What the Hack, continued

My article in NRC Handelsblad can be found online here.

11:01

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And so it begins (3)

Via AS, this snippet in an article about China:

'Now we can see why nondemocratic regimes imperil the security of the world. They stay in power by controlling their populations. This control invariably required an increasing amount of repression. To justify this repression and maintain internal stability, external enemies must be manufactured. The result is that while the mechanics of democracy make democracies inherently peaceful, the mechanics of tyranny make nondemocracies inherently belligerent. Indeed, in order to avoid collapsing from within, fear societies must maintain a perpetual state of conflict. (p. 88)'

The anti-Japanese demonstrations in China are of course only the beginning. The Chinese population can for the moment be controlled simply by the huge economic growth that's taking place. Greed is both eternal and ubiquitous. But beware. No prizes for guessing what will happen when the Chinese economy eventually slows down.

10:54

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Suicide bombers are people, too

The Sun makes fun of it, and so do I, but of course the would-be suicide bombers have a point. They do have rights.

Such as the one to a fair and impartial trial, rather than a kangaroo court. Or the right to be arrested without unnecessary force, rather than simply be shot on sight, as would have happened in many a Middle Eastern country. Or the right to an attorney, paid for by the state, who will be struck off if he doesn't do a good enough job representing you. Try that in Saudi Arabia. Or the right to complain about any perceived maltreatment by the police, after which both a plethora of activist groups and an independent committee will try to get to the bottom of things. Hell, you even get your troubles printed in a non-state controlled newspaper (for the sake of argument, we'll assume Rupert Murdoch is not a one man state yet).

Western values don't equate to lawlessness or impotence. On the contrary. The arrests in England yesterday are a fine example that the west can combine its humanity with decisive action, if needs be.

10:33

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Good for them

Even the Beeb has trouble not to sound triumphant about the arrest of the suspected bombers of the failed 7/21 attacks. The Sun, however, is less subtle: they plastered 'Got the bastards' (or something to that effect) all over their front page.

0:00

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