In today’s edition of Insights, we tackle the issues of freedoms in Hong Kong, the immigration debate within the U.S., and the struggles of the U.S. congress. Read the insights below, and, of course, we encourage you to read the articles in full and inform yourself on these important issues:
“At root, the confrontation with the West is not about trade. It is about two fundamentally incompatible political systems, two different understandings of what modern civilization is...The youth of Hong Kong, who have grown up well informed by the internet, are keenly aware of the stark alternatives before them. They are accustomed to freedom, personal rights and access to information. They know what they want, what they are defending and the nature of the opposition they face. They have watched the freedoms of Hong Kong — in the media, education, housing, commerce and elsewhere — slowly slip away, and they know that the Communist Party stops at nothing in pursuing its interests.” - Ai WeiWei [TCG Past Speaker], New York Times, MORE
“The country is being riven by a seething immigration debate, left unresolved by successive administrations and Congresses...The immigration system is broken and needs fixing, yet the emotions now being stirred probably are making it less likely, not more likely, that it will be fixed any time soon... The president’s attack on the congresswomen had significant racial overtones, because all four are women of color. But the policy debate running beneath the charged rhetoric is over immigration. The nuts and bolts of the immigration problem now riveting the country are relatively simple. Rampant social violence and economic dislocation are compelling working men and women in Central America to seek a way out. Current immigration law and court rulings have created a muddle over when and how such people might seek asylum in the U.S., and what should be done with them when they do so. ”- Gerald F. Seib [TCG Past Speaker], Wall Street Journal, MORE
“....Congress is not a place where you achieve radical progress — certainly not in divided government. It’s a place where you work at it and work at it and don’t get everything you want. The progressives act as though anyone who dares disagree with them is bad. Not wrong, but bad, guilty of some human failing, some impurity that is a moral evil that justifies their venom….In the age of Trump, there is no more stupid proposition than that Nancy Pelosi is the problem. If A.O.C. and her Pygmalions and acolytes decide that burning down the House is more important than deposing Trump, they will be left with a racist backward president and the emotional satisfaction of their own purity.” - Maureen Dowd, New York Times, MORE
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Common Good.
