Freedom isn't a handout
June 24, 2019 8:43 AM   Subscribe

Against the backdrop of cultural differences as a current axiom of academic (and other) discourse around the world, and against the very real, very-not-academic protests in Hong Kong as Hong Kong people advocate loudly for their independence from the Chinese legal system, Qu Weiguo addresses the 2019 graduating class of Fudan University with a speech about individual freedom, the problematic nature of 'cultural differences', and who gets to (or doesn't get to) claim freedom as an ideal.
posted by cirgue (8 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Not the speech I expected from an English professor.

Admittedly Shanghai isn't Beijing, but I must admit I'm a tad surprised that Qu Weiguo is still walking the streets a free man this week.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:22 AM on June 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure if it's part of the article - like the rest of the photos, or just an unrelated sidebar injected into the story, but there is a very interesting/disturbing video included on this page that shows content moderators working for a live-streaming video service. It begins by describing how they disable streams showing people smoking cigarettes, or having tattoos. It then goes on to describe how they blocked the ability to stream for EVERYONE living within a 10km radius of a neighborhood protest against the building of a trash incineration plant. They have 1200 employees doing this 24/7. Everybody looks so dispassionate and bored.

It's a really interesting contrast with photo of the Red Guard "propaganda squad" included just below.
posted by spudsilo at 11:11 AM on June 24, 2019 [4 favorites]


The actual theme of the speech is the intellectual prisons people, particularly educated people, make for themselves.
posted by No Robots at 11:27 AM on June 24, 2019 [4 favorites]


Wow.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:41 AM on June 24, 2019


In the US we tend to assume that the Communist Party wants to seem omniscient and perfect, covering up all its mistakes. But actually many of the current leadership suffered immensely under the Cultural Revolution (which in any case was Mao vs. the rest of the Party). For example Xi Jinping’s sister was killed and his family forced to denounce each other, while he ended up being forced to dig ditches.

Part of the motivation for repression in mainland China is in fact preventing another Cultural Revolution, and another Mao. It’s important to keep this in mind when considering what kinds of expression and protest the government will and won’t tolerate.

I don’t know if there are any more subtle political signals here but criticizing the Red Guards is not necessarily frowned upon.
posted by vogon_poet at 12:12 PM on June 24, 2019 [4 favorites]


Considering how many Americans assume that National Socialism was about promoting communism (since socialism is right there in the name, after all) it's not surprising that most Americans assume the Communist Party of China is interested in promoting communism.
posted by Reyturner at 1:21 PM on June 24, 2019 [3 favorites]


Just to be clear... I'm well aware that social stability is what is trying to be achieved with the methods described in the video. That doesn't make it any more palatable.
posted by spudsilo at 1:49 PM on June 24, 2019 [3 favorites]


Our sense of self-awareness nurtured under a libertarian education is just that - a sense that belongs only to ourselves.
Sometimes you need a little less libertarianism, but sometimes you need a little more.
posted by clawsoon at 2:01 PM on June 24, 2019


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