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Being an African I never understood why most westerners don't get the simple fact that to people who have been starving to death any policy or government that c

Being an African I never understood why most westerners don't get the simple fact that to people who have been starving to death any policy or government that creates wealth for the majority of them is very welcome to them irrespective of their poor human rights disadvantages.

deugtniet 8y ago
China is hardly starving, though. I think we're (The world as a whole) blindly running into a state of boundless surveillance. In former East Germany, many people did not mind being watched by the StaSi initially. But it became so pervasive that voicing an opinion was dangerous, and there was much resentment. In my personal interactions with Chinese invididuals this resentment is also present, although they will not state it explicitly. For instance: Wondering why in a communist country it cost money to get healthcare, while in Europe it's nearly free.
- luckylion 8y ago
  > China is hardly starving, though. Well, a lot of them were rather close to that before the revolution. I mean, it's one thing to "not starve" and quite another to have your living standards raised substantially. People are happy to give up freedom for better living standards. Imagine if you could live two, three wealth/social classes higher than your current one, and all you need to give up is your right to criticize the government. That's pretty tempting to me, and I'm sure to a lot of other people as well. I think the best antidote is to steadily improve living conditions. Don't keep your lower class in intergenerational poverty and all that.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  We shouldn’t call china a communist country. It’s something else and calling it communist doesn’t explain anything other than maybe the words they are using.
  - mc32 8y ago
    Importantly they claim themselves to be. But also the political system is still communist even if the economic system isn’t. During Leninism, the kulaks were incentivized. They needed a capitalist system; it wasn’t till Stalin willed it that confiscations happened and starvation happened by the millions. So communism historically has allowed capitalism, when expedient. What’s more officially it’s “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era[1]" Read it, they really believe it. I know people are having a hard time believing it because it’s anathema to them. [1]http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-03/17/c_137046261.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-03/17/c_137046261.htm

deugtniet 8y ago

China is hardly starving, though. I think we're (The world as a whole) blindly running into a state of boundless surveillance. In former East Germany, many people did not mind being watched by the StaSi initially. But it became so pervasive that voicing an opinion was dangerous, and there was much resentment. In my personal interactions with Chinese invididuals this resentment is also present, although they will not state it explicitly. For instance: Wondering why in a communist country it cost money to get healthcare, while in Europe it's nearly free.

luckylion 8y ago
> China is hardly starving, though. Well, a lot of them were rather close to that before the revolution. I mean, it's one thing to "not starve" and quite another to have your living standards raised substantially. People are happy to give up freedom for better living standards. Imagine if you could live two, three wealth/social classes higher than your current one, and all you need to give up is your right to criticize the government. That's pretty tempting to me, and I'm sure to a lot of other people as well. I think the best antidote is to steadily improve living conditions. Don't keep your lower class in intergenerational poverty and all that.
maxxxxx 8y ago
We shouldn’t call china a communist country. It’s something else and calling it communist doesn’t explain anything other than maybe the words they are using.
- mc32 8y ago
  Importantly they claim themselves to be. But also the political system is still communist even if the economic system isn’t. During Leninism, the kulaks were incentivized. They needed a capitalist system; it wasn’t till Stalin willed it that confiscations happened and starvation happened by the millions. So communism historically has allowed capitalism, when expedient. What’s more officially it’s “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era[1]" Read it, they really believe it. I know people are having a hard time believing it because it’s anathema to them. [1]http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-03/17/c_137046261.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-03/17/c_137046261.htm