The most sensational event today is probably the annuity reform protest groups obstructing the entry of athletes at the Taipei Universiade.
The feedback on Facebook is overwhelmingly dark, full of remarks saying military, public, and teaching personnel are “tumors,” “terrorists,” that annuity reform is “awesome,” and that the elderly should be left to “starve to death.” These people seem to have an inexhaustible supply of malice to vent.
Perhaps since Tsai Ing-wen was elected and various social movement groups vanished, this is the first time there has been a vent for their emotions, making it seem as though the Sunflower Generation has been resurrected.
While I personally also feel that the surprise attack by the anti-pension reform groups was excessive, in my heart, this excessiveness doesn’t even compare to the excessiveness of the Sunflower supporters occupying the Legislative Yuan and attacking the Executive Yuan years ago.
Furthermore, the Sunflower movement even raised their own funds to place advertisements in international media to praise their “achievements.” Why didn’t they talk about national dignity then??
If we are to talk about whether a protest is inappropriate, let’s use a phrase the Sunflower Generation loved most: “When dictatorship becomes a fact, revolution is a duty.” When the pensions of a group of military, public, and teaching personnel are being drastically cut by your dictatorial methods, why aren’t they allowed to “revolt” now??
If you ask me, you are damn well hypocritical and full of cheap justice.
What about the promised democracy and freedom of assembly?? What about justice??
All I see now is a group of netizens eager to beat down military, public, and teaching personnel.
The Irony of Double Standards
When the China Airlines Employees Union was on strike and protesting, and a group of flight attendants boarded Air Force One so that Tsai Ing-wen didn’t become an international joke, how did netizens criticize those “traitorous” flight attendants??
Not to mention a bunch of social activists who afterwards actively promoted excluding those flight attendants who didn’t stand together with the union from receiving the same company benefits as others. Why didn’t netizens talk about those “traitorous” flight attendants acting for the sake of national dignity then??
Today, because military, public, and teaching personnel are an eyesore to netizens, making them feel like “losers,” you damn well resent them and happily accept the government’s malicious act of unilaterally breaking contracts, even helping to push it along?? I simply look down on such netizens. So what??
If you have the guts, go protest against TSMC for paying too much! If you have the guts, go protest against Foxconn for setting up a factory in the US! Isn’t it just because you’re incompetent that you resent the easiest-to-target military, public, and teaching personnel!?
Moreover, while you say the anti-pension reform groups are too excessive today, why don’t you look at the crowds of protesters outside the Olympics or G20 summits abroad?? Those are truly “heartwarming”… Not.
For those who loved to promote revolutionary thinking and oppose Confucianism (mostly due to misunderstandings from lack of reading), do you have the face to come out and criticize the behavior of anti-pension reform groups??
Don’t show off your ignorance if you don’t have an international perspective.
Again, I don’t want anti-pension reform groups to petition in such a radical way, but I am even more annoyed by those who forgot that they once supported the radical actions of the Sunflower movement, supported expressway toll collectors lying on tracks causing traffic chaos, and supported the China Airlines union strike while bullying a minority of flight attendants. These people are acting “holier-than-thou” today.
I look down on you.