Originally Posted by
OK4Wire
The American war of Independence and the French Revolution, not to mention the overthrow of the USSR, would not have been possible without disrespecting the rule of law.
A grey area, if there ever was one, and one which I hope my kids will never have to experience.
Not to mention the Eureka Stockade on the Victorian Goldfields... a failed battle but an enormous political impact felt to this day... it was the diggers who could not be convicted by any Jury, who caught the attention of the people and who, later in the Parliament of Victoria, passed some of the most progressive laws in the Empire at that time. Not only the franchise for all men but the removal of income and/or property qualifications and other social progress. That small skirmish had an enormous effect and influence even on the formation of the Federation, even arguably to the insistence on the name "Commonwealth" of Australia against vehement objections of both the British Royal Family and the British Government.
Disrespecting the law when it is wrong usually ceases to be disrespecting the law when that law is changed.
As for HK, it is sad, but anyone who thinks China will get away with this scot free is not thinking it through... they are killing the goose that laid the golden egg and shooting themselves in the foot. Everything changes, there is a good chance at this point that Trump will be gone at 1 minute past noon on 20th January, 2021 and a harder but more sane line will be taken against China. China should think long and hard before it brings out the big stick. History is replete with dictators and bullies who took one step too far and tipped the scales... e.g. the girls kissing the Soviet soldiers standing on their tanks in the streets of Moscow... the moment the tanks went back to the barracks was the end of the USSR and Communism in Russia.
Ultimately, the same will happen in China. If the USSR showed us anything it's that you simply cannot educate people to the point that they can build nuclear weapons and smart bombs, stealth aircraft and radar, etc. and not inevitably have them start asking "Hold on, why are we being run by these gangsters..." It WILL happen in China. The country, even as separate provinces has a rich and long cultural history of which the last 70 years under communism is the proverbial pimple on an elephants bum... 70 years versus 1000s...