the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 16, 2001
Encouraged by the White House, a number of U.S. politicians denounced the awarding of the 2008 Olympic Games to China. China, they said, has a bad human rights record. They pointed in particular to China’s frequent resort to the death penalty.
According to the best figures available, China executed about 1,500 people in the year 2000. In other words, China, with its population around 1.26 billion people, was killing people at a rate of one for every 840,000 people. That same year, the state of Texas under Bush executed 40 people. Texas, with its population of a little more than 20 million, managed to beat China, killing one person for every 500,000 people.
In other words, Texas, this supposed citadel of morality and goodness, was more blood-thirsty than China.
Maybe this is why Bush suddenly discouraged the protest. One of his advisers must have run the figures for him.