China's Charter 08

"China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of the UN Council on Human Rights, should be contributing to peace for humankind and progress toward human rights. Unfortunately, we stand today as the only country among the major nations that remains mired in authoritarian politics. Our political system continues to produce human rights disasters and social crises, thereby not only constricting China's own development but also limiting the progress of all of human civilization. This must change, truly it must. The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer."


This is the English translation of perhaps one of the most important documents in modern Chinese history, by Perry Link.

I have said to friends and in columns and blogposts that if CHina awoke -- not like Napoleon warned, as in economic or political terms, but in intellectual and moral terms -- than we might very well be on the verge of a great transition in society away from the Bushes of the world and toward pragmatic, aware, compassionate and intelligent societies.

Democracy in China

Does anyone remember the Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute campaign and the Crying Indian as kids? How we were taught to throw stuff away. I think that was such a powerful and successful campaign for me because it hit me when i was young and I still carry garbage around in my pocket until i see a garbage can, not because I love the environment as much as the campaign left a deep valley in my neuron map that encoded me to do so. I feel bad if i throw stuff on the ground. Is Alex a good person now that it pains him to do wrong?

well peep this amazing documentary about an experiment in a Wuhan elementary school in which children are introduced to democracy for the first time. The whole film is available here (only in Chinese) and here too -- the PBS site with making of, bios etc.

truly amazing to watch the ideas of personal choice and individual rights play out for these little kids. The experiment is a backdrop to the choice and lack of choice they wield in their own lives. It seems to be a ridiculous endeavor given the amount of control parents and teachers exert over these kids -- while at the same time these kids struggling with the pressure to perform/conform/excel is much more instructive to them about personal choice and freedom than the "election"this documentary is supposedly about.

After the film, you can understand if the kids have a scar on their minds when thinking of democracy. A painful sore that jerked them out of their lives as parts of a whole and made them suffer scrutiny and humiliation. There is a lot of sloganeering about what democracy is, but the "truth" learned by these children is that a popularity contest brings tears and frustration.