For more than two years, from early 2022 when people were focused on Russia and Ukraine, I have been stunned to hear people offhandedly say, by the way, “China is bad.”
What?
Can we love our country — the land and its people — and not be hostile to other lands and other people?
Can we please move our thoughts and actions toward peace on the planet?
I sent a similar blog a year ago on May Day 2023, and incredibly, inexcusably, the government and corporate powers-that-be are still more interested in making and supplying dangerous weapons and the propaganda to justify them, than they are in what we ordinary people really want: security through peace, not through military domination.
Part of the propaganda is the statement that, “Negotiations can’t work.” Whether within families or global powers, yes, though they may be challenging, negotiations can work. Better than war.
Here’s the “What can we do?” in a nutshell. I’ve included links from mainstream sources in case they are easier to accept; however, I wholeheartedly recommend alternative perspectives such as those I included about halfway down in this blog.
- Notice when you hear something that makes you feel WORSE about a nation, for example, China (or, on a personal level, about any individual). What is their agenda in presenting that perspective? Keeping us friends, or enemies? Keeping us safe, or keeping us scared? Maintaining the military industrial complex? Maintaining their power?
- In considering China, think about the amazing history and even current contributions of that county and people. What comes to my mind includes acupuncture, Tai Chi, food, clothes, and some great ballroom dancers I know personally, since I became an avid dancer a few years back. (A favorite political quote is Emma Goldman, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”)
- On the world stage, consider the agreement China brokered to help stop the devastating war in Yemen: https://www.newsweek.com/their-own-words-yemen-war-rivals-see-wary-hope-china-iran-saudi-deal-1790224 (a mainstream source)
- Think of the consequences of fostering hostilities with China, compared to the benefits of fostering peace. Why is the US upgrading its nuclear arsenal? How many times over do we need to be able to destroy the planet? Why does the US military budget go up no matter which Titanic Party president is in the White House?
- We can all learn more about China. A good friend, when I told him I was writing this blog, emailed me a link about “unequal agreements” between China and western powers in the 1800s. https://www.britannica.com/event/Unequal-Treaty (another mainstream source.)
With that, allow me to wish you peace and love, and while we’re at it, fun and laughter.
A question that I hope to address in my next blog: How can we use our power this year, even as individuals, to move away from the two-party system we have now — two parties of war and Wall Street — to a system with multiple parties that actually reflect our values, wants, and needs?