I read the article “The Battle For Hong Kong” by Patricia Smith in the New York Times Upfront Magazine and it is about protesters in Hong Kong demanding for democratic elections, but authorities are giving them a hard time. I consider this an injustice because the citizens of China want to choose their leaders, in other words, the people who run the government in which they live in. I believe that they should have a choice in that, and obviously the protestors believe that too. These people are going to affect their lives majorly in every decision that they make, and I think that it is wrong for them to have no say in who those people are. Of course, not everyone would be happy with the decision even if they did operate with democratic elections, but the majority of the country would feel that they were in good hands.
What this makes me think about in my own life is how lucky I am to live in a country where the people can choose the authorities and representatives of our governments, and we don’t have to settle for people chosen for us. But, this also reminds me of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. In both places, authorities are spraying protestors with tear gas, and pepper spray, and are arresting people. In fact, the protest in Hong Kong is also called the “Umbrella Revolution” because protestors have to hold up umbrellas to block the tear gas that authorities are spraying at them. These two situations are similar because in both places, the people want their rights, and they want to be heard for the things that have happened to them. Overall, I think that people in Hong Kong should get to vote for their leaders, and their situation makes me feel very lucky that I live in a country where our citizens can do just that.
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