3 ms·

I hope this is a turning point in Chinese conscious of human rights

by sexydefinesher 9y ago

oblio 9y ago
Could be, but don't expect them to turn into the US any time now. The culture is different, fundamentally.
- latch 9y ago
  Surely the US isn't what we're hoping other countries aspire to when it comes to human rights? High rate of incarceration, high rate of poverty (both symptoms of fundamental racial issues), death penalty, high youth incarceration, ongoing struggle for same sex marriages and abortions, the state of its health care, government attack on privacy ... and that's just on the domestic front.
  - gambiting 9y ago
    Out of all countries to turn into, US shouldn't be even in the top 5.
  - refurb 9y ago
    Name another country and I'll go ahead and list all the problems they struggle with too.
    - sexydefinesher 9y ago
      Iceland
      - refurb 9y ago
        Took me about 5 seconds.[1] [1]https://grapevine.is/news/2016/10/27/unicef-red-cross-iceland-violating-child-human-rights/ https://grapevine.is/news/2016/10/27/unicef-red-cross-icelan...
nathanyukai 9y ago
That can only happen If China become a stable, developed country.
- castle-bravo 9y ago
  This is a common talking point of the CCP, but it is not the truth. When the state protects the rights of all people within its borders, those people grow to trust the state; they choose to work openly with the state and each other instead of hoarding wealth in secret. A state which does not protect human rights can not earn the trust of citizens and cannot win their full participation in developing the country.
  - nathanyukai 9y ago
    I'm not saying it's true for all countries, but it is true for China. The government is putting development as priority instead of human rights, and since the government is unlikely to change anytime soon, this is the reality. Only when China is prosper enough, the government may start caring about human right. It's also a big culture shift, and can take a long time and lot's of mistakes.
    - IntronExon 9y ago
      I'm not saying it's true for all countries, but it is true for China. China is full of people, and people are depressingly alike.
  - WillReplyfFood 9y ago
    .. and thats why there is no tax avoiders in the west. They all trust the state, especially the trusts thrust the state.
- gambiting 9y ago
  Poland has gotten rid of its communist government at the height of surveillance and oppression, when the country was anything but stable and developed. So I don't think that's a necessary prerequisite.
mtgx 9y ago
This is my hope, too. Humans tend to eventually revolt if they get oppressed too much. I like to think that this move to create total surveillance and censorship for anything "bad" the Chinese do or think, and the government's project to create "Perfect Citizen" score, will eventually result in a blowback. At the same time, I worry that the Chinese have been brainwashed (yes, I know, westerners are brainwashed in many ways, too) for so long about how things should be in China, and this surveillance and censorship apparatus backed by advanced AI would be so powerful than the government will be able to crush any potential dissent as soon as there's a spark of it. So this could go on for a long time, potentially indefinitely. We'll see if new technologies, such as uncensorable blockchains will be able to prevent that in any way.

I hope this is a turning point in Chinese conscious of human rights

oblio 9y ago

Could be, but don't expect them to turn into the US any time now. The culture is different, fundamentally.

latch 9y ago
Surely the US isn't what we're hoping other countries aspire to when it comes to human rights? High rate of incarceration, high rate of poverty (both symptoms of fundamental racial issues), death penalty, high youth incarceration, ongoing struggle for same sex marriages and abortions, the state of its health care, government attack on privacy ... and that's just on the domestic front.
- gambiting 9y ago
  Out of all countries to turn into, US shouldn't be even in the top 5.
- refurb 9y ago
  Name another country and I'll go ahead and list all the problems they struggle with too.
  - sexydefinesher 9y ago
    Iceland
    - refurb 9y ago
      Took me about 5 seconds.[1] [1]https://grapevine.is/news/2016/10/27/unicef-red-cross-iceland-violating-child-human-rights/ https://grapevine.is/news/2016/10/27/unicef-red-cross-icelan...

nathanyukai 9y ago

That can only happen If China become a stable, developed country.

castle-bravo 9y ago
This is a common talking point of the CCP, but it is not the truth. When the state protects the rights of all people within its borders, those people grow to trust the state; they choose to work openly with the state and each other instead of hoarding wealth in secret. A state which does not protect human rights can not earn the trust of citizens and cannot win their full participation in developing the country.
- nathanyukai 9y ago
  I'm not saying it's true for all countries, but it is true for China. The government is putting development as priority instead of human rights, and since the government is unlikely to change anytime soon, this is the reality. Only when China is prosper enough, the government may start caring about human right. It's also a big culture shift, and can take a long time and lot's of mistakes.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    I'm not saying it's true for all countries, but it is true for China. China is full of people, and people are depressingly alike.
- WillReplyfFood 9y ago
  .. and thats why there is no tax avoiders in the west. They all trust the state, especially the trusts thrust the state.
gambiting 9y ago
Poland has gotten rid of its communist government at the height of surveillance and oppression, when the country was anything but stable and developed. So I don't think that's a necessary prerequisite.

mtgx 9y ago

This is my hope, too. Humans tend to eventually revolt if they get oppressed too much. I like to think that this move to create total surveillance and censorship for anything "bad" the Chinese do or think, and the government's project to create "Perfect Citizen" score, will eventually result in a blowback. At the same time, I worry that the Chinese have been brainwashed (yes, I know, westerners are brainwashed in many ways, too) for so long about how things should be in China, and this surveillance and censorship apparatus backed by advanced AI would be so powerful than the government will be able to crush any potential dissent as soon as there's a spark of it. So this could go on for a long time, potentially indefinitely. We'll see if new technologies, such as uncensorable blockchains will be able to prevent that in any way.