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Response from the student: https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/ri95tp/in_response_to_president_daniels_letter_and/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments

Response from the student: https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/ri95tp/in_response_to_president_daniels_letter_and/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/ri95tp/in_response_...

lancefisher 5y ago
Wow. Kindness, humility, and courage. What a role model.
chernevik 5y ago
Well said: "In my world there's always a place for you; you can disagree with me; you can even insult me; I will not fire back because that is your freedom of expression, however In your world there's no place for me; you want to eliminate me and even my family from the world just because I disagree with your government or your ideology; this is puzzling isn't it?"
- kizer 5y ago
  Beautiful and the essence of a liberal mind
- zymhan 5y ago
  Now that is an evergreen quote.
  - lucb1e 5y ago
    Feels the same to me, makes me wonder who'd ever disagree with it. Does the person this was written in response to really feel like it is false and that people should not be allowed to exist if they think certain things?
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  Beautifully put, what an excellent way to demonstrate what seperates the authoritarian mindset from the liberal mindset.
  - avgcorrection 5y ago
    [flagged]
    - dnautics 5y ago
      and also China invaded Vietnam after the US did. Everyone is a piece of shit.
      - avgcorrection 5y ago
        Which was my point.
        dnautics 5y ago
        Why are you comparing universities to states?
        avgcorrection 5y ago
        I am?
        dnautics 5y ago
        yes, you are.
        avgcorrection 5y ago
        I don’t think that I am. My flagged reply was to a comment about the difference between the “liberal” and the “authoritarian” mindset. Some university has not invaded any country. In fact it hasn’t even done anything wrong—it has just condemned political persecution, which is just admirable if anything. Could a reply to some statement like “the X mindset” be about ideologies in general and not directly about what we just read in the linked article? Several replies from the top of the thread? No. Surely not.
- lou1306 5y ago
  This reminds me of a bit of trivia from Italian politics. A few years after WWII, a senator from the main post-Fascist party greeted a fellow senator from the Socialist party (who had fought for the Resistance), saying: "We fought gallantly on opposite sides, now we can shake hands". The other replied: "Yeah, then we won so you could become a senator. If you had won, I'd still be a prisoner".
  - steve76 5y ago
    [dead]
- chmod600 5y ago
  Does that mean freedom is self-defeating? It comes down to a simple formula: are people learning and appreciating freedom faster than it's being diluted by people who are ignorant or disdainful of freedom? There's no fundamental reason one rate must remain above the other. Education, immigration trends, business, and culture all play a part. But once the anti-freedom are greater in number than the pro-freedom, then freedom democratically self-destructs. Non-free governments don't have this problem, because they aren't democracies. In other words, losing freedom can be peaceful and even consistent with the principles of freedom (you're free to give up your freedom). But getting freedom requires some non-free (or at least non-democratic) things to happen.
  - BLKNSLVR 5y ago
    I believe the answer is 'yes' and it's also true for most 'noble' causes. Analogous to this quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man ."
  - paxys 5y ago
    Yes, it is. We all like to believe in ideals like turn the other cheek, take the high road, welcome opposing views no matter how extreme etc. Looking back through human history though, the only way to combat intolerance has been to be intolerant yourself. Freedoms need to be defended, sometimes with blood. Look at WW2 for example. Appeasement didn't go very far, direct action did.
    - lelandfe 5y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
  - imgabe 5y ago
    Freedom is never absolute. You can respect other people's freedom to disagree with you, but not their freedom to kill you. You can choose to only stop them from the latter, but not the former.
- userbinator 5y ago
  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
wolverine876 5y ago
Has anyone verified that the author is the actual student?
OJFord 5y ago
I'm confused by the last paragraph, out of my own naïveté, do HKers 'identify' as 'Chinese' then, just not 'from China'? I suppose it's not surprising when someone's when someone adopts their parents' culture etc. despite being born abroad (e.g. self-describing as Indian without being a citizen/born there) - so makes sense, I just hadn't realised.
- e771958a 5y ago
  The English word "Chinese" describes three different things: - a state (the PRC) - an ethnic group (Han) - a culture The government of the PRC will gladly conflate those things serves their interests. Most people in Hongkong would definitely identify as culturally and ethnically Chinese. That third item is ... a point of contention. I expect the situation in Taiwan is similar. On the other side, it is possible to be nationally Chinese but neither culturally nor ethnically so -- see the Tibetans or Uighur for examples.
- PastelDeNata 5y ago
  > do HKers 'identify' as 'Chinese' then, just not 'from China'? If they were born in HK and raised there, they would call themselves a HKer (香港人) from Hong Kong. It's highly unlikely they would say they are from 'China' because in their eyes China is Mainland China (大陆/中国) and there is negativity associated with it. Confusingly, my friends whose parents are from Hong Kong and were born in the UK identify themselves as 'British Born Chinese' rather than 'British Born HKer'. I use Cantonese or English when in Hong Kong. Speaking Mandarin there, when you look East Asian, is just asking for trouble if you are in wrong part of town.

Response from the student: https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/ri95tp/in_response_to_president_daniels_letter_and/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/ri95tp/in_response_...

lancefisher 5y ago

Wow. Kindness, humility, and courage. What a role model.

chernevik 5y ago

Well said: "In my world there's always a place for you; you can disagree with me; you can even insult me; I will not fire back because that is your freedom of expression, however In your world there's no place for me; you want to eliminate me and even my family from the world just because I disagree with your government or your ideology; this is puzzling isn't it?"

kizer 5y ago
Beautiful and the essence of a liberal mind
zymhan 5y ago
Now that is an evergreen quote.
- lucb1e 5y ago
  Feels the same to me, makes me wonder who'd ever disagree with it. Does the person this was written in response to really feel like it is false and that people should not be allowed to exist if they think certain things?
BoxOfRain 5y ago
Beautifully put, what an excellent way to demonstrate what seperates the authoritarian mindset from the liberal mindset.
- avgcorrection 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - dnautics 5y ago
    and also China invaded Vietnam after the US did. Everyone is a piece of shit.
    - avgcorrection 5y ago
      Which was my point.
      - dnautics 5y ago
        Why are you comparing universities to states?
        avgcorrection 5y ago
        I am?
        dnautics 5y ago
        yes, you are.
        avgcorrection 5y ago
        I don’t think that I am. My flagged reply was to a comment about the difference between the “liberal” and the “authoritarian” mindset. Some university has not invaded any country. In fact it hasn’t even done anything wrong—it has just condemned political persecution, which is just admirable if anything. Could a reply to some statement like “the X mindset” be about ideologies in general and not directly about what we just read in the linked article? Several replies from the top of the thread? No. Surely not.
lou1306 5y ago
This reminds me of a bit of trivia from Italian politics. A few years after WWII, a senator from the main post-Fascist party greeted a fellow senator from the Socialist party (who had fought for the Resistance), saying: "We fought gallantly on opposite sides, now we can shake hands". The other replied: "Yeah, then we won so you could become a senator. If you had won, I'd still be a prisoner".
- steve76 5y ago
  [dead]
chmod600 5y ago
Does that mean freedom is self-defeating? It comes down to a simple formula: are people learning and appreciating freedom faster than it's being diluted by people who are ignorant or disdainful of freedom? There's no fundamental reason one rate must remain above the other. Education, immigration trends, business, and culture all play a part. But once the anti-freedom are greater in number than the pro-freedom, then freedom democratically self-destructs. Non-free governments don't have this problem, because they aren't democracies. In other words, losing freedom can be peaceful and even consistent with the principles of freedom (you're free to give up your freedom). But getting freedom requires some non-free (or at least non-democratic) things to happen.
- BLKNSLVR 5y ago
  I believe the answer is 'yes' and it's also true for most 'noble' causes. Analogous to this quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man ."
- paxys 5y ago
  Yes, it is. We all like to believe in ideals like turn the other cheek, take the high road, welcome opposing views no matter how extreme etc. Looking back through human history though, the only way to combat intolerance has been to be intolerant yourself. Freedoms need to be defended, sometimes with blood. Look at WW2 for example. Appeasement didn't go very far, direct action did.
  - lelandfe 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
- imgabe 5y ago
  Freedom is never absolute. You can respect other people's freedom to disagree with you, but not their freedom to kill you. You can choose to only stop them from the latter, but not the former.
userbinator 5y ago
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

wolverine876 5y ago

Has anyone verified that the author is the actual student?

OJFord 5y ago

I'm confused by the last paragraph, out of my own naïveté, do HKers 'identify' as 'Chinese' then, just not 'from China'? I suppose it's not surprising when someone's when someone adopts their parents' culture etc. despite being born abroad (e.g. self-describing as Indian without being a citizen/born there) - so makes sense, I just hadn't realised.

e771958a 5y ago
The English word "Chinese" describes three different things: - a state (the PRC) - an ethnic group (Han) - a culture The government of the PRC will gladly conflate those things serves their interests. Most people in Hongkong would definitely identify as culturally and ethnically Chinese. That third item is ... a point of contention. I expect the situation in Taiwan is similar. On the other side, it is possible to be nationally Chinese but neither culturally nor ethnically so -- see the Tibetans or Uighur for examples.
PastelDeNata 5y ago
> do HKers 'identify' as 'Chinese' then, just not 'from China'? If they were born in HK and raised there, they would call themselves a HKer (香港人) from Hong Kong. It's highly unlikely they would say they are from 'China' because in their eyes China is Mainland China (大陆/中国) and there is negativity associated with it. Confusingly, my friends whose parents are from Hong Kong and were born in the UK identify themselves as 'British Born Chinese' rather than 'British Born HKer'. I use Cantonese or English when in Hong Kong. Speaking Mandarin there, when you look East Asian, is just asking for trouble if you are in wrong part of town.