I was watching the protests in Hong Kong for a proper democratic election, and I thought it was wonderful to see just how many people were involved.
This video on Facebook shows a drone aerial view of the protest, so you can get an idea of the scale of the protests.
Another video worth watching is an interview with prominent protester Tanya Chan, who shaved her head in support of the pro democracy movement, and has been a long term advocate for democracy. Any protest against the Chinese government is not without risk, I find her devotion to the cause inspiring. One could argue that there is no way the Chinese government will ever back down, because of fears, that other regions would follow suit and seek democratic elections. Though history is filled with people who have brought about positive change in the face of incredible odds against them. I strongly support civil disobedience and peaceful non violent protest.
I think democracy is essential to World Peace. However, I think a proper democracy requires three things.
1. The public voicing their opinion and ensuring that their elected officials carry out the will of the majority of people within their electorate. Far too often, political leaders, let power go to their head and think they are in charge, when in effect they are nothing more than public servants elected to carry out the will of the majority of people. I am absolutely certain that the majority of people in any country do not want to go to war.
2. When a particular political party is elected, those supporting the opposition need to be graceful in the defeat of the political party they support. Far too often, in certain countries, you see fighting between supporters of different political parties continue after an election is over. And in the case of Thailand, as we all know, the military have intervened under the guise of restoring peace and order.
3. The absolute transparency of political donations and the complete removal of politicians who have a vested interest or stand to gain from political decisions being made. I think the worst instances of this happening have been in America, where in the past, people who have have been in a position to send the country to war, have also stood to profit immensely as a consequence of those actions. I find it obscene that such things have been allowed to happen. An excellent drama tv series which I highly recommend is “House of Cards”. Whilst it is a fictitious TV series, I do think it gives an insight of how things are being played out, which the public never sees. I do feel optimistic and think things have dramatically improved in the last few years. That is no more evident than to see President Obama come out and speak in favour of taking positive actions against Climate Change, which must be in direct contradiction to what the fossil fuel industry must be advocating.