Christmas & New Year's Message For Hong Kong

Long time readers will remember the Christmas & New Year's post of 2013 dedicated to Ukraine – a country fighting for its freedom much like America was on Christmas night 1776.

 

My interest in Ukraine started when Google provided me with statistics showing that Ukraine consistently had the second biggest readership in RTE, after the U.S., for over two years running.  I know that many pro-liberty protesters in Ukraine use Facebook posts & blogs to communicate with each other.  I am just so humbled & honored to think that RTE played even an infinitesimal part in this revolution for freedom.

 

Well, in this same light I was very surprised the past few weeks to see that the readership in Hong Kong has skyrocketed to more than three times the U.S. readership.

 

The situation in Hong Kong is a little different than in 1776 America or 2013 Ukraine – both America & Ukraine had gone through the bondage to spiritual faith & spiritual faith to great courage stages & had moved to the courage, fighting for liberty stage of a young country seeking freedom.

 

Hong Kong had experienced freedom under British rule from 1842 until July 1, 1997 when once again Hong Kong was returned to China under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle that called for Hong Kong to be autonomous for 50 years, until 2047, – Hong Kong is part of China but has a largely separate legal & economic system.  In 1997 Hong Kong was both freer & wealthier than mainland China but the wealth gap has narrowed while the freedom gap has widened.

 

Equating freedom to taxes – Hong Kong has no capital gains tax, no withholding tax, no estate tax, no dividend tax, no sales tax or value added tax, & no tax on interest.  Tax is paid by property & land owners @ a rate of 15% of their rental income.   The first tax in America was the Tariff Act of 1789 that imposed a 5% flat rate tariff on all imports.  See graphic below that shows the low rate of taxation from 1792 until 1913 when the income tax was implemented & the mid 1930s when the Social Security payroll tax was implemented & then again in the mid 1960s when it was expanded to include the Medicare payroll tax.  Notice the height of the yellow line over the entire time frame of 1792 to 2016 which shows the method & level of taxation of our Founders.

 

  click on graphic to enlarge

 

The problem for Hong Kong started last June when a bill that would have allowed Hongkongers to be extradited to mainland China for trial was introduced – this didn't sound good to them.  On June 9 an estimated one million people marched in an antigovernment protest of this bill & Hong Kong has not been the same since.  One large protest march after another has followed & confrontations with the police has escalated.  See photo below that shows the inspiration America is for this freedom movement.  Hongkongers are calling for U.S. support – not from anyone or any place else.  The U.S. is the only place that enthuses hope for freedom & that is why we are constantly being beaten down by enemies – both foreign & domestic.

 

click on photo to enlarge 

 

The quest for a constitutional republic with strong democratic principles like America usually starts with a few people of substance, living under tyranny, quietly getting together to plan a better way.  This is happening in many dictatorships around the world today & of course is squashed by the dictatorship as soon as it is discovered – with the freedom planners being killed.  Ukraine & Hong Kong are still in the liberty to abundance stage while America has descended into the apathy to dependence stage, unfortunately led by millennials who don't know better, that every democracy goes through once the voters foolishly realize that a majority can always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury – & boy do we have that now with every Democrat candidate for president outdoing each other in their lurch toward total government dependence (i.e., socialism & communism).

 

Last month Hongkongers exercised their right to vote when pro-democracy candidates won 201 seats to only 28 for the Hong Kong establishment or pro-Beijing parties.  This was a very great defeat for the Hong Kong government set up by Beijing.  The turnout was over 70% of eligible voters.  The problem is that the district councilors elected have little power except for local concerns so the freedom fighters are still living under the heavy handed threat of the tyranny & brute force of mainland China – but they persist as we did in the 1770s.

 

So it is to Hong Kong, & specifically the libertarian people who dare greatly to protest in the streets against as brutal a regime as exists on earth, that I dedicate this Christmas & New Year's message – namely, it is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes.

 

Reference post:  Christmas & New Year's Message For Ukraine