Yol:
我们能做什么
Dear wavers,
已经好多天了。缅甸已然成为一方让全世界都揪心的地方。
我每天都在不同的朋友们的博客上看到对那个国度的关注。只是到今天,终于从旧浪潮这一整个礼拜的批判或者说调整中抽离出来的时候,在胡坤那里(也是第一个这样做的waver)看到声援entry的时候,看到格格留言说她和周书正讨论过这件事的时候,才感觉到特别的难过。 "关注现实"的旧浪潮,是不是过于忙于内部批判,而忘了抬头看世界。
旧浪潮强调政治中立,但这已然不仅仅是一个政治问题。正如同我作为一个基督徒,依然为那些僧侣祷告。
我也不知道我们能做什么。但是似乎我们不应保持沉默,抑或冷漠。
Gill:
thx for the reminder. well...I guess one thing we are in an excellent position to appreciate is, as EU put it, this: "China is the puppet-master of Burma. The Olympics is the only real lever we have to make China act." But bear in mind that EU's interests in Burma are no comparison to those of China.
The source of the statement: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7018285.stm. (Additional comment: Though a piece of journalism it is, i think it nevertheless says a little truth -- about realpolitik, sth much more real than many other politics. And, if i may add, the Good would never profit very much from fighting a plain Evil because it is by nature inclined to fancy that every Evil is as plain as the present one that it recognises so mindlessly and dismisses so effortlessly.)
周书:
可以做的事情还是有的。
http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/index.html
这个网站上的what you can do和student & community action提供了很多灵感。
即便我们没有办法改变什么,至少我们可以通过这些事情教育一下自己。
可以以"旧浪潮"的名义群发邮件,鼓励大家到上面那个网站和http://www.actionburma.com签字。
Cho:
Dear All,
I used to favor the Kantian view that, putting aside the intertwined interests embedded in international politics, benevolent intervention might seem too demanding a rule for states to comply with. Besides, there is also this notion of state sovereignty, which turns out to be too popular an excuse for political expediency.
However, the incident of Saffron Revolution is really compelling me to abandon this position. Perhaps the analogy cannot be recklessly drawn from personal autonomy to state sovereignty. One may reasonably retain a libertarian view on individual freedom, whereas in the case of state, which is more a community for its people than an entity in itself, a more paternalistic approach is needed. After all, human right is more justifiable to trump other weighty political considerations. In the realm of international politics, if we only admit states as actors, we may run the risk of creating an illusion of justice while turning a blind eye to the conspiracy of some states against their citizens.
But once the precedent has been established, it is also troublesome to notice that, since state sovereignty may be all-or-nothing, the concern for human right is vulnerable to contamination. Not to our surprise, it is already a sadly common phenomenon. Nevertheless, I suppose a paternalistic overreaction always does less harm than an indifferent connivance.
Yol:
十分感谢周书的分享
我自己会尽快整理并发在自己的各个博客/校内/facebook上
建议下次内部沙龙以此为主题
Gill:
looks like I have to make my point a bit more explicit --
1. Wherever ones signs his name, as a protest against the Burmese Government, this is, as a matter of fact, useless. And useless he who signs his name knows it to be. A tyrant as good as any, the Burmese Govt won't care a damn; but it will probably thank you for the reminder of how important it is to wash the blood away asap.
2. There is however one thing that we, Chinese, can do, and that is not entirely hopeless: Protest against the Chinese Government. China's interference, if it does interfere, may or may not make a great difference; but surely it is one of the most persuasive intermediater the world is counting upon and, until now, vainly. And indeed, Burma is neither the first nor the last call for China's action: there is the on-going Darfur conflict, in which China is believed to be trading human rights for oil. Not to mention the incidents that are classified as our "internal affairs," only the number of which will make an average Burma campaigner bored.
3. I have no objection to joining a US campaign or whatsoever. But given 1 and 2 above, I would feel most uneasy if I were to channel my protest against the crime to a loudspeaker faraway, abroad, while My Govt at home is aiding the criminal by inaction. Ture, that if we stand up we may make a difference, if only to ourselves. But how we stand up makes a difference also. Standing up against Rangoon, you achieve absolutely nothing. Against Beijing, however, you are still highly likely to lose, but the chance of winning is not zero: Beijing, experienced, and having survived in peace, is more reasonable than its terrified Burmese counterpart; besides, it's a critical time for Beijing to give a positive impression to the world, having regard to the coming Party's Congress and the Olympic games. No matter what the chance, I suggest to you that a consistent campaigner should be against both.
Yet there is also this difference: Standing up against the Burmese Govt we are absolutely safe; while against the Chinese Govt, it seems we'd have to run a certain risk. And this risk I prefer to avoid. Having realised that, I almost cannot, in accusing the principal evil, get rid of the feeling that the decision of letting the accessory walk free is an decision unwittingly, unfortunately, and even ignobly, calculated.
旧浪潮论坛之:关注缅甸(二)