(Part 2) Top products from r/HongKong

Food for thought on the power of art:

“One day Dostoevsky threw out the enigmatic remark: "Beauty will save the world". What sort of a statement is that? For a long time I considered it mere words. How could that be possible? When in bloodthirsty history did beauty ever save anyone from anything? Ennobled, uplifted, yes - but whom has it saved?

There is, however, a certain peculiarity in the essence of beauty, a peculiarity in the status of art: namely, the convincingness of a true work of art is completely irrefutable and it forces even an opposing heart to surrender. It is possible to compose an outwardly smooth and elegant political speech, a headstrong article, a social program, or a philosophical system on the basis of both a mistake and a lie. What is hidden, what distorted, will not immediately become obvious.

Then a contradictory speech, article, program, a differently constructed philosophy rallies in opposition - and all just as elegant and smooth, and once again it works. Which is why such things are both trusted and mistrusted.

In vain to reiterate what does not reach the heart.

But a work of art bears within itself its own verification: conceptions which are devised or stretched do not stand being portrayed in images, they all come crashing down, appear sickly and pale, convince no one. But those works of art which have scooped up the truth and presented it to us as a living force - they take hold of us, compel us, and nobody ever, not even in ages to come, will appear to refute them.

So perhaps that ancient trinity of Truth, Goodness and Beauty is not simply an empty, faded formula as we thought in the days of our self-confident, materialistic youth? If the tops of these three trees converge, as the scholars maintained, but the too blatant, too direct stems of Truth and Goodness are crushed, cut down, not allowed through - then perhaps the fantastic, unpredictable, unexpected stems of Beauty will push through and soar to that very same place, and in so doing will fulfil the work of all three?

In that case Dostoevsky's remark, "Beauty will save the world", was not a careless phrase but a prophecy? After all he was granted to see much, a man of fantastic illumination.

And in that case art, literature might really be able to help the world today?”

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn - Gulag Archipelago (Vol. 1 , Vol. 2 , & Vol. 3 )

> and when did the bombing begin? When was Lam Bun burned alive? May? July?


What does that have to do with Tsang's arrest? His charge is from law that are enacted as a part of the state of emergency declared. The Atlantic still reports HK are under the effect of riots by November.


> Given that HK has zero positive political development and only dictators being dictators imposing rule by man, I'm pretty sure most of HK will hate those happy with your statement.


Yeah I don't care about those people's happiness, I care that they wallow in self-pity and stop doing things they said they believe in. Happy, free, rich, most of the world can't even get two out of three.


For those who are still reading, I recommend The Politics of Small Things by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb for a starting point.


> There are no alternatives with you and your comrades other than taking the money they toss at you, laying back, and enjoy being raped at gunpoint.


See? That's the kind of hyperbole that make you laughable.

1. Insist on forcing a label on another person without evidence.
   
   
   
2. Insist on using words like "rape" to describe political change, trying to trigger negative associations. 
   
   
   
3. Imagine China using guns for coercion, when cases like S. Korea proves that economy is the PRC's most powerful weapon, with its laws a close second for "internal dispute".
   
   
   I never imagined I will show my current findings in a thread not many are going to read, but here are some alternatives:
   
   
   (Warning: not advocating crime here, just some finding of possibility so far)
   
   
   
4. Work with/in the system
   
   
   There are many concern groups even before Umbrella, but a few become politically active (eg. Eddie Chu). Another way is becoming a government official and 'change from within'. Naive? True, but the alternative is losing one's voice within the system.
   
   
   
5. Grassroot changes (Umbrella in communities)
   
   
   Often talked about after Umbrella, changing from bottom up. There are a few successful cases eg. Tai Wo Estate concern group, but it's 'small stuff', not an example getting attention from foreign press. Would HKers be actually interested in working for the community?
   
   
   
6. Mass movement (the Tea Party model)
   
   
   Not lying on the street, but a coordinated, mass action against Hong Kong government rule.
   
   
   The question is, how many people are willing to give up their jobs to do that full time? How to convince other people this is viable under the current political climate? Since it can take a long time, how would one keep up the pressure and not fall off like Umbrella?
   
   
   
7. Change via fear (the Imperial Japanese model)
   
   
   So people said they hate CY, or those legislators, or those PRC officials. Around 80 years ago, some Imperial Japanese army officers took the matter into their own hands and change the policy of Japan.
   
   
   The question is, obviously, who would be willing and able to do it, and how can it be sure that they don't actually make public opinion turn the other way, like MK riots.
   
   
   There will definitely be more, the above are not confirmed solutions, just some 'alternatives' as you specified.
   
   
   I'd dare you to do better, but your mind is probably in 'fight' mode right now. Let's cool down and have another go tomorrow?
   
   

Tuttle has a lot of admirers and if you like the "story" method of remembering glyphs it can be fun and productive. I don't know if it's as effective for someone who already speaks fluetly, though. The drawback is that Tuttle only uses pinyin. You have to work just with the character and english definition, then supplement by looking up on Cantodict.

Hey Taybyrd, I read an amazing book as a kid about Guillain-Barre. It might help. It was called Masks. http://www.amazon.com/Masks-Hatrick/dp/0531095142/ref=sr_1_89?ie=UTF8&qid=1336515493&sr=8-89

Do you have this or would you like this?

I'm all tied up with our toddler, but if you don't mind it, I can try and find this book for you and swing by one weekend with the toddler.

Are you in HK for the next six months?

Sorry to hear about your condition and I hope you're doing well.

Oh PS I am a dude too.

The world's a complicated place, my friend. No point arguing in a sandbox.

Thanks. Some food for thought in return: http://www.amazon.com/Why-West-Rules-Now-Patterns/dp/0312611692

It's an expansive and unifying theory about major historical developments in this world that took all this over-complication head on. Great read. Mind expanding. A different perspective at least.

May the Force be with you.

Cecil Clementi, Kai Ho, Robert Hotung, Noel Croucher

Some interesting HK figures.

Edge of Empires is a good read for some more personalities of the time..

Not what you're asking for, but I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Together-Troubled-Relationships/dp/0767920821

Has your friend got the book "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle?

Officially, they espouse state atheism, however, that have allowed them to prosecute practitioners of the religious/spiritual practice Falun Gong for promoting superstition and social unrest in the population.

They then decided to start harvesting their organs to profit from their genocide rather than pay for it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1PrBwDoQVzA

https://www.chinaorganharvest.org/

Fascism in China takes a more direct approach in regards to eliminating an undesired cultural identity. They start tearing down it's religious, educational and general support infrastructure. This includes nurseries, schools and mosques.

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/763356996/afraid-we-will-become-the-next-xinjiang-chinas-hui-muslims-face-crackdown?t=1572281364941

China actively censor all negative news regarding their country and its past. Furthermore, the author Howard W. French argues in his book "Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power" that "the old imperial worldview in which China was the central civilization of Asia while its neighbors, who lived in its cultural and military shadow, paid tribute and acknowledged its superiority in exchange for trade. It was a position China held in the past through a mixture of bullying and benevolence, and Mr. French suggests that it once again underlies China’s ambitions for the future." (Wall Street Journal Article by Stephen R. Platt, Updated March 24, 2017)

Personally, I believe it also explains why they have been so aggressive towards more independent territories such Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Under-Heavens-Chinas-Global/dp/0385353324

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-chip-on-chinas-shoulder-1490388803

China has ALWAYS had a rather severe social hierarchy. This article from Foreign Policy argues that there today exist nine tiers of well defined social classes in China: https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/04/25/chinas-new-class-hierarchy-a-guide/

Additionally, strong nationalism and general racism is rampant in China. (Not going to source that. A quick search on your search engine of choice should do the trick)

*So, yes, I think we can conclude that they do have all of that.

Wait til u guys hear about this book

I speak of this famous calculus book: https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Vol-One-Variable-Introduction-Algebra/dp/0471000051

Which is a "theoretical" approach to Calculus rather than a mechanical approach.

I don't think that's reason not to worry...it only takes one

https://www.amazon.com/Spread-Nuclear-Weapons-Enduring-Debate/dp/0393920100

Anyone read Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong?

http://www.amazon.com/Ghetto-Center-World-Chungking-Mansions/dp/0226510204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341548993&sr=8-1&keywords=Chungking+Mansions

All protesters should read this book

https://www.amazon.com/Utility-Force-Art-Modern-World/dp/0307278115

But my memory isnt that great and learning the characters is difficult for me (I've tried believe me!). I thought I might start off from the basics (with textbooks and stuff) and work from there.

Should I go for a simplified or traditional Chinese textbook? (See example)

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Writing-Chinese-Traditional-Comprehensive/dp/0804832064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376045169&sr=8-1&keywords=writing+cantonese

Sorry if this is a dense e-mail, could really do with the advice - thank you so much for replying!

> Oh not only the west think you guys are disgusting

That is changing. I am an example. China has plenty of enemies but also growing number of supporters. Meanwhile America's primacy is declining with every passing day. Once your vanguard dies, everyone of you falls with it.

> the day you guys economy collapse, which is very close

Sure, give me an estimate. Shoot me a message when it happens, I'll make a post on this sub to apologise to you personally. Oh and don't forget to grab Gordon Chang's Coming Collapse of China book on Amazon. Printed in 2003 it's a bit dated but still makes for a good night time reading.

> you guys have shown to be the worst form of human beings, show no respect, no manner

Same to you mentally colonised thugs. Shame, your colonial masters don't give a shit about you beyond a little lip service.

> hated

Hate is a form of envy, we shall take it in stride.

Just want to shoot my mouth off here for a minute.

Incarcerated, Ted Bundy gave a number of interviews in the misguided hopes of being deemed a valuable contributor to law enforcement, and thus spared the death penalty. In several of these he went at length on the "hypothetical" origins of serial killers, and why they enjoyed such success in 1970s America and onwards.

One of his insights was society had become depersonalized, with communities disintegrating, and people traveling across the country, surrounded by strangers who didn't necessarily notice or care that someone was here one day, gone the next. While Bundy disregarded advances in law enforcement technique, it's also true many of those technologies and sciences emerged from high profile cases like Bundy's.

That's part of the nature of serial killers, being predators of populations requires vulnerable targets, or at some level society having a blind spot. The most prolific serial killers targeted so called victim populations- homeless, prostitutes, homosexuals, those society generally didn't address or concern itself with.

THe other part goes back to the nature of societies- Gladwell's seminal work makes a case for differences of culture between east and west dating back to agrarian roots-tight knit cultures of rice paddies developing societies intrinsically different than the labor intensive but individualistic trends that emerged in the feudal fields of Europe.

The consequences for these among predators is the nature of the victim pool-simply that in an individualistic, privacy minding and impersonal society, there is less watchfulness( bearing in mind generalities, not absolutes across all communities or ethnic groupings, but as broad strokes of cultural influence). What impact this may have for criminals preying on targets can probably be discerned from instances like Hong Kong's scarcity of serial killing.

TL;DR: Whether from tight knit community awareness, government crackdown on 'deviants' that catches would-be killers early in their development, social factors like Triad protectionism, or a greater sense of community vs western individualism that readily identifies problems with individuals relating to the group, Hong Kong is not prime real estate for budding psychopaths.