"Each country needs such a manifesto." Alfonso Argiolas, President, Humanist International, '89 - '93. HUMANIZE HONG KONG by Tony Henderson Most people do not give active and thoughtful consideration to being human and just what it is that makes the difference. Being human is not automatic. In seeking for the good of others through actions which take into account our own needs, life becomes meaningful. There can be no humanizing of what is 'over there' without humanizing what's 'in here' Besides giving a detailed and concrete approach to resolve Hong Kong problems in a comprehensive way, in 'Humanize Hong Kong' immediate possibilities for human development are also given. Here is evolution - personal evolution based on active living and a more exact understanding of what holds us all back. HUMANIZE HONG KONG Copyright 1993, Humanist Ass'n of Hong Kong. ISBN 962-7873-01-2 Publisher: Humanist Association of Hong Kong. Correspondence address: G/F, 49 Kau Tsuen, Mui Wo, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Tel: 2984-0094. Fax: 29849552. Other publications: New Directions magazine and the Humanist newslettert. Enquiries concerning the contents of this book may be addressed to the publishers. Hardcopy version printed in Hong Kong, 1993, by: Authentic Advertising and Printing Co. ***** This book is a result of the work and considerations of those of the Humanist Movement world-wide, particularly the friends from South America, who, working together, wrote and compiled many fundamental documents that formed the basis upon which this book was written. Acknowledgements are also due to the founders of the Humanist Association of Hong Kong and our supporters. All departures from the true form of humanism are entirely the errant originality of the present author. ***** Humanize Hong Kong could never have been attempted without the help of my orientor Wilfredo Alfsen and the support of our friends in Chile and France, and Decler Mendez for translating the most recent materials from the Humanist Movement. Special thanks also goes to Roger Armstrong for his submissions; to Malcolm Andrews for guidance on the manuscript in its early stages; to Peter Snowden for guidance on the final state of the text; to Lenny Kwok for assistance in costing production, George Adams for introducing the printer, Larry Feign for advice on fonts, Tony Moore for computer layout admonishment, Virginia Chu for the cover design, and Shoko Fujioka for support. Also to those friends who put a modicum of faith and trust in this publishing endeavour by purchasing the book before it was printed, enabling the print bill to be met, namely: Louis Teves (Macau); Lenny Kwok; Ben McGrath; George Liu; Naresh Koirala; Liu Kin Ming; Helen Rahim; Eric Shing; Emily Lau; Roger Armstrong; Daisy Li; Richard Brobeur; Fabian Pedrazini; Louis Ha. Also, Ken and Kazuko Kimura. ENTHUSIASM The most essential element needed to accomplish what Humanize Hong Kong intends is enthusiasm. Looking into Chinese culture, at the Book of Changes, the I Ching, the hexagram Yu (enthusiasm) tells that above is the arousing - thunder; below is the receptive - earth..... The time of enthusiasm is at hand when an eminent one who is in sympathy with the spirit of the people acts in accord with them, finding universal and willing co-operation. To arouse enthusiasm it is necessary for a man or woman to adjust self and issued ordinances to the character of those with whom co-operation is sought. The inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of movement along the line of least resistance. These laws are not forces external to things but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them. That is why all events in nature occur with fixed regularity. It is the same with human society; only such laws as are rooted in popular sentiment can be enforced, while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment. Again, it is enthusiasm that enables anyone to install helpers for the completion of an undertaking without fear of clandestine opposition. It is enthusiasm too that can unify mass movements, as in peace efforts, so they achieve victory over violence and suffering. (Based on the I Ching - Book of Changes, Richard Wilhelm translation with Cary F. Baynes, Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1951.) CONTENTS Foreword - Statement of the Humanist Movement By Silo Introduction The humanization of the all too human - a descriptive tour of Hong Kong for those unfamiliar with its ways and means, taking a brief look at its history and economics. PART ONE Chapter I Modern Humanism On Human Being - Active Non-violence - Militant Activism - Non-Discrimination - Yes To Options - Co-operativism - The Human Being as Central Value - Defeating the Nothingness. II The Human Being Preliminary Platform for a Humanist Society - Part 1. Humanism and the Human Being - The British Welfare State - Workers and Work Humanist Unionism; platform for unions; for discussion - the Situation in Hong Kong - letter; unions must shout for human rights - right to form and join trade unions - platform for workers. III Women and Youth Part 2. All Thing Sugar and Spice - Motherhood - At Work - Marginalised Pro-choice. Youth: The Apple of Our Collective Eye - Voting age - Youth Charter - Student Movement. IV Government Institutions and Social Change Part 2. Preliminary Model for Government - Preparatory Committee Hong Kong Needs Truly Democratic Voting System - Macau's election system - Executive Council Legislative Council - Chief Executive Municipal Council - Exco-Legco relationship - Voting - Government and political parties. V Government and the Administration of Justice Part 4. Certain Legal Niceties - Bill of Rights - Right of Abode. Public Order - Police Powers - prison reform - prisoners - capital punishment. Defense. Religious Bodies. VI Economic Co-operativism Part 5. Introducing Co-operativism. Public Sector and Fiscal Policy Finance and tax Systems - Privatization. Foreign Capital and International Banking - Interest-free monetary system. Industry. Proposals toward a more human-based economic order - banking - tax system reform. VII From Public Utilities to Foreign Trade Part 6. Chek Lap Kok new airport - On Availing What's Available Energy - Shipping and Ports - Transport - Resources of Sea, Land and Forest - Agriculture and Fisheries - Sea - Land - Water - Forest Country parks. Co-operation and the International Economy - foreign trade - Asian trade - International Solidarity - Asian Solidarity - Solidarity with China. VIII Quality of Life Part 7. Housing - Urban Planning. Health - New Health System - Patients Rights - visually, aurally and speech impaired - disabled - mentally handicapped - insane - addicted and addiction. Education - Education Towards Which Century, 21st or 19th? special educational needs - university education. Social Welfare - Universal Grant - Laissez-faire Social Welfare. Elderly - Homeless - penal reform. Refugees. IX Let's Talk About It Part 8. Mass Media - Freedom of Information Ordinance - Work Ethics in the Media - Code of Ethics for Journalists. Science and Technology bio-technology - eugenics - telecommunications - Copyright, Counterfeit and Luddism. Culture: 'Let's talk about it!' X Why No Separate Chapter On Green Issues Part 9. Green Humanism - Wanna Make a Green Million, Sir? Diverse Solutions; the Rio Earth Summit '92 - What? No Grapes! Hong Kong Needs a Green Political Party. World-wide Green Issues and Humanism Internationally. Not By Domination but Co-operation - The Internal Environment. XI An Association With A Difference Personal Experience - Hypnosis of the System - Not to Forget the Individual - Self liberation - The Human in the Human Being. XII Archives from a Recent Past Origins and developments of the Humanist Association of Hong Kong. XIII Miscellaneous Letters. Singaporization of Cheung Chau - Ferry company - Fish Farmers Humanism Defined - Humanism the Way Ahead - Software Options - Sex Suicide and Censorship - Weapons Sales - Dumping Threat to Marine Life - NO to Airport - Referenda - Tree Felling. PART TWO XIV Humanism as the Next Wave Communism with Humanism, Strange Bedfellows - the Humanist Movement and New Democracy - Origins of the Chinese Revolution - The Struggle - People's Republic - Christianity Versus Communism - New Democracy - Beyond the Machine. XV Transcendence and the Human Being The Wobbly Launch Pad - China and the West - Society and Economies in China - Religion in the Chinese Context - Social Revolution and Cultural Revolution - Teilhard, China and Neo-Marxism. FURTHER READING AND MATERIALS REFERENCED The Birth of Communist China, by C.P. Fitzgerald. Penguin Books. The Phenomenon of Man, by Teilhard de Chardin. Science and Civilization in China, by Joseph Needham. China and the West, compilation: various authors. The Socialist Tradition, by Alexander Gray. Longmans. New View of Society and Other Writings of Robert Owen, by A.D.H Cole The Basic Law and Hong Kong's Future, a compilation, edited by Smith and Chen. The following various works of 'Silo' - Mario Rodriguez Cobos and associates in the Humanist Movement. (Publisher: Latitude Press, 1106 2nd St, Suite 121, Encilnitas, CA 92024, USA.) The Book of the Community 1980, a teamwork. The Look Within - The Internal Landscape - The Human Landscape; a triology by Silo, published as Humanize the Earth, Self Liberation, by L.A. Ammann. Tales for Heart and Mind - the guided experiences, by Silo. Historical Perspective on Humanism, by Dr. Salvatore Puledda Contributions to Thought, by Silo, Mendoza, November 1988 ************************************************** Foreword Statement (Document) of the Humanist Movement Humanists are women and men of this century, of this time. They recognise their roots in the achievements of Humanism throughout history, and find inspiration in the contributions of many cultures, not only those that today occupy centre stage. They are also men and women who recognise that this century and this millennium are coming to an end, and they help build the new world that is rising. Humanists feel that their history is very long, and that their future will be even longer. As optimists who believe in freedom and social progress, they fix their gaze on the future, while striving to overcome the general crisis of today. Humanists are internationalists, aspiring to a universal human nation. While understanding the world they live in as a single whole, humanists act in their local environments. Humanists do not seek a uniform world, rather a world of multiplicity: diverse in ethnicity, languages and customs; diverse in ideas and aspirations; diverse in beliefs, whether atheistic or religious; diverse in occupations and in creativity. Humanists do not want masters; they have no fondness for authority figures or bosses. Nor do they consider themselves representatives or bosses of anyone else. Humanists want neither a centralised State, nor a para-State in its place. They want neither police armies nor the alternative of armed gangs. But a wall has risen between humanist aspirations and the current realities of our world. The time has come to tear down that wall. To do this, all humanists of the world must unite. I - Global Capital This is the great universal truth: money is everything. Money is government, money is law, money is power. Money is basically sustenance, but more than this it is Art, Philosophy, and Religion. Nothing is done without money, nothing is possible without money. There are no personal relationships without money. There is no intimacy without money. Even peaceful solitude depends on money. But our relationship with this 'universal truth' is contradictory. The majority of people do not want this state of affairs. They are, therefore, subject to the tyranny of money - a tyranny that is not abstract, because it clearly has a name, representatives, agents, and well established procedures. Today it is no longer a question of feudal economies, nor of national industries; nor even of regional interests. Today it is a question of how those economic forms that have survived will accommodate to the new dictates of the international financial system. Nothing escapes, as capital world-wide continues to concentrate in ever fewer hands - until even the nation State depends for its survival on credits and loans. All must beg for investment and provide guarantees that give banks the ultimate say in decisions. The time is fast approaching when every company, when every rural area as well as every city, will all be the undisputed property of the banking system. The time of the para-State is coming, a time in which the old order will be swept away. Simultaneously, traditional solidarity is evaporating. We are witnessing the disintegration of the social fabric, and in its place we find millions of isolated human beings living disconnected lives, indifferent to each other despite their common suffering. Big Capital dominates not only our objectivity through its control of the means of production, but our subjectivity, though its control of the means of communication and information. Under these circumstances, those who control capital have the power and technology to do as they please with both our material and human resources. They deplete irreplaceable natural resources and act with growing disregard for human beings. And just as they have drained everything from companies, industries and whole governments, so have they deprived Science of its meaning - reducing it to technologies that generate poverty, destruction and unemployment. Humanists do not overstate their case when they contend that the world today is technologically capable of swiftly resolving the problems of employment, food, healthcare, housing and education that exist across vast regions of the planet. If this possibility is not being realised it is, simply, because it is prevented by the monstrous speculation of Big Capital. Big capital has already exhausted the stage of market economies, and has begun to discipline society to accept the chaos it has itself produced. But in the face of this growing irrationality it is not the voices of reason that we hear raised in dialectical opposition. Rather, it is the darkest forms of racism, fundamentalism and fanaticism that are taking the stage. And if groups and whole regions will increasingly be guided by this kind of neo-irrationalism, then the space for constructive action by progressive forces will diminish day by day. On the other hand, millions of working people have already recognised that the centralised State is as much a sham as the fallacies of capitalist democracy under the influence of big capital. And just as working people are standing up against corrupt union bosses, citizens are questioning their governments and political parties. But it is necessary to give constructive direction to these phenomena, which will otherwise stagnate, remaining nothing more than spontaneous protests that lead nowhere. For something new to happen a dialogue about the fundamental factors of our economy must begin in the heart of the community. For Humanists, work and capital are the principal factors in economic production, while speculation and usury are extraneous. Under the present economic circumstances, humanists struggle to totally transform the absurd relationship that exists between these factors. Until now the idea has been imposed that profits belong to the capitalist, while the worker is entitled to a salary. Such inequality is justified referring to the 'risk' the investor assumes in investing - as though all working people did not risk their present and future in the uncertainties of unemployment and economic crisis. Another factor at play is management and decision-making in the operation of each company. Earnings not set aside for reinvestment in the enterprise for expansion and diversification are eventually diverted for financial speculation, as do profits that do not create new sources of work. The struggle of working people must therefore be directed to compel capital to produce its maximum productive return. But this cannot happen unless the management and the directorships are co-operatively shared. Otherwise how can massive layoffs and the closing and abandonment of business be avoid? The greatest harm is done through under-investment, fraudulent bankruptcies, forced acquisition of debt, and the flight of capital - not by profits obtained by increased productivity. And if anyone should insist that workers appropriate the means of production according to the teachings of the 19th century, they should keep in mind the recent collapse of real Socialism. As for the argument that treating capital the same way work is treated will only speed its flight to more advantageous areas, it must be made clear that this will not continue much longer, because the irrationality of the present economic system is bringing it to its own saturation and world-wide crisis. Moreover, this argument, apart from embodying an extreme degree of immorality, ignores the historical process in which capital is increasingly being transferred to the banking system. As a result, employers and business people are being reduced to the status of employees of a larger system - with no decision-making power - that gives only apparent autonomy. As the recession deepens, however, these same business people will begin to consider these points more seriously. Humanists feel the need to act in the field of labour as well as politics in order to prevent the State from becoming a tool of international capital, to achieve a fair relationship between the factors of production, and to give back to society its stolen autonomy. II - Real Versus Formal Democracy The edifice of Democracy has fallen into ruin as its basic foundations - the separation of powers, the representative government system, and respect for minorities - have crumbled. The theoretical separation of powers is nonsense. Even a cursory examination of its origin and composition of the different powers reveals the intimate relationship that binds them to each other. It cannot be otherwise, for they all form part of a single system. In nation after nation is seen the frequent crisis of one superseding the others, redundancy of functions, corruption and inconsistency correspond to the global, economic and political situation of any given country. As for representative government, since the spread of universal suffrage, people have naively believed that only a single act is involved where they elect their representative, and their presentative carries out their mandate received. But as time passed, people have realised that there are in fact two acts: a first act in which the many elect the few, and a second act in which these few betray the many, representing interests other than those received in their mandate. This corruption is nourished within the political parties, which have been reduced to a handful of leaders who are totally out of touch with the needs of the people. Through the party machinery, powerful interests are bankrolling candidates and dictating the policies they must follow. All this is evidence of a profound crisis in the concept and implementation of representative democracy. Humanists struggle to transform the practice of representative government, giving the highest priority to consulting the people directly, whether through referenda, plebiscites or direct election of candidates. In many countries, however, laws still exist that subordinate independent candidates to political parties, or rather, to red tape and financial restrictions that prevent them from even reaching the ballot and the free expression of the will of the people. Every constitution or law that restricts the full capacity of every citizen to elect and to be elected makes a mockery of real Democracy, which is above all such legal restrictions. As for the question of equal opportunity, the media should be at the people's service when candidates express their positions during elections, giving exactly the same opportunities to all to explain their positions. To address the problem of elected officials regularly failing to carry out their campaign promises, there is also a need to enact laws of political responsibility which should be passed so any elected official leaving his or her promises unfulfilled risks being recalled, ousted or impeached. The current alternative, in which individuals or parties not fulfilling their promises may be defeated in a future election, in no way hinders the second act of betrayal to those being represented. As for direct consultation of the people on the most urgent matters, more possibilities for implementation arise daily through the use of technology. It is not a matter of prioritizing polls and surveys, which are always manipulated, but rather of facilitating participation and direct voting through advanced electronic and computational methods. In a real Democracy, minorities must be given the protection that corresponds to their right of representation, as well as all possible measures needed to advance in practice their participation and development. Today, minorities the world over are targets of xenophobia and discrimination, and they beg desperately to be recognised. In this situation it is the responsibility of Humanists everywhere to bring this issue to the forefront, leading the struggle wherever possible to overcome both overt and hidden neo-Fascism. To struggle for the rights of minorities is to struggle for the rights of all human beings. But it also happens that in the whole of a country, entire provinces, regions and autonomous groups suffer the same discrimination as minorities do, due to the pressures of centralised State which is today an insensitive instrument in the hands of big capital. This will cease only when federalist organisations are developed in which real power returns to the hands of the historical and cultural entities. In sum, to give the highest priority to these issues: capital and work, real Democracy, and the goal of decentralising the apparatus of the state, is to set the political struggle on the road toward the creation of a new kind of society - a flexible society constantly changing in harmony with the changing needs of the people, who are today suffocated by their dependence on an inhuman system. III - The Humanist Position Humanist action does not draw its inspiration from fanciful theories about God, Nature, Society or History. Rather, it begins with the necessities of life, which consist most elementally of avoiding pain and moving towards pleasure. But human life adds to these needs foreseeing future necessities, based on past experience and the intention to improve the present situation. Human experience is not simply a product of natural and physical selection or accumulation - as happens in all species - but rather the result of social and personal experience aimed at overcoming pain in the present and avoiding it in the future. Human work, accumulated in the productions of society, is passed on and transformed from generation to generation in a continuous struggle to improve the existing or natural conditions - even those pertaining to the human body itself. Therefore we must define the human being as a historical being with a social mode of action capable of transforming the world and his or her own nature. Every time a human individual or group violently imposes itself on others, history is detained, turning their victims into 'natural' objects. Nature does not have intentions. Thus when we deny the freedom and intention of others, they are converted into natural objects without intentions, objects to be used. Human progress, in its slow ascent, needs to transform both nature and society, eliminating the violent animal-like appropriation of some human beings by others. When this happens, we will move from pre-history into a fully human history. In the meantime, we can begin with no other central value than the human being, fully realised and completely free. Humanists proclaim: "Nothing above the human being and no human being below any other." If any other value such as God, the State, Money or any other entity is placed as the central value, the human being is subordinated, thus creating conditions for subsequent control or sacrifice of other human beings. Humanists understand this point very clearly. Humanists may be atheists or believers, but they do not start from their atheism or faith as the basis for their view of the world and their actions. They start with the human being and the immediate needs of human beings. And if, in their struggle for a better world, they believe they discover an intention that moves History in a progressive direction, they place that faith or that discovery at the service of the human being. Humanists address the fundamental problem: to know if one wants to live, and to decide under what conditions to live one's life. All forms of physical, economic, racial, religious, sexual and ideological violence, on account of which progress has been stalled, are repugnant to Humanists. For Humanists, any form of discrimination, be it blatant or latent, is something to be condemned and denounced. Humanists are not violent, but above all they are not cowards, and because their actions have meaning they are not afraid to face violence. Humanists connect their personal life with the life of society; by not creating false dichotomies, coherence is gained. Thus the line between Humanism and Anti-Humanism is clearly drawn. Humanism puts labour before big capital; real Democracy before formal democracy; decentralisation before centralisation; tolerance before discrimination; freedom before oppression; meaning in life before resignation, complicity and the absurd. Because Humanism is based on freedom of choice, it offers the only valid ethic for our time. And because Humanism believes in intentionality and freedom, it distinguishes between error and bad faith, between the one who is mistaken and the traitor. IV - From Naive Humanism to Conscious Humanism It is at the grass roots level, where people work and live, that Humanism must convert simple and isolated protest into a conscious force aimed at the transformation of economic structures. As for the militant members of the labour unions and the progressive political parties, their struggle will become coherent as they gradually transform their leadership, giving their organisations an orientation that puts the basic Humanist principles and proposals first, ahead of all short term demands. As the general crisis of the system affects them, vast numbers of students and teachers, already sensitive to injustice, are becoming aware of their will to change. And certainly, members of the Press in contact with so much daily tragedy, are today in a position to act in a Humanist direction, as are intellectuals whose creations are at odds with the standards promoted by this inhumane system. Seeing the fact of so much human suffering, many approaches and organisations have risen that encourage people to unselfishly help the dispossessed and those suffering discrimination. Associations, volunteer groups, and large numbers of individuals are occasionally moved to make positive contributions to these causes. Without doubt, one of their contributions is to draw attention to these wrongs. However, such groups do not focus their actions within the context of the transformation of the underlying structures that give rise to the problems. These positions pertain to Humanitarianism rather than to conscious Humanism. Among these efforts are many conscientious protests and actions that can be deepened and extended. V - The Anti-Humanist Camp As the forces mobilized by big capital continue to asphyxiate the people, incoherent postures and proposals arise that grow stronger by exploiting people's discontent, blaming it on false culprits. At the root of this is neo-Fascism, a total negation of human values. Similarly, certain deviant environmental currents view nature as more important than human beings. No longer do they preach that an environmental catastrophe is a disaster because it endangers humanity - instead for them the only problem is that human beings have damaged nature. According to some of these theories, the human being is somehow contaminated, and thus contaminates nature. For them it would have been better if medicine had never succeeded in its fight against disease or in prolonging human life. 'Earth First!' some cry hysterically, recalling the slogans of the Nazis. There is but a short step from this position of discrimination against cultures seen to contaminate or against 'impure' foreigners. These currents of thought may be considered Anti-Humanist because at bottom they hold the human being in contempt. Their mentors despise themselves, reflecting the nihilistic and suicidal tendencies in fashion today. There are however, significant numbers of perceptive people also who consider themselves environmentalists because they understand the gravity of the abuses that environmentalism exposes and condemns. And if this environmentalism takes on a Humanist character that corresponds, it will direct the struggle against those who are generating the catastrophes, namely big capital and the system of destructive industries and corporations, close cousins of the military-industrial complex. Before worrying about seals, they will concern themselves with overcoming hunger, overcrowding, infant mortality, disease, and the lack of even minimal standards of housing and sanitation in many parts of the world. They will focus on the unemployment, exploitation, racism, discrimination and intolerance in a world that is technologically advanced, yet still generates ecological imbalances for the sake of ever more irrational growth. One need not look far to see how the various facets of the right wing function as political instruments of anti-humanism. Within the right wing, bad faith reaches such high levels that some exponents would even have us believe they are representatives of 'Humanism'. Similarly, cunning clergymen who pretend to base their theories on a ridiculous 'Theocentric Humanism'. These people - inventors of religious wars and inquisitions, executioners of the historical fathers of western Humanism - have usurped the virtues of their victims to the extent of 'forgiving the deviations' of the historic humanists. So shameless is their semantic banditry in appropriating words, that the representatives of Anti-Humanism try to cloak themselves with the name 'humanist'. It would be impossible to list here all the resources, tools, instruments, forms and expressions that Anti-Humanism has at its disposal. But having shed light on their most deceptive practices should help many naive humanists and those who are spontaneously deciding they are humanists as they re-examine their ideas and the significance of their actions in society. VI - Humanist Action Alliances With the intention of becoming a broad social movement, humanists organise action alliances or fronts in the workplace, neighbourhoods, unions and among social action, political, environmental and cultural organisations. Acting in alliance makes it possible for a variety of progressive movements, groups and individuals to have greater participation and influence, without losing their own identities or special characteristics. The goal of this movement is to promote a union of forces increasingly able to influence vast numbers of people from all parts of society and through its activities provide orientation for the transformation of society. Humanists are neither naive, nor are they enamoured by declarations that belong to more romantic eras. In this sense, they do not view their proposals as the most advanced expression of social consciousness, nor do they think of their organisation in an unquestioning way. Humanists do not presume to represent the majority. They simply act in accordance with their best judgement, focusing on those changes that they believe are most suitable and possible in these times in which they happen to live. Silo Mendoza, Spring 1993 ************************************************** Introduction Hong Kong Homecoming A descriptive tour of Hong Kong for those unfamiliar with its ways and means, taking a brief look at its economics and history. Hong Kong is more than an island set in the South China Sea, more than a once-upon-a-time colony, more than a modern business whirlwind ever pushing the East into competition with the West. Its shopping mazes, ever changing population and towering buildings; its Chinese way of life in proximity to the immensity and complexity of China Proper, all taken together, bring a thousand and one variables into play, patterning daily life with amazing variety. Without looking for definition, for a precise image, this place - territory-cum-country - throbs with its own peculiarities owing to the cross current of influence from the Occident and Orient, from the continental mainland and from the surrounding countries over short stretches of sea. The Chinese mix owing to the past influx of Chinese with their regional differences. Further, the slowly eroding religious customs and ethics born of Confucius, refined by Buddha and tempered by Christ, radicalised by the fiery thought of Mao then regulated by the far flung British in their administrative respectability. It is a place of hope for millions, a transit camp, an act of daily faith and a way of life. Yet, to the rest of the world Hong Kong is still renown as the world of Suzie Wong, archetypal lady-of-the-night in a flowery and slinky Cheong-sam. All this is Hong Kong - much more than an island. The 150th anniversary of Hong Kong took place in 1991 and it came as a surprise that the officials didn't even take the 'Hong Kong was a mistake but let's make the most of it' attitude, which works so well for everyone else. That would be an understandable enough attitude I had assumed. But No. Not the Hong Kong government - there were no official commemoration celebrations in the territory to mark this 150th Anniversary. It was 8.15 in the morning of Monday, January 25, 1841 when Captain Belcher and his motley crew of the HMS Sulphur cast their first rope onto the island of Hong Kong. This is now Possession Point, where, according to the records, that early Britisher spliced the mainbrace with a drink, toasting the health of Queen Victoria. Within the first ten years of the birth of the colony, that most prestigious shop of the 1990s, Lane Crawford, was established. Lane was a ship's captain and Ninian Crawford, well, she was a women. They set up a fresh foods store and ships chandlers, a far cry from the classy goods lining the shelves of the shop today. In 1880 a ferry service was started by Mr Dorabjee Nowrojee, a Bombay Parsi with more than a touch of originality. This was the early start of the famous Star Ferry service connecting Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. By 1881 there were about 160,000 people in the territory, and 150,000 of those were Chinese. Governor Hennessy, who stayed in office despite his unpopularity with the expatriates, opposed racial discrimination and promoted Chinese involvement in Hong Kong's institutions and daily life. By 1881 there were 18 ratepayers with property rated over $1,000 and 17 of those were Chinese - the one expatriate ratepayer was the British merchant house Jardine Matheson. The first elections were held in 1882 when a Sanitation Board was set up that included two Chinese. In an effort against the menace of Housing Inspectors, the Chinese community organised a petition of 47,000 names. So who said the Hong Kong people are not ready for direct elections at this juncture in time, 140 years later? Electric lights were switched on in 1890. In 1894 the dreaded plague struck. In 1888 the Upper Level Tramway was started, hoisting people up to what today is Victoria Peak, on what is known as the Peak Tram. A must for first timers. From July 1, 1898, the New Territories (NT) and adjacent islands were leased-cum-annexed to Britain - for 99 years. But the already established Chinese families did not take lightly to this sudden shift. There was considerable resistance to the British in places such as Lantau Island, but the dissenters could not stand against the powerful empire builders in their hayday. A year later and all went quiet on the NT front. By the early 1900s the population had increased to 300,000, with 280,000 Chinese. By 1910 the Kowloon-Canton railway was completed, to the border, and China completed its stretch down from Canton by 1912. Despite the modern buildings in the burgeoning Central District, generally, sanitation continued to be a problem. Something which has hardly been solved today. Hong Kong University was founded in 1912 - there had been a faculty of medicine in operation for twenty-five years already - those Parsi businessmen gave a substantial contribution which was just one of the many instances of great philanthropy that has long been a custom in Hong Kong. Those families and individuals who made it to the top have always been generous. The outbreak of the Chinese Revolution in 1911 brought many new immigrants to Hong Kong. Then there was the First World War - 1914-18 with 60,000 Chinese returning to China as Hong Kong was under threat of attack. Five million Hong Kong dollars were collected for the Imperial government's war effort, which throws new light on the 1991 Legislative Council decision against allotting money to Britain in the Gulf War effort! Conscription was made mandatory in the territory in 1917. Any complaint was hardly audible in comparison to the groans that accompanied the world trade slump immediately after the war which hit Hong Kong hard. There were street riots because of the problem social conditions caused by the lack of lustre in the coffers. To add catastrophe to calamity, the grandstands at Happy Valley racecourse collapsed with 600 deaths but with the positive outcome of the building of a proper and permanent racecourse. In the 1920s the textile industry was reintroduced. Child labour was more closely watched and child adoptions for no good purposes became more difficult. In 1921 women were admitted to the University. In 1922 the sale of young girls to wealthy families was forbidden. Political events in China caused migrants to arrive in increasing numbers. There was a major strike by seamen in 1922 and in 1925-26 a general strike took place that caused great strife. Anti-British feelings ran high then following an outbreak of anti-Japanese agitation in Shanghai. By 1925 the population stood at 725,000 with 706,000 Chinese. Kai Tak Airport was operational by 1928. In 1930 the Urban Council for municipal services was formed, mainly for efforts at better sanitation as disease was still prevalent. In 1934 the Hong Kong Silver Dollar broke the silver link with China and tied itself to the British pound, a much more stable currency. This gave greater independence to Hong Kong. By 1937 the population of Hong Kong had reached its first million, due in the main to immigration from China owing to the upheavals there. The textile industry grew apace. World War II dominated events during the 1940s. On Christmas Day 1941 the Japanese invasion began. Occupation lasted three years, four months. It came to an end in August 1945 when Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt entered Victoria Harbour and raised the British flag. Starvation and compulsory deportation had reduced the population to 600,000 by that date. While Hong Kong lifted itself up to head into prosperity, in China, the Communist Revolution took place with the Party taking over in 1949. The continued upheavals brought more immigrants to Hong Kong from China, with 700,000 arriving in the first year of that major change in China's government. By 1951 ten percent of the senior administration of government and the professional classes were local Chinese. Embargoes on China, led by the United States because of China's stance in the Korean War, caused another drop in the Hong Kong economy. However, at the same time, the refugees from China brought with them capital and expertise and there was labour to spare so the economy started to rise again during the fifties. Most of the activity was in textiles and garments, with electronics just showing its productive head. In 1956 the Trade Development Council was set up to diversify into other markets as the danger of reliance on the US and Britain was glimpsed. In 1953 a squatter hut fire reduced to ashes the homes of 53,000 people, which catastrophe, as with the race course fire, had the timely effect of initiating a proper building programme by the government. The programme housed 205,000 people by 1970. By 1956 the population had reached 2.5 million. Local representatives sat on councils and the first official political organisation, called the Civic Association, was founded (1955). Their platform included direct representation on the Legislative Council. In 1961 holidays for workers was made compulsory, paid sick leave and hours of work were regulated if not quite enforced. By then the work force numbered 590,000. In the sixties large scale water shortages were experienced. The Ocean Terminal on Kowloon side was opened in 1966, the same year as massive labour riots, a regular enough experience for Hong Kong, given an adequate time scale to see it. Often, unrest was precipitated by events in China, this time it was the climaxing of the Cultural Revolution. In 1975 4,000 Vietnamese refugees arrived in one vessel and in 1978 the 'Huey Fong' arrived with 2,700 Vietnamese aboard and the ship was refused entry (not the first port of call!). In 1979, 73,692 Vietnamese refugees arrived. In the seventies free primary education was managed, the harbour tunnel was started and finished (1970-72), residential developments were started too, such as at Shatin in the NT. In 1978 the Lion Rock Tunnel was opened connecting Kowloon in an easier link with major parts of the NT. The Mass Transit Railway (MTR), Island Line, opened in 1979. By that period total imports, exports and re-exports lifted to $117 billion. Re-exports was the biggest area of growth with China the biggest source, and Japan the biggest recipient. The late 70s were property boom years with speculation rife. But by the start of the 1980s many property purchasers experienced losses owing to a property values collapse. In 1984 the Joint Declaration, signed by Margaret Thatcher and Zhou Ziyang, sealed the future of Hong Kong, being in effect the first constitution for the territory post-1997 after Hong Kong is handed back to China. The Basic Law nestled easily into the stated concept of 'one country - two systems'. In September 1985 the Legislative Council had its first elections, not direct elections but anyway elections. In June 1988 the screening of Vietnamese refugees was introduced, discriminating against mere economic-fleeing as against political-fleeing Vietnamese. 1991 was an important election year for Hong Kong as elections for the District Boards took place on March 3rd and those for the Legislative Council on September 15th. The latter placed eighteen directly elected stalwarts into the total sixty-seat Council. Democracy's first step. With governor Pattern's policy address at the Legislative Council on 7th October 1992, suddenly Hong Kong was given more than enough democracy - to listen to Beijing. In fact it was too little too late. But Hong Kong is not really about politics, it is about people and spending and making money of course. Today visitors can ride the indefatigable trams from the western end of Kennedy Town with its lanes of lorries bumper-to-bumper along the old waterfront. The docks off Western busy with lighters, a maze of halliards and wire ropes, swinging cranes and washing, enlivened by shouting men with taut brown legs. There are strolls into market places where bulging baskets of pigs, hens and ducks are landed, freshly arrived from China. Wholesalers there deal in dried foods of the sea, preserved fruits and medicinal herbs. Down alleys are the rising tiers of begrimed balconies, once bright with newness, but not now, after decades of neglect. Dusty lanterns, forgotten bird cages and what-not more, tell tales of the passing of generations into a fustiness that hints at the possible strangeness of what goes on behind those drawn shutters. In truth, commonly, nothing other than the undeclared everyday life of families following the way of their ancestors. Further into town the buildings change from the shoddy to the impressively new. High reaching facades in tinted glass, sheer and white structures with huge porthole widows, revolving penthouse restaurants, smartly trimmed parks and resplendent banking complexes, vortices of the lifeblood of Hong Kong - the dollar. Set into hill-sides are smart homes of the well-to-do, sweeping roads that overlook the insistent growth of greenery that links branch by leaf all the way up to Victoria Peak. There, a brown and windowed caterpillar can be spied that slowly ascends on its winding track to near the top. The Peak Tram, that heaves to a near summit stop, allowing an overview of the panorama spread in all directions. To the north, on a rare clear day, is distant China Mountain and lesser summits telling of China's expanse, looking over the New Territories. About turn and there are the Outlying Islands, the biggest Lantau; the nearest, give and take a few untenanted wave-dashed protuberances, is Lamma. Further over again is the most pleasantly bustling Cheung Chau, reached by ferry from the piers only five minutes walk from the most famed boat ride in the Orient, the Star Ferry. This Star Ferry is the best way to get an introduction to the ever amazing harbour scene. Very often, the neck of water between the jutting piers of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is sufficiently scattered with white breakers to resemble deep sea, while all about ply vessels of every type, from the humble walla-walla with awnings a-flap, and the heavy surging shale-filled barges pulled by work-horse tugs. Cutting through the wave crests will surely be some merchant ship, at times spick and span when a venerable Dutchman, or at the other extreme, in sorry disrepair and streaked with rust when a flag of convenience is hoisted to the stern and the Indonesian crew have been too long from home. Sailing junks are occasionally seen, in their season of passage and nostalgic is the sight of a heave-ho tacking junk, at times with distinctive red-brown sails and sea-bleached timbers. Jaunty yachts skim the waters, on a weekend in clusters as the sailors-set-free-of-desk toil at ropes in singlets, happily tanned, displaying their good fortune and even brother sun seems to smile at the sight. More business-like are the fast-flying hover-ferries passing in a spray, but faster by far are the skimming and long curving Macau jet-foils, veering off into the distance at over forty knots in a near cloud of sea-white; swift birds of the ocean. Overhead, helicopters make regular passage, and over the city fly aircraft from all around the globe, to soar down and over the rooftops of Kowloon in one of the most breathtaking descents of any airstrip landing in the world, between mountain ranges, and at last dipping low to sea level onto the magic tarmac of Kai Tak. Nearby is Kowloon City, a-run with industrial buildings and block after block of residential warrens, teeming with life, flapping with washing and in the lower storeys, mounted with decorative calligraphy and gaudy neon-besmirched signs with only pale day-time colouring in the too-hot light-bright airs. The streets are always noisy with taxis, minicabs and buses that never cease in their roaring and revving. The pedestrian-ways jam-packed, shops crammed full, cafe's and wayside restaurants overflowing with custom all day long as the local residents play out their lives in the human warmth of their own neighbourhoods. Taking a trip into the mysteries of Mongkok is adventurous for visitors, and further on, into touristy Tsim Sha Tsui with its discos and diners and gold with tinsel red carpeted and chandelier lit restaurants, taxi-dance halls, night clubs and bars. Among all that, trinket shops and stalls for handicrafts, for shawls and silks, carpets and sandalwood chests. The well known hawkers of paintings of ghostly junks in blue and black, red sunsets and brightness of light flung onto black waters and scenes from villages bringing into view China-for-real. That China-for-real can still be glimpsed in the more remote regions of the New Territories, where farmers plod the sodden field, where water buffalo lie in swampy fallow and amid flowering reeds. Lesser villages out there cluster under shared roofs and walls, have neat gardens with hens and rooftop lofts with pigeons ready for the pot. Ponds too with white duck but not a trace of that staple of the Chinese, sacred rice, not in these days when many farmers and their kin work construction sites. Children complete homework by doorways and dogs lie in the shade, while sea-distant fishermen mend nets and boats by long sandy shores of shallow waters. With a charm of its own, the sun may be caught in its setting with the sea-horizon gold broken into dark patterns, and then the visitor knows from where those Kowloon painters of traditional scenes got their inspiration - the sun-glisten shattered by the dipping progress of a fishing smack heading homeward with the catch. Towards the Chinese border rampant greenery soothes the eye. There are estuaries and mud flats with the delicately stepping wader and occasional leaping mullet. Always the lone fisherman striking his line and all around rolling hills and a sleepy fecundity not hinting the least of the other Hong Kong. The Hong Kong resident has a favourite pastime, especially on a Sunday, meeting with friends for 'yam cha' - drinking tea. The action is set in the larger restaurants that open onto the street in decadent grandeur of a gilt and mirrored opulence, with lion forms and cheong-sam girded girls at the door and huge wooden desks with quite serious looking men in suits dispensing directions. While it is common in western restaurants to try to produce a mood of quiet with softened lighting, not so for the Chinese who like to see what they eat. Bright lights, noisy clatter and lots of intimacy in a direct way as interchanges take place in loud voices, during fun-filled and boisterous proceedings. The menu is given great deliberation and take care - he or she who orders, pays. It is the people that make Hong Kong and that produce the most memorable sights and sounds. That amalgam of residents and passers through, the belonger and the transient, all quietly curious about each other in their respectively differing lives that brush in the passing and spark in the contact. This makes Hong Kong ever memorable. To live in Hong Kong is to plunge daily into its tough economic reality, to struggle with the contending forces for a place, for a job, or a partner in life. It is as if this 'barren island with hardly a house upon it', that so excited England's Lord Palmerston continued to demand a high price for any human settlement. That is why Britain is giving the island of Hong Kong and that slice of Kowloon back to China - because without the New Territories, it is said, the place is not viable - besides that China would like to have it returned. Hong Kong never was designed to be viable, that much is certainly true. All that was needed was a place to stack goods for trade into and out of China. That was the entirety of the reason for the establishment of Hong Kong but something has happened over the intervening years - Hong Kong has happened! This bustling Asian metropolis figures large in world accounting with its 5.8 million population, its 1992 gross domestic product figure of US$95.2 billion and domestic exports of US$30 billion. Hong Kong port is one the busiest in the world and five million tourists come to Hong Kong annually. That is a sufficiency of action for any such small place. The wealth is evident in the block-upon-block build-up in Central District business area. While the word skyscraper has gone out of fashion, that's the very word for the varied architectural forms that have burgeoned there. Those buildings are honeycombed with offices and rife with busy office workers that deal in paper commodities and paper money, in a world of their own creation, where figures figure as if in another dimension - in the world of the dollar-go-round. The spin off is the remainder of Hong Kong. Today, manufacturing takes second notch to the service industries, to high - and low - finance. A sizeable chunk of the territory's manufacturing moved over the border to China for its first stage processing, during the late Eighties, to the extent of 18,000 enterprises employing 1.4 million workers. The area just passed the New Territories' border is an industrial everyman's land called Shenzhen. This acts as a buffer zone before reaching the pretty green fields of Guangdong Province where the land returns to its organic cultured norm after the concrete debacle - in all its masculine beauty in Central and to the blemishes of hard core industrial Kwun Tong. There's an effect - not so much 'trickle down' as 'scatter out' - where the Hong Kong working men and women have inserted themselves into its varied culture on all the levels below that of the Governor and the assortment of self-made millionaires such as Li Ka-shing, Sir Run Run Shaw and a motley more. The Hong Konger loves to play at being the millionaire, even if only for a day. This is seen in the way people rush at the opportunity to eat out in top restaurants and even fight to pay the bill and that is not always sheer bravado. This delight in hitting the town has all staff of every service facility from the restaurants to the theatres, the nightclubs, the snack bars, the noodle joints in street side-stalls and so many more, kept busy till the wee hours of each working and weekend day. In Hong Kong there are various cultures, the western one with its plush seated halls of western classical music, dance-drama, and stand-at-the-bar pub friendliness, alongside the eastern - principally Chinese - with its shows of Chinese orchestrations and dance troupes from provinces of China and dim sum dalliance. Also, the Central District Christian church of St. John's with its choirs and neat and proper Sunday atmosphere, as different from the mysteriously dark Chinese Taoist-Buddhist temples that are replete with the dragon and phoenix, the pearl of wisdom and guardian lions, joss and mahjong. Here even the religions have to compete, not only with each other, just to get some profile to remind the population that there are possible alternatives to the chase after that almighty dollar. The Buddhists have built the biggest Buddha outside India on a Lantau Island peak, a stronghold of Buddhism in Hong Kong, at Bo Lin Temple. But the Britisher was not alone in the adventure of establishing the success of Hong Kong, not by any means. Of course there was and is the veritable toil of the indigenous Chinese, indigenous to the area that is, for only fishermen and pirates inhabited Hong Kong Island in Queen Victoria's days - and, it is said, most of the fishermen left! It was only two years after the British got their foot in China's door that a number of wealthy Bombay merchants took up a trading residence, associated with many of the waterfront properties and godowns. Today in Hong Kong, while the Indian community are a most visible part of Hong Kong commercial life, it is the Sindhi that are the busiest traders. More people share the goodies today - if not in the wealth exactly - in the life and strife and healthy vitality that goes with survival in modern Hong Kong. Visitors must take care though that they do not mistake the high-risers and slinky legs of Central for the only Hong Kong. A trip out to Kwun Tong or any other of the industrial estate areas, or the Western end of Central, where another aspect of Hong Kong throbs. There the people are cramped into small living spaces, live on earnings well below the government announced standard and there is little hope of a bright future whatever happens on the high finance and political end of affairs. Those unknown people are the hidden marrow of the economic backbone of Hong Kong. With the 1989 June 4th massacre and the Beijing line against China's democracy movement, Hong Kong suffered a confidence crisis causing wounds that have yet to heal. Over a million people marched on Hong Kong's streets, revealing to those who thought less of the Hong Kong people, that there is indeed a dragon in their heart, given the right cause and a rightful cause. Their story, like the story of any nation, or place, has not run its course. There is a resilience born of laissez-faire in Hong Kong that can ride the future and there is lots of life left in Hong Kong despite the turbulence caused by Mother beckoning. The return of this prodigal son to the motherland, that has caused consternation, is welcome by many local Chinese in one singular respect - that they will, at last, be home. Tony Henderson Autumn 1993 *************************************************** Chapter I Modern Humanism On Human Being - active non-violence - militant activism non-discrimination - yes to options - co-operativism - human being as central value - the new cultural form - defeating the nothingness. On Human Being For better comprehension of the human, two aspects of the human phenomenon can be given priority. One, the phenomenon itself, the human being, taking a general view; two, the register of the human in others(1). Firstly then, claims that the characteristics of the human being are sociability, language or the transmission of experience, and that these factors qualify the human, are not justified, as animals, even if only in rudimentary form, can also have these characteristics. Among animals there is even a kind of morality, with punishment of transgressors, which nulls that characteristic also as something that identifies the human. Such activities are closer to the reflex, the instinctive self preservation reactions, that overlap the conditioned and unconditioned responses. Also, there is chemical recognition of organisms, determining them as foreign - another beehive, anthill, school of fish or herd with the consequent rejection or attraction. Rudimentary technology also pertains to the animal - complex lair building, the thrush that uses a stone as an anvil to break open snail shells, etc. Navigation is particularly highly developed. Sentiments of affection, of hatred, of grief, all are seen and even solidarity is found among animal groups and species. Animals have host, parasitic and symbiotic organisms related to their functioning as elementary forms of organisation, the same that has been developed among human groups. Then what is it that defines the human as such? It is the reflection of the historic and social situations as personal memory. Whereas all animals are as though each was the first one, in contrast, every human being is his or her own historical and social environment. Not only this, but is the reflection and contribution to the transformation or inertia of that environment. The environment for the animal is the natural environment. The environment for the human being is the historical and social environment. It is also the transformation of this environment and surely the adaptation of the natural to the human being's long-range needs. This considered response of the human being to what is immediate gives meaning and direction of his or her efforts. So, a calculated or imagined future presents new characteristics to the human. This is quite different from the system of ideation and the behaviour and the life of animals. This is why it is said that the animal constantly turns on itself, as the cycle of learning-feedback-change is very short, and is in fact stopped. Animals are hardly developing, at most they are adapting to local conditions. The grander perspective given by human consciousness brings a pause in human reactions where the incoming stimuli arrive at a complex mental space. This conditioned space determines by comparisons the effects of the stimuli, and even lends itself to abstractions, to thoughts outside the realm of the immediate. This means that as far as the human is concerned there is no human 'nature' unless this 'nature' is understood to be modified by the very impression-expression of the human. Quite different to the animal - the human has the capacity to move out of time, even beyond the horizon of perception. There is a need to clarify this difference between what is animal and what is human - not to use the word nature casually when speaking of human nature. What is essentially natural to the human is change, is history, is transformation. Slipshod use of the word 'nature' has served to justify many acts against the human. Because conquerors were different from the natives to a place, those natives or aboriginals were treated as sub-human. Or, aggressive tendencies were spoken of as 'natural'. Sentiments of, 'we are, after-all, only human,' betrays a lack of comprehension of what the human is - leaving that comprehension confused with characteristics of the animal. With the natural world a natural order became established and to change this order was a sin. Different races, sexes and social positions were established. This order of things was said to be 'natural' and had to be conserved, permanently conserved! The idea of 'human nature' served a natural order of production, reaching to feudalism, but all that ended abruptly with the industrial revolution. Even today primitive ideas of human nature continue in pockets. Take psychology for example that speaks of certain 'natural faculties' such as 'will'. There is no will. If there was will there would be the ability to 'do'. Mostly people react, they don't act. Natural rights are spoken of, 'We have always been a family of landlords, it is our natural right.' The State as part of human nature, as if having a State as the central reference was the only form of a society. All these have contributed nothing but have been a burden adding historical inertia and negating possibilities of transformation. And, accompanying the human consciousness is a co-presence. All these foregoing act as a continuum of focus and an expansive ground of temporal contact with physical reality. Given intentionality, as the considered response to the environment, then a meaning is projected making the human being the maker of meaning of the world. This is very far from the standard idea of human nature. It is opposite to this rudimentary belief of human nature. In fact the natural is asphyxiating the human with an order imposed as a permanent institution. The opposite is declared in the new humanist's slogan saying that the natural has to be humanised. Others are invited to join in this humanization and the effort makes the man or woman creator of his or her own meaning, direction and transformation. This meaning brings liberation from the supposed 'natural' conditions of pain and suffering. The truly human goes beyond the natural. If it is you that is spoken of here then it is your project, your indignation and anger, your kindliness. It is your fear and wonder before a future, before a new human being who is free from pain and suffering. Turning to the second aspect, one's register of the humanity of others: 'while a person's register of another is as a 'natural' presence, then that other - no matter how closely related - will remain nothing but that, an object of the natural world. Then, this other will only be real in the sense of - for me. The only meaning of this other person is whatever meaning that one has for me! Then I am a for-itself. This is alienation. With this I am for-me I close my horizon of transformation. As far as I do not experience the other beyond that of a for-me, my vital activity will not humanize the world'(2). The other should be, within my own internal register, a warm sensation of an open future that does not end in death. 'To feel the human in the other is to feel the life in the other, like a lifting rainbow of possibility that moves away at the very moment I want to grasp or remove its expression. If you move away I comfort myself by knowing that your moving away has helped you break your chains that have caused you pain and suffering. However, if you go with me, then you, as a human being, are doing so in a free act. If my actions are as pure as the lightness of freedom that lies within, then not even death stops what is put in motion because I am the maker of my time and my freedom - and you are the maker of yours, or not, depending on your case. Thus the human being of growing humanization can be loved, and during those moments of crisis in human affairs, when the 'natural' arises, then your possibility for a future recovery can be loved'(2). Comprehending the foregoing can instill an attitude that grants the possibility of real human life. This attitude is not common, it is not the operational norm in society today, in any society. Understanding something important in all of this makes me FEEL like doing something about the crisis situation, and in that light, therefore, I take particular delight in the Humanist Association of Hong Kong activities and message, as part of the world-wide humanist movement. In this understanding I see the need for a new generation of people managing public affairs. As a start, at least, a new generation of politicians. As a potential political party, the Humanist Association (HA) sees its mandate in representing the common citizen who participates in politics to defend basic human rights - given that the common citizen chooses the HA to offer that representation. All through history people have worked for a better life. However, until now, after various social, political and economic experiments, such aspirations have not been fulfilled. In most countries of the world jobs are scarce and many are poorly paid while humble people still fight against starvation. Their incomes cannot provide them with the necessary health-care, housing or education. Many people never have conditions of security throughout their entire lifespan! Such situations cause daily suffering and anxiety. While Hong Kong is not in these dire straits, there are problems - one today is a lack of confidence because bigger powers are handling Hong Kong affairs without giving Hong Kong real participation. Of course people would like to change that. In fact, everyone has the right to aspire to a better life, in conditions of freedom. On trying to express dissatisfaction though, there is no channel to air views with effectiveness. Oh yes, I can voice my views but I always get the feeling that whatever is said in those diatribes won't change much. It helps a little with small things - the threatened tree - and certainly I may feel better but getting in the press or on the radio as an individual, as Tony Henderson, it doesn't satisfy somehow. I know it need not be like that. Not if this exercising my right to be heard is done as part of a programme with clear intentions, one that is determined and agreed to along with others, with friends. Then it is not just me complaining. Only a new human force, uncompromised, can fulfil this aspiration for a better life. Speaking in terms of freedom<$IFreedom>, this can be achieved - by transforming people and society, with people's direct participation in a project to Humanize Hong Kong. Only I know when I am free - I found it useful to question myself - do I FEEL free? I feel it is imperative to bring the ecology-environmental factor to the forefront in actions because a wholesome attitude to life is one based on openness. With freshness and cleanliness there will be a Greening because pollution is not just something that spoils the air, land and sea - it spoils our spirituality, our psychological condition, our artistic feelings, our sense of aesthetics and our culture. Besides this ecological factor, in the HA there are five main points that act as guidelines to any activity in relation to the required change in attitude that keep the humanization endeavour in healthy perspective, preventing distortions. The first is Active Non-violence. Active non-violence Active non-violence (or, non-violent activism) is our methodology for social and political action. It is the way to achieve economic and political influence, the way to exercise it, the way to resist and struggle against violence and the way of humanizing society. The way is clear to make use of all the non-violent methods necessary and available in order to struggle against any form of violence (i.e., physical, social, economic, religious and psychological violence), and to clarify and mobilize people to join in this resistance. Non-violence includes the public denunciation of injustices, non-participation of any form of oppression or violence, psychological action, civil disobedience, and non-violent resistance to authoritarianism. Violence is not a means for ending violence. Rather, violence always generates more violence in a never-ending chain of retaliations. The end does not justify the means. Means and ends are related as much as the seed is related to the full grown tree. No future that is worthy of the human being can be built on a base of blood and bombs. But, also, it cannot be built with complicity, indifference or cowardice in front of violence, suffering and oppression. Someone has said that the child makes use of the fist until learning to use the brain. Thus, violence, as a means for struggling against violence, belongs to the childhood of human development. Non-violence is the weapon of the brave and intelligent by choice just as much as it is the weapon of those completely without any means at-all of battling injustice. Active non-violence is a method that has not been developed to its full potential, so far. The non-violence struggles of M.K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are examples that can be further developed, adapting them to the present conditions. The weak point of a system of violence is the mentality of those who maintain it. That mentality has to be changed in order to change the system. Active non-violence is not just a simple position of passive, resigned or fearful pacifism. It is a dynamic militancy - courageous and rebellious - against every form of violence, its roots and manifestations. Also, active non-violence is to struggle to build bridges of direct communication between the different races, peoples, communities and individuals. Huge amounts of resources - human, economic, technological, scientific - are being applied to the development of violence, everywhere. If the same resources were spent on non-violence, any country, or the whole world indeed would change in just a few years. Militant Activism The prevention of social unrest, in the face of injustice, has blinkered governments and its bedfellows into demanding some form of strait-jacket over the people who want to protest. This can happen even when such supposedly innocuous slogans as Stability and Prosperity are used, as in Hong Kong. The privileged want to keep their privileges and that maintains the system of injustice. Those working for peace are aware of this. It is always a problem for activists working in the methods of active non-violence that changes in the strait-jacketed situation are not obviously seen taking place after peace activities, the effects, the reconciliations. People get disheartened because of this. The idea is to start processes of change not just give finishing touches. The effects of non-violent actions often remain invisible - but with faith, they will become visible. Whether personal or public acts, all have effects, always. It is important to have permanence in the actions, an isolated act has little value at the level of the street action. Truth has a lot to do with active non-violence. How to speak or act in truth, without harming others. That is fundamental. To see the truth of the other side, their point of view. The intention is to see how to bring the other side into the liberating process. Whether speaking to repressive governments or individuals about the democratic impetus in Hong Kong. All around the world different groups are demanding their rights, the workers, ethnic minorities, discriminated groups. When reversals take place, as happened in the defunct Soviet Union, the underdogs want their day, want to be in charge - like, 'now its my turn!' Mr Walesa in Poland understands that it is not a question of imposition. That would be repeating the mistakes of the past. He sought to change things in a more gradual way because he wanted that justice became a reality. For so long the communist parties have been in charge in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Suddenly they were out of power, but they still have to have a say because they have many people that still believe in communist ideals. They cannot be shunted aside. This is also true of the Khmer Rouge. Even if they are a minority, they should have seats in government. Their ideology has to be respected, their human wishes have to be respected. Now in Russia so many groups are making demands but it can't all happen at once. Neither Yeltsin nor Gorbachev are genii out of bottles to grant wishes by magic. Their reforms will take time and care in application not to turn everything upside down so it sinks. In South Africa it was the passivity of people that was the major block. They felt powerless against the system that played the old game of divide and rule. More and more they danced in front of the television screens, gradually the ordinary people were seen empowered and now look at the changes that have taken place! They are in the street demanding a multi-racial society, an inclusive society. Listening carefully - they don't all talk about Whites as the suppressor. No. They say it is the system that is violent, that has been their oppressor. So they change the system - as it happens the Whites control the system there! When the people power revolution took place in the Philippines, that did not happen like that, just by the gentle nature of the Filipino. It has to be understood that the Filipino has a long history of training in active non-violence. The Christian church, the unions, the resistance against the Spanish, the Japanese, and the Americans, all that experience went into their demonstrated solidarity and insistence on active non-violence. The violence is more diffuse in the Philippines. Here also there had better be preparation for that moment, training ourselves, to have an aware peace movement that will not be swayed into violence. Hong Kong may not always be able to stand outside the social unrest that is sweeping the world - and China is on the brink of change. It is said that a dying horse bucks the harder before it dies. So there has to be care when dealing with anything in that life threatened condition. By cumulative actions as activists a few tons are added to the weight of history, to help evolution on its way, and this is done by training in a considered response to say NO to violent systems. That is how active non-violence empowers people who feel powerless in front of any system. By saying no to that system and yes to life. Looking at the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that June with a critical eye, we can learn of the implications for Hong Kong. What were the elements of non-violence and what were the actions that were not based on non-violence; what were their ramifications? What about those slogans used against Li Peng and the other leaders at that time? Did they point at the system or the person? If the person is ousted and the system remains what is gained? What about that statue, the North American lady with the torch of freedom? It was an insult! A lot of fun - but terribly insulting to the communist leadership. What was asked, the reform of the communist party or its overturn? There has to be an analysis of what went wrong in Tiananmen and this has to be explained. The fact is mistakes were made. Too much was demanded too soon. At the square students could not contain the fresh seeking energy of those youths coming in from distant parts of China who wanted their turn with the banner. A beautiful problem but nevertheless a problem. In Beijing in 1989, when Li Peng met the students, many among the population thought he did wrong - he didn't meet the workers, just the students. It was a victory that the heads of government met the students and that it was televised. People point at the Communist Party but what can be seen in China is just another dynasty with its mechanisms of control. That style is older than the communist regime. It is the underlying process that is taking place, in that lies the hope; because there is an ongoing dialectical process in China. The regime knows it - thus the reaction by conservative groups, particularly when looking at the USSR experience. In light of this it is important to stand up for human rights and to do this empowered by truth so the adversary may open up. Some practices that get publicity as part of the methodology of active non-violence are not clearly understood. The way of active non-violence works with specific targets - in the USA in the early years of Black Activism black people were mobilised to register so they could vote. There were camp-outs with lists of demands made public. Fasting is a last resort. To fast in public makes the adversary aware of the issue. But this can lead to violence when there is the overt threat.... 'unless you do as we demand my death will be on your conscience....!' Terrorists use this tactic, in Germany and also the Irish Republican Army, are recent examples. This has a different intention - not to liberate others. So the authorities inject nutrients......more violence. On both sides tensions mount and armaments increase. In active non-violence there is no fasting till death, rather a chain of fasting people. There has to be self-respect, respect for the body. So, in active non-violence there has to be sensitivity and understanding of the Hong Kong situation. Links with such as the China Democratic Front, even links with the 'Alliance", these links have to be considered by any group. Their intentions have to be clear. Also, how to treat the Beijing government, tainted as it is with the June 4th massacre, these are the questions. Physical contact during demonstrations; aims when on hunger strike; sanctions and how comprehensive they should be; boycotting sports events? The police have an additional burden as they are not trained to work in the ways of active non-violence. Of course they have the right to defense, each of us does. Not to isolate, but to open up the communications. Active non-violence is not the easy way. It has to be clear. It is not something 'over there'. It is something intimate, in daily life, such as how couples treat each other, whether married or unmarried and anyone can look at their own life to see where the violence lies. It had better be recognised because that is the root and that is what can be done on the very important individual level. It is essential to handle our own violence, prejudices, and impatience; that internal bomb built-in and carried owing to the influence of the violent system. Governments and officials are by no means all bad. The students in Beijing only thought of their own rights (valid enough) but not of bringing the adversary into the essential transformation. To seek what is positive in systems, socialism, communism, capitalism, what can be developed. To get rid of injustices and to be in dialogue. Studying the situation to determine who and what is supporting the repressive ones. To see why those groups support the injustices; why they behave like that. To see what negative propaganda has done against independent groups, unions and church groups, newsletter distributors, wall poster writers, poets and playwrights, artists - who are often belittled and even smeared - it's a tactic by those of bad faith who's power is threatened by truth. In the beginning few show support, then step by step more join the dissent. Thereby the pillars of support are taken away from those maintaining the injustices. All no, but some yes. To build new relationships is the way to a new situation that weakens the adversary. Doing that while at the same time building alternatives. To get the adversary to help drawing up the new while working step-by-step for change, showing that life and the universe are on the side of justice. Non-Discrimination In humanism there are only human beings with differences of appearance such as in the case of men and women; differences which exist only for purposes that complement. No human being need be hampered in either their happiness or freedom due to race, age, beliefs, nationality, sex, occupation or economic condition. These are all secondary differences and do not effect rights as a human being. At times it is difficult to do otherwise than participate in and accept inadvertently some form of discrimination. Thus, to make special efforts at getting those discriminated against in close links with positive projects for an immediate and forceful response to such discrimination opens up new directions in life. It is useful to investigate discrimination in Hong Kong, to get familiar with it, to be able to see it clearly. The discrimination against women and young people is particularly nasty because the majority of people are not aware of it and if they see it they underestimate its effects. In fact, the HA will not do as the others who create a 'youth branch' with the sole aim of restraining the participation of young people, by preventing them taking a position in the main body - while at the same time using young people as manpower in election campaigns. Young people are incorporated at 18, but in most cases can only join other associations as full members in their mid-twenties or at 30 even. Only after that can they take even small decisions and aspire to higher posts. In our Association everyone can be young, whether they are 18 or 80. There will be no intentional generational discrimination because young people are just as apt to behave with recalcitrant stubbornness as old people, so that will not be the criteria to decide suitability for positions. While the present legislation prevents someone under 21 from being a candidate for government elections, the HA can have a chairman who is 18 years old. Yes to Options There is a single theme to the whole of this section: having options as a concrete expression of freedom. Optional military service, divorce, equality of expression for the different religions, and for atheism, for abortion, these are examples. The process of evolving humanity can be seen from different angles, with different points of view: it is a process very rich when it comes to the accumulation of experience. But if its achievements are reduced to only one, essential and common to the whole of the human species, this is the progressive winning of freedom. It is the simple fact from which to begin. The human species moving towards the winning of freedom. That is why this principle is fundamental. The problem with monopolies, for example, is that by appropriating the means they do not allow the effective practice of freedom. Where there is monopoly there is no freedom. The concept of monopoly is very wide. Apart from the concrete forms of economic monopoly, there are others which are not usually considered as such. For example, the organisational and ideological monopolies. Examples of organisational monopolies are 'single political forms', this case can be seen in China where might is right, and in the USA where dollar is right. In the USA the real difference between the Democrat's party and the Republican's party is but a youthful smile! These two major parties also prevent the actual and effective expression of other political ideologies. Nevertheless, they explicitly declare that there is freedom of expression. For one person to explain to another his or her point of view, that is not freedom of expression. Analyze the case of any small party: how much space in newspapers, how many minutes on television or radio do they get to express their ideas? It is the same for every group not sanctioned by government or business. A freedom, to be a freedom, must have possibilities of being exercised. As an expression of violence it can be seen in the reaction of traditional institutions which consider themselves owners of certain ideas or even words. Some priests, for example, have protested because humanists speak of the importance of having 'faith' - as though this word belonged only to their sector. The principle of option means that we seek free access to information, open media access, proportional representation, popular referenda, opinion polls and other forms of consultation, because we want participatory democracy and responsive legislators; respecting the plurality of ideas, of opinions, of ways of life, and of politics. Also, swift and impartial legal processes, jury system and local control of vital institutions. Co-operativism As part of the humanist ideology, the Humanist Association defines itself as co-operativist - this means all systems, including economic systems, would best be based on human solidarity. Solidarity means interchange and reciprocity. This does not mean other forms are excluded. Sole proprietorship if desired is fine. Highlighted are the preferred systems. Therefore the HA is equally distanced from both the communist and capitalist systems, which fail to gain comprehensive human solidarity. That is, neither the State, nor money, give essential motivation to the human being. Genuine co-operatives of production and services are needed. Nowadays, many co-operatives are distortions of the original conception of co-operatives. This is evident in their results, in their process of decision making and so on. Also, how is a co-operative to rise and develop in the present unkind circumstances without government or business support, and with the opposition of monopolies affected by co-operatives success? Envisaged is the development of a co-operative system beyond that of an island in a communist or capitalist sea. All fields, from political and economic, to education and public services are successful to the extent they are truly co-operativist, that they serve the human being freely. Although Sweden, Yugoslavia and Israel, also Spain, have made brave and fairly comprehensive attempts at the co-operative system, no country in the world today can claim an untainted, mature model that is developing and functioning dynamically. Mostly it is the negative effects of the pull of the capitalist system that halts their progress; Zionism spoils the Israeli model. But among them are recipes for success. In the co-operatives the participants are partners, management and employees all at the same time. Their main concern is to satisfy whatever needs they have with the collective contribution in the work and by participation in decision making. The co-operative encourages solidarity, co-operation and communication. It is equalitarian and democratic. The Human Being As Central Value The slogan, 'Nothing above the human being and no human being below another,' expresses this value. There has been plenty of evidence in history where man has displaced his brother, but history is made by the human being therefore the human being can change history. Those who place someone or something above the human being cannot call themselves humanists. Therefore, they are not humanists who place money, a faith, the state, a god, a race or a political system as the central value, generating oppression and suffering around them. The most terrible atrocities have been done in the name of 'the defence of the faith', 'national security', 'prosperity and stability', 'the dictatorship of the proletariat', 'free enterprise', 'democracy', and the Humanist Association does not accept the misuse of such terms, which, if at one time were meant to serve the human being, were many times placed above - at the cost of freedom, happiness and even human life. Certainly humanism must not join that list. All instances of oppression, domination, imperialism, colonialism, slavery, discrimination, and so on, are clear examples of human beings below other human beings. Situations where some treat others as objects are the same. Some people become objects of another's desires, ambitions or manipulations. Then, the so-called 'freedom' and 'happiness' of some prevents others from exercising their freedom and their happiness. When the human being is placed as the central value, everything else has to be at the service of the growing freedom and happiness. Otherwise, whatever is not at the service of these, generally serves someone else's dubious interests and is not worthy of the human being. Man is the maker of meanings, the one who gives things a particular sense. The human being is the maker of his or her own history by the exercising of freedom and intentionality. It is this freedom and this intentionality that can be developed, progressively surpassing resistances of physical pain and mental suffering, rebelling against them, in order to build a world and a history that truly give shape to the best that beats in the heart of all good people(3) The New Cultural Form The HA subtitles its leaflets with the slogan - A Social-Political Force With Internal Life. This is stated to tell of something different because institutions are empty of real content today. For instance, people no longer believe in traditional politics. Parties have been converted into electoral machines that ignore the real aspirations of people. There is a need to change that. Before embarking on any programme of change, the Humanist Association needed to collect and interpret people's real aspirations. This has been taking place over the years of our activism. For this, emphasis was given to the importance of direct communication. Surely 'direct communication' should take place everywhere, by everybody, but sadly it is an easily observable lack. The generation of interchanges in groups that communicate directly, where people really do participate, communicate and learn how to organise themselves - besides producing a better understanding of each of our personal lives - also defines the 'internal life' spoken of in terms of being in communication with oneself. The idea is to achieve this while working with people on the aims of transformation and the ways these aims can be attained - taking into account personal experience. At any time a project may well take second priority. To achieve the aims that are proposed - direct communication is the only safeguard to success because success is a relative thing, relative to the moment, to the pressures already exerted, to the people taking part. These groups are the basic level of organisation inside the HA - human groups. Unlike in previous moments, such as gave birth to the British Humanist Society with Russell, Huxley et al, humanism today is street active and not merely discussing the problems. In the West humanism has been defined by others as an intellectual movement that since the Renaissance has brought about a revaluation of Man and human affairs, as against the God-centred speculations of the Middle Ages, beginning in 14th century Italy. Positively, the movement promoted attitudes disowning existing authorities that initiated the scientific revolution of the 16th century. The general outlook has followers calling themselves humanists to this day. Generally, the term humanism indicates that a doctrine or theory is more concerned with man than with something other than man. Some humanists looked to the literature of ancient Rome and Greece for inspiration, or studied the works of man as revealed in literature, languages, philosophy, history, theology, music and art or in the humanism displayed by disbelievers. That interest contrasted with humanist studies on the theological contents of medieval scholars. On the theological side Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) managed to maintain religious views as a Catholic Christian while supporting protestant Luther's reforms - but not its violence and dogmatism. He saw Christianity not as a mere doctrine of salvation but as a religion of the spirit based on confidence in human reason. By the 20th century the humanist label had been hijacked by those who rejected all religious beliefs. Also, there was the educational emphasis on the Humanities as opposed to the Natural Sciences. Some humanists looked to the maxim of Protagoras that - Man is the measure of all things - as interpreted by the Pragmatists where the logical and linguistic items comprising belief systems were taken as human instruments leading to distinct behaviours, they were not just passive reflections of objective structures without effects. A recent school is the humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow which is critical of those trivial researches that transgress the human and effect dehumanising actions, for example preoccupation with statistics while people are dying. Today, there is humanism with freedom of belief at its base, even a belief in non-belief. This is in the realm of evolutionary humanism founded on the deeply held conviction that evolution is the fundamental modality of all change in the universe. Thus, agencies that provoke change can be described as 'good' while those that retard it can be described as 'bad' - where the moral sense itself is a product of evolutionary change. The Huxleys, specifically T.H. and Sir Julian, were notable exponents of evolutionary humanism(4). The question for me is: 'How do I want to change things in Hong Kong', or, 'How would I like to see people change things'. Are people satisfied with the educational prospects, the housing situation, the facilities for leisure, for extra mural studies, with the medical system, police powers, environmental planning and so on. Which particular area needs positive influence? What shall I do about it? Let's say there were ten people with each one working in their different area of concern. Months went by and these ten people got better at what they were doing and collected a few helpers. Things would start changing, yes? Meanwhile these ten people exchanged experiences between themselves, studied themselves in relation to the others, in relation to the project and effort while not overlooking those not connected with any particular or worthwhile project. Say these ten developed their perspective while observing their own tendencies to violence, their own inertia, prejudices, self-doubts, tensions, and biographical blocks. Using the ideas, or tools that are integral to the individual work of self liberation that is proposed - say they could manage their equilibrium and development. The result is a new attitude; more free, open and better exchanges, deeper links and a surer base to clean friendship. This is how a new culture best has its genesis to be a bountiful gift for the next generation. That is the internal life of humanism. Defeating the Nothingness The major business groups, the higher profile political groups, the government sponsored cultural organisations and so on - seldom are these closely linked to the people. They have a personality or two or three personalities even. They issue press releases and dutifully the press give coverage and there they are, over there(5). Because of their exclusive self-concern, the lack of connections of say the business groups to the ordinary people is a reflection of the lack of connections among people generally - which results in an emptiness and a lack of confidence in the long term prospects for their future - and the system can operate very nicely in that sad condition. In fact, the system prefers this kind of emptiness because where there is no community life in the people there is no opposition, no resilience, nor any rising force to oppose deviation or going against changes in the situation for the better - and that is what conservatism is all about, not changing. Today's lack of interpersonal connection affects our Humanist Association also. Not only in that people bring their strange attitudes - their roles of bosses and underlings, experts and sheepish followers - into the Association, those they learned in that world where it seemed necessary to distrust and to put up buffers to deal with others using compensating behaviours. But also, because all the customary falseness causes people to reject what the HA offers as well - that has been my common experience - that people don't want to know about what is here offered, or they act as though it cannot be understood. This is largely a pose, a resistance. I don't operate, indeed cannot operate, based on that emptiness, an emptiness of meaning. I act to fill it, yet do not use emotive words such as love, or god, nor have I excesses of material goods, money, or a supply of free lunches to entice others, as a provisional reason to do something. Provisional meanings can be understood as those things that keep us going, be it a cigarette, the latest movie, a new couple. Temporarily they are useful but these ephemeral things cannot be taken for those deeper things that bring more lasting meaning. It is different to find a fulfilling project that is something we have always wanted to do, or that person who we have searched for, or our true self, these bring something far more solid into our lives. The former are in the realm of provisional meanings. In talking about non-violence, I am not pretending that I am able to live by such a tough code any better than another who proclaims that way, it is not as if I were a special person. I say I do not tolerate violence, in any of its forms from the psychological to ideological, as a reminder to myself. I am going to fight against all forms of violence - on Monday morning? Let's face it, I am confronted by a system that has institutionalised forms of violence that are difficult to eradicate. Well, I find that really difficult to tolerate. The way people act at work for instance. It is questionably motivated. Working together is difficult as people compete in all kinds of ways. But a humanist attitude helps in small things as well as big things. The humanist antidote is active non-violence, reaching its most clear-cut form in civil disobedience. When civil disobedience becomes strong enough, violent systems don't work any more. Nowadays opportunists are called pragmatists. Nowadays, so-called democratic governments have mastered politeness to the extent that dictatorships using physical violence look crude indeed - when you can get the same result - a power monopoly in the hands of a few - under the banner of democracy thanks to the mannerly conduct of those seemingly gentlemanly officials so adept at hiding the violence. It is the governments that are violent, the State systems. The people can become aware of the violence and can stop it at source - in themselves. Seeing it, fires our human-ness, bringing remorse and thoughtfulness. But with such a busy life there is no time to see it. The methodology of non-violent action has to comprehend, by study and evaluation with regularity, the power of the violent people. Ignoring this point can mean injury and even deaths among non-violent activists. Without information, non-violence can mean virtual suicide. Anyway, to return to the theme, people offer such resistance to what is offered here essentially because of their internal emptiness. They will not admit this though, that they feel insignificant. The insignificance comes through, for themselves, as a lack of meaning, but they bury this feeling under a weight of material accumulations and mistaken self-images, prejudices and the like. Of course everyone has a certain life, a personal history, various accidents including successes; and virtues, among the failures, among all those personal anecdotes that go to make up a life. But it is as if these personal experiences were inserted into a general line where nothing of importance happens. The internal emptiness is a reflection of a focus of suffering that people don't want to recognise or admit. To cover this suffering a whole system of imaginary compensations is put in motion, day dreams, role playing, adopting certain behaviours, mannerisms, styles of dress, provisional ideologies, so that this emptiness will not suck. Precisely, three forms of resistance can be distinguished; one is arrogance, another is self pity and the other is guilt. With arrogance there is no versatility to cleanly view a situation for what it is, so that it can be changed. With exclusive self-compassion there is a false pity projected towards oneself and this blocks making decisions to change things, it blocks decisive action. Guilt leads people to place blame on others by projection or to search for others to blame and in this way to avoid taking the blame themselves. Because of these three forms of resistance, the internal emptiness and its compensations can impose themselves. Also, because of these mechanisms - because they mechanically impose themselves - the daily thinking becomes flat - life is alienated. However, the human psychological system, the psychism, is moving. It may go through a crisis and sincerity is provoked making people go into a further search for truth. Then they can listen to such as these ideas and things begin to change - the internal emptiness is recognised, leapt over. It is recognised that secondary things do not give internal meaning but only those acts that are deeply felt and that are free and give a sense of internal growing. It is to give, going towards others, this is what brings sense and meaning. This defeats the nothingness. 1. These initial paragraphs are based on a talk titled 'About the Human' given by Silo in Buenos Aires, May 1st, 1983 - translator Anna L'Homme, Chile. 2. Quoted from The Look Within, by Silo, 1972 3. See Silo's triology Humanize the Earth, details in Further Reading. 4. See Historical Perspectives on Humanism, by Dr. Salvatore Puledda. 5. Title of an informal talk given by Silo in Mendosa, on 20th January 1991, the related paragraphs recount the substance of that talk. **************************************************** Chapter II The Human Being Preliminary Platform for a Humanist Society - Part 1. Humanism and the Human Being - British welfare state - workers and work - humanist unionism - unions and political action platform for unions - situation in Hong Kong - unions and human rights - platform for workers. Humanism and the Human Being Placing the human being central to affairs highlights workers, women and youth as the most important dynamic forces in society and as these groups are those most discriminated against, this demands immediate compensatory action on their behalf. The principal points of humanism in reference to social affairs were given in the paper, Thesis of the Humanist Party - Basis for a Government Program, following the launching of the Humanist Party and announced at the 1st Congress of the British Humanist Party, London, on 27th March, 1988. There it stated: 'The world in which we are born is a social world formed by human intentions. Only the sociability of the world has intentions. Nature is susceptible to its being intentionalized, humanized in fact, and society is both an agent and a receiver of humanization, of meaning. Human existence lies in the freedom to choose between affirming and denying the world. Human intentionality allows humans to affirm or deny conditions, therefore allowing us to be something more than just a mere reflection of those conditions. 'Society is historicity and the human being is personal and social history, and not just human nature. Nature affects only the human body, but not human intentionality which defines what is essentially human. 'It is from the condition of liberty that human beings choose to accept or reject the social conditions in which they are born, develop and die. No one can exist without confronting the social conditions in which he or she lives, and no one can avoid choosing among them. Not choosing among conditions is also a choice. The results of the choice neither confirms nor invalidates this fact. 'The notion of historicity arises from the confrontation with social conditions and is understood as preceding and continuing beyond one's existence. Thus, social activity is a continuous appraisal of history and a commitment towards the future beyond one's personal death. 'Human existence develops amidst contradictions imposed by historical conditions at both personal and social levels. Such conditions are inescapable, but no historical necessities are derived from them. Contradiction has its personal correlation in the register of suffering. Because of this, when faced by contradictory social conditions, individual human beings identify their suffering with the suffering of groups of humans that are subject to those same conditions. Social contradiction is the result of violence. The appropriation of the social whole by a part of the whole is violence, and this violence is the root of contradiction and suffering. 'Violence is expressed as taking away the intentionality and, most certainly, the liberty of others. Or, in other words, it is an action submerging the human being or large groups of human beings, into the world of nature. The different forms of violence are the expression of the denial of the human in others. Personal and social suffering must be surpassed by modifying the means of illegal and violent appropriation which have installed contradiction in the world. This struggle to overcome suffering gives continuity to the historical process and gives meaning to human beings because it affirms the intentionality denied to them by others. 'The results and development of the struggle for the humanization of the world, both natural and social, accumulate as progress. The different societies do not find themselves within the same framework or moment of process of development, they are rather in different paths of development. This means that the conditions for liberation are constantly available and are not within some distant future when the supposed 'objective conditions' will arise. 'Humanism adheres to a descriptive and interpretive methodology that has, as a point of departure in its fundamental development, the reflection of what is of immediate importance to existence. From this point of view, it aspires to a truly scientific methodology. On the other hand, in social practice, it aspires to achieve social revindication through using the methodology of non-violence. The appearance of the humanist movement is the necessary response to the crisis of increasing social dehumanization.' The British Welfare State Fifty years after the British attempt at the creation of a welfare state, and looking at the effects of capitalism and the failures of communism, humanism has to take into account the factors that lead to the dehumanisation inherent in those systems. The comprehensive welfare system in part failed because of the manner of implementation. The costs appeared and indeed were, astronomical for Britain then, a country bankrupt by war. When the Trades Union Congress (TUC) set up the enquiry that resulted in William Beveridge's 300 page report that was so radically to change Britain, the idea was rather modest - to even up the unfairness in social and medical insurance schemes - but Beveridge gave a total answer instead of patches. He attacked Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The report was first published on January 2nd 1942, mere hours after the birth of this writer who happily takes up this particular baton - that is how the cause of humanity is furthered - or hampered. Beveridge recommended a comprehensive system of societal insurance; compulsory flat-rate contributions paid by employers, the insured, and the government, to pay for universal benefits such as retirement pension, sickness and unemployment benefits, to provide bare subsistence. These would be paid to everyone without any means test. Those not covered by the insurance system could receive financial assistance under a national assistance programme which acted as a safety net. Previously, friendly societies and insurance companies had provided relief but this change meant the State became that much more powerful as it assumed the responsibility for the relief of poverty - since the Poor Law of 1601 that had been the task of local authorities. Family allowances were to be paid for each child. A free health service to all. Full employment was to be guaranteed. The insurance companies were not happy - nor were the Fascists who wanted the State to hold the material well-being of the citizens for reasons of centralised power. Problems came because the unified benefit rates for this insurance scheme were far below recommendations, by at least a third. Also, no annual uprating to counteract inflation. The result was a growing multitude dependant on the means-tested safety net. Beveridge's idea that as all paid into the scheme there was no social stigma attached to drawing benefits. But the growing numbers having to resort to the safety net, especially single mothers, invalidated his noble aim. The result was a two-tier welfare state where one group enjoyed non-stigmatised benefits while the other group on the means-tested assistance programme felt awkward and displaced. Further criticism was due to the flat-rate contributions and benefits with the first being inequitable, recognising this, contributions became earnings related, which gave redistribution of the wealth. The flat-rate benefits, at such a low rate, brought the government hand-outs to be scorned and accepted as hardly any addition at all to income for many who could afford to make their own provisions privately. This undermined commitment to the Welfare State so it was not eagerly reformed to become a workable system. Another factor that remained without an answer was the rising costs of a free health service as people absolved themselves from self-responsibility for their own health care, instead passing it to the government - with the bill. Health became an industry like any other with the main aim of cash profits. Workers and Work Workers need a Labour Policy orientated towards a model of society based on direct communication, co-operation and solidarity. Workers to participate in the management of companies. So far in Hong Kong there has been no ratification of workers' rights in the Basic Law - that safeguard is needed after 1997 - also, the freedom to strike, freedom to choose occupations, freedom to form trade unions and join them, to determine policies, to occupational health and safety and vocational training, to criticize government, to independence of affiliation and freedom of association. Retirement protection has to be properly addressed, also labour welfare as the government is not adequately furthering Central Provident Fund proposals (See Chapter VIII). But, life is not all about paid work, however, that idea has not got around yet and until it does, paid work will remain something that takes up most of everyone's days. It is a long spent but probably largely forgotten issue that labour is not to be treated as a commodity. Also, that production is for use, not to make profits. While the crass commercialism extant today may try to laugh off these expressions dear to socialists, they point at the very problem. What is bought or bartered is a person's time and skill and products - it is not as though these existed up in the air in no relation to the point of origin. The word luxury comes into use as soon as production goes to meet a market-led need; beer may be viewed as a need but not necessarily an imported special brew. The tendency is for those who control the markets to produce for their own whims while the real needs of many go unrequited. There have been various attempts at establishing a variety of systems aimed at a better life for the majority: anarchism; collectivism; communism; trade unionism, socialism and now, predominantly, capitalism. Humanism is not a system to be placed among these categories, rather co-operativism would be its preferred system. Humanism remaining something more than a type of administration of an economy with all its paraphernalia safeguarding the garnered wealth. Humanism is better viewed as an attitude in life because any of the mentioned systems can be humanised - even anarchism. But why speak of humanist-socialism, or capitalism with a human face, or even the new democracy of communism where the idealised communist state fits very well with the theoretical basis of a humanized society? What about enlightened self-interest which could be the operative norm in capitalism. Excellent. All very good. But..... Anarchism is the holy carrot for ever out of reach; collectivism and communism tend to look at production and that is where nationalisation comes in, part and parcel of the collectivist State, and socialism. The total monopoly. No equality. Ugh! Communism is the socialism of consumption but it never got there. It got stuck at the level of the dictatorship of the proletariat with all the weight placed on the dictatorship. Like the anarchist dream, the communist 'party' never took place. The socialists wanted to appropriate everything to the State as they wrestled with the 'problem' of property, of the absentee landlord and factory owner - the gentleman farmer. So the farm hand took charge and the farm starting working at the mental level of the farm hand which was only sufficient within the limited brief of that one's job understanding. The State was supposed to diminish but instead was noted to flourish because at the level of the farm hand a manager is needed, because management is quite out of that fellow's ken and somebody had to do it. Socialism and capitalism's individualism are complementary when looked at from some distance, with the difference one of emphasis only - for the social whole which looks after the individual or the individual who looks after society - taking the best cases. The question turned around the relation between the individual and society; noting that there was a difference between State and society. It is the link between State and society that needs questioning. The State failed because it tried to be all-inclusive; parliament failed because it was based on the hypocrisy of universal representation where in trying to please everyone no-one was satisfied or a faction was condescendingly so. There was a strong argument for functional democracy and for representation to be functional representation as per the Fabian's proposals by courtesy of Sydney Webb. That is, if the concept can stretch from its Guild Socialism roots to today. In functional democracy, function is held as of prime importance, modifying form and structure so they contribute the utmost to democratise a society. There lies the turning rotor of leadership according to the need of the moment; there lies an office taken with humility; there lies the need above all else for co-operation. The leader is then best understood as a co-ordinator. Maybe ownership - of the means of production and the avenues of consumption - is not the kernel question of the day as it has in the past posed itself, rather control is paramount. If government controls industries and enterprises, it is less important who owns them, as long as government is free to tax them. Another pertinent question: is the best way that of revolution or reform? The posit in this writing is for the way of evolution. Nothing has to be broken down, what is failing will break down. No patches that's all. The point is to start building the new now using the methodology of co-operative systems and processes with active non-violence. The approach is humanist. Humanist unionism With full implementation of a co-operative economy - workers' unions would be redundant. That not being the case the HA wants to see a labour policy oriented towards a model of society based on direct communication, co-operation and solidarity with conditions of free association because without this unions don't function properly. The principles embodying worker rights cannot be separated from the general body of human rights, they are inter-dependant and indivisible. Equal attention and urgent consideration has to be given to the implementation, promotion and protection of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Single unions per trade, including a plurality of factions, with proportional representation of minority groups, to strengthen worker solidarity while preventing monopolies of power by factions. A union has to be free, independent and self-responsible and any unification shall not be imposed through government intervention or by legislative means. At work, freedom of association is expressed in the exercise by workers of their rights to form or join trade unions of their own choosing, to freely enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employers and to undertake industrial action or strike in defense of their rights and interests. The HA points out that there is a difference between consultation and collective bargaining - unions must have the right of collective bargaining. The problems that afflict and oppress workers have their roots in society. They are rooted in the concepts, value systems and principles operating in society. Also, in the unequal distribution of wealth and power among groups and sectors and nations, and in the structures and institutions, which cause dependency and give rise to negative discrimination, created, rationalised and conserved by their interplay. With the passage of time these roots have spread to the worker who goes for easy second-best instead of the often-times difficult best. The results can be seen in worker apathy and flight from challenge in decisions that compromise or even negate human dignity and the transcendental meaning. Also, in the greed that perverts the alternatives the worker has devised, conceived in human rationale. The struggle then is against these dehumanising and unjust forces, not against individuals or particular groups. In the human dimension of this struggle humanism postulates a future that opens the human being to transcendence. It is in this unwritten article of transcendence where faith and hope is placed, in the light of knowledge. The idea is to build an economy characterised by social and responsible ownership of the means of production and distribution; by workers participation in the management; to attain just and effective distribution and further, responsible use of the products, opportunities and services, with a democratic planning of the economy at all levels. Free trade unionism - non-aligned - in its true sense is a positive factor in the social, economic and political development of any country and as such must enjoy the full recognition and full protection of the State and all society. The negative image that hangs over unionism arose because its men and women have dealt squarely with important and difficult issues which efforts were maligned by the power holders and their slanderous comments repeated by the mass media. Union leaders are by and large good people. The guarantees are in the safekeeping of unions that are free from politicians and political groups, free from political control, free from capitalist or employer domination, and free from labour racketeers. But, everything depends on the workers' ability to internalise principled co-operation with a self governing orientation and to express this orientation in daily acts as individuals and as organisations. Of immediate concern is the impact of recent political and economic developments on labour relations, trade unionism and workers conditions. The consequences of the international crises, particularly of protectionism, global debt and currency fluctuations on trade union action is another problem, which includes the role of multinational corporations and internationally government organisations(1). It has been noted that the adoption of slogans of prosperity and stability and emphasis on territorial security and the implementation of policies consistent with such priorities result in the setting aside of human rights. But trade unions are engines of long-term growth thanks to secure workers, not hindrances to development, as they have been wrongly painted. Failing big business looks for scapegoats yet it is their plans that went awry, their projections that were proved unreal! Trade unionism means working to go beyond mere bread and butter unionism toward socially committed trade unionism with trade union initiated and voluntary restructuring and unification at national and regional levels; with assertive but responsible and independent trade union activities promoting workers solidarity and removing trade union dependence in any form, and participation of labour unions in housing, health and education planning. Optimised labour relations demands the removal of all restrictions on, and promotion of, freedom of association and free collective bargaining in the private, public, and agricultural sectors based on pertinent ILO Conventions and Recommendations, such as Conventions 87, 98, 151, 141, 144, etc. It demands the promotion of an active interest in tripartism; a broadened scope of workers participation in enterprises in profit sharing schemes and step-by-step reduction of management prerogatives within the collective bargaining framework or by enactment of appropriate laws. Also, by the promotion of justice and democracy in the new models of labour relations. Trade union development needs the restoration of human values in the conception and process of development; territorial self reliance and regional economic, political and cultural integration; while satisfying domestic basic human needs before exportation of primary products. The path of wholesome unionism is greatly helped if the industrialization process is based on indigenous resources and on proximate resources of nearby countries and markets. It also requires that multinationals complement the regional development objectives and the promotion of social responsibility among businessmen and social obligation on enterprises. The new economic order needs the consistent upholding of the principle of sovereign equality of nations as chief determinant in the decision making process of financial institutions; supplemented by the stewardship concept in the use of property owned in common; knowledge as universal property - everybody must have access to it. In technology transfers technologically advanced countries should be duty bound to share their technology for free, entitling themselves only to reimbursement of costs for keeping and improving the common wealth. Promotion of social justice in international relations compels developed nations to contribute a certain percentage of their GNP into the economies of the developing nations as they have used the developing countries resources in their ascent. Where appropriate, negotiation for easier repayment terms, reduction or cancellation of the debts of Third World countries; fairer distribution of international liquidity, especially for the developing nations, through an International Central Payments System; price stabilization of basic agricultural and mineral exports, with price rises kept in line with increases in prices of products from their processing and a review of the 'middleman' trade; just and equitable exchange of resources - goods, capital and labour; and, application of Rules and Regulations and Codes of Practice or International Anti-Trust Laws on multinational corporations. The New Economic Order has to provide full employment; free access to advanced technologies including information on how such technologies operate; free access to markets of developed countries, with the protective policies gradually abolished; reduction of wasteful consumption and exploitation of the earth's resources; partnership of developing countries in development; system of consultation to regulate international trade and activities of multinational corporations that operate across several countries, owing allegiance to none except their own interest; equal distribution of wealth. To manage the foregoing it is recommended to systematically re-orientate the entirety of society from either wholly capitalist or totalitarian postures. Also strongly recommended is unity of action among trades unions in concerted endeavour; principled co-operation among trade unions and other organisations; legitimate involvement in political action within the democratization process; democratic participation of people (workers) who are themselves the subject and object of human liberation, as the means of achieving development; tripartite negotiations that include government to ensure mutual respect and the recognition of the dignity of labour; emphasis on particularised and localised development to move away from standardization and universalized development that destroys cultural differences; close regulation of procedures governing the termination of employment resulting from mechanization and advancing technology or from mergers, divisions and sale of enterprises; the upholding of the right to strike as a last option; support for cottage industries and small-scale marine and agriculture based home industries that the less able can handle; formation of self-help committees dovetailed to local community needs; general education on trade unionism - because it is still at the first stage, accepted neither by workers nor employers; creation of centres of social contact for working youth; institution of Provident Fund social security system for the aged, infirm and unemployed; development of political and social alternatives, redefining terms, on a pro-human life basis; helping establish contacts among workers with unionism as the hub of activities, with Workers Clubs offering more than pastimes. Those in the labour movement to present an alternative world and territorial or national development strategy that leads to the democratization of power and wealth, doing this by linking with other sectors - eg., social scientists - instead of acting in isolation, with the ILO used to redress grievances arising from violations of human rights and trade union rights. Practical measures that can be