The relevance of a month's passing is simply that I've forgotten the details of the posts to which I was responding, and the process of dredging up the whole line of thought becomes that much more complicated and time consuming. Which of course increases the temptation to move on to other things.
When detailing your recommended policies - and I don't think anybody here is about to lynch anybody for speaking their mind - don't forget to include the critical bits: what you hope that these policies will achieve, and why you think these policies will achieve that goal.
Meanwhile, the harsh rhetoric emerging from the US has encouraged the President of Taiwan to engage in some harsh rhetoric of his own, which has provoked further harsh rhetoric from Beijing, which in turn has provoked more harsh rhetoric from Washington DC. Fairly soon we shall be rattling sabres, and while I don't expect it to go farther than that, the whole incident has not improved the regional climate, and will certainly not make life any easier for dissidents in China.
Harsh rhetoric, even in pursuit of laudable goals, is a dangerous instrument; it often ends up provoking a response opposite to the one intended. |
