Talk:Goddess of Democracy
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[edit] Statue of Liberty
Hello. This is my very first edit, so please be merciful. I offered this correction based on Tsao Tsing-yuan's account of the construction of the statue. User:sigrid
[edit] Merge?
I'm questioning the stub notation, myself. I mean, it's the papier-mache statue that the PLA destroyed when they killed all the protestors. Is it really that big a deal? I can't see how this can become more than it is, which begs the question: do we move all this information to the Tianenmen Square article or do we simply remove the stub notation and let it sit? User:Philwelch
[edit] Why the Goddess of Democracy is important
The statue is a big deal. It an extremely notable part of the protests. In my opinion, it is the image of the Tiananmen Square protests. Media coverage tends to focus on the man in front of the tank--which is unquestionably a powerful image--but this, I think, embodies the spirit of the protests better; in fact, it is this image that gives that scene a context and meaning. Why was the man standing in front of the tank? Because those demonstrators believed in and fought for liberty and democracy, and they'd do whatever was needed to be done to get it, including staring down a tank and building their own 40 foot high Statue of Liberty in their backyard.
This statue was built, by their own hands, to embody their dreams, to focus their thoughts, and to give their beliefs a symbol and a form. How often do people get together, and in the space of a few days, construct a statue 40 feet high, yet light enough to be carried by hand? That effort cannot be ignored.
This is one of the most inspirational images I have ever seen. It reminds me of something Thomas Paine wrote:
- "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
- - The American Crisis, December 19, 1776
People who have been born into freedom and democracy have obtained it without a struggle; it is often easy to take these things for granted. The Goddess of Democracy reminds us that freedom is precious--that freedom is a noble and spectacular thing, and that liberty is often obtained only through great struggle.
I think that bronze duplicates of this statue should be built in the cities of London, Paris, and Washington D.C.--and in the capital cities of any country which has obtained democracy through a difficult struggle--so that we twenty-first century citizens of a free world, the heirs to a tradition of freedom and democracy, could be inspired by the brilliance and courage of those valiant demonstrators in China... who were inspired by us.
Several small scale replicas of the statue have been made already. This is a very important subject, and the current article only scratches the surface. This article needs to be expanded, not merged.
- Pioneer-12 05:48, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Well that's nice but...what's the point of writing it here? This isn't some activist site. I don't see what you can do by writing about it on a talk page on Wikipedia. Adam Bishop 16:29, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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- (1) To prevent some clueless person from nominating this for vfd. (2) To inspire people to find out more about the statue and expand the article. - Pioneer-12 23:56, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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- Why would anyone nominate this for VFD? Adam Bishop 23:57, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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- Because this is Wikipedia. All it takes is one clueless person to start a pointless vfd vote. - Pioneer-12 07:58, 2 May 2005 (UTC)
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- Nonsense. This article has been here for a year and a half without anyone listing it on VFD. Besides, it would obviously survive, even without your rant. No one ever suggested merging it either, I don't where you got that idea from. Adam Bishop 15:54, 2 May 2005 (UTC)
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- Read the top of this page, smart guy. - Pioneer-12 01:15, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
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- Well crap :) Adam Bishop 07:05, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Pro-democratic bias.
Not everyone believes in democracy. Why is it that Wikipedia's NPOV rules are never followed when it comes to supporting democracy? I say, SCREW DEMOCRACY! 71.81.55.178 02:17, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
- "When are people going to learn? Democracy doesn't work!" - Homer Simpson. Adam Bishop 02:25, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
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- He has a point, you'll never see an article that even so much as wonders if Democracy is a good method of rule. The bias is clear. Interestingly enough, refusing to accept that Democracy may not work as a system, or deriding people who put forth such theory, is in itself undemocratic. But if you thikn anyone who disagrees with Democracy is as dumb as Homer Simpson, perhaps you should go back to school to rediscover that most American forefathers were extremely weary of Democracy as a method of rule and considered it boderderline Mob Rule. Then again when we talk about Americans, we talk about citizens who claim to live in democracy yet elect as presidents the least voted contender, he himself, voted in by a pathetic 1\4 of the voting population. That yes, can be easily derided as Homer Simpson Democracy.
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- Doh!
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[edit] So... uh... what happened to it?
I'm all in suspense!
What happend to the statue after it was erected? Did the government destroy it, leave it standing, or replace the torch with a little red book? --Duemellon 12:18, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
- It's in the article: "The Chinese People's Liberation Army destroyed the statue during the June 4 protests." Adam Bishop 15:57, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Nothing more dramatic than that? Did they shoot it? tear it down? smash it? what? any other details? --Duemellon 01:25, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
- A tank ran it over. There's video images of that.
