40 shot dead in Iraq protests in 1 day

To be fair, there are a number of reasons for this. The first one is that Hong Kongers are incredibly internet savvy and they speak English while in Iraq, it is largely regional.

And the second one and more significantly are the people involved in the protests. With Hong Kong, the protesters are demanding a fair and functioning liberal democracy and the pro-democracy politicians are very relatable to most supports of liberal democracy in the West. The goal of the protests is something that many people can feel optimistic about and when someone does something bad to these people, they feel like the oppressors are representing something indefensible against something very noble.

In Iraq on the other hand, what is happening is much more horrible, brutal, and heartbreaking. But when you look at the two parties involved, it's hard to feel passionate for them because on one hand, you got the Iraqi government which is incredibly corrupt and brutal and then the protesters who are largely represented by people like Ahmad al-Hassan who is nothing more than a cult guru or the Sadrists who are hardline Shia Islamists. No matter who wins, it's hard not to feel cynical about the situation.

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