Approaching the New Year, thinking about Les Misérables

I enjoyed watching  Les Misérables yesterday.  I hope you go to see it and beyond that, read or reread the book, I found both a call for transformation well worth my time.  I was particularly fascinated by the spiritual values imbedded in both works. I say spiritual, because Hugo's view of the church changed over time.1

Victor Hugo counsels us in Les Misérables that it is so easy for those of us who want a better world to get impatient, to get ahead of ourselves and find ourselves out there on the barricades with out people backing us up. Clearly, Hugo wants a revolution, he sees the oppression, the inequality, the degradation, but he wants the transformation to be thorough going, a spiritual revolution that takes place in each persons heart and soul, a revolution that helps us see, helps us be compassionate, helps us help each other.

Given the current state of our affairs, a revolution of this sort is no less a monumental task now than it was then.  So much to do, so many to be transformed especially ourselves.  And yet, Hugo took up this task. He wrote a monumental work that brings a God's eye view of his world, (one that still reflects our world when seen deeply), and within that, an encouragement for generations to stand up for humanity. It is not in taking up arms that the revolution is won, but in the small unnoticed, unrewarded, patient transforming work that we help each other with; it is not in cold calculation but in the loving heart that a new day dawns.

As we engage in our work this new year, may each one of us take up life's struggles with Victor Hugo's words in mind, “There is a determined though unseen bravery that defends itself foot by foot in the darkness against the fatal invasions of necessity and dishonesty. Noble and mysterious triumphs that no eye sees, and no fame rewards, and no flourish of triumph salutes. Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields that have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Building Something More Useful For Us All

Thousands of people marching to the Port of Oakland in hopes of demonstrating to the world that we do not accept that this is the way we have to live our lives. This is the awesomeness of what happened on Wednesday. The violence and destructiveness that came mainly after all these people went home was committed by an immature minority, I think less than 100 people, a minority at odds with our cause. As Slavoj Zizek says, "Violence is the weapon of choice for the impotent: those who have little power often attempt to control or influence others by using violence. Violence rarely creates power. On the contrary, groups or individuals who use violence often find their actions diminish what little power they have. Groups that oppose governments often try to compensate for their perceived lack of power by using violence. Such violence simply reinforces state power. A terrorist who blows up a building or assassinates a politician gives the government the excuse it wants to crack down on individual liberties and expand its sphere of control." Living in End Times by Slavoj Žižek chapter: The Infinite Judgement of Democracy

Knowingly or unknowingly, the minority that went on a spree of destruction in downtown Oakland is against us. Our power lies in persuasion based on the truth that big money is destroying democracy, the political system that we hold dear, and that the more the money is concentrated in the 1%, the more our society is affected in numerous negative ways. 

The power of persuasion that I am talking about was revealed in the thousands, and those thousands were far more than most of the media or police wanted to admit (they could carry this off because they could focus the next day on the images of destruction).  Experiencing that crowd, one knew, We are the 99%! 

These petty thugs bent on their fetish of property destruction  all too quickly become the focus of the media and especially those purveyors of fear in the media, aka Fox and friends. What we needed the next day were the images of the thousands, instead what most people saw was the images of destruction that told them our movement is something to be afraid of and despised... even something they need to be protected from.

Building the power of the 99% is accomplished in the protracted reasoned persuasions of consensus democracy. Ultimately it creates wisdom, but is a long process. This is why I argue against this urge by some for Occupy Wall Street to define itself, to have a set of policies. Yes, people are impatient. Our generations have been brought up on the delusion of instant gratification. This urge to have our needs met instantly is part of the problem. It is what leads the thug to break the window.  The errors of our ways take time to discern.  Occupy Wall Street is an opening for the millions of people in America and beyond who long for something deeper. It is a critique of what is. I am encouraged by the idea that people like Slajov Zizek, and Nobel Prize winning economists are going to Occupy Wall Street and taking part in the conversations of where we go from here.  I am  more confident than I have been for a long time that we will overcome these mistakes and begin to build something better, something more useful for all of us.

Why I Write about China or a Series of Unfortunate Events

First they raped the woman who washes feet, but I am not a woman, so I did not say anything; they fished for more registration fees, but I have no car, so I did not say anything; they killed the prisoners Hurry & Scurry, I am not a prisoner, so I did not say anything; they beat the journalists who expose the truth, but I am not a journalist, so I did not say anything; they arrested the people who petition the government, but I did not petition, so I did not say anything; they demolished houses to make way for the Olympics, but I do not own a house, so I did not say anything; They arrested human rights activists, but I’m not willing to sacrifice myself to help someone else, so I did not say anything; they arrested scholars who criticize the government, but I am not a scholar, so I did not say anything; they gang raped a female high school student, and then let her transfer, but I have no daughters, so I did not say anything; they took away the cooking utensils of the man who sells baked potatoes, and beat this poor lame old man, but I do not sell potatoes, so I did not say anything; they caused housing prices to skyrocket, I do not buy houses, so I did not say anything; they suppressed the Uighurs and the Tibetans, I am neither Uighur, not Tibetan, so I said nothing; they arrested those young people who dared go to Tiananmen to bring flowers, I didn’t think of going, nor would I dare go, so I said nothing; they arrested Zhao Lianhai who had the baby who drank contaminated milk and got kidney stones, but my family didn’t have a baby with kidney stones, so I said nothing; they arrested the house church members, but I don’t believe in religion, so I said nothing; they arrested those political folk who talk online, but I’m not interested in politics, so I said nothing; they arrested Huang Qi and Tan Zuoren who spoke out for the victims of the earthquake, but there wasn’t any earthquake here, so I said nothing; They arrested the eldest son of the Liu family, the stutterer, who was just playing around, but I neither play those games, nor am I a stutterer, so I said nothing.
Then for no reason that I can explain they arrested me, and I discovered that there was no one left beside me who would say anything. (Credit for this post goes to the German Pastor Martin Niemoller, who first wrote, "First they came for ..." and to one of my friends in China who posted this series of events, but shall remain anonymous. The translation is my own.)

Letter to President Obama from Ding Zilin, a member of Tiananmen Mothers

from the Human Rights in China web site.

November 13, 2009

[Chinese / 中文]

In early November 2009, at the request of Ding Zilin, a member of the Tiananmen Mothers – a group of families of the victims of the June Fourth government crackdown on the 1989 Democracy Movement – Human Rights in China translated into English a letter by Ding Zilin, and delivered the letter in its original and translation to President Obama before his visit to China.

Ding Zilin: Letter to President Obama


Dear President Obama,

I am a Chinese intellectual, a mother who lost her beloved son in the June Fourth Massacre in Beijing 20 years ago.

First, I would like to congratulate you on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize this year, and I look forward to your outstanding contributions to maintaining world peace, promoting the advancement of humanity, and putting America’s founding principles into practice.

On the eve of your trip to China in November, I am taking the liberty of writing to you with a request that you use your political wisdom and influence to save Dr. Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese independent intellectual.

To my knowledge, legislators and fighters for justice from several democratic countries and regions across the world have used various approaches and channels to demand that the Chinese government release Dr. Liu Xiaobo. In particular, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution demanding the release of Dr. Liu with an absolute majority of 410 votes on October 1 this year, the 60th anniversary of the rule of the Communist regime in China. I therefore sincerely hope that you will not disappoint everyone’s expectations and that you will join in the rescue effort. As the president of the largest democratic country in the world, your actions will play a decisive role.

Dr. Liu Xiaobo has not only pursued democratic principles with courage, passion, and persistence, but has also steadfastly fought to achieve these principles with moderation and reason. He has been arrested and jailed many times over the past 20 years. Most recently, he was detained for taking part in the drafting of, and being an initial signatory to, the famous Charter 08 at the end of 2008. However, the deeper reason for his current arrest is his longstanding “June Fourth Complex.” That is, Dr. Liu has kept trying to do something for those involved with the June Fourth Incident, whether out of ethical concerns or his good heart. His actions have propelled him onto an independent intellectual’s path of no return. But, in the final analysis, who is at fault?

The arrest of Dr. Liu Xiaobo is representative of a whole series of “speech crimes” that have occurred in the Chinese mainland in recent years. That the police can, by brute force, deprive a citizen of his rights to freedom of speech and liberty of the person, and that this can happen in the glare of the public eye in the 21st century in a great country like China, must be intolerable to the leader of any civilized nation, especially the leader of the United States of America! I hope, Mr. President, that you will relay a strong message to the Chinese leaders: the United States does not support regimes that suppress the freedom of speech.

During your visit to China, numerous Charter 08 signatories and millions of those who love freedom and pursue democracy will eagerly watch your every move. If you think that one can overlook the Chinese government’s trampling of human rights and choose not to raise the issue during your visit, you will not only be ignoring the rights and interests of China’s political prisoners and their families, but will also seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Hasn’t the human experience provided enough painful lessons in the past?

This is why, with the conscience of an intellectual and as a grieving, victimized mother, I’m writing this letter to you today. Whether you agree with my views or not, please let careful consideration inform your actions.

Wishing you a successful visit,

Ding Zilin

November 3, 2009

丁子霖：致函奥巴马总统


尊敬的奥巴马总统：

我是一个中国知识分子，一个在二十年前北京“六四”大屠杀中痛失爱子的母亲。

首先，我祝贺您荣获本年度诺贝尔和平奖，并预祝您在未来的岁月里能为维护世界和平、推动人类进步，以及践行美国立国之本作出杰出的贡献。

在您即将於十一月中旬访华前夕，我冒昧地给您写这封信，请求您在此次访华期间运用您的政治智慧和影响力，营救目前身陷囹圄的中国大陆自由知识分子刘晓波博士。

据 我所知，世界上一些民主国家和地区的正义之士、议会人士，都先后以不同方式、通过不同途径要求中国政府释放刘晓波博士；尤其是在10月1日中共建政60周 年当天，美国众议院以410票的绝对多数票通过了要求释放刘晓波博士的决议案。在此，我热切地期盼您不负众望，加入到这个营救行列中来。作为当今世界最大 民主国家的总统，您的举措，将起到举足轻重的作用。

一向以来，刘晓波博士不仅勇敢、热情、执着地追求民主的信念，而且始终不渝地以温和、 理性的态度去争取实现这种信念。在已经过去的二十年中，他数度遭中国政府当局逮捕入狱，最近一次是他於2008年底参与起草并发起签署着名的“零八宪 章”。然而，导致此次拘捕的更为深层的原因，是他始终怀有一种“六四情结”，对於涉及“六四”的人和事，无论从道义上还是良心上，一直想争取做点什么，致 使他走上了一条独立的自由知识分子的不归路。但这究竟是谁之罪？

逮捕刘晓波博士是近年来中国大陆所发生的一起最典型的 “以言获罪”。以警察之暴力去剥夺一位公民的言论和人身自由，此类事情竟众目睽睽地发生在二十一世纪的泱泱大国——中国，这恐怕是任何一个文明国家的首脑 ——尤其是美国的首脑无法容忍的！我期望总统先生向中国的领导人传达这样一个强烈的讯息：美国不支持压制言论自由的政权。

在您此次访华期 间，中国广大的《零八宪章》签署者、千百万热爱自由、追求民主的人们，将以热切的眼光注视着您的一言一行，如果在您的这次访问中认为中国政府对於人权的践 踏可以忽略，不必提及，那将不仅是对中国所有的政治羁押者及其家人权益的漠视，也将严重伤害中国公民的感情。以往人类所经历过的惨痛教训难道还少吗？

为此，我基於一个知识分子的良知，基於一个受难母亲的悲痛给总统先生写这封信。无论您是否同意我的见解，请一定慎思而行。

预祝您访问成功！
丁子霖 2009.11.3

We Refuse to Believe that the Bank of Justice is Bankrupt

I recently heard a Yale professor say, the often ignored, but most important part of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech is the first part. I agree, and am reprinting it here. I believe it is applicable to all Americans in their struggle for decent health care. I have also included a translation in Chinese, for my Chinese friends who have their own Civil Rights struggle. Although the Chinese people will work out their own way, I believe King's words are an important inspiration and very applicable to the Chinese people's struggle for their rights.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

今天，我高兴地同大家一起，参加这次将成为我国历史上为了争取自由而举
的最伟大的示威集会。

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

100年前，一位伟大的美国人——今天我们就站在他象征性的身影下——签署了
《解放宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布，对于千百万灼烤于非正义残焰中的
黑奴，犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔，恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

然而，100年后，黑人依然没有获得自由。100年后，黑人依然悲惨地
蹒跚于种族隔离和种族歧视的枷锁之下。100年后，黑人依然生活在
物质繁荣翰海的贫困孤岛上。100年后，黑人依然在美国社会中间向
隅而泣，依然感到自己在国土家园中流离漂泊。所以，我们今天来到这
里，要把这骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

从某种意义上说，我们来到国家的首都是为了兑现一张支票
我们共和国的缔造者在拟写宪法和独立宣言的辉煌篇章时，
就签署了一张每一个美国人都能继承的期票。这张期票
向所有人承诺——不论白人还是黑人——都享有不可让渡的生存
权、自由权和追求幸福权。

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

然而，今天美国显然对她的有色公民拖欠着这张期票。美国
没有承兑这笔神圣的债务，而是开始给黑人一张空头支票—
—一张盖着“资金不足”的印戳被退回的支票。但是，我们决
不相信正义的银行会破产。我们决不相信这个国家巨大的机
会宝库会资金不足。因此，我们来兑现这张支票。这张支票
将给我们以宝贵的自由和正义的保障我们来到这块圣地还
为了提醒美国：现在正是万分紧急的时刻。现在不是从容
不迫悠然行事或服用渐进主义镇静剂的时候。现在是实现
民主诺言的时候。现在是走出幽暗荒凉的种族隔离深谷，
踏上种族平等的阳关大道的时候。现在是使我们国家走
出种族不平等的流沙，踏上充满手足之情的磐石的时候。
现在是使上帝所有孩子真正享有公正的时候。

(translation not mine)

Shir Ami Means Song of My People

Shir Ami is the shul I go to

an old converted house

a place of witness

last night

like other nights

a place where our

disparate

desperate

lives

are transformed

into an ark

transported by song

a bottomless

floating boat

across the Reed Sea

to fetch

scriptures

to find freedom

to find the infinite

a land of milk and honey

singing songs of freedom

is what gets us there

the realization that we

were

are

slaves in Egypt

we are the ark

the other side

the other

even the Palestinians

we are freedom

and we don't even

need

a boat

we are already

there

and yet

and then

the weekly struggle

life in samsara

until we recognize

again

samsara

this sea of bitterness

is also

this place of freedom

this little song of freedom

as Bob Marley said

its all I ever had

Shir Ami

Open Letter to US President Obama

A student living in Western China has written an Open Letter to President Obama. In it, he expresses the frustrations of justice denied. It expresses several clear instances where civil rights have been ignored. It is in English, so I have included it here. Open letter to US president Barack Obama

Sydney Morning Herald Reports: HK Reporters 'Detained' in China

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Now TV and the Hong Kong Journalists' Association have filed protests with China's HK-Macau Affairs Office over the restriction of journalist freedom in reporting on the Tan Zuoren Case discussed below. Here is that article. Chinese left no stone unturned in their attempt to hijack justice.

Observations about Taxes by a friend, Charles Reynes

On my pay-stub: Federal Taxes Withheld $597; State Taxes Withheld $145; Kaiser $959 emp. + $352 dist. Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civil society. Fear, violence, crime, and ignorance are also taxes. Losing a home to medical bills is a tax. Going to school with poor vision or tooth aches is a tax. These are taxes of a different nature: they diminish both society and the individual.

Chinese Artist Reports Being Barred From Trial

The New York Times has finally posted an article about the story I followed on twitter and wrote about in this blog yesterday. Here it is.

Here is a link to the Guardian's article on the trial.

Chinese police detain 11 who planned to attend activist's trial

A Daring Photo Taken While in Police Custody

Ai Weiwei taking a picture of himself and the police escort in the mirror image of the elevator. Ai was prevented from being a witness at a trial of his colleague. See article below.

Ai Weiwei Beaten and Restricted from Testifying at This Morning's Court Hearing for Tan Zuoren

This just in: Late into the night, by the cover of darkness, Ai Weiwei (one of the designers of the Bird's Nest Stadium famous as the Olympic Stadium) was roughed up by police. He was medically checked out, and is okay, but he has been restricted from attending the court hearing of Tan Zuoren, which is happening this morning. Ai had traveled to the Sichuan to be a witness at the hearing. With Chen Yunfei, the other witness already held by security, the Chinese state has free rein to get a conviction on Tan Zuoren. It appears that the Chinese government has successfully silenced the witnesses. Tan Zuoren, is an environmental activist on trial for investigating the deaths of school children in the earthquake last year. The following comes from the NY Times via China Digital Times. Tan Zuoren, a writer and also a prominent rights advocate, faces a potential five-year sentence for subversion and is to go on trial Aug. 12. The charges are broad ones the Chinese government often uses to silence people who publicly challenge the government.

“These trials are not about a reasonable application of the law, but about silencing government critics whose work has considerable public benefit and sympathy,” Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in New York, said in a written statement released Tuesday. “The government is likely seeking to squelch those who cause it embarrassment, but in the process it is undermining domestic and international confidence in its ability to cope in a transparent way with natural disasters.”

The situation continues to develop: Professor Ran Yunfei, and others who intended to attend the trial have now been taken into custody or prevented from attending the trial.

WHERE IS XU ZHIYONG? 许志永在哪里？

A link to The New Yorker article on China's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -Dr. Xu Zhiyong, which I helped translate back into Chinese:

WHERE IS XU ZHIYONG? 许志永在哪里？

White House Health Care Reform Site

The White House has launched a health care reform site to give a reality check to what is being said.

Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver and Rebecca MacKinnon

Just a short shout out to Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver, who passed away today. Her work shows us how a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a stranger, a member of a distinguished family, can contribute to the betterment of the world. Her belief in the dignity and worth of human life is a gift that we can all learn from. What would this world be without the Special Olympics, which she helped found?

Here is a link to an interview with Rebecca MacKinnon, a highly respected citizen journalist on the internet and its role and limitations in creating a space for democracy and dialogue.

In Amoiist's words, "How Did I Break the Jail?"

Just a short mention and a link to Amoiist's post in English! It is an amazing adventure, with the ending that Amoiist was released from jail, and continues to write thanks to quick wits and the support of twitter friends.

Towards the Etiquette of Democracy and Dialogue

As I have mentioned on facebook, watching the town hall meetings on health care, I have been alarmed that there is a growing problem with civility. This made me think about a book I have held in high regard on this topic. It was published in 1998. Here is what the inner jacket cover said, back then:

"Something terrible has happened to civility. We can no longer hold political discussions without screaming at each other, so our democracy is dying (my emphasis). We can no longer look at strangers without suspicion and even hostility, so our social life is dying. We can no longer hold public conversation about morality without trading vicious accusations, so our moral life is dying. All the skills of living a common life-what Alexis de Tocqueville called "the etiquette of democracy" -are collapsing around us, and nobody seems to know how to shore them up again."

The above lets us know, this is not just the current generations problem, but it does point to the urgency of solution. The book is Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter. The book is still available. Some of you know that Carter was criticized as a conservative back then... I only wish the conservatives of today could also follow these guidelines. I found it interesting that the book took its inspiration from Abolitionist sermons of the nineteenth century. So, at the risk of sounding old fashioned, and in the interest of democracy, here is some of what Mr. Carter, Professor of Law at Yale recommends:

• Our duty to be civil toward others does not depend on whether we like them or not.

• Civility requires that we sacrifice for strangers, not just for people we happen to know.

• Civility has two parts: generosity, even when it is costly, and trust, even when there is risk.

• Civility creates not merely a negative duty not to do harm, but an affirmative duty to do good.

• We must come into the presence of our fellow human beings with a sense of awe and gratitude.

• Civility requires that we listen to others with the knowledge of the possibility that they are right, and we are wrong.

• Civility requires resistance to the dominance of social life by the values of the marketplace. Thus, basic principles of civility -generosity and trust-should apply fully in the market and in politics as in every other human activity.

• Civility allows criticism of others, and sometimes even requires it, but the criticism should always be civil.

• Civility values diversity, disagreement, and the possibility of resistance, and therefore the state must not use education to try to standardize our children.

• Religions do their greatest service to civility when they preach not only love of neighbor but resistance to wrong.

Carter's book explains each of these bullet points and more, one per chapter. It is an interesting and provocative book, I recommend it.

It is a high order, in some countries people are jailed for it, but it is important for democracy. Only when we model it can others see the value of it. I am wishing to start a dialogue. What do you think?

Dr. Xu Zhiyong reminds me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Both defenders of the marginalized, working for justice and civil rights.