counterattack the U.S. military “jackals.”

The movie and the tune are widely known among Chinese, and the song has been a leading piece of anti-American propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for decades. CCP propaganda has always referred to the Korean War as the “movement to resist America and help [North] Korea.” The message of the propaganda is that the United States is an enemy—in fighting in the Korean War the United States’ real goal was said to be to invade and conquer China. The victory at Triangle Hill was promoted as a victory over imperialists.

The song Lang Lang played describes how beautiful China is and then near the end has this verse, “When friends are here, there is fine wine /But if the jackal comes /What greets it is the hunting rifle.” The “jackal” in the song is the United States.
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Appeasing China: I Would Rather Have Reagan With Alzheimer’s Than Obama With All His Mental Faculties
对中共党朝的绥靖:我宁可要得老年症的里根也不要年轻力壮的奥巴马


Posted by Peter Schweizer Jan 16th 2011 at 7:41 pm

The word that conservatives most associate with President Barack Obama is “socialism.” But moving up quickly should be “appeasement.” This description of the Obama Administration’s plans for China President Hu’s visit from the AP says it all:

“Chinese leader Hu Jintao is being feted in Washington this week with a lavish state banquet at the White House and other pomp usually reserved for close friends and allies—all intended to improve the tone of relations between a risen, more assertive and prosperous China and the U.S. superpower in a tenuous economic recovery.”

What makes this all the more pathetic is the fact that it comes in the face on a surging China. In addition to boldly testing a new stealth fighter on the eve of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ recent visit to China, Hu has also declared that the dollar focused international currency system is a “product of the past.” So Obama is throwing them an extra special party.

How will the Chinese government see this? As a gesture of good will? Superb Obama hospitality? As a chance that on a substantive level relations are improving? No, Chinese leaders will see it for what it is: superficial appeasement. Superficial because parties and banquets mean squat in power politics. And appeasement because Obama is dealing from weakness–not from a position of strength.

Obama finds himself in this position of weakness because (1) America’s economy is heavily in debt and rely on the Chinese government to buy our debt.; and (2) Obama fundamentally lacks confidence in America and our purpose in the world.

The debt problem started awhile ago and Obama has certainly made it worse. But he got a head start on that one. It’s not all his fault. However when it comes to a lack of confidence in America, Obama can only blame himself. The simple fact is he doesn’t understand the power of freedom, the power of the America idea, the power of the American Dream. That’s why he doesn’t feel comfortable supporting revolutionary movements in Iran, verbally beating down the taunts of Hugo Chavez or, in this case, making it clear that America will lead the world….not China. He doesn’t feel comfortable because he doesn’t believe it.

I read today that Ron Reagan, Jr., looking to make money off his father’s legacy, has a book coming out in which he speculates that his father probably had Alzheimer’s while he was in the White House. ( I for one don’t believe it. Several years ago while researching my book Reagan’s War, I read the Russian transcripts of Reagan’s conversations with Mikhail Gorbachev. According to these, again, Russian transcriptions, Reagan was not Gorbachev’s equal. He was his superior in verbal and intellectual combat.) But assume for a moment that Ron Jr. is correct. Reagan won the cold war. And Obama has America in retreat. The simple fact is that Reagan with Alzheimer’s is a better Commander-in-Chief than Obama at full mental strength.

It begins with a core belief and confidence in America. And it is here that Obama is deeply deficient.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Overlord vs. Servant -- China and the US - Two Diametrically Opposed Systems 中国与美国--两种根本对立的制度与文化


American Founding Fathers 伟大的美国的建国者们

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

Overlord vs. Servant

中国与美国-两种根本对立的制度与文化

China and the US - Two Diametrically Opposed Systems

By Kai Chen 陈凯 1/22/2011 www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

At my request, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Superintendent has provided me with the email record of communications among the school board members, regarding the implementation of Confucius Classroom and the numerous China trips taken by the School Board members and others.

Having examined the email record with the relevant part forwarded to the proper law-enforcement and legal authorities, I can make the following observation and judgment:

1. Mr. Norman Hsu is the one mainly responsible for inviting Confucius Classroom into the School District. He is also the one mainly responsible for communication between the School District and the Chinese government – “Hanban” which is the Chinese government branch to spread Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms around the world.
2. There is a complete separation in Mr. Hsu’s communication between his contact with the Chinese government using Mandarin and his communication with people in the School District using English. His email in Chinese to Mr. Huo of Hanban is only one example.
3. Mr. Hsu’s allegiance to America as an elected US official is put in serious doubt when he alleged/confessed his motive to implement Confucius Classrooms (his ambition is to have ten such classrooms in the surrounding districts) is because he is a Chinese National. Using his US government position to serve a hostile foreign government’s interests mounts to betrayal and treason.
4. Mr. Hsu has committed a crime using district’s time, facilities, resources and staff to have run a private tourist business for years. Confucius Classroom is a very convenient front/tool for organizing such a tourist business, using education as a pretense. Mr. Hsu’s assistant Patty Lampassi’s latest statement to disassociate herself from serving Mr. Hsu’s business interest is a compelling evidence that such a crime has indeed been committed.
5. Some members of the School Board have participated in Mr. Hsu’s business ventures of China trips using education as a front/excuse for perks and personal benefits.
6. The Chinese government is using Mr. Hsu and his likes with tendency to mix public and private interests to corrupt US officials for its own political purposes.

The US and China have diametrically opposed political and educational systems. In the US, elected government officials are viewed and monitored by public as civil servants. Not only do they not have special privileges, they are constrained by the US Constitution not to overstep the boundaries of their power. They are not allowed to mix public interest with private interest. They are responsible and responsive to the taxpayers and the constituencies which elected them. They are supposed to uphold, defend and safeguard the US Constitution. They are supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. But in China, a communist system combined with an ancient despotic tradition, government has always been viewed and functioning as the overlord of the people. And people have always been reduced to passive, infantile and dependent eunuchs serving the overlord’s interests. The Chinese people, being helpless and desperate, also expect the government to be their savior and provider of their needs and wants, including the meaning of their own very existence. An insidious and poisonous codependency is thus formed and a vicious dynastic cycle is thus completed.

When a US official visits China, he is viewed as the overlord of the American people by the Chinese. He will be treated accordingly with red carpet, first class hotel, lavish banquet and even women (maybe the “red package of bribery” as well) – the comforts and luxuries the US officials are never supposed to have, are never used to, yet are inclined to accept and appreciate due to human weaknesses and tendency to corrupt. At home in the US, the officials are just human beings with extra burden of service and responsibilities, but over there in China, they, in an instant, have become/transformed into untouchables with privileges unimaginable in their wildest dreams. Once a US official goes to China and accepts the status of being an overlord, he is corrupted in soul and he is easily used and manipulated by the Chinese government for its own unspeakable purposes.

Yet Jay Chen, a school board member and the newly elected Hacienda La Puente Unified School Board President, along with some other board members after their China trips, wants the students to learn from the culture of communist corruption and dynastic despotism. I am not surprised.

China is the main source of moral corruption and despotic cultural contamination in the world. Everywhere China’s influence is felt, individual integrity, human dignity, rule of law, freedom and liberty disappear. Now the communist regime is using offense as defense to stabilize and prolong their precarious criminal enterprise – an illegitimate Party-Dynasty which has no moral and procedural/electoral foundation. What can be more effective by corrupting the US officials and contaminating the American youths with despotic ideas? To see the unsuspecting victims, the American students, parents, officials, sink into the black hole of moral degradation and depravity pains my heart.

Chinese cultural agents like Mr. Norman Hsu who help the Chinese government spread spiritual/cultural AIDS viruses must be stopped. Confucius Institutes/Classrooms programs aimed to castrate human souls and moral integrity must be exposed for what they are. And we must safeguard America for what she represents – liberty and justice for all. The four members of the School Board (Jay Chen, Norman Hsu, Joseph Chang and Anita Perez) who voted to implement the Confucius Classroom program must be disposed, expelled, recalled or prosecuted for the crimes they have perpetrated onto America, onto the American youths. American Constitution must be restored: US government and its officials are civil servants, never people’s overlord.


Saturday, January 22, 2011

徐乃星的学区助理的严肃声明 Statement from Patty Lampassi (Norman Hsu's District Staff)


Hacienda School District Declines China's Funding 哈崗学区放弃中共资助/视频

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

Kai Chen's Note: 陈凯 按:

This statement from Patty Lampassi (Hacienda La Puente School District Staff) shows that a crime/misdemeanor has been committed by Mr. Norman Hsu (a School Board member) since he used public time, facilities, staff to run his own private tourist business. This matter will be dealt by the law enforcement authorities.

徐乃星的学区助理的这个严肃声明已向公众承认徐乃星犯了严重的利用公职营私的罪。 徐(一个学区的学委)已在多年以前就利用自己的公职违法乱用公时、公费、公务员与公设施为自己的旅游生意服务。 法律部门已对此进行调查并会做出相应的举动。

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Statement from Patty Lampassi (Norman Hsu's District Staff)

徐乃星的学区助理的严肃声明

Dated 1/7/2011

Regarding any future Spring Tours that are being arranged by Mr. Hsu, please share the following information with your family and friends who are interested. I will no longer be sending information or answering inquiries, collecting money, or collecting passports for the Spring tours.

Mr. Hsu has received many inquiries regarding the China tours for 2011 and he would like the following message shared with all of you:

1. In conjunction with the Centenary Celebration of the 100 years of the founding of the Republic of China, this year's trip will be a visit to Taiwan (including the offshore Island of Kinmen) and Hong Kong from April 15-25, 2011, during the Spring break.

2. Those who are interested in joining the tour, please directly contact Mr. Hsu at harsono1688@hotmail.com for details and additional information. His phone number is (626) 336-5996.

It has been my pleasure to assist Mr. Hsu in past years with Spring China tours and getting to know the participants. If you have an interest in the tour or additional questions regarding this tour, please contact Mr. Hsu directly at the email address or phone number provided above, as I will not have information relative to its details. Thanks!

Patty Lampassi

Superintendent’s Office

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH STAFF AT YOUR SITES AND IN YOUR DEPARTMENTS.

· 2011 CROSS-STRAIT TAIWAN & HONGKONG TOUR.doc

一个要求尊严的黑人在中国的遭遇 When a Black Man Wants Dignity in China


Racism in China Part One 华语系人们的丑恶种族主义(1)

Racism in China Part Two 华语系人们的丑恶种族主义(2)

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

一个要求尊严的黑人在中国的遭遇

When a Black Man Wants Dignity in China

陈凯一语:


将华语系人们的种族主义与种族歧视只归咎于共产党是一种不求“真”的态度。 孔儒文化的等级观念是华语系人们几千年来的沉重镣铐与包袱。 拒绝反省自身文化与文字所带来的奴役状态只能是华语系的人们重蹈覆辙。

Kai Chen's Words:

To take the intrinsic racism in the Chinese culture as something from the West, something from the Communist Party, is a sign that the Chinese still have a long way to go before they can truly pursue truth. And without truth, the Chinese can never be free. Confucianism/Chinese traditional despotism is to blame for the pathetic and pathological state of the current Chinese mindset, coupled with the modern communism/dialectic materialism from the West. The Chinese face extra burden and painstaking task to face not only their present tyranny, but their past despotism. Yet refusing to admit this reality and fearing to deal with/get rid of the cultural garbage will only lead to another round of new despotism and tyranny, even after the communist regime is gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from the article 文章段落:

"Together with his wife they were “a permanent show” on the streets. His wife was spat upon, he received nasty comments, contempt came through in a greeting, the atmosphere changed when they entered an establishment; the wife received an invitation and was told not to bring the husband. They went their separate ways before six months were through. “It happened quietly,” Sianne says. Divorce was formalized in July 2010."

"他和他的新婚妻子(一个中国女人)成了公众的娱乐侮辱的焦点。 他的妻子被人唾骂。 他本人被人讥笑侮辱。 他妻子曾接到过聚会邀请函,但在函中要求她不要带她丈夫来。 短短六个月他和他的妻子就离婚了。那是在2010年七月。”

“How do you dare to date a monkey?” Sianne overheard as the two yelled at each other in Chinese; then “You are a shame to China!”

"你怎么能和一个黑猩猩交往?”他听到他未婚妻的舞伴儿大声斥责她。 “你是中华民族的耻辱!”

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A Cameroonian Journalist, Abused and Disabused in China

一个喀麦隆记者在中国被虐被辱的遭遇

By Matthew Robertson/Epoch Times Staff

A Chinese prisoner awoke at 3am, checked to see the other prisoners were fast asleep, and furtively produced this sketch of Patrick Sianne as he was in prison. Sianne says it could have cost the prisoner his life, or at least a thorough beating. (Courtesy of the subject)

“At these words I abandon every remaining shred of trust. I need no further proof that this is a society that revolves around hatred, discrimination, and persecution.” – Yang Xiguang, Chinese labor camp survivor.

Patrick Pieplieu Sianne, for one decade the face of broadcast news in his native Cameroon, went to China in 2006 on a journey of exploration—something of a 21st century de Tocqueville—but “ended up in a very dark hole, brutalized physically and mentally,” he now says.

He is back in Cameroon, telling his story and writing a book. He has turned 180 degrees on the views he used to hold of contemporary China and its communist leadership.

“President Hu Jintao’s diligent stewardship of the State, his vision and humanism are arguably the best among equals…” Sianne wrote in 2007, in a letter. He expressed similar sentiments online—he was a prolific online personality, gaining one of the most popular blogs on Sina.com—before his prison experiences.

Now he says “Absolute power corrupts absolutely… The Communist Party has little stomach for deep, meaningful change.”

For Sianne, it was a lesson learned through bitter experience: Through encounters with Chinese police, run-ins with bureaucrats who could change his fate in the time it takes to stamp a paper, and with as much concern, and with Chinese who often had, Sianne says, nothing but thinly disguised contempt for the fact that he was a black man dating, and later married to, a bright young Chinese woman.

“I physically feel still in pain and shock,” he writes, a few days after getting back to Cameroon, in October of this year. “Just asking for my rights… I found myself trapped in a terrible situation.”

Two themes undergird all of Sianne’s travails in China: racism, and bureaucratic bullying. And he often found the two were used in perfect complement.

***

Patrick Sianne’s interest in China grew naturally from a desire to find out the whys and wherefores of Cameroon’s newest immigrants, “Chinese who landed here to seek their future in our beloved country.” It was 2006, and he had been in the country three years after getting home from an eight year sojourn in the United States, where he had been studying and working. He left Cameroon for China “with an open heart, to find a new people.”

He arrived in China as a tourist but soon settled into a respectable school in Shanghai, at which he became a resident student, studying Chinese language and culture for one semester. He had obtained a student visa; it was the beginning.

The summer holidays came and the students went their ways; though while most Westerners were awarded plum jobs in summer camps teaching English, Sianne would be cut off as soon as the prospective employers met him.

The résumé was impressive—broadcast journalist on prime time Cameroonian television for a decade, a Master’s degree from the United States, founder of an NGO, several Fellowships in International Journalism. But the résumé didn’t mention Sianne’s nationality, or skin color, which is “black, very black” as one friend wrote in a reference letter.

From an acquaintance Frenchman in Shanghai Sianne got a job in Yunnan Province, the remote mountainous southwestern outcrop abutting Burma and Laos, known for its fiery autonomy. He was in Lijiang in Yunnan, doing sales and marketing for a restaurant called Petite Paris. From there he was put up for a job at a high school in Qujing, a small place outside of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. He also met his fiancée, a Chinese from Chengdu named Zhu Dan.

Here the question of Sianne’s visa status came into focus, because this was the mask in which racism was disguised and used to punish him. Sianne had arrived in China on a tourist visa. This he changed to a student visa when in Shanghai.

He had planned to continue his studies after the job at Petite Paris, before the Qujing offer came up, and was ready to be admitted to a university as a student and teacher in Lijiang. But he scrapped this plan and moved on to the Communist Party-run establishment Qujing, which required a working visa.

He took up employment in Qujing at the Number One high school, the oldest and best in the province. He was placed there by an awkwardly titled state-run recruitment agency called the Training Center of Yunnan Bureau China Council for Promotion of Applied Technology Exchange to Foreign Countries; Sianne’s exchanges with the leaders of this “training center” were pivotal for his fate in China.

The Training Center is an institution that Sianne would later describe, in an elegant and strongly worded letter of complaint sent through a lawyer in China in 2007, as “an assembly of irresponsible citizens,” “an organization of mafia people,” “a quack of an educational establishment,” and a “heartless” and “foolhardy” organization whose bias and ability to victimize with impunity brought him immense personal suffering.

After he had been teaching at the high school for one month, it was time for him to finalize his visa papers.

For this he received government documents directing him to Hong Kong, where, outside the mainland, he could change his visa status (from student to tourist to working). He was flown to Shenzhen and boated to Hong Kong, but at the Chinese checkpoint something went wrong. He was made to wait hours and told that, as a black African, he couldn’t cross on foot.

This incident—relatively minor given what was to follow—gave Sianne a taste, in institutionalized form, of the racism he had sensed only vaguely before in Shanghai.
He went back to Kunming to find the new job almost cancelled because of the visa troubles.

After some cajoling, the employers allowed him to Macau (after borrowing 10,000 yuan—more than the Chinese average annual urban income and several times the average annual rural income—off another Frenchman in Shanghai, because Africans are required to carry massive amounts of cash when going to Macau.)

With a work visa secured, he settled into employment at the school. There he came to know Mr. Miao, a local Party boss, vice president of the Training Center, and to the misfortune of Sianne, his direct supervisor.

There is something about Party officials in their native stomping grounds that creates beasts of men: arrogance, pettiness, jealousy, and other vices are tempered by none of the institutional restraints common elsewhere, and have been deliberately allowed to fester under decades of communist rule.

All this was compounded in Sianne’s case by a simmering racism that sometimes bubbled to the surface, and then again by the anachronistic living and working arrangements, which modeled something of the “danwei” (work unit) system of social control of the 80s and 90s, where employees and employers all live and work in the same compound. The potential for petty abuse of power in these circumstances is known to all Chinese, and Sianne was soon to experience it.

Trouble began when Sianne attempted to bring his fiancé to his home. Mr. Miao initially vetoed the idea outright. Sianne went over his head—there was no rule against bringing home a fiancé—and Miao turned sour.

“It was offensive to him that a black man would be dating a young Chinese girl,” Sianne says, recounting a telling exchange that once took place in Sianne’s shoebox apartment. “You could see it… he came and saw a picture of me and her on the wall… he never came back after she left.”

Another request to have friends around on Dec. 16, the anniversary of the death of Sianne’s father, was also rejected as “impossible.” Sianne has commemorated his father’s passing every year since his death in 1971, and was not going to be deterred from the ritual by a self-important Party boss. So he argued about this, too.

That’s when Mr. Miao dropped the sword that had been hanging over Sianne’s head since he took up work with the “Training Center”: the denial of a residence permit.

A work visa means nothing without one, and Sianne had a work visa but no residence slip. This was in the hands of the police in Lijiang, and in China the police are in the hands of the Party. When Mr. Miao was affronted by Sianne’s insistence on commemorating his father’s death, on top of the fiancée incident, he had the police reject the residence permit.

Sianne received a brief email telling him to vacate the school within 24 hours.

He left that evening with two suitcases, leaving behind an apartment full of belongings. He had been there several months, and “was already building a home for myself and my girlfriend, I was building a home and wanted to get married soon, I even bought a carpet, a good carpet,” he says. He never saw the carpet again, or his clothes, or the thousands of dollars in salary the school owed him.

That evening he left Qujing to find his fiancé in Chengdu; he was now in China illegally.

***
Once in Chengdu in early 2007, Sianne worked odd jobs with faked visa contracts, teaching English, doing what he could to pay the bills. The situation is not uncommon, especially for Africans in China who face systemic discrimination and rarely have a chance to do things by the book.

At one point he worked at a Chinese diamond company in Beijing. From Beijing he went to Dalian, a coastal city in the north. There he met an American who arranged a situation for him at the Dalian Fisheries University (later Dalian Ocean University), again teaching and studying.
By this time it was the beginning of 2008. The school liked Sianne and had begun to process the papers for a legitimate visa. But the central authorities were processing their own paperwork. As August approached, and with it the Olympics, a purge of foreigners on shaky visas was set in motion. This was a top-down directive, inspectors were going to arrive, and Sianne was quickly cast aside. His fiancée, Zhu Dan, had just met with him in Dalian but the two soon went back to Chengdu.

Arriving in Chengdu on a Friday night, they went to the Shamrock, a foreign nightclub, meaning to unwind. A man came to dance with Sianne’s fiancée while Sianne was resting in a booth. That was fine, as far as it went, but he was the kind of man who usually got more than just a dance, Sianne says, and was affronted by Zhu’s tenacious resistance.

Sianne was alerted to the situation, and the man discovered that the young Chinese girl was to be married to a black man. “How do you dare to date a monkey?” Sianne overheard as the two yelled at each other in Chinese; then “You are a shame to China!”

Then the man told the police, with whom he was apparently already on familiar terms (or perhaps one of them, undercover, Sianne suggests). They asked Sianne for his visa and he knew it was game over.

They told him to report to the police station not far from the bar the next morning. Sianne didn’t feel like waiting; Zhu collected his passport from home and they went to the police station, he with a “bring the heat” attitude.

He got a surprise once there, however. “The interview was not about why I was illegal or what I should do, it was more about how long have you known this girl, how did you meet her, for how long,” and even, Sianne says, “are you consummating the relationship?”

Sianne’s fiancée was sent home, and he to a Chinese prison cell for one month of punishment for being in China illegally.

At around 5am Sianne’s fiancée was sent home, and he to a Chinese prison cell for one month of punishment for being in China illegally.

He was awoken in the dank cell at 8am the same morning, like the other inmates. After an all-night interrogation, he did not feel like getting up. So the guards told inmates to pick him up and carry him outside to teach him a lesson in Chinese prison life.

“They gave me lashings. The guards were using long bamboo sticks, the prisoners their hands. There were about seven prisoners.” Hurtful slogans rained along with the blows: “Black man, look at you, we are treating you well here and it's all going well and you are just insulting China! You love America more than China, you go to America!”

The maltreatment inspired a hunger strike. The superintendent, upon hearing that Sianne had not touched food or water for two days, got scared and backed off.

Prison life was a matter of steady and persistent attempts at “reeducation,” Sianne says. Morning drills, which he managed to regularly escape, included being herded into a courtyard and made to march back and forth chanting “jingcha hao!” (“the police are good!”)

“I spent time doing what you call passive disobedience,” Siannne says. “I wanted pen and paper. After they beat and slapped me, I shouted and shouted and shouted and collapsed, and they gave me paper and pen and allowed me books to read.”

His shouts carried some of the sophistication one would expect from a man of culture. “I was using their language and culture to insult them: that they should tell Hu Jintao that I need paper, that Mao Zedong likes Africans. I made these phrases into songs and poems” in Chinese, he says, which he would chant and sing regularly.

On other occasions he danced and sang gospel classics, which often brought him to tears and the prisoners along with him. “When I prayed one of the songs I like, the American gospel “Nobody Knows the Troubles I Have Seen,” that I learnt through Louis Armstrong, that is a powerful song and a prayer that I sung and cried, some of them ran away and went crying too. They wanted to let me go. I cried, they could see my pain, they never wanted to take it for long when I sung that song.”

Some of the prisoners became his allies, Sianne said. One of them made a sketch of Sianne at 3am while in a cell with him, which he managed to smuggle out, and which he will use as the frontispiece for his book.

The one month sentence was extended by another two weeks when they reached an impasse over what would happen next. After the fiancée’s parents came to the prison to vouch to the police about his honorable intentions, he was allowed out of jail and sent back to Cameroon. That was July 2008.

***
Sianne organized another tourist visa back to China for the wedding. They were to be married in Chengdu in December. The third stage of the Sianne’s China story had begun. It was to be the worst yet.

“On my wedding day… we arrive, we present the case to the officer,” Sianne said in an interview in French with the Cameroonian television network Mutations Multimedia.

“But having found that I was an African she [the officer] pretended to go to the bathroom, then disappeared. She never came back.” The wedding party made phone calls, waited, and the couple swallowed their humiliation
.

Another celebrant in the building became aware of the circumstances and took it upon himself to sign the deed. But “it was just the beginning of an ordeal,” Sianne says.

Together with his wife they were “a permanent show” on the streets. His wife was spat upon, he received nasty comments, contempt came through in a greeting, the atmosphere changed when they entered an establishment; the wife received an invitation and was told not to bring the husband. They went their separate ways before six months were through. “It happened quietly,” Sianne says. Divorce was formalized in July 2010.

Nevertheless, after the marriage Sianne soon obtained a good job at the prestigious Sichuan Foreign Language University in Chengdu, as leading Oral English teacher. He spent three fruitful semesters there, and was preparing to transfer to the Dalian Korean International School, in the Northeast. When he got there, after a train ride of three days and nights, he was told: sorry, the local government has “taken a set of measures,” and “no job for me, bye bye.”

Then he began writing protest letters to the local government, the university, the foreign ministry, complaining about the arbitrary breach of contract. He says at this stage police wanted to get rid of him so they “organized a trap that led to my beating, imprisonment, torture and removal.” Specifically, when he was out one night he received a hostile and racist comment from an acquaintance.

Then he was surrounded by two other people and a woman, “And they started hitting me over. They beat me that day with incredible violence. Until now, when I eat or when I yawn, I suspect they damaged a nerve.”

He was against the wall trying to protect himself when they called the police. “I find myself at the police station, lying on the floor with hands cuffed to my feet—then, again, 10 days imprisonment.”

Hunger strikes didn’t work this time. He was threatened with “final fireworks”: torture, or worse, if he would not cooperate with deportation proceedings. He was told that the police killing him and dumping his body in a river or forest would not pose a problem; “we’ve done this before,” they said, “if your embassy raises a finger, we can always settle that financially.”

The police ransacked his apartment, collected his passport, and forcefully ejected him from the country all on the same day, after two weeks of abuse. He stopped over in Nairobi, then boarded another flight to the Cameroon, arriving on Oct. 15. He was wearing the same clothes he had been beaten and carted off to prison in. Like last time, all of his belongings were still in China.

He is finalizing a book on the experience, called, perhaps “China: My Regrets, My Fears. A Rising Mirage for Black Africa” he said in the French interview. “I almost cannot sleep. To me, this book is the book of my life. It will enable Cameroonians, Africans, the world, to see a country that, with regard to human rights, has much to be ashamed of.”

He has found a good human rights lawyer, one of Cameroon’s most famous, in the person of Barrister Akere T. Muna. While the wheels of Chinese justice are known to have long been stolen and pawned off, with Muna retained Sianne’s case will probably attract a good deal of attention in Cameroon.

“I was tortured. I was beaten. I was humiliated,” he says. He has spoken to Cameroonian officials. Some have told him to keep quiet, because the country is now doing business with China.


A Black Chinese Girl 一个中国的黑姑娘

Friday, January 21, 2011

Confucius Revived - Confucius, Despotism and Women 孔儒、专制与女人


China's Women and "One Child Policy" 中国的女人与“一胎制”

陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

Confucius Revived - Confucius, Despotism and Women

孔儒、专制与女人

陈凯一语:

世界上的所有专制社会都必须将女人踩在脚下,基于它们的等级奴役理念。 孔儒的伦礼就是建筑在等级制上的。 女人被贬对孔儒文化的“中国人”来说是最自然不过的了。

Kai Chen's Words:

Without exception, all despotic tyrannies in the world see women as servants of men. Their dignity is trampled from the day they were born. All despotic traditions are based on hierarchy. Confucianism is only a set of behavioral code of such a social hierarchy. Women are at the very bottom of this hierarchy. And most Chinese treat women as such as well, just as the Master Confucius taught them.

http://thoughtfulideas.blogspot.com/2011/01/confucius-revived.html

by Alvin Rabushka

I previously blogged on the unveiling of a statue of Confucius in Tiananmen Square and the spread of Confucius Institutes around the world.

Stanford University has recently announced the establishment of a Confucius Institute as an integral part of the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture. The web page of the Confucian Institute notes that Chinese has become the second most popular foreign language at Stanford. The Institute will award three graduate fellowships to those in the Chinese language program. Stanford is one of a growing number of universities that have or will establish Confucius Institutes.

The Confucius Institute is a partnership between Stanford, Peking University, and Hanban, an administrative arm of China’s Ministry of Education.

In graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis (1962-6, my first teaching assignment with undergraduate students of Chinese history was a discussion of the Analects of Confucius. I still have the paperback book with the Analects I marked for discussion. I have since added other translations to my library along with Internet editions.

One of the most striking features of Confucian thought is the almost complete absence of women. There is only one Analect devoted specifically and exclusively to women, which appears in Chapter 17, marked as number 23 or 25 depending on the author’s enumeration.

James Legge’s translation:

The Master said, “Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a reserve toward them, they are discontented.” (Legge interpreted girls as concubines, although he expressed shock that Confucius would utter such a statement.)

D. C. Lau:

The Master said, “In one’s household, it is the women and the small men that are difficult to deal with. If you let them get too close, they become insolent. If you keep them at a distance, they complain.”

James R. Ware:

The Master said, “Only women and petty man are hard to have around the house. If you get too close to them, they become non-compliant. If you keep them at a distance, they turn resentful.”

Lin Yutang:

Confucius said, “Women and the uneducated people are most difficult to deal with. When you are familiar with them, they become cheeky, and when you ignore them, they resent it.”

Stanford has established the Clayman Center for Gender Research. Hundreds of other colleges and universities have set up centers for women's studies. One wonders what feminist scholars think about the new Confucius Institutes on their campuses?

Posted by Alvin Rabushka at 3:07 AM

Thursday, January 20, 2011

对屎虼螂弹琴? Wanting Dung Beetles to Appreciate Human Values?



陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

对屎虼螂弹琴?
Wanting Dung Beetles to Appreciate Human Values?

对一个没有“人”的奴化社会,不要谈“人权”而要谈个体自由
In a Slave Society without “Human Beings”, Pursuit of Freedom, Not “Human Rights” is Paramount

“自由人”对抗“中国人”序列
"Free Beings" vs. "Chinese" Series


陈凯 Kai Chen
1/20/2011 www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

自从里根总统执政后,就再也没有出现过一位高声为自由唱赞讴歌的美国政治领袖了。 世界的自由事业也就由此出现了停顿与倒退。 中共党奴朝的所谓“崛起”就是在这样一种美国的政治人物 对美国价值/使命的渎职与道德混乱中而产生的。 今天的奥巴马对胡锦涛的绥靖与他对世界专制政体的妥协与让步只不过是自里根总统执政后的美国历届执政者的对美国建国理念的渎职与道德混乱/腐败的必然结果。 物质/经济、金钱与对权力的争夺早已成了自里根以后的美国政界司空见惯的常态。 人们对美国建国者们在“独立宣言”与“美国宪法”中所阐扬的美国价值与人类的普世终极价值(生命、自由与对幸福的追求)不屑一顾、置若罔闻。

试想,如果世界上没有美国坚守人类自由与尊严的价值,哪一个社会与国度会承担这个主导人类走向自由的方向性的重任呢? 如果美国对中共的“软冷战”的新伎俩不知拒晓而被中共党朝的“精神与道德的艾滋病毒”所感染,(与遍身涂脂抹粉的染着艾滋病的“宦奴娼”的、用“虚无”消灭“存在”的中共党朝欢娱性交必会导致此种悲剧。)那美国的存在本身就毫无意义。 在这个基点上说,今天的美国执政者们背叛了美国的建国精神。 今天的美国正在背离美国建国者们的原则与理念,正在被中共党朝的“精神艾滋病毒”腐蚀侵害并走向“物化”与道德腐败。 我,作为一个真正的崇尚美国价值与建国理念的美国人,会做出我应有的努力去唤醒美国的民众为美国的精神与价值不懈地拼搏。 美国价值与理念的进取就是世界专制社会与国度的衰退与灭亡。

当一个人的行为与言论没有道德与真实的前提(moral and true premises)时,他的所作所为是毫无意义的。 当“精神艾滋病”侵染了人们的灵智的时候,他们竟会对一个没有“人”只有“奴”的社会讲什么虚无的“人权”。 当一个社会的政体是非法的罪犯政体的时候,他们竟会与这个政体进行交易建立条约。 当一个将人类历史上最大的杀人魔毛泽东的形象印在所有的钞票上去污染阉割世人的灵魂良知的时候,他们会向这些“崇魔”的刽子手要求所谓的“升高汇率”(currency appreciation), 等等、等等。

里根总统的简明、清晰与深刻的对人类社会走向的理解导致了他在对邪恶政体的博争中占有主动与道德的高点: 对苏联为首的共产政权,里根从不报任何幻想。 “他们撒谎”(They lie.)一句话就是里根对专制国度的定义。 “邪恶帝国”(Evil Empire) 一个词就是里根对共产社会的定义。 “我们必胜,它们必败”(We win. They lose.) 就是里根道德鲜明的政策取向。 里根的道德与理性的“前提”永远是清晰的与正义的。 也正是因为这种简明、清晰、正义与乐观的真正的“美国价值与精神”,共产邪恶势力才无从入手去击败自由。 苏联的垮台与共产邪念的破产在像里根一样的无畏的“美国人”面前只是一个“时间”问题而绝不是一个“是否”问题。

今天的奥巴马的道德腐败与混乱只不过是自里根以来的历届美国执政者们的“渎职”(a dereliction of moral duty) 的巅峰而已。 中共党朝与世界专制(如伊斯兰专制文化)的“蝇蚊”基于它们的专制直觉察觉到了美国“蛋”上的裂缝。 它们蜂拥而上,植入专制价值的腐卵与病毒(孔子学院/孔子课堂,伊斯兰庙/寺院等等)。 今天在美国的华语系人们也普遍扮演这种邪恶侵蚀的媒介。 哈崗学区的学委徐乃星(Norman Hsu) 就是这种媒介的典型例子:他在一封给中共“汉办”官员霍福海的电邮中公开声称他要竭力在南加州学区推广“孔子课堂”,并不是因为美国学生与美国社会的利益,而是因为他是一个“华人”愿为“泛华”的中共党朝而不遗余力。 他更无耻地献媚说他计划将十所“孔子课堂”引入哈崗周围的十个学区。 “来西方/美国学反西方/美国,用自由学灭自由”是普遍的华语系人们的病态心理。

当前世界最需要的是以美国为首的自由世界重新着力推动自由的事业。 依靠一个以古巴等专制为首的联合国“人权组织”去在世界众多的否认“人”的存在与自由的国度中要求所谓的“人权”只是一个自欺自辱的笑话。 在中共党奴朝的奴化的“无人”社会中去要求“人权”是与那些要求“平反六四”的人们的“屎虼螂滚屎球”的痴梦同出一辙的。 奥巴马与胡锦涛的没有“自由”与“个体人”的“人权”诉求自然地也就蜕变成了所谓的“吃饭权”、“生意权”、“生存权”、“发财权”与“发展权”。 这种“反人”的人权与纳粹的“强国强族”的“国权族权”是毫无区别的。

“人”的存在与自由是一切道德合法社会的首要前提。 不承认每一个“个体人”的自由意志与生命的尊严而将群体的“统一”、“和谐”、“繁荣”与“强大”作为伪价值的社会是没有资格谈什么“人权”的。 那些奢想与一个非法的罪犯政体—中共党奴朝搞生意谈条约的人们也必然会自食其果,将世界推向一个战争的边缘。 二战前的西方对纳粹德国的绥靖也会在这种要求“人权”的无奈、无知与无灵的高叫中重演。 我们都知道这种绥靖的结果是什么。

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Region eyes Obama's reception of Chinese President Hu 就胡访美 - 美媒体采访陈凯


陈凯一语

当对话的前提-中共党朝的非法与罪犯性质被忽略抹杀时,任何互动都是负向的与无意义的。 自由社会的人们应懂得这一理性常识。

Kai Chen's Words:

When any dialogue happens between China and the US, no one should omit/deny the very premise based on which a meaningful exchange can happen - China is not a legitimate nation (only a Party-Dynasty), and China's government is a criminal enterprise. This is only common sense based on simple, basic rationality
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陈凯博客: www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

"He is a dictator. He can do a lot of things through the form of government they have. Maybe I shouldn’t have said dictator, but they have a different type of government then we have, and that is an understatement,” --- Harry Reid

“他(胡)是个独裁者。 在他们那种政体中他可以擅自决定许多事。 也可能我在这个时候叫他”独裁者不合适。 但他们的政体与我们的截然不同,也可能是截然相反。”-- 哈利. 里德 (美参院多数党领袖)

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Region eyes Obama's reception of Chinese President Hu

就胡访美 - 美媒体采访陈凯

Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/18/2011 07:04:37 PM PST

Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting President Barack Obama this week in what some are calling the most important diplomatic visit of Obama's presidency.

With the economies of the United States and China - the two largest in the world - becoming ever more tied, U.S. companies are eyeing the visit with high hopes it will produce increased opportunities for them to compete with China, both here and there.

But questions remain about how tough Obama will push for concessions on economic disputes between the countries, such as China's currency manipulation, lack of enforcement of intellectual property rights, and limitations on foreign access to China's market.

And, with Obama opening wide the diplomatic doors, including hosting an official White House dinner for Hu, Chinese critics are concerned the United States is ignoring the country's history of human rights abuses in the name of economic profit.

Still, Assemblyman Mike Eng, a Chinese-American, said the visit will go a long way to stabilizing the relationship between the growing rivals - critical to the economic vitality of the San Gabriel Valley.

"This is a great opportunity for both sides to realize that now more than ever their interests are so firmly tied to each other. This visit is a step towards trying to normalize our relations," Eng, D-El Monte, said. "We have a lot of businesses in the San Gabriel Valley whose livelihood relies on these relations."

The region has in recent years since an increase of Chinese investment in real estate and commercial businesses. In the city of Industry alone, 900 of the 2,500 business are Chinese owned and operated, according to Don Sachs, executive director of the Industry Manufacturers Council.

As that city has shifted from an economy based in manufacturing to one based in distribution and warehousing, Chinese investment has helped fill vacant warehouses.

"We have a vested interest in maintaining and expanding relations with China," Sachs said.

At the same time, the region's shift away from manufacturing largely came as companies moved manufacturing overseas to countries including China - a reality well known to Sachs.

"Our president and their president have to get together to make a more level playing field, so both sides can prosper rather than just one," he said. "It has to be a give and take."

Leveling that playing field means a lot of things that will come before Obama and Hu this week.
For one, the Chinese currency, the yuan, has long been the No. 1 irritant in U.S.-China trade relations. The U.S. and other countries charge that China keeps its currency artificially low. They say that gives Chinese exporters an unfair edge. A low-priced yuan makes Chinese products cheaper in the U.S. and U.S. products costlier in China.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner declared China's currency "significantly undervalued" in advance of Hu's visit.

Obama is sure to raise concerns about the yuan's value in his discussions with Hu. But the Chinese are just as sure to avoid the appearance of bowing to foreign pressure.

Obama is also likely to raise concerns about intellectual property rights. U.S. software companies say they're also being cheated out of billions in sales because Chinese companies and even government agencies illegally copy their programs, instead of buying them.

While much has been made of these issues, the top priority for U.S. companies doing business in China, or wishing to do business in China, is market access, according Clayton Dube, associate director of USC's US-China Institute.

Surveys of American businesses in China, like Proctor and Gamble and Intel, regularly reveal that companies say they are not there primarily to produce products for cheap - although they are there for that too - rather they are there to get access to the Chinese market: 1.4 billion people strong.

But policies of the Chinese government have been restrictive in allowing access to that market. For example, a policy China adopted in 2009, called "indigenous innovation," limits the government's purchase of foreign products to only those designed in China.

While Rep. Judy Chu, D-El Monte, says the controversial issues need to be addressed, she said the meeting between Obama and Hu can go a long way to increasing trade between the countries generally.

Chu, the first Chinese-American Congresswoman, points to wine as an example. Nearly half of the wine consumed in China is from France, while only 5 percent is from the U.S.

"We haven't been properly marketing our great California wine," she said.

While Chu said Obama should attempt to address military and human rights concerns - the two other topics that will dominate the diplomatic visit - the "overriding concern should be the economies of both countries."

But Chinese dissident Kai Chen says there should be nothing normal about the relations between the U.S. and China.

"It makes me so mad that we treat China like a normal country," said Chen, a former basketball player for the Chinese National Team who lives in Los Angeles.

For him, there's no need to discuss economics, the military or any other topic outside of the lack of freedom for the Chinese people.

"First, you mention Tiananmen Square and force them to acknowledge what happened," he said. "Then you occupy the moral high ground. Then you can talk to them."

He said he doubts Obama would take such a tact.

The more economically intertwined the U.S. and China become, the less likely people, particularly Chinese-Americans, are to criticize it, he said.

"You're not going to find too many people here criticizing China. Not only is it their ancestral land, but many have business interests tied into it."

Chen said Obama should also force Hu to discuss 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who missed the award presentation because he was in a Chinese prison on charges of spurring anti-government sentiment.

"Obama won the same prize for doing nothing," he said. "He at least owes it to Liu Xiaobo to mention his name."

As much as Chinese-Americans are watching the politics of Hu's visit, they are also intrigued by the show, Eng said.

Today, the Chinese president will get what he desperately wanted, but was denied, during his last visit to Washington five years ago: an official state dinner.

"There is a great interest in the pomp and circumstance - who is invited, what kind of food they will serve, what people will wear. It's like the Golden Globes or the Oscars. Those are the hottest tickets in town," said Eng, whose wife, Rep. Chu, will be attending the dinner.

Symbolism and protocol are very important to the Chinese and the opulence of the black-tie affair with Obama should be plenty satisfying for Hu, a 67-year-old hydroelectric engineer who has ruled the country since 2002. That alone could help the relationship between the leaders.

"There is enormous pride that Chinese Americans... and Asian Americans to know that an Asian country is being focused on for an official visit and state dinner," Eng said. "There is a sense it increases the importance of Asian Americans in America."

Staff writer Ben Baeder and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

rebecca.1c
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Harry Reid calls Chinese leader Hu Jintao a 'dictator'

美参议员(民主党)称胡锦涛为独裁者

"He is a dictator. He can do a lot of things through the form of government they have. Maybe I shouldn’t have said dictator, but they have a different type of government then we have, and that is an understatement,” --- Harry Reid

“他(胡)是个独裁者。 在他们那种政体中他可以擅自决定许多事。 也可能我在这个时候叫他”独裁者不合适。 但他们的政体与我们的截然不同,也可能是截然相反。”-- 哈利. 里德 (美参院多数党领袖)

By SCOTT WONG 1/19/11 7:17 AM EST

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) labeled Chinese President Hu Jintao a “dictator,” just as President Barack Obama prepares to host the Chinese leader on Wednesday at a state dinner aimed at soothing tensions between the two world powers.

Reid’s off-the-cuff comments came Tuesday night during a televised interview with Las Vegas journalist Jon Ralston, who asked the majority leader whether the bipartisan tax compromise Obama struck with Republican leaders last year was a good deal for the country.

“I am going to go back to Washington and meet with the President of China. He is a dictator. He can do a lot of things through the form of government they have. Maybe I shouldn’t have said dictator, but they have a different type of government then we have, and that is an understatement,” Reid said in the interview.

“So we have to work in the system we have, the best system ever devised to rule the affairs of men and women,” Reid continued. “And one of the few ways we get things done, in fact the most important way we get things done, is through compromise. It’s not a bad word, and that is how we get things done.”

Beginning Wednesday morning, Obama hosts a welcome reception for the Chinese president at the White House, followed by meetings between U.S. and Chinese business leaders designed to boost trade and investment between the two nations.

Later Wednesday, Hu will be feted at a lavish state dinner at the White House, the first for a Chinese leader in 13 years.

Reid, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are among the congressional leaders expected to meet with Hu on Thursday on Capitol Hill to discuss a range of issues, including currency manipulation, human rights and North Korea.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47810.html#ixzz1BUj2NZ1B