Just my two cents

[elusivek]

I don't really care much for politics, because, what can I do? Yes, I can vote, (which I do), but all things considered, I'm not really going to be able to do much or change anything to my liking.

You can't please everybody. I can like single beds and a law can be passed that there can only be single beds ever but then people who like doubles will complain. Not mentioning those that can't sleep on anything not a queen or a king. And also not mentioning those that have crazy big beds for their dogs and all.

So, I just mean, you can't please everybody. So whatever the political outcome, just roll with it.

That being said, a lot of my friends (specifically those in Hong Kong) are super excited about Mr. Johnson's speech (or whatever) about letting BNO holders move to UK and eventually apply for residency.

They were all complaining about the Chinese government and praising the British government.

Well. As I remember back in the days, it wasn't all pretty and glitzy and glam when Hong Kong was under the British rule either, but whatever floats each everyone's boats.

And, if the UK can so easily decide on Brexit, they can easily expel anything else as well. Remember all those discrimination and racial slurs when Brexit was just passed? Who says they just can't suddenly decide BNOs can suddenly be axed as well? But what do I know. I'm just a mere citizen and national in a place that has no connection whatsoever with Hong Kong or UK.

On a lighter/funnier note though....

I've always thought that Boris Johnson has a perpetual bed head. Whatever the occasion, whatever the event, as long as there is a photo or a video of him, his hair is a disaster LOL. And just a couple days ago there was a news about his Dad traveling during the travel ban or whatever whatever whatever? So apparently it runs in the family. His father also has a messy head of hair, LOL.

Comments

[magic-treehouse.livejournal.com]

Johnson does that on purpose. Hair and makeup people try to smarten him up but he just messes it up on purpose anyway, anything that works with his 'comedy' image. Twat.

[wanderipity.livejournal.com]

Same sentiment here when it comes to politics! I like the analogy that you mentioned. and LOL at Boris Johnson's hair.

[amw.livejournal.com]

I think it's admirable to try go with the flow of whatever the government throws at you, it is very 无为, daoist style living. But I think the reason why some people tend to feel strongly about politics is because they are not just being told what size bed to sleep in.

Politics is not as materialistic as this consumer product or that consumer product. In some places, like America, something like 1 in 3 black men will go to prison in their lives. So systemic racism in the police is not just some abstract concept that they get to support or not support like Coke vs Pepsi, it's something that very really affects their lives in a hugely negative way.

In the Hong Kong context, this is about a people who for a hundred years have enjoyed freedom of speech, who for decades have publicly gathered to remember Tiananmen massacre, to condemn human rights violations of the CPC. This is a core part of many Hong Kong people's identity and the NSL rips it away from them forever. Boris Johnson is a clown and the UK is for sure full of racists, but at the very least even foreigners in the UK have the right to assemble and the right to freedom of speech. If those rights are a core part of your identity since birth, I think it's understandable that people are upset about losing them and happy to find a path where they might get to keep them.

Of course there are plenty of Hong Kong people who don't feel bothered. But that doesn't mean they are better or more evolved people, it just means they never really appreciated the freedoms they had in the first place so they don't experience the loss in the same way. To go back to the example of America, this is the white privilege story - white people aren't affected by systemic racism so why should they care? Well, they generally don't care. But that's privilege, it's not a universal truth.