Hey there China, have you been watching what's happening over there in Iran? Awesome, huh! Something tells me you ought to be paying attention, because you could be next up.
I was just sitting around today wondering what it would look like if a billion (1,000,000,000) of you Chinese people took to the streets and protested your disgrace of a government? Oh wait, scratch that. There are 1.3 billion of you, not 1 billion.
Wow! 1,300,000,000 of you out on the streets, just like all those Iranians. Now that would be awesome! Your streets sure would be jammed packed with people, wouldn't they!
So do you really think the Chinese army would start shooting at all 1.3 billion of you? Does your army even have 1.3 billion bullets in stock? That's a lot of rounds to have sitting around. I seriously doubt they have that many.
But if they did, there are only 1.8 to 2.0 million people in the Chinese Army. There are 1.3 billion of you. That means each member of the Chinese army has to shoot about 650 of you to totally end the protests. I really, really don't think they'd do it. That's a heckuva lot of shootin'! On top of that, if they shot you all, there would be no one left to work the factories.
I saw the picture of your "Tank Man" again recently, on the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre. What does it feel like to live in a country where -- someday -- that man who stood in front of an advancing column of tanks will be China's greatest national hero? http://www.middlesex.mass.edu/... or http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/...
Speaking of heroes, did you see the amazing picture that came out of Tehran the other day of the young man in a green shirt protecting the heavily wounded riot police officer? http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co... - I can absolutely guarantee you that young man will be an Iranian national hero someday. Kinda like your tank man.
And kinda like YOU could be. If you can find the courage -- the epic courage -- that the Iranians have found to take to the streets. They have truly inspired the world. You're up next.