When the anti-totalitarian protesters in Tienanmen Square and Hong Kong began constructing likenesses of the Statue of Liberty, both named the Goddess of Democracy, it became clear to many of us in the United States that we take for granted the freedoms that are represented by that statue in New York Harbor. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to assemble is the stuff that the Chinese can only dream of – and when the overlords of Tienanmen Square saw that a statue representing the “inalienable rights” of America was being constructed, it was all that they could bare – and the guns began to sound. Everyone who had a hand in erecting the Goddess of Democracy was shot right along with the thousands of others in attendance. Although Americans are more likely to think of the statue as a tourist trap, the author of this short history got it right when she wrote:
“The fame of the Statue of Liberty is limitless, its influence impossible to estimate.”
