re: "Set kids a good example" (BP, Editorial, January 9, 2020)
Dear editor,
While it is true that critical thinking and democracy are both excellent things that cannot threaten what is true and good, it is equally true that for old ways founded solidly on dogmatic injustice, inequality and unreason, "progressive thought [is] a threat or a challenge to norms, traditions or the status quo." It is, therefore, natural that those who teach violence as a means to serving their ends, which is what every coup against democracy exemplifies, must distrust critical thinking. It is, similarly, inevitable that a status quo founded on morally questionable tradition will distrust democracy, which form of government welcomes critical questioning of old ways. It cannot surprise that the ruling Thai leaders set children the example of violence, suppression by rule of law, and fake claims protected from honest inquiry.
Known to be fiction even by children, violent video games, sexually open movies and the like do not harm society. Real harm, in contrast, is done by the real examples of corruption, violence, nepotism and unfettered greed protected by unjust law that coup installed politicians have set Thai youth for many decades; the resulting harm to society is seen in what Thailand is today. A long history of suppressing democracy, in collusion with unjust law that represses critical thinking to protect bad tradition, has made modern Thai society in their image, as reflected in the gross inequality where a greedy 1% own 67% of the nation, in the widespread expectation of injustice at the hands of law made up to protect the privileged few, and in an educational system that famously fails Thai children. This is the real example that bad people who come from or support coups teach Thai children.
Is there any reason to think Thai children such fools unable to tell fiction from reality that a simplistic slogan, a fake platitude however cute, will defeat the actual examples set before their seeing eyes?
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on january 10, 2020, under the title "Tradition corrupts" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1832434/tradition-corrupts
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