Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest

Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest

  • Downloads：8467
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-09 16:51:06
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Vijay Gokhale
  • ISBN：9354225357
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

'I recall being woken by the sound of tanks moving down the Avenue of Eternal Peace。 It was 5 o'clock on the morning of 4 June。 Tanks， APCs and troop trucks were sweeping down the avenue。 Citizens ran for cover。 Helicopters hovered above。 Foreign media claimed that Chinese troops had fired into the crowds with several hundred casualties。'

More than three decades later， the Tiananmen Square incident refuses to be forgotten。 The events that occurred in the summer of 1989 would not only set the course for China's politics but would also re-define its relationship with the world。 China's message was clear: it remained committed to market-oriented reform， but it would not tolerate any challenge to the supremacy of the Chinese Communist Party。 In return for economic prosperity， the Chinese have surrendered some rights to the state。 A democratic future seems far away。

Vijay Gokhale， then a young diplomat serving in Beijing， was a witness to the drama that unfolded in Tiananmen Square。 This unique account brings an Indian perspective on an event in China's history that the Chinese government has been eager to have the world forget。

Download

Reviews

Jose Miguel ，

Rumsfeld （you don't have to like him to appreciate the net quote） once said "。。。We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say， we know there are some things we do not know。 But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know。 And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries， it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones。"Nassim Taleb's Incerto is one of those tools that help us deal with this predicament， especially in a Rumsfeld （you don't have to like him to appreciate the net quote） once said "。。。We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say， we know there are some things we do not know。 But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know。 And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries， it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones。"Nassim Taleb's Incerto is one of those tools that help us deal with this predicament， especially in a world filled with naive "experts" and decision-makers who put people in danger because of their blindness or bravado。 You won't regret starting this journey！ 。。。more

Kevin Mackey ，

Brilliant。 The most original and profound work written in the 21st century （that I have encountered）

Narendra ，

One of the best series of books i ever read 。 Antifragile is just amazing 。

Taylor Newill ，

a billion monkeys might write the Iliad， but what will they write next

Natalía Papadopoúlou ，

That's a heavy book in every possible way。 I had a hard time deciding what to feel about it as I was torn between the ideas illustrated vs the way it is written。 I felt some observations I had were finally justified （with mathematical models even） but I hated the writing。 The blocks were messed up alternating between personal stories， scientific evidence， evidence and theories/research from other authors。 I just felt it could have been in better order and explained with so much less text。 In the That's a heavy book in every possible way。 I had a hard time deciding what to feel about it as I was torn between the ideas illustrated vs the way it is written。 I felt some observations I had were finally justified （with mathematical models even） but I hated the writing。 The blocks were messed up alternating between personal stories， scientific evidence， evidence and theories/research from other authors。 I just felt it could have been in better order and explained with so much less text。 In the end I decided to rate this book based on the developed theory， as the author is actually not a writer。 Why would anyone read this bundle？ I would say go for it if you ever felt sometimes observations of incidents don't add up linearly and are tenacious enough to read through the explanation of why that happens :） 。。。more

Fabian ，

My absolute favorite author， living or dead。

Terry Tucker ，

The pearls of wisdom and information are tucked away in this book。 The metaphors and allegory are excellent at conveying the ideas and contest， the problem is they are buried and the book is tedious to read。 There is a lot of rambling and what could have been succinctly covered in a few pages devolves into chapter。 Buying the bundle does not make it any easier。 I am completely underwhelmed and most certainly have buyers remorse。 The only real good book is the original - The Black Swan。

Bruno Figares ，

A must read seriewIrreverent， witty， profound。I came into NNT's other book， fooled by randomness through a recomendation from a friend。 Immediately decided I was going to read all of them A must read seriewIrreverent， witty， profound。I came into NNT's other book， fooled by randomness through a recomendation from a friend。 Immediately decided I was going to read all of them 。。。more

Gavin ，

The most vibrant presentation of sceptical empiricism since Dawkins stopped being beautiful。Black Swan is a furious pompous attack on macroeconomics， journalism， and risk modelling via heuristics and biases; so it is an amazing introduction to modelling。 But it's also an entire original worldview， applying to history， policy， science， and personal conduct。 This is taken even further （too far？） in Antifragile， which is more or less a work of evolutionary epistemology， or evolutionary practical et The most vibrant presentation of sceptical empiricism since Dawkins stopped being beautiful。Black Swan is a furious pompous attack on macroeconomics， journalism， and risk modelling via heuristics and biases; so it is an amazing introduction to modelling。 But it's also an entire original worldview， applying to history， policy， science， and personal conduct。 This is taken even further （too far？） in Antifragile， which is more or less a work of evolutionary epistemology， or evolutionary practical ethics。 There's a lot of redundancy between them; Fooled by Randomness gives you the highest signal:rant ratio。The first three books are largely critical， hacking away at theory-blindness， model error， and the many kinds of people he sees as possessing unearned status （economists， journalists， consultants， business-book writers）: this is the upswing， a chaotic attempt to give general positive advice in a world that dooms general positive advice。Every other page has something worth hearing， for its iconoclasm， or a Latin gobbet， or catty anecdote， if not something globally and evidently true。 I think he is right about 30% of the time， which is among the highest credences I have for anyone。 I only think I am 35% right， for instance。 But a core point is that he thinks his approach should work even given our intractable ignorance。The core point， repeated a hundred times for various domains: In real life， many systems deteriorate without an irregular supply of stressors （non-fatal negative events）， and actually benefit from them by constructively overreacting。 By robbing such 'antifragile' systems of stressors， modern approaches to managing them do damage in the guise of helping out。 Taleb was my introduction to the post-classical theory of reason， but the project overlaps a bit with the LessWrong school I now favour。 Underneath （i。e。 in the technical appendices）， his approach is very similar but with more conservative goals。 I think Taleb saved me years of synthesis and conceptual invention。His conduct on Twitter （ridiculous chest-beating， insulting anyone who disagrees with him， including great scholars like Tetlock and Thaler） is embarrassing， but does not detract from the accomplishment。 In one sentence: Extraordinarily rude man marries classical ethics to modern mathematics and cognitive science。 To be read when: young; if you have a news habit; when despairing of university economics。Galef type: Data 3 - highlights patterns in the world & Theory 1&2&3&4&5 - a general concept or lens you can use to analyze many different things， & Style 1 - teaches principles of thinking directly。 。。。more

Karl ，

2017I have come to absorb Taleb's ideas， to the extent that some of my friends who haven't read him probably know the ideas quite well just by osmosis。 His effect on me includes the following:1。 I trust the time tested more than what obviously is true。2。 My default position is that experts are frauds。3。 Old institution can be trusted to do things right， but their beliefs can be arbitrarily ridiculous。 4。 Systems need volatility。 If you micromanage and remove every day stresses the system can 2017I have come to absorb Taleb's ideas， to the extent that some of my friends who haven't read him probably know the ideas quite well just by osmosis。 His effect on me includes the following:1。 I trust the time tested more than what obviously is true。2。 My default position is that experts are frauds。3。 Old institution can be trusted to do things right， but their beliefs can be arbitrarily ridiculous。 4。 Systems need volatility。 If you micromanage and remove every day stresses the system can become brittle and collapse into chaos the day you can no longer protect it。5。 We are herd animals and get infected into believing fashionable narratives about the world。 We do not see the nonsense of today。 To protect oneself one should try to isolate oneself from news papers and fashions。6。 Our society cares more about whether the stories people tell sound scientific， than whether their actions actually work。7。 It is dishonorable to support an idea in theory， if you do not also do so through your actions。 8。 Our meritocracy has serious flaws。 We look at the quantifiable， even if the numbers are meaningless。 By default we trust those with education in a subject， and are fooled into believing that educating people generates skill， when it actually causes theory induced hubris。 My own ideas build upon those of Taleb。 They could be listed as this::0。 Most of the world is to complex to understand。 We are better of looking at what survives the competition。 Evolutionary processes automatically find good solutions， without a need for us to understand why stuff works。1。 Anything that has survived long in competition should be reckoned as fit。2。 Anything new or strange is most likely to fail competing with the old。3。 There is a chance that the strange and untested will win。4。 It is only by generating lots of competition and strangeness that gets to compete with the established that we can trust the establishment。5。 The world should maximize strangeness。 Communist Russia was a terrible idea， Communist Cuba was a good one （communism was strange and most likely to fail， to big a risk to test it in a big country）。6。 A libertarian society with low entry barriers for competition is most likely the right one; as these allow for competition and fast testing of strange ideas in all parts of society。7。 But strange alternatives should also be tested。 Sweden's socialism probably is bad for us Swedes， but our radicalism is a worth while experiment for the world。8。 As an individual you are best of conforming to tradition。 E。g。 the fact that monogamous marriage has spread to almost the entire world and survived for millennia， means it makes sense even if we think it is stupid。 Taking a random drug is most likely to hurt you。9。 Society benefits from the strangeness of its individuals。 E。g。 anyone who tries a new kind of poly-amorous relationship has a small chance of finding a formula that works for the masses。 Other examples: Athletes taking drugs is a service to mankind， there is a small chance that they will come across something with minuscule side effects and large benefits。 Doping should be allowed in all sports， provided that scientists got to document what you took and the health effects。Ideas bout what appeals to me so much in the IncertoI have reread all of the Incerto at least four times。 I and Taleb have similar tastes and personalities， so reading his books is like reading letters from a more experienced and wiser version of myself。 Some readers think Taleb should be more concise， that his books only require a fifth of the pages he uses， for me the irrelevant excursions are as valuable as the rest。As one of the 100 possible examples I will mention what Taleb writes about his education。 He payed a minimum of effort to the curriculum， provided he would pass， while investing vast energy into following his intellectual whims， reading the books that tickled his fancy - and that he hence actually absorbed， thereby learning a lot more effectively than he could be being a good student。 These things I can immediately apply to my own life， and are real gems， but then that is only because I desire the same things as Taleb。 I can use him as a role modelTaleb versus rationalismMy other intellectual role model is Eliezer Yudkowsky， who in many ways is diametrically opposed to Taleb。 Where Taleb distrusts reason and takes every chance to scorn scientism （the naive use of science）， Eliezer tries to reform science。 Eliezer advocates a science based on Bayesian reasoning， and tries to make himself as rational as possible by becoming aware of and compensating for the mental biases that Taleb （if we exaggerate a bit） thinks make reason impossible。 These men are unified by their interest in the flaws in human reason， in history and morality， but their taste， style and attitude are opposites。 Yudkowsky dreams about creating immortality， Taleb sees it as immoral， Yudkowsky thinks great progress is just around the corner， Taleb thinks great stagnation is around the corner and that society mostly develops by debunking fraudsters。 I find myself supporting both men。 I am not in the middle， but I rather support both wholeheartedly on many in many of their beliefs， while thinking that one is just wrong at times。 I am closer to Taleb in personality but when the two disagree I intellectually agree with Yudkowsky。Maybe Taleb feels free to be extremely wrong on issues outside his control， such as immortality。 After all Taleb says that （I paraphrase） "Changing a mans mind is the same as changing his tastes" and T fundamentally does not believe in rationality。 Every so often he out of hand dismisses something without proper justification， and I guess this is just him being himself and floundering his tastes， not well thought out opinions。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0