Opinion | Pan-democrats must get over disappointment and make the right choice on political reform

Moderates do not have the luxury of sulking. It is not fair, especially since all their efforts to persuade Beijing to loosen its grip on the political reform process have been for naught. But nothing in life is fair. Suck it up, and move on.

But before we move on, let's take a breather and understand what has just hit us. We must understand the past in the hope that the future need not be so bleak. And that cannot be achieved with the all-or-nothing talk that has been so prevalent.

It's clear that, in the end, we were unable to undo the damage of a process that began on the wrong foot. What Occupy Central has awakened us to may be very different from its original intention. We can't help but look back at what all the political posturing and "threats" actually achieved: nothing.

This whole debate over political reform began with a small group of people calling it an all-or-nothing issue, even though it can't be all or nothing. We didn't disagree loudly enough.

As a result, the middle ground - the ground of the possible - became impossible. But, worst of all, it eroded whatever little trust there was, crippling an already challenging process.

What then transpired has unfortunately followed the classic story line - down the Hobbesian trap, down the fear spiral. And in the Hobbesian sense, Beijing's retaliation, by handing down a Hobson's choice, seems completely logical. Occupy Central pre-emptively struck the central government with a threat, out of fear and on the premise of Beijing's rejection of their brand of democracy. Beijing pre-emptively struck back, out of fear and on the premise of national security.