Preventing the peaceful transfer of power would be an out-and-out coup, and Trump's impeachment trial is about to begin on the charge of incitement of insurrection. His attempts to overturn the election results were in vain, and demonstrations by his supporters turned into riots, occupying the U.S. Congress early last month and leaving five people dead. His staff have cut ties with violence, and social media has actively blocked his account. This is the first time in two hundred years that the U.S. Congress has failed since the Second War of Independence, marking the degradation of the democratic system. Freedom and democracy are the core values held by the United States. Just four years of the presidential term is enough to wipe out all of them, calling people to reflect on how a great country has fallen into today's situation.
The biggest threat is your own people
After all, Trump's actions over the past four years have earned him 70 million votes and broad support. He has opened Pandora's box in American politics, and the evil of Trumpism will never go away with him. CBS News commissioned YouGov to survey American residents, and exactly half of them believed that there would be more political violence in the country in the coming years. If only Trump supporters were looked at, the number was over 60%. During the Trump era, Mexican immigrants were called drug traffickers, Muslims were called terrorists, and racial demonstrations for white supremacy and Black Lives Matter occurred one after another, with no peace ever. In the same survey, more than half of Americans believe that "other Americans" pose the greatest threat to the American way of life, and foreign forces and corporate conglomerates are not even a part of the story. This result is a bipartisan consensus among the Democratic and Republican parties and independents.
Trump’s madman politics took the lead in questioning the organs of power. The courts, Congress, and executive departments were all spared, and he personally destroyed the prestige and recognition needed for the dispute settlement mechanism. No wonder the accusations of fraud in the U.S. presidential election persisted for a long time, eventually turning the mass movement into a bloody incident on Capitol Hill. In fact, the decline of power institutions is not only a problem in the United States. The international public relations company Edelman releases the "Trust Barometer" every year. The world generally does not trust the government, media, business and other social leaders to do the right things. People trust people most within their own community, with scientists at the top of the list, followed closely by employers and neighbors. The situation in Hong Kong is exactly the same. The World Values Survey shows that Hong Kong people trust family and acquaintances the most, which is higher than most institutions.
What core values are left in Hong Kong?
Public trust is transferred from social leaders to individual communities, echoing the ancient saying that when etiquette fails, everything goes to the wild. However, looking back at Hong Kong, the political arena is experiencing great turbulence, and it is not necessarily the case that the people adhere to any moral principles: the color of politics leads the economic circle, the "bottoming" and "privacy" of the yellow and blue camp infringes on privacy and personal safety, and insults to judges Trampling on the independence of the judiciary... There have been constant political disputes recently, and more and more people are considering immigrating. Mr. Tang Junyi wrote "Flowers and Fruits Falling" as a message to the overseas Chinese to "plant their own spiritual roots" and inherit their homeland culture far away across the ocean. Those in power and those in exile will one day be washed away by the times, and the core values depend on the continuity of every Hong Kong person. In the past, we advocated human rights and the rule of law, freedom, openness, diversity and tolerance. What kind of culture is left in Hong Kong today for future generations to blossom and bear fruit?
Ray Poon
Co-Convenor (Research), Path of Democracy
