This Great Stage of Fools

Democracy is about consensus, give and take; it's not about abuse, violence nor giving and taking punches.

​Thus, the scene that unfolded in our LegCo chamber on Saturday morning is both shocking and frightening. Matters have moved beyond rational debate into the realm of the beer-hall putsch. 

We could debate the merits of the extradition bill, LegCo procedures and house-rules, but there is no point. Neither side is listening nor has any willingness to listen.

In my opinion, if you wanted to give democracy a bad name, you couldn't have staged a better performance. 

The litmus test of a real democratic system is when you lose a debate or vote, you take it with good grace and struggle on through legitimate channels.

When the USA elected Donald Trump, Obama didn't block his way to the White House or surround him with yelling goons. No, he acted with dignity. Even Hilary Clinton had the courtesy to turn up at Trump’s inauguration. 

"I'm here today to honour our democracy and its enduring values," Hillary tweeted on the morning of the inauguration in February 2017. 

What values are our lame politicians signalling? If you’re defeated, then it's acceptable to assault and block your opponents physically; use fascist tactics of noise, intimidation and throw yourself at them.​

Then feign injuries by crashing to the floor, to seek sympathy suggesting your opponents caused the harm; if you can get yourself in an ambulance even better. 

My concern is that the brutality we witnessed legitimises the aggression of young hotheads on the streets. Moreover, if so-called democrats politicians can block corridors and doorways, then anyone can. 

They've lowered the bar. I'll make a prediction; the same tactics will soon be used against them. The dye is cast.

So where do we go from here? LegCo has descended into chaos. Reasoned debate is no longer possible in a climate of vitriol.

It's no good Claudia Mo yelling that everyone else is to blame, when her antics and those of her cohort contributed to this mess.

​Each side has erected it barricades; they've dug-in ready for a long battle. 

Meanwhile, they've provided Beijing with all the ammunition it needs to cast doubt on the merits of democracy. 

The BBC reported Humphrey Hawksley observed in his book 'Democracy Kills' … “the British colonial government and, it turned out, the non-democratic Chinese gave Hong Kong people enough dignity, wealth and freedom to make democracy a worthy vision, but not one worth dying for" 

​The so-called democrats are not dying for democracy; they're killing it.