Some Thoughts About Being the Loser

Socio-political Rants/ Awaiting a Democratic Hong Kong

Sometimes in life you lose. It sucks. I know. When the Hong Kong elections went the way it did. I was speechless. I had one conversation about it that morning and when it all sunk in. I never spoke about it again. I couldn’t. Glutter was incredibly silent on the issue if you care to remember. I made one post about the system. Then I researched the system, after a while, I realized how dire the situation was, and didn’t want to write about it again.

After the results came in I got really really drunk for a week. Moby has threatened to be drunk for the next four years. Except I think he doesn’t actually drink. But maybe he will start. I also hid a lot of my despair behind something personal, so I didn’t have to admit or face the fact, nor explain some of my dearly held dreams for two years were shattered to tiny little bits.

But some things I did not do. I did not say I was ashamed of my people, I did not say I was embarrassed for my city. I didn’t threaten to move out of the place. I let it sink in that over one in three, 40 plus percent of people didn’t think the way I did, and there were plenty more who couldn’t be bothered to vote even if that election was also the “most important election in our lifetime.” You had a referendum on Bush. We had one on DEMOCRACY. And we lost. Spectacularly. I admitted maybe the other side did a good job. Maybe better then we did. And I accepted that the truth was, my views were far more radical then centralist, and therefore it’s not going to get the landslide support we thought we would.

While I am at it. Let me tell you.. the people I supported acted like complete fuckwits. REALLY. Martin Lee cried and said something really daft I don’t even want to quote. My constituent, Hong Kong Island, lost a “sure” seat because of a bad tactical move. I had to listen to Christine Loh, speak to many a foreign paper and write many an article spreading her upper middle class elitism all over the place. She called Hong Kong voters “irresponsible” for voting in “Long Hair” a radical protester as legislator. I thought she sounded like a sore loser. Since then, as much as I find him amusing, my more serious political side finds him embarrassing each time he does another publicity stunt. Yeah, but you know, not until now I have said a word. I didn’t point fingers and blame the candidates. I didn’t throw tantrums all over the internet.

And a hell of a lot of people are doing that from the Liberal Progressive side in the US right now. The very side of people who taught me my politics, the kind of people who were my professors and friends.

I read comments and listened to the phone in on the BBC, some other places, the giant liberal blogs, some of the articles on Salon, and a few blogs there that I usually feel are mature and sensible and I think, “We’re being a little bit over dramatic don’t you think over a 3.5 million difference? That’s half the population of HK, thats the size of LA city (not country). That’s 3% in popular votes. Reading them, you would think the democrats has been squished to the corner stone of being radical left, persecuted under McCarthy rather than being 48% of all voters winning 252 electoral votes . (Minority = Nadar)

So anyway, I wanted to say something about being a loser. It sucks. It hurts. Its embarrassing for one self too because what you believed is so wrong and EVERYONE knows it now.

But pointing fingers and splattering it all around makes it look exactly like the “pansies” the right so rudely paints people as. Weak, soft, can’t stand by principals, splintered and lost. Can’t even stand behind one’s own candidate, and turning on him the second he doesn’t win it for ya. Honestly, if I didn’t have such strong political opinions and I was in the middle. If I read the outpouring of whine, it would probably sway me to the other side next time. People want to be in a team with a bit of em… backbone (as someone wrote on this blog.) Not that the other side would have faired better if the scenario was turned in the attack of the winner (look what they did to Clinton), but they would never so viciously turned against their own (but who wants to be compared to the other’s side lowest common denominator?). They would make Bush their hero, misunderstood and not listened to. It’s okay to be depressed, but not defeatist, be disappointed but going on a attacking spree is unbecoming.

And Yeah, it really goes a long way to any cause when the people one need to woo next time hears that the otherside are ashamed and embarrassed of them for being so stupid. Call them “rednecks” “radical right,” “people who vote with their hearts and not heads,” “voted out of fear,” “misunderstood the issues,” “mislead,” “not aware,” “don’t see,” “don’t get it,” “have no idea of the world,” “bullies,” “selfish,” “blind.”

Sure some of them probably are, but a lot of people voted what they believed in, what they saw as the “right thing,” in the most well meaning way that came from a different paradigm. They went out and voted, some of them stood in line for hours, some voted for the first time. And oh, because they didn’t vote democrat, they get slammed in pretty insulting ways. No wonder they think liberals are a bunch of elitist snobs. I read somewhere on the BBC when a Bush supporter said, “People say those who voted for Kerry is more educated and more intelligent. But who needs a PhD or a masters? But this is coming from someone unintelligent and don’t know anything about the world.”

I felt bad for that person you know. He got told his choice was dumb. He got told he was dumb. Surely I would side with the side that makes me feel good about myself. Not the people who look down on me. And if none of you noticed. Most people don’t go to college, and even less get masters and doctorates. I find the whole Hong Kong democratic movement stinking of snobbery every second. I know I am the exact demographic of people who would vote for them. So what? I know if I want to win, we better explain our point of view to the people who don’t understand and not alienate them but bring them onto our side by educating them to liberal ideals and ideas.

And you know what? Bush is good. When I watched the debates, I was more than a little humbled by the fact I thought he was dumb. He might be a liar, he might even be deluded, arrogant, extreme, but he spoke like a great communicator and a good leader. Not that Kerry was bad, Bush was better. He was quick, he stood his ground, he attacked the weak points of his opponents and repeated it again and again. Bush probably was one of the best speakers I have seen in terms of getting what he wanted across. He’s on par with Clinton, which is why people loved him. There were times I thought, “If I didn’t know better, I would buy into what he has to say.”

And I wouldn’t be all upset about Europe. They want Americans to vote for Kerry. The real Europeans, they would never vote for someone so privileged and educated for their leaders either. They like the guy whose father was a grocery owner. They prefer the normal person on the street too for their own. If you look it’s not like European leaders are left of center anyway, some of them verge far right, -anti-immigrant, anti-muslim. The Brits being the biggest hypocrites of all, one, they went to war too, two it’s not like they have even been successful in changing the mind of their own leader. I don’t see Blair backing down from his “extra special friendship,” with Bush. And France and Germany had plenty a contract and interest in Iraq just waiting for the sanctions to lift. They complain when America won’t get involved, they complain whenever they don’t get their way. I just don’t see the Europeans being right over here on this side of the world, ready and willing to help Asia, nor Africa especially when they colonized nearly all these two places. They are equally selfish, self righteous, self serving.

Belgium pulled troops out of Rwanda (their former colony) during the genocide. France sat around doing nothing. They also sat around doing nothing in Bosnia in the UN safe zone they were in charge of, as men and boys were being rounded up and shot, 7500 of them in the end. The Dutch who were sharing the responsibilities were begging the French military to airstrike, but it was all denied etc.etc.etc. Cambodia? Another site for mass genocides this century. Who owned that? France?

While I am at it, don’t be so damn rude about Poland, and Japan, and the other “coalition forces.” I was with Bush on that, not that I don’t think many of them might be “coerced” but “coalition” simply means a group that are banded, and just because they aren’t the members of G8, doesn’t mean, harping on the fact they are unimportant is a good idea. (Wait… Japan is part of the G8)

I am getting a bit off topic now…

Good night. I am really sorry how much this lost feels for a lot of you. I wish it was another way, not only because of what I believe, but I know this is killing some of my friends. A lot of my friends in fact. I never saw a more depressed America as I did in the last year when I went back. I never saw my friends so disillusioned, broken and scared before. It all came down to Bush. But I related because that’s how I felt about Hong Kong. Well we all lost this year. (So did Australia, they got Howard.. but that didn’t surprise me and bummed me out too much to log that). It sucks, I hate it. But at least lose with a bit of grace, head held high, a bit of humor, and spend some time thinking. It’s not the end of the world. You get to vote in four more years, some people never get to.

(Thankfully, I finally came across two sensible non defeatist, none finger pointing, non insulting everyone at once posts. Jay who says, “Its time to get real,” and James who asks, “What are you going to do about it?” It’s nice to know people I like, keep their head on.)

Lates…