The Olympics have ended and in the score that matters, China handed us our backsides. The media can report the medal count as if we were in the Cold War but, the fact of the matter is that China took the most Gold medals–had the most winners. As fantastic as the Olympics was, everything wasn’t sunshines and lollipops.

China’s embrace of capitalism is throughly impressive but, we shouldn’t forget that all governments are inherently evil. In order for China to have built all the facilities necessary for the Olympics, eminent domain was used to take away people’s homes. Two of those victims are Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying. They applied for permits to protest in the government designated “protest zones”–much like our “free speech zones”. Because of “repeated attempts” to protest, these two elderly women could be spending the next year in a RTL–Re-education Through Labor–camp.

It isn’t hard to see that these “protest zones” or “free speech zones” are ridiculous. People have the right to demonstrate anywhere they please so long as they don’t interfere with the coming and goings of others. It is an absurd idea that government can control where and when we are allowed to speak freely. In fact, applying for a permit to protest is an even worse idea. Why would you give your information to the government of which you intend to make things difficult for by demonstrating? That is the definition of walking into a trap.

By Tommy Leung

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Tags: china, labor camps, olympics, protest zones, re-education through labor, rtl

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