A Sea of Umbrellas

Program Notes

A Sea of Umbrellas is a piece written about the struggle to maintain the values of self-government in the face of entropy. It is an elegy for the prosperity and freedoms that seem destined to spiral out of the hands of the people of Hong Kong. It is written to reflect the dual characters of devastation and sorrow.

The tragedy of Hong Kong is a stark example of a worldwide trend away from democratic self-government. In 1984 when Britain and China signed the Joint Declaration, the dominating political assumption was that democracy was a ratchet. That government by the people would necessarily self-perpetuate, an idea described as “the end of history” in Fukuyama’s 1989 essay of the same name. 

In the current historical moment, we are coming to understand that was incorrect. Instead, it’s become clear that power will find a way through any system proud enough to consider itself invulnerable. To consider ourselves secure in our rights and dispense with vigilance is to invite powerful self-interest to find its way in, like water through concrete. 

In the example of Hong Kong, it seems to be a struggle that is unwinnable. The people’s pushback against China has only escalated in the past decade, but every demonstration has been met with increasing displays of power and amplification of the rule of the central party. For an entire generation born after 1997, the right to self-governance and freedom has an expiration date. That date continues to be pushed earlier and earlier.