but it alludes to it.
One of the cities in question is Beijing, as for the other one... take your pick between any number of cities in North Africa and the Middle East. None of which can be talked about, of course.
Oh, and we can't talk about that thing that happened on June 4th, 1989. In fact, nothing happened.
A key to the recent batch of successful protests -- social media. The lesson there is: if you let people talk, tweet, share their thoughts and frustrations, their sentiments would build off of each other, gaining passion and momentum until finally, you end up with large crowds of people so energetic and adamant that you have to do whatever they want.
The CCP knows better; they impose absolute silence, and it works.
You can't underestimate the power of censorship. No matter what "human wrongs" you commit, everything would be okay (for you). Simply stop people from talking and hearing about it; they would become blase about it. Out of earshot, out of mind.
It also helps if most of your citizens have enough to eat and, at the moment, are not personally, directly oppressed by you. Most people in China do not feel oppressed. They go about their daily lives, having enough money to buy food and property. Why would they care about concepts like "democracy" or "freedom"? Why bother with the trouble?
As a Chinese expat, I sometimes feel frustrated with how many of my friends and relatives in China care nothing for their basic human rights. Whenever I bring up the topic, they recoil, accusing me of being anti-Chinese and citing all the economic benefits that their government has brought them. These people don't want their rights. They want to live comfortably. Throw them nice bones to chew on and you'll be surprised how many times you can kick them without their even thinking about biting back.
It will all fall apart eventually, of course. Just wait till the Chinese economy takes a turn for the worse. When the Chinese people are no longer living comfortably AND they have to put up with political oppression. Only then will there be real change in China.
Or not. North Korea has been in a third-world country status for years, and still, no signs of an uprising. Largely thanks to the power of censorship. Control what people hear and what they talk about -- that's the number one trick to authoritarian success.
It won't last forever, though, which is the underlining message in my poem.
Yes, a poem!
A Tale of Two Cities (the novel) depicts the cycle of oppression and violence that had engulfed one region (France) and articulates Dickens's fear about a similar fate lying in wait for his native country (England) if the Parliament continued denying reforms.
Just update the geographical names. I think it's apt.
A Tale of Two Cities
In this corner of the world,
with its curious acoustic qualities, you can hear
the echoes
of hundreds of people,
their footsteps coming on fast,
coming on surely --
the hundreds of thousands of people
swelling forward in a mass,
with chants, a broken statue, here
the medleys locked up
in the square, nets
and flags for the hundreds of people,
hundreds of thousands of footsteps
crushed out of shape and stamped
out, unheard or seen
for the last time. This is the best of times.
Wake up and listen.
Your search returns with zero hits.
Please try again.
“Jasmine” -- any oleaceous shrub or climbing plant of the subtropical genus Jasminum, native chiefly to Asia.
Here, they’re coming on fast,
past the empty wheelbarrows and
the cinders left on the gasoline can.
Sparks flying, faces and tanks
bursting away, burning away the old effigy.
This is the worst of times.
Everything goes,
everything topples to
the hundreds of people,
the hundreds of thousands and millions of people
heaving into one great wave, a shattering flood
of footsteps deafening
A dead signal.
The page you requested was not found.
Better luck next time --
Eight is a lucky number,
eight times eight, luckier.
The wheel turns, pushed by the tide
brimming with hundreds of hands rising,
a whirlpool of voices
hoarse, hungry in a dry land and
dried up lives.
Now we have rebirth, we’ve washed
everything away. Us
the hundreds of people
marching into a fog,
tasting the droplets of dew
hanging there
We have good times here
We eat well
here in a McDonald’s.
Outside, a busy street, crowds
pass by daily,
hundreds of people
and a lot of cars.