Freedom
How We Lose It and How We Fight Back
by Nathan Law
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Pub Date Dec 07 2021 | Archive Date Dec 28 2021
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Description
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A timely manifesto on freedom from Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activist Nathan Law, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
In this dispatch from exile, Hong Kong political activist Nathan Law explores the meaning of freedom—and shows how easily freedoms can be eroded or dismantled. Freedom is fragile—it is not a given, and each generation must fight to protect it, whether in emerging democracies or in the Western world, where freedom is too often taken for granted.
Law sets out to prove the value of what we take to be inherently bestowed upon us as human beings, and to expose the Chinese government as it barricades its citizens from enjoying freedom. He lays out how the government controls what people know and are allowed to think, suppresses the truth, and undermines democratic processes by censoring its own members. If freedom is a basic human right, then why were lawyers, journalists, and activists being jailed, and why has Nathan Law been labeled a wanted fugitive?
Rooted in his own experience as a former elected official and student leader of the Umbrella Movement, Law explores not just how important freedom is in principle for human beings to thrive, but how it is put into practice. What does it mean to be able to speak freely, and what happens when the concept collapses? How can the law both protect and abolish our freedoms? And why should we place such importance on free and fair elections? What does it mean to be truly free? Nathan Law has worked tirelessly to apply pressure in order to reshape freedom in Hong Kong, because it is with freedom that we’ll live as we’re meant to be.
Advance Praise
“An essential and timely read, warning policymakers, advocates, and all people of the erosion to freedom happening before our eyes and equipping us to combat this challenge.”—Speaker Nancy Pelosi
“We must all continue to speak up and stand up for Nathan Law and for those who fight for freedom in Hong Kong.”—TIME magazine, “The 100 Most Influential People of 2020”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781615198900 |
| PRICE | $15.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 240 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Jennifer S, Bookseller
This book was SO POWERful. Depressing as heck, but SO IMPORTANT for ALL to read. Not just to shine light on China (and please note, I am talking about the Chinese Communist Party, NOT the country, culture or people, BIG difference) and all of the human rights violations that are happening there, but also showing step by step how the rights of the people are so quickly, quietly and EFFORTLESSLY systematically stripped from them by those in power.
It's TERRIFYING. What this brave man has gone through and is going through, is heartbreaking and scary. I wish him and all who are living in places that aren't free to one day be able to feel freedom and to live it.
I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty of the book, other than to say, if you are anti-slavery, then you should be anti-Chinese Communist Party. The human rights violation they commit are atrocious and shouldn't be funded by us buying things that say "Made in China".
Again, I am NOT anti-China. The culture, the people, the country are all beautiful and have SO MUCH to teach the rest of the world. But the government in charge? Not so much. (I'm also not thrilled with my country's leaders, so I am not throwing stones at others, we need to step it up too. We could and should be doing better.)
This book is incredibly powerful and scary. I had to put it down a lot after only reading a few pages at a time. It is depressing, but necessary to open our eyes to what is going on around us in our home and in the homes of others. Not to be nosy or to be "saviors", but to learn and help if we can without acting like we are doing a favor or we are better than those we assist.
I haven't been able to stop talking about this book to my friends and family and at the store. 100% recommend to everyone. 5, super scary and the author is incredibly brave for writing this, stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and The Experiment for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
