This is literally my parents. They told me to stop criticizing the people in power, even going as far as saying I shouldn’t criticize the government of my former country. I don’t even have citizenship in my former country anymore, not sure how I could even get in trouble for criticizing is effecively a foreign country to me. (I’m talking about PRC btw).
My mom told me to “just focus on improving your own life and stop worrying about things like you can’t control like politics” (as in, both the politics of my former country and the politics of my current country)
Am I in the wrong here? Should I just keep quiet and not say anything so that I don’t “get in trouble”?
It is clear that your parents are concerned for your safety and well being and I don’t think that is an unreasonable position to have. Nobody wants to learn that their child was arrested or killed at a protest.
However. Great change does not come from folks staying safe and quiet at home.
I think many parents are struggling with this right now. On one hand it is our duty as citizens to do something about the world around us and not sit in complacency. On the other hand that’s extremely dangerous to do in the current environment. I doubly respect this concern coming from Chinese folks who may have experience with having their speech suppressed in the past.
I support you being out in the streets and making a big noise with the rest of us. But I am not your family. If you were to die, or be taken prisoner, at a protest I would never know your name, only that you were my brother who gave his life for our cause. You would have my unending respect but in the end what I think of you shouldn’t matter for you and yours.
Protesting is dangerous. More so now than ever before. Things worth doing are never easy but this, especially, is something that has a serious chance of ending or ruining your life. Make your peace with that, or avoid it if you can’t. The world needs dissenters right now, but it needs ones that are well seated in their confidence.
At the end of the day though, no matter what happens, I can’t be mad at anyone for prioritizing their personal safety. A revolution will require sacrifice but that isn’t something that can be asked of someone. It is given freely or not at all. Your parents are asking you not to make a sacrifice.
If everyone dissents then dissent can not be crushed.
Never let a government scare you
And if you’re at the point where they are killing or dissapearing dissenters then being quiet won’t save you from the thought police, the only option then is to take as many of them with you as possible when they come for you.
You have to do you, OP, and accept potential consequences, good, bad, neutral. You may want to sit with that for a while before deciding.
I guess this means your parents are from China too? If yes, then they grew up in a country were demonstrating against the government gets you rolled over by tanks. They have been taught that politics is not something for the people, the party takes care of it for them and they should just focus on being good hard working citizens. So, I would think there behavior is a mix of fearing for your life, which they value way more than politics, and a taught lack of faith in the people being able to change politics.
Consider this bias and make your personal choice, especially if you’re legally an adult.Fucking (stupid|defeatist) . Any parent sayin shit like that should have their kids taken from them
Seeing that the PRC has secret, illegal police in the US, are known to go after Chinese in the US, coupled with the US not being a country of laws…well, you do you. Just don’t do it in ignorance.
Well, Fuck…
Is there any EU citizen willing to do marriage? (for the immigration visa 👀)
/s I’m kidding, nobody even likes me lol
LOL, you and me both. I’m too old to make any radical changes, but I’ve encouraged my kid to finish a University degree that will get him a job outside of the country. I think if I married for emmigration purposes, I’d end up in Hungry or something. Out of the pan and into the fire.
There are secret police here as well
Source?
Oh!
I thought you were saying the EU had secret police XD
Im tired brain broke
No worries either way, asking for a source is always a good idea :)
i think they mean well but are misguided for the most part
Well it kinda depends. If criticizing the government could get you disappeared, then yeah, it’s logical for your parents to discourage that so they don’t lose you. It’s possible that they lost someone in your old country because of that and they don’t want to have that happen again.
On the other hand, if your new country has freedom of speech enshrined in law (and that law seems to be followed) then yeah, it would be silly not to criticize if you have criticisms.
Your mom has a point, focusing on things you cannot control might not be the best use of your time. If you disagree, then that’s fine, that’s your decision. I know that personally, I can get fixated on politics which will make me depressed, anxious, and overall shitty feeling. I need to carefully balance awareness/protest and what I can reasonably hope to achieve with my general quality of life.
It’s good advice for certain reasons and bad advice for others. It also depends on your situation, especially in these times in the US. If you’re a US citizen you might have more freedom to stand up for yourself and others than if you’re an immigrant.
I definitely disagree. I just took my son to a protest last weekend. He is 12. I thought it was important for him to understand civic responsibility.
Fuck them.
In the metaphorical way.
Don’t have sex with them.
Don’t listen to them, you’ll regret it. No you’re not in the wrong, they are, but everyone and their cousin will disagree because theyre cowards who don’t want to make their lives harder.
Imagine living 100 years in Germany and being worried about politics and your mom going “just keep your head down”.
Cowards. The lot of them.
By my estimation non-cowards are about 1/50.
It’s hard to say without knowing what country you’re in now. PRC is an undemocratic system to be embraced, escaped, or endured, but so are PRK, Iran, and a bunch others
OTOH, Canada or the USA were designed on the assumption that you’d agitate for the form of government. If you’re in either one, especially if you’re a citizen, you should definitely argue for the government you want.
The rest of the world is an interesting mix of “started undemocratic, embraced democracy” to “started democratic, embraced autocracy.”
It’s hard to say without knowing what country you’re in now.
I didn’t want to say because I’m not sure if this violates rule 6 of this community, but I’m currently in the USA as a Derivative Citizen from my mother’s Naturalization when I was under 18, which make me automatically a US Citizen. My father and my grandmother (who lives with us, in the USA) are PRC Citizens with legal US permanent residency.
But, to the Mods: This question is aimed at the general audience around the world, so it’s not intended to be “US Politics”.
I’m guessing maybe my mother didn’t want my father and other relatives in China to get in trouble? 🤔
But I don’t think they are looking at some anonymous Lemmy account, right?
There’s very little upside to attending a protest in the PRC, and a huge downside (cfr. 1986). The calculation is different in the US, obviously, although Trump is potentially changing this as well. They’re just using their past experience and they’re trying to keep you safe.
You just need to make a decision for yourself, are you willing to go to a protest now, potentially be imprisoned, deported to China, or do you just focus on getting a job and hoping it blows over. In a lot of ways it’s a prisoner’s dilemma: if you’re only a small group protesting, you’ll be crushed and nothing will change. If everyone’s protesting and organising some kind of resistance that can’t be ignored, you can win. The tricky part is making everyone come to the same conclusion at the same time to maximise chances of success.
If there’re family in the PRC, they could certainly be on the hook if you’re spotted at events Beijing deems sensitive (things to do with Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, the '89 Massacres, 66-77, etc.)
I’d also reckon that your family grew up either with direct experience of, or in the spectre of, the Cultural Revolution. The psychic damage of that can not be understated.
It’ s also that the social contract in China is very different to that of the US and Anglophone/European culture countries.
There are valid, logical, reasons for your family’s point of view. But it is also a viewpoint that is willing to tolerate a bad society in order for an adequate life personally.
My father and my grandmother (who lives with us, in the USA) are PRC Citizens with legal US permanent residency.
“Permanent” residency just means there is not currently a specific intent to revoke their status. It does not mean that they are immune from the immigration witch-hunt currently sweeping the US. More than a few “permanent residents” have been deported, most for simply pissing off someone empowered to use deportation in retaliation.
But I don’t think they are looking at some anonymous Lemmy account, right?
Your account is currently “anonymous”. But everything you post is online, and documented forever. What happens 6 months down the road, when your anonymity is pierced, and your name is permanently tied to your past acts? Have you said or done anything that would lead the head narcissist-in-charge to think you don’t like him?
My advice would be to focus your activist energy on long-term, local issues. Lobby for public transportation, school funding, homeless shelters, victim assistance, bike paths, free clinics, legal aid, Habitat for Humanity, or any of a thousand other worthy causes with broad, positive effects for the community. You don’t have to keep your head down, just stick it out where it will do the most good. We don’t need more evidence of the current regime’s malfeasance; we do need good people focused on what happens after they are out of office.
I’m talking about PRC btw
Oh… OH
Their advice is good in this very specific context as the PRC is a bit… special, see other comments. They don’t limit their reach to just Chinese citizens either, my interpretation of what has happened in Canada with the secret police stations is that they might consider all ethnically Chinese people fair game
For most instances though, methinks valid constructive criticisms toward the government is a good way to keep democracy going, and unfortunately this process sometimes involve protesting. I can’t make decisions for others when a social cause is more important than their own safety, but to each their own at that point so…
Depends on the extent of how much you’d do and if you’d get noticed, really. Leverage being applied against you or your parents could occur, particularly to or via relatives in China, but only if you’re deemed worth the effort. I wouldn’t take that risk, personally, but that’s a very specific, individual decision.
The US is another matter. Sure you’ll go on a list but everyone’s on a list of one kind or another, we’re both on one for using Lemmy most likely.
Would there be any validity in your parents thinking your concerns about this are getting in the way of improving your own life?
While I can see where they’re coming from. I’m sure they want you to just be safe.
That said, it’s a terrible idea. How will anyone know how many people hate the current government, if no one speaks up about it. Sure, it can be risky, and the governments most worth speaking up against are usually the ones where it’s the most dangerous, but they’re usually the ones that more people hate.
