It is easy to resort to calling Ma Ying-Jeou and the administration evil, treacherous and, more often, retarded, but the truth might be less obvious (not that he is smart either). This usual dichotomy between the good and evil is perhaps a result of both sides looking through the lens of their idiosyncratic views. The chances are, the Ma administration is pushing the Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement (CSSTA) with exceptionally high volition because they truly believes it is good and that they are on the right side of history. It is more likely that Ma is lacking in engagement because he simply does not see the objections from the other side as valid or important. The nature of tough choices is not good versus evil, but has always been good versus greater good. To break the current deadlock, blaming and shaming the government does not help, for they will always insist their righteousness and regard protesters as evil. We need a discourse not just whether CSSTA has economic merits. Lets give credit where credit is due: It probably has. However the real question is to what extent and who benefits. In return, what would be the tradeoff in the the long run? What exactly are we losing out without CSSTA (other than the scare tactics of losing to Korea). Are the tradeoffs on either side worthwhile? Can the tradeoffs be mitigated? Neither benefits nor harms can be asserted as an absolute value in a vacuum. They must be weighed against the tradeoffs. And until we do that, the deadlock will never be resolved.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 01:31:09 +0000
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