Freedom and Democracy: A Delicate Balance

At least that's the message mainland China is giving to Hong Kong amidst the strike that has plunged the entire city into chaos. The Chinese government has stated to the protestors that "Those who play with fire will perish by it." Those are rather ominous words from the government that killed between several hundred and ten thousand people killed by the government for protesting the authoritarian regime back in 1989. Of course, if you ask China what happened between April 15th and June 14th, 1989, they'll let you know that nothing happened and anything you think happened is a mistake on your part. Also if you happen to be in China, you may find yourself on the way to a place where you can get re-educated on those events "that never took place".Right now China is waving it's metaphorical authoritarian dick around again, this time though, to Hong Kong.Hong Kong has had special privileges ever since it was turned over to China in 1997 from the British. They've enjoyed freedom and democracy in such a way that mainland China has never really seen, and for the most part, Beijing doesn't interfere in their local issues. However, when a bill came up to extradite citizens of Hong Kong to "mainland" China, out of Hong Kongs special jurisdiction, the people...well they weren't too happy with it and basically, the entire city protested against the bill.It was defeated.Now, the angst is aimed at how the authorities in Hong Kong handled the protests, from violent crackdowns by police and deteriorating freedoms, the citizens of Hong Kong have had enough.This is what it looks like to fight for freedom.One may think, "this doesn't affect me, it's in China," well you think that because you're dumb, this is monumental. One territory in China is challenging the authoritarian regime, they are demanding more freedom, more liberty, less cruelty from the government. If the citizens of Hong Kong who have exponentially more freedom than the rest of China feel the need to protest en masse, what's going on in Mainland China? How bad is it there?Bad enough for the city with the most freedom to challenge Beijing.Godspeed Hong Kong, your fight is a righteous one.