Tiananmen Square and Technology
June 3rd, 2009
by Keynote Speaker Futurist David Houle
It was 20 years ago this week that the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square turned violent. After days of open demonstrations, the Chinese government had had enough and sent in the army. This led to one of the most iconic visual images of protest in recent decades: a single man standing right in front of four tanks, daring them to run him over.
The image is one that anyone over the age of 35 can remember as it flashed around the world and represented the individual facing down superior force in a literal stand for freedom. It was this image that gave the communist Chinese government its first taste of international outrage as it was slowly moving toward a more open, capitalistic society. It was a government and a country unused to global scrutiny. While the crack down on protestors continued, it was done quietly and out of camera range of foreigners and journalists. A single image had flashed around the world and had left an indelible mark on human consciousness. (more…)
