To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons.
Interpretation
Self-awareness is achieved through diverse opinions and the freedom to express oneself.
In this quote, Ma Jian emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression as a fundamental human right that enables individuals to develop self-awareness. He argues that when people are exposed to a variety of opinions and allowed to express their thoughts freely, they are empowered to think critically and form their own identities; without such freedoms, they risk becoming mindless automatons, lacking individuality and depth of thought.
In practice
This quote could be used during a speech advocating for free speech rights.
After the Tiananmen Massacre, I felt compelled not only to continue writing but to actively resist the restrictions placed on freedom of speech. I set up the publishing company in Hong Kong, with offices in Shenzhen in mainland China, and managed to publish works of fiction, philosophy, and politics by unapproved authors.
Before the counter-culture revolutionary Li Lian was executed in 1971 for criticising the Cultural Revolution, pour policemen pushed her face against the window of a truck, lifted her shirt and cut out her kidneys with a surgical knife,’ Mau Sen said, his face stony and white. ‘I think that removing the organs of convicts while they are still alive is too much. It completely contravenes medical ethics.’ ‘This is a dissection class, not a political meeting,’ Sun Chunlin said.
I don't think the people of the slave states will ever consider the subject of slavery in its true light till some other argument is resorted to other than moral persuasion.
If I thought that everything I did was determined by my circumstancse and my psychological condition, I woudl feel trapped.
You are a slave of what you need in your soul.
We have long become overgrown with calluses; we no longer hear people being killed. ("X")
The unvarnished truth is that we have spent the last decade funding the machinery of war, and our children have been sacrificed.
The predominance of mind is no more than a stage in the evolution of consciousness. We need to go on to the next stage now as a matter of urgency; otherwise, we will be destroyed by the mind, which has grown into a monster.
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