Two Cities Today, Certainly

A tale of two cities today, certainly.  I dutifully searched for a live feed of the National Parade this morning.  No it wasn’t clear out.  But it was clear enough.  I remember watching Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin before him yelling out “Xinkule” the way Deng Xiaoping had done when he had his head popped out from the black HongQi sedan.  I found a live stream in English that Xinhua was broadcasting.  My stepson and his wife had the main CCTV one on in the other room.  I was packing.  I preferred to full comprehension on what the Chairman had to tell the nation. 

The message of poverty alleviation highlighted in particular, and certainly worth celebrating.  Bragging rights, justified for lifting 850M people out of poverty.  I usually quote the figure of 650M middle class people, but that is probably already well-dated.  I wrote 国庆节快乐! to lots of folks I knew and I meant every character of it.  And sure, I got tired of watching the army, the navy, the armed research division, (not kidding) and all the ICBMs that were designed to be able to destroy New York.  But I managed my snark and allowed myself to feel happy for my adopted civilization. 

And meanwhile, across from Dickens’ London, there is the Jacobin-like chaos of the Hong Kong SAR.  One didn’t need a crystal ball to know that it was going to get worse, before it got better and that it was going to get a lot worse on this day, of all days.  Reading the SCMP live news feed as I did two days back it was so sad to see, familiar neighborhood after neighborhood descend into confrontation, conflagration. I didn’t have an internet connection after we lifted off from the tarmac till a few hours later, somewhere over the North Pole before I could learn that a young kid, eighteen years old had been shot in the chest.  Apparently, it looks like he’s going to make it.  Which is sure good to hear.  No deaths then, we hope, before we reach a cooling point and reflect on how best to secure what they want. 

A third city, New York, I’ll land in, in about six and a half hours.  Impeachment news to replace celebration news and riot news.  Beyond the endless news feeds, I took time on this flight to read Aristotle’s “Nicomachen Ethics” which was a bit of a timeless tonic, to make one think about pre-Christian temperance and tolerance and why, even without any 'fear of God', one chooses to do what’s right.  It’s bed time now, back in the city I just departed from.  Perhaps I’ll get some rest now and wish the world a peaceful few hours, as I do. 

Tuesday 10/01/19