China’s dissident Ai Weiwei warned of the political correctness of the United States, saying that its perpetuation had already turned the country into an authoritarian state without people knowing it.
About Ai Weiwei: 64-year-old Ai is a contemporary artist who openly criticizes the Chinese Communist Party. In 2011, he was imprisoned for 81 days during a government crackdown targeting writers, human rights lawyers, and other activists.
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The love protest against government oppression is reflected in his work. His 2014 project, @Large, turned San Francisco’s infamous Alcatraz prison into a huge exhibition featuring 176 portraits of prisoners of conscience and political asylum seekers from around the world. New York Times..
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At that time, my love passport had been revoked. When restored in 2015, he moved to Berlin to start a new life. However, it wasn’t until the summer of 2017 that I could see portraits made from 1.2 million Lego at an exhibition in Washington, DC. Smithsonian Magazine..Love now lives in Portugal after living in Berlin and England
What he says: Love shared his dark outlook on the United States while promoting him biography In a new interview with PBS “Firing Line”. He pointed out that authoritarians cannot be alone and instead have to rely on systems that support their views.
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In his book, Ai explained Mao Zedong’s instructions during the Cultural Revolution. It was distributed at night. He compared them to former President Donald Trump’s “Midnight Tweet.”
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But Ai disagreed when asked if he thought Trump was an authoritarian. He said the United States is already acting like an authoritarian nation, many of which are related to efforts to “unify with certain political correctness.”
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“In many ways you are already in an authoritarian state. You just don’t know that,” Ai told Margaret Hoover, the host of the “Firing Line.”
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Love explained that in today’s technology, we know more than we really understand. “information [has] It gets stuck, but we really … don’t have the knowledge because you aren’t working. You don’t have to do anything. You just think you are being purified by the specific idea you agree with. It poses a danger to society, an extremely divided society, “he said.
reaction: Love remarks have evoked various reactions on social media.Meanwhile, China’s state-owned opinion piece Global Times The artist, commonly hailed as a “candid hero” by the “Western elite,” said he had not received the usual praise for his comments.
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“Political correctness is not the language of free people,” wrote a YouTube user.
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Another paraphrased his comment as follows:
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The Global Times article criticized American hypocrisy as part of it. But when it comes to criticizing its own system, the American elite is hypocritically less tolerant. “
Featured image via PBS / “Firing Line” with Margaret Hoover
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