Hello from Austin,Today is the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. On this day in 1989, the Chinese government sent in the military against their own citizens, who were peacefully protesting for freedom.As someone who grew up in 80s and 90s, that moment—and the fall of the Berlin Wall later that year— still follow me, burned in my head from childhood confusion. At seven years old, it seemed so strange and foreign, to have to fight and rebel against the government for your own basic freedoms.I still see visions of East Germans, with strange haircuts, in normal clothes, swinging hammers against old walls of concrete, dressed like they were off to see a movie at the mall that night. And miles away, another world, a plain clothed Chinese man, simple white shirt, black slacks, dressed like my grandfather's generation, off to work at the office, with a pack of smokes in his front pocket, had this man decided he had had enough? He wasn't going to stand idle anymore? And he found himself in front of a line of tanks, marching slowly towards him, driven by weak men, following orders.This was the world thirty years ago, and today, to our surprise, it doesn't feel like it has changed all that much. It is easy to be upset about this, but in honesty, I personally haven't done much to change it. I assumed that in time the illogical and immoral would pass on by. I guess the past thirty years of my life have been naive? Visions of darkness seen on VHS as a child while watching history tapes, and now— here it is, just when we all were not ready for it.Some are quick to deny it. Others are thinking of ways to exploit it. Many of us are tired and confused, wondering why a world we don't believe in has landed at our feet, like a criminal at our door. You can't ignore it, you didn't ask for it, but it is there.
Fall - Pete's Newsletter - Issue #39
Fall - Pete's Newsletter - Issue #39
Fall - Pete's Newsletter - Issue #39
Hello from Austin,Today is the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. On this day in 1989, the Chinese government sent in the military against their own citizens, who were peacefully protesting for freedom.As someone who grew up in 80s and 90s, that moment—and the fall of the Berlin Wall later that year— still follow me, burned in my head from childhood confusion. At seven years old, it seemed so strange and foreign, to have to fight and rebel against the government for your own basic freedoms.I still see visions of East Germans, with strange haircuts, in normal clothes, swinging hammers against old walls of concrete, dressed like they were off to see a movie at the mall that night. And miles away, another world, a plain clothed Chinese man, simple white shirt, black slacks, dressed like my grandfather's generation, off to work at the office, with a pack of smokes in his front pocket, had this man decided he had had enough? He wasn't going to stand idle anymore? And he found himself in front of a line of tanks, marching slowly towards him, driven by weak men, following orders.This was the world thirty years ago, and today, to our surprise, it doesn't feel like it has changed all that much. It is easy to be upset about this, but in honesty, I personally haven't done much to change it. I assumed that in time the illogical and immoral would pass on by. I guess the past thirty years of my life have been naive? Visions of darkness seen on VHS as a child while watching history tapes, and now— here it is, just when we all were not ready for it.Some are quick to deny it. Others are thinking of ways to exploit it. Many of us are tired and confused, wondering why a world we don't believe in has landed at our feet, like a criminal at our door. You can't ignore it, you didn't ask for it, but it is there.