Favorite quote from Ai Weiwei:
“Chairman Mao once said, “As communists we gain control
with the power of the gun and maintain control with the power of the pen.”
If the people are free to speak, then the first thing they will discuss is the legitimacy of those in power—and those people would immediately lose their power. Over decades, they gradually lost the moral ground. Then they lost the ideological ground. But they still have the army and the propaganda. And they’re not trying to make any improvements; they will literally just grab the gun and kill anybody who has a different voice.”
If the people are free to speak, then the first thing they will discuss is the legitimacy of those in power—and those people would immediately lose their power. Over decades, they gradually lost the moral ground. Then they lost the ideological ground. But they still have the army and the propaganda. And they’re not trying to make any improvements; they will literally just grab the gun and kill anybody who has a different voice.”
- Ai Wei Wei on censorship in China
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