This is literally my parents. They told me to stop criticizing the people in power, even going as far as saying I shouldn’t criticize the government of my former country. I don’t even have citizenship in my former country anymore, not sure how I could even get in trouble for criticizing is effecively a foreign country to me. (I’m talking about PRC btw).

My mom told me to “just focus on improving your own life and stop worrying about things like you can’t control like politics” (as in, both the politics of my former country and the politics of my current country)

Am I in the wrong here? Should I just keep quiet and not say anything so that I don’t “get in trouble”?

  • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    2 days ago

    It is clear that your parents are concerned for your safety and well being and I don’t think that is an unreasonable position to have. Nobody wants to learn that their child was arrested or killed at a protest.

    However. Great change does not come from folks staying safe and quiet at home.

    I think many parents are struggling with this right now. On one hand it is our duty as citizens to do something about the world around us and not sit in complacency. On the other hand that’s extremely dangerous to do in the current environment. I doubly respect this concern coming from Chinese folks who may have experience with having their speech suppressed in the past.

    I support you being out in the streets and making a big noise with the rest of us. But I am not your family. If you were to die, or be taken prisoner, at a protest I would never know your name, only that you were my brother who gave his life for our cause. You would have my unending respect but in the end what I think of you shouldn’t matter for you and yours.

    Protesting is dangerous. More so now than ever before. Things worth doing are never easy but this, especially, is something that has a serious chance of ending or ruining your life. Make your peace with that, or avoid it if you can’t. The world needs dissenters right now, but it needs ones that are well seated in their confidence.

    At the end of the day though, no matter what happens, I can’t be mad at anyone for prioritizing their personal safety. A revolution will require sacrifice but that isn’t something that can be asked of someone. It is given freely or not at all. Your parents are asking you not to make a sacrifice.