permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

Glad to hear a reply from someone about this unforgettable event.

On 12/19/2010 5:46 AM, Dieter Brand wrote:

KS wrote:
> > > It is natural that farmers are radical, thinking about the roots
> > > of things as much as they do.

Keep in mind, I did not write that, only included it for reference

> Nope, it is natural that farmers are conservative because they need
> to conserve the prosperity of the land that has come down to them
> through generations of ancestors.

> It is only in desperate times that farmers will rise up in arms and
> throw away their lives together with their land because of the
> hardship brought about by a combination of natural calamities and the
> pressure from the city whose greed will drain the land of its last
> resources.

So true.

> > Are the events described above true and accurate about the murders
> > and repression committed by the Chinese Government during the
> > Tiananmen Square demonstrations when thousands of farmers as well
> > as thousands of students participated together?
>
> The true numbers will never be known.  The subject is still a taboo
> in China.  But it is without a doubt one of the most horrible crimes
> in modern times.  And what's worse: the butchers of Tiananmen and
> their heirs are still in power and dictate the destiny of more than a
> billion people.  They are now flexing their newly gained economical
> muscle to bully smaller Nations into submission and buy up land in
> Africa on a large scale.  This will be something to watch in the
> years to come.
>
> Personally I doubt that the farmer element at Tiananmen was very
> significant, but I don’t have any firm data.  There were probably
> small numbers of farmers who happened to be at the capital at the
> time and somehow got mixed up in the events.  At the time, nobody
> thought it would end like that.  The students sized the opportunity
> of Gorbachev’s visit to Beijing to encourage a political liberation
> in China similarly to the one that was taking place in the Soviet
> Union.  They thought that they would be safe in the limelight of the
> international news.  But that was forgetting the bloody-mindedness of
> the rulers in Beijing.  To mow down unarmed civilians of your own
> citizenry with tanks is about the most dastardly thing anybody can
> do.  Chinese rulers will have to live with the stigma for generations
> to come.

What a great piece of writing, Dieter.
My Father was a PBK member and PHD in history, rare books curator who 
would have stood up and given you a hearty applause for this.

Thanks for this accurate bit of history and rememberance of those truly 
valiant ones who fell, i.e. sacrificed their lives, during that almost 
unbelievable, horrible event. It is worth remembering those wonderful 
folks who lost their lives as we celebrate our Christmas season and 
others celebrate according to their tradition.

Lawrence London