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I'm not naive about the limitations of the freedoms that are afforded to a citizen by the US government, or my government for that matter. We should have more f

I'm not naive about the limitations of the freedoms that are afforded to a citizen by the US government, or my government for that matter. We should have more freedoms and say into our government, and it should be more fair. But here's the main point: It's a hell of a lot better than in China. Freedom and checks and balances are always on a spectrum. You're arguing that because there are limitations to your freedom, you might as well be totally in chains.

onlydeadheroes 7y ago
There are differences at lower levels, but not when it comes to you getting the attention of a state-level actor.
INTPenis 7y ago
>It's a hell of a lot better than in China. How do you measure that? I mean what are you comparing? Media reporting? In my opinion you shouldn't even be able to trust internet media reporting on this matter. For example I think most of us saw the viral video a few weeks ago of a young chinese woman being taken from her apartment. She had left her cellphone recording while police detained her for no apparent reason. But if we take that as an example. What do we really know? All we really know is what is shown in that video. It's hard for the video to lie. Other than that we have no idea who released the video online or made sure it was spread onto western social media. Because as we do know, most of Asia are living in a bubble with their own social media and search engines. So with that in mind, an organisation could cherry pick information from such social media to spread on western media in order to manufacture consent. Imagine the roles reverse. A video of a young black male being detained for no reason, have dogs bite him, have officers beat him, released onto asian social media sites with no real context. I personally think it's much easier to assume that people are people in all parts of the world. Power corrupts in every country. And absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of religion, skin tone or cultural background. We're not that different.

onlydeadheroes 7y ago

There are differences at lower levels, but not when it comes to you getting the attention of a state-level actor.

INTPenis 7y ago

>It's a hell of a lot better than in China. How do you measure that? I mean what are you comparing? Media reporting? In my opinion you shouldn't even be able to trust internet media reporting on this matter. For example I think most of us saw the viral video a few weeks ago of a young chinese woman being taken from her apartment. She had left her cellphone recording while police detained her for no apparent reason. But if we take that as an example. What do we really know? All we really know is what is shown in that video. It's hard for the video to lie. Other than that we have no idea who released the video online or made sure it was spread onto western social media. Because as we do know, most of Asia are living in a bubble with their own social media and search engines. So with that in mind, an organisation could cherry pick information from such social media to spread on western media in order to manufacture consent. Imagine the roles reverse. A video of a young black male being detained for no reason, have dogs bite him, have officers beat him, released onto asian social media sites with no real context. I personally think it's much easier to assume that people are people in all parts of the world. Power corrupts in every country. And absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of religion, skin tone or cultural background. We're not that different.