The tactics used by protesters at the World Trade Organisation conference have attracted many comments. They have been accused of 'resorting to violence', as if this were a crime committed by only one side.
We should know that violence has occurred throughout human history and is rarely one-sided. The usual cause is injustice, when a person or a class mistreats or exploits another, using superior force such as police or military power to impose its will.
That is why the most menacing societies, such as the United States and the mainland, must acquire overwhelming military and police power, either to impose order on their own, unjustly treated citizens, or on nations which bear the brunt of their economic predations.
The violence that happens at WTO conferences reflects this sorry reality. People do not use violence because they enjoy it; in fact, they almost invariably suffer. Self-indulgent rulers never give up privilege and wealth without a fight. The corrupt Qing dynasty and its venal officials had to be overthrown by Sun Yat-sen, yes, using violence, before China could enter the modern era.
So if our pampered Hong Kong tycoons and corporate-serving officials complain about anti-WTO violence, let them re-learn a vital lesson. If you refuse to give people a living wage, if you destroy their human dignity, if you prefer to spend revenue on riot control, weapons and big shows for overseas corporations, be ready to man the barricades and spend even more on the police and the military.
You can denounce violence, but you must equally denounce those whose greed and insensitivity make it inevitable.
J. GARNER, Shamshuipo