A Great Man.

[bajahyena]

In honor of Liu Xiaobo's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize, I thought I'd post a small snippet from his final statement on Dec. 23, 2009 before being jailed for 11yrs.

"For hatred is corrosive of a person’s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation’s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation’s progress to freedom and democracy. I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with the best of intentions, and defuse hate with love."

This is why the partisanship seen in politics over the last 10yrs has eroded away our country, our understanding of one another, and our respect for "the other side". I hope our politicians can learn something from a man who continues to sacrifice everything for his county's future.

Comments

[overbear.livejournal.com]

Again, we look back at history and the "us against them" stance is what helped us progress as far as we have.

I also disagree that "black or white" thinking is a bad thing. It leads to a direct and final desision, one that does not waffle and flex under other peoples ideas of what is right/wrong/good/bad.

That is what it comes down to, what is best for me, may not be best for you. How do we resolve that view, one of three ways...

1)We fight, to the victor goes the spoils
2)We talk things out, and get no where in the end
3)one of us caves in and lets the other side have its way

[baja-hyena.livejournal.com]

I should explain my decision making process perhaps. In the end, every decision is emotional. However, you use logic and exploration to narrow the final choices.

Black and white thinking negates the exploration so vital in narrowing choices to the best choices. Your welcome to disagree of course. Of course we shouldn't consider what is another person's idea of right/wrong/good/bad. We should only entertain our own perception and follow that to the conclusion of our might.

In history, the victor writes the history. However, what happens when we are no longer the strongest? Will you submit to the Chinese when they are the victors?

[overbear.livejournal.com]

In that day, I will be dead for I took option 1 and did not come out on top...so it will not matter what is written by the winner.