Editorial: Shaking Taiwan out of complacency

Amid waves stirred up by President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "one country on each side" remarks, there is one thing interesting to observe -- so far all the opinion polls show that more than half of the people in Taiwan agree with him. More than 60 percent support a referendum for determining Taiwan's future. Clearly, Chen has spoken for the majority of the people.

Why can't the people of Taiwan openly say who they are? Why can't they say that the emperor has no clothes? Why should "one country on each side" statement be labeled "Taiwan independence?" Perhaps this is an example of what former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) called "the sorrow of being Taiwanese" -- that people can't even say that they are human beings.

Everything its positive and negative effect. Chen has been slammed by a minority in Taiwan for being what they call a big sinner, but if we look at the positive side, his "one country on each side" has forced the people of Taiwan to think about who they really are, where they are going and what they want for their future. Lee gave people a similar shock when he redefined cross-strait relations as being "special state-to-state" in nature.

The people of Taiwan have grown used to living comfortably. They only care about making money, never thinking about the future of their country or about what kind of government may rule them one day. Is this part of the depravity of a people with a history of being colonized? Can they make compromises to the point of not caring who will rule their country as long as they have food to eat?

People Taiwan suffer from a serious disease -- the disease of ignorance. It takes guts for those in government to apply shock therapy in a bid to rouse the people of Taiwan from their comfortable stupor. Only such shock therapy can bring about a "revolution of consciousness."

In some countries, progress is brought about by a "revolution of consciousness" that may force their peoples to reject their past, thoroughly subvert their traditional values and gain a new understanding of their way of living and the future of their countries. The transition of Eastern Europe's communist countries to democracy is a good example.

The people of Taiwan have been too lucky. Even democratization was endowed on them from the top down. They did not have to rely on their own efforts or shed blood for democracy. It's because democracy came to us too cheaply that we are seeing endless chaos.

Since the people of Taiwan have not paid the due price for democracy, we must have a bloodless "revolution of consciousness." Otherwise the people of Taiwan will never know who they are and will always need someone else to define them. Is there anything under the sun more sorrowful than this? The people of Taiwan, bravely and loudly say who you are and what you are!