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There's a slight difference between being "not perfect" and having a torture camp and a president who says the US doesn't torture enough people (!). When the U

by srssays 10y ago

There's a slight difference between being "not perfect" and having a torture camp and a president who says the US doesn't torture enough people (!). When the US preaches about human rights it devalues the concept. That makes it harder to hold countries like China to account.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago
What do US torture camps have anything to do with BBC journalists? Really, what? And anyways, how do US torture camps compare to Chinese torture camps? Its not like China is a paragon of virtue here, torture by the police is a huge problem that even the gov admits to (hey, police shouldn't torture people, please don't, it makes us look bad). > When the US preaches about human rights it devalues the concept. And who is the "US"? It is like some unified person that speaks with one voice? Is the NyTimes the US? Is the BBC the US? When I speak out on China, am I the US? > That makes it harder to hold countries like China to account. That is a straw man. We can't hold China to account for their human rights behavior, we have no right to do that. But we can damn be sure that everyone knows about it. I would expect the same for other countries with respect to the US.
- euyyn 10y ago
  When people speak of a country admonishing or lecturing another, they refer to their respective governments. > how do US torture camps compare to Chinese torture camps? Bringing the conversation there is super weird. A torture camp is not a normal thing for a civilized country to have. The US government failed to dismantle it for 8 years when it had a democratic mandate to do that. Now, with a president elected after proclaiming torture a fine thing, when a western country tells a dictator to stop human rights abuse, they can just shut the conversation with "tell your American friend to stop it first".
  - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
    Yes they aren't. But as you clai. Guantanamo bay is one, well, china has plenty of examples of that. America has first world problems, china has third world problems, different scales completely. Anyways, this whataboutism-ing is idiotic. If you want to talk about the USA whenever we are talking about china fine, but why don't you start a separate article submission.

by srssays 10y ago

seanmcdirmid 10y ago

What do US torture camps have anything to do with BBC journalists? Really, what? And anyways, how do US torture camps compare to Chinese torture camps? Its not like China is a paragon of virtue here, torture by the police is a huge problem that even the gov admits to (hey, police shouldn't torture people, please don't, it makes us look bad). > When the US preaches about human rights it devalues the concept. And who is the "US"? It is like some unified person that speaks with one voice? Is the NyTimes the US? Is the BBC the US? When I speak out on China, am I the US? > That makes it harder to hold countries like China to account. That is a straw man. We can't hold China to account for their human rights behavior, we have no right to do that. But we can damn be sure that everyone knows about it. I would expect the same for other countries with respect to the US.

euyyn 10y ago
When people speak of a country admonishing or lecturing another, they refer to their respective governments. > how do US torture camps compare to Chinese torture camps? Bringing the conversation there is super weird. A torture camp is not a normal thing for a civilized country to have. The US government failed to dismantle it for 8 years when it had a democratic mandate to do that. Now, with a president elected after proclaiming torture a fine thing, when a western country tells a dictator to stop human rights abuse, they can just shut the conversation with "tell your American friend to stop it first".
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Yes they aren't. But as you clai. Guantanamo bay is one, well, china has plenty of examples of that. America has first world problems, china has third world problems, different scales completely. Anyways, this whataboutism-ing is idiotic. If you want to talk about the USA whenever we are talking about china fine, but why don't you start a separate article submission.