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A lot of superdefensive people over at quora everytime you ask a question about china.

moksly 7y ago
The most upvoted answer is probably the most awesome pierce of information I’ve seen in 2019 though, holy socks that’s a great Quora answer. And it’s the top answer, clearly distinguishable from the answers you’re referring to, which I think is better than most social media, HN included.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  There are a lot of snide remarks in that answer, however, detracting from otherwise great information. (Eg what does the Dalai Lama and Uighur oppression have to do with this?)
  - tepidandroid 7y ago
    > what does the Dalai Lama and Uighur oppression have to do with this The snark likely comes from the fact that Xinjiang is consistently portrayed in Western media as a nightmarish, dystopian, Orwellian hellhole suffering under the iron fisted oppression of the Communist Party. They ignore the very real benefits that have been afforded to millions of poverty-stricken people in Xinjiang via progressive government policies, while tunnel visioning solely on human rights abuses.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      It has absolutely nothing to do with the answer, however. Xinjiang and Tibet are complicated, China has obviously improved their economies and has obviously trampled on human rights. Both of those things can easily coexist (the same could be said about western colonialism, one doesn’t excuse the other). The western media does report those things, it’s just that the Chinese media only focuses on those pieces from the western media that it wants to be defensive about. Call it tunnel tunnel vision if you will.
      - tepidandroid 7y ago
        I don’t disagree with you that the two can coexist. I’m saying the mainstream publications have skewed most people’s perception of Xinjiang so far out of the realm of reality that they would likely be absolutely shocked if they ever actually set foot there. World class airports, modern agricultural techniques, a high speed rail system that would put the ones in NY or London to shame [1]. Stray from the “dystopian Xinjiang” narrative and you’re automatically branded a 50c army propagandist. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a sensational exposé about alleviating poverty through technology-driven, sustainable farming in Xinjiang, in a mainstream publication. On the other hand, I don’t have enough hairs on my head to count the number of condemnations and denouncements. This is likely the cause of frustration that you see seeping through in answers such as the one posted. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCs582uUx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCs582uUx8
        Cacti 7y ago
        So is your argument that they should be grateful for what they e been given? Because this is an absurd argument. Nowhere is it written that they can’t have both be treated like the rest of the country and economic prosperity like the rest of the country. This is just a bullshit way of justifying oppression using the economic development they would have received anyway. People make the same absurd arguments about slavery, and lack of suffrage, and it’s just as obviously bullshit in those cases as it is in this one.
        pms 7y ago
        I recommend reading comments in this thread: "Tibet used to be a feudal serfdom with the Lamas lording over everyone else. Most Dalai Lamas were murdered by their rivals for control over the country. So yeah, of course the Lamas are upset that they're no longer in power." "I’m of the opinion that it’s impossible to achieve economic progress with social upheaval, threats of separatism and terrorist attacks. Economic progress is incompatible with the others. It's the extreme poverty and lack of economic opportunities which drive destabilizing forces such as these. Prosperity by means of terrorism then separatism is the path offered by the WUC and ETIM. Prosperity by means of forced “re-education” in vocational skills and poverty alleviation plans [1] is the one offered by the CCP. I think it’s the CCP’s gambit that when there is economic prosperity in the region, there will be room for expanding human rights. There won’t be a need or desire to separate from a system which you are actively benefiting from and when that threat goes away, so do the armoured patrols and surveillance mechanisms. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/china-poverty-xinjiang/china..." https://www.reuters.com/article/china-poverty-xinjiang/china...
    - cycrutchfield 7y ago
      >They ignore the very real benefits that have been afforded to millions of poverty-stricken people in Xinjiang via progressive government policies, while tunnel visioning solely on human rights abuses. And I'm sure that many folks made the argument that Africans working on plantations in the South had a higher standard of living than where they came from.
    - kristofferR 7y ago
      Hitler had some great social programs too, what's your point?
    - Cacti 7y ago
      > Xinjiang is consistently portrayed in Western media as a nightmarish, dystopian, Orwellian hellhole suffering under the iron fisted oppression of the Communist Party That’s because it is, and if you visited you wouldn’t be so flippant about it. In large part because a tourist can’t even make a stop in the area without getting their own personal police minder. It’s little different than North Korea.
      - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
        I’ve visited Xinjiang in 2006, before the 2008 riots mind you, but it’s just another Chinese province and you wouldn’t know there was trouble going on if it weren’t for the armed police, extra internet fire walling, and so on. That is not to say there isn’t a problem, but hanging out in Urumqi is definitely nowhere near as interesting as hanging out in Pyongyang. Tibet is much harder to visit, foreigners have to apply for a permit (which you don’t need to visit Xinjiang).
      - roboys 7y ago
        I prefer the approach to Xinjiang deradicalization over our methods in Iraq and Syria.
  - nfoz 7y ago
    I am grateful for these "snide remarks", as to me there is nothing so important and interesting as trying to bring humans out of oppression and suffering (no matter who is the instigator). Something I found amazing (horrific) when reading the article: what if this writing only sounds snide to us, but not to others? Consider your examples: > Some of these Uyghurs, Kazakhs are sent to the reeducation camps and they are forced to learn Mandarin Chinese and the latest drip irrigation techniques to save water and reduce costs. Moreover, each village is assigned with one or more communist party members to guide them through to make sure that they don’t mess up the newly cultivated land. > I mean, the Chinese government has also forced Tibetans to build a massive amount of greenhouses on the Tibetan plateau. Those Tibetans have no time to go to temples for worshipping any more, instead, they have to work in the greenhouses taking care of tomatoes. This is why Dalai Lama is not so happy to hear this. This is horrific and dystopian to me. But imagine if you believed the Uyghurs/Kazakhs are inferior peoples, and that Tibetan temples/monks are evil. You could read these paragraphs and consider all of this to be positive. I wonder how popular that type of thinking is in China.
    - wjmao88 7y ago
      > But imagine if you believed the Uyghurs/Kazakhs are inferior peoples, and that Tibetan temples/monks are evil. That's a big stretch. More likely that 1. The author, like many Han Chinese people, was raised in a completely atheist environment, and just don't put any value on religious activities at all. 2. Again, like in many East Asian countries, Chinese people value/praise hard work above "enjoying life". So, what you see as horrific and dystopian is seen as progress and a sign of a thriving community.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  Woah. I thought you were being hyperbolic. Man! That was a well fleshed out answer. Is Quora always like that? Or is that a one off kind of thing?
  - klausjensen 7y ago
    One-off. Most stuff on Quora is a thinly veiled advertisement for something - at least when I search for something and end up on Quora. But there are exceptions - and boy is this article a great example of that.
    - mhh__ 7y ago
      If you follow the right people you can have a good experience. I try to strike some balance to avoid echo chambers. If you've ever wanted to learn the perspectives on life and fighting of a convicted war criminal/terrorist then Quora's your place. The thing I absolutely loathe, however are these clickbait answers - always about sex - written by anonymous users and normal answers that - because the photos load before the text - have borderline porn to draw people in. It ruins the site.
  - Noumenon72 7y ago
    Quora is way, way better than say, Yahoo Answers, and rivals AskReddit in its own way. Here are some well fleshed out answers you may like. https://www.quora.com/What-was-very-useful-when-it-first-came-out-but-is-useless-today/answer/Jonathan-Johnson-41?ch=99&share=b2364c7e&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/What-was-very-useful-when-it-first-cam... https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Gray-codes-used/answer/Steve-Baker-100?share=0970f8b5&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Gray-codes-used/answer/Steve-B... https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-proper-name-for-a-roly-poly/answer/Jeff-Barber-17?ch=99&share=b147cc87&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-proper-name-for-a-roly-pol... https://www.quora.com/How-much-damage-does-Marine-1-cause-to-the-White-House-lawn-when-it-lands/answer/Gregg-Gray-1 https://www.quora.com/How-much-damage-does-Marine-1-cause-to... https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-put-out-candles-in-the-olden-days-Werent-there-too-many-to-simply-blow-out/answer/Jay-Bazzinotti?ch=99&share=49e4cce8&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-put-out-candles-in-the-... https://www.quora.com/Why-do-urban-trees-have-short-lives-compared-to-wild-trees-that-live-hundreds-of-years/answer/Matt-Pizzuti-2 https://www.quora.com/Why-do-urban-trees-have-short-lives-co... https://www.quora.com/What-is-normal-in-your-country-but-weird-in-the-rest-of-the-world/answer/Rachid-Haroune https://www.quora.com/What-is-normal-in-your-country-but-wei...
dmix 7y ago
Even the first answer has “Western media won’t tell you this”. Like there’s some western conspiracy to downplay Chinese agriculture industry. The Chinese media is constantly telling their people that the US is plotting against China and is hostile to them, so the citizens don’t get any crazy ideas like democracy and human rights. While simultaneously amplifying the bad news coming out of America to show the ‘dangers’ of western culture. Plus there is a large group of astroturfers constantly scanning the web for mentions of China (aka “50 cent army”). I don’t blame the individuals for holding these views but it’s something to always be conscious of when reading anything online about China. And I say that as someone who loves their country and people, just not their cultural controls.
- foobar_ 7y ago
  Western media likes to portray asians as either brutes or poor or stupid or nerds.
- eeeeeeeeeeeee 7y ago
  I found that comment a bit bizarre, too, as an American. Many (most?) people in America simply don’t care about this or have any general curiosity about the world outside of them. America is the land of fast food and unsustainable cheap beef; we have a president that denies climate change, so it’s no wonder that there is simply no interest in understanding sustainable fishing by a large portion of the population, regardless of which country is succeeding at it. That is much different than some kind of conspiracy like that post implied. I think it’s actually worse than a conspiracy because it shows widespread ignorance and no desire to seek out the information or analyze the food we eat and it’s impact on the environment. America doesn’t need a conspiracy to hide this, they won’t seek it out anyway.
  - pm90 7y ago
    Americans work longer hours and save less than most other developed nations. Plus they don’t have extensive social safety nets. If you’re struggling to get by it’s hard to be curious about the world. Also the country is ginormous.
president 7y ago
Usually either: 1. Paid Chinese State-sponsored propaganda/troll [1] OR 2. Super nationalist Chinese person (most are) either from China or abroad who take major offense when "their" views are challenged. [1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/17/how-to-spot-a-state-funded-chinese-internet-troll/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/17/how-to-spot-a-state-fun...
- tepidandroid 7y ago
  Besides being a broad generalization, your point #2 applies to basically anybody on the internet who has their views challenged, to be honest. Doesn't need to be a paid troll or nationalist at all.
- nathanyukai 7y ago
  I'm Chinese, I think the trolls (50 cents army) is mostly just a joke/meme. But I might be wrong.
_bxg1 7y ago
I enjoyed having my perspective on China as a country expanded; I don't hear many positive things about it, and the environmental focus is genuinely refreshing, in stark contrast to my own country's idiocy in that department. With that said, nothing outweighs their government's human rights violations. Nothing. I know the U.S. has some of its own, but not to an extremity nor scale nor public acceptance that comes anywhere close to that in China.
- crimsonalucard 7y ago
  Both countries are equal in terms of human rights violations. It's not popularized, but the US has a good amount of this stuff as well.
- tombh 7y ago
  The very existence of America is a human rights violation, vis-a-vis the original inhabitants and African slavery. Not to mention the multitude of similar abuses those same Europeans caused over the rest of the world. China's violations are certainly serious, but it's just not comparable to the sheer extent of the West's.
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    I was of course only talking about the present and future. That's what matters when it comes to foreign policy.
    - roboys 7y ago
      We are tied to so many treaties and agreements made in the past, that I believe this is not the case.
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    > China's violations are certainly serious, but it's just not comparable to the sheer extent of the West's. Within recent history this just isn't true. In fact I'm not even sure it's true over history going back to the creation of the colonies: Decades spent under communism - millions dead, freedom totally unknown and nothing to show for it. I don't know to assign magnitude to anything like that, but to say they aren't comparable is wrong.
nobody0 7y ago
Aparting from political views, it does depend on types of questions are asked to some degree. Like 'Do China have cars?' Questions without basic googling. Well, even this type of questions, there are still many people who try to answer it by statistics.

The most upvoted answer is probably the most awesome pierce of information I’ve seen in 2019 though, holy socks that’s a great Quora answer. And it’s the top answer, clearly distinguishable from the answers you’re referring to, which I think is better than most social media, HN included.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
There are a lot of snide remarks in that answer, however, detracting from otherwise great information. (Eg what does the Dalai Lama and Uighur oppression have to do with this?)
- tepidandroid 7y ago
  > what does the Dalai Lama and Uighur oppression have to do with this The snark likely comes from the fact that Xinjiang is consistently portrayed in Western media as a nightmarish, dystopian, Orwellian hellhole suffering under the iron fisted oppression of the Communist Party. They ignore the very real benefits that have been afforded to millions of poverty-stricken people in Xinjiang via progressive government policies, while tunnel visioning solely on human rights abuses.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    It has absolutely nothing to do with the answer, however. Xinjiang and Tibet are complicated, China has obviously improved their economies and has obviously trampled on human rights. Both of those things can easily coexist (the same could be said about western colonialism, one doesn’t excuse the other). The western media does report those things, it’s just that the Chinese media only focuses on those pieces from the western media that it wants to be defensive about. Call it tunnel tunnel vision if you will.
    - tepidandroid 7y ago
      I don’t disagree with you that the two can coexist. I’m saying the mainstream publications have skewed most people’s perception of Xinjiang so far out of the realm of reality that they would likely be absolutely shocked if they ever actually set foot there. World class airports, modern agricultural techniques, a high speed rail system that would put the ones in NY or London to shame [1]. Stray from the “dystopian Xinjiang” narrative and you’re automatically branded a 50c army propagandist. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a sensational exposé about alleviating poverty through technology-driven, sustainable farming in Xinjiang, in a mainstream publication. On the other hand, I don’t have enough hairs on my head to count the number of condemnations and denouncements. This is likely the cause of frustration that you see seeping through in answers such as the one posted. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCs582uUx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCs582uUx8
      - Cacti 7y ago
        So is your argument that they should be grateful for what they e been given? Because this is an absurd argument. Nowhere is it written that they can’t have both be treated like the rest of the country and economic prosperity like the rest of the country. This is just a bullshit way of justifying oppression using the economic development they would have received anyway. People make the same absurd arguments about slavery, and lack of suffrage, and it’s just as obviously bullshit in those cases as it is in this one.
        pms 7y ago
        I recommend reading comments in this thread: "Tibet used to be a feudal serfdom with the Lamas lording over everyone else. Most Dalai Lamas were murdered by their rivals for control over the country. So yeah, of course the Lamas are upset that they're no longer in power." "I’m of the opinion that it’s impossible to achieve economic progress with social upheaval, threats of separatism and terrorist attacks. Economic progress is incompatible with the others. It's the extreme poverty and lack of economic opportunities which drive destabilizing forces such as these. Prosperity by means of terrorism then separatism is the path offered by the WUC and ETIM. Prosperity by means of forced “re-education” in vocational skills and poverty alleviation plans [1] is the one offered by the CCP. I think it’s the CCP’s gambit that when there is economic prosperity in the region, there will be room for expanding human rights. There won’t be a need or desire to separate from a system which you are actively benefiting from and when that threat goes away, so do the armoured patrols and surveillance mechanisms. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/china-poverty-xinjiang/china..." https://www.reuters.com/article/china-poverty-xinjiang/china...
  - cycrutchfield 7y ago
    >They ignore the very real benefits that have been afforded to millions of poverty-stricken people in Xinjiang via progressive government policies, while tunnel visioning solely on human rights abuses. And I'm sure that many folks made the argument that Africans working on plantations in the South had a higher standard of living than where they came from.
  - kristofferR 7y ago
    Hitler had some great social programs too, what's your point?
  - Cacti 7y ago
    > Xinjiang is consistently portrayed in Western media as a nightmarish, dystopian, Orwellian hellhole suffering under the iron fisted oppression of the Communist Party That’s because it is, and if you visited you wouldn’t be so flippant about it. In large part because a tourist can’t even make a stop in the area without getting their own personal police minder. It’s little different than North Korea.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      I’ve visited Xinjiang in 2006, before the 2008 riots mind you, but it’s just another Chinese province and you wouldn’t know there was trouble going on if it weren’t for the armed police, extra internet fire walling, and so on. That is not to say there isn’t a problem, but hanging out in Urumqi is definitely nowhere near as interesting as hanging out in Pyongyang. Tibet is much harder to visit, foreigners have to apply for a permit (which you don’t need to visit Xinjiang).
    - roboys 7y ago
      I prefer the approach to Xinjiang deradicalization over our methods in Iraq and Syria.
- nfoz 7y ago
  I am grateful for these "snide remarks", as to me there is nothing so important and interesting as trying to bring humans out of oppression and suffering (no matter who is the instigator). Something I found amazing (horrific) when reading the article: what if this writing only sounds snide to us, but not to others? Consider your examples: > Some of these Uyghurs, Kazakhs are sent to the reeducation camps and they are forced to learn Mandarin Chinese and the latest drip irrigation techniques to save water and reduce costs. Moreover, each village is assigned with one or more communist party members to guide them through to make sure that they don’t mess up the newly cultivated land. > I mean, the Chinese government has also forced Tibetans to build a massive amount of greenhouses on the Tibetan plateau. Those Tibetans have no time to go to temples for worshipping any more, instead, they have to work in the greenhouses taking care of tomatoes. This is why Dalai Lama is not so happy to hear this. This is horrific and dystopian to me. But imagine if you believed the Uyghurs/Kazakhs are inferior peoples, and that Tibetan temples/monks are evil. You could read these paragraphs and consider all of this to be positive. I wonder how popular that type of thinking is in China.
  - wjmao88 7y ago
    > But imagine if you believed the Uyghurs/Kazakhs are inferior peoples, and that Tibetan temples/monks are evil. That's a big stretch. More likely that 1. The author, like many Han Chinese people, was raised in a completely atheist environment, and just don't put any value on religious activities at all. 2. Again, like in many East Asian countries, Chinese people value/praise hard work above "enjoying life". So, what you see as horrific and dystopian is seen as progress and a sign of a thriving community.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
bilbo0s 7y ago
Woah. I thought you were being hyperbolic. Man! That was a well fleshed out answer. Is Quora always like that? Or is that a one off kind of thing?
- klausjensen 7y ago
  One-off. Most stuff on Quora is a thinly veiled advertisement for something - at least when I search for something and end up on Quora. But there are exceptions - and boy is this article a great example of that.
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    If you follow the right people you can have a good experience. I try to strike some balance to avoid echo chambers. If you've ever wanted to learn the perspectives on life and fighting of a convicted war criminal/terrorist then Quora's your place. The thing I absolutely loathe, however are these clickbait answers - always about sex - written by anonymous users and normal answers that - because the photos load before the text - have borderline porn to draw people in. It ruins the site.
- Noumenon72 7y ago
  Quora is way, way better than say, Yahoo Answers, and rivals AskReddit in its own way. Here are some well fleshed out answers you may like. https://www.quora.com/What-was-very-useful-when-it-first-came-out-but-is-useless-today/answer/Jonathan-Johnson-41?ch=99&share=b2364c7e&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/What-was-very-useful-when-it-first-cam... https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Gray-codes-used/answer/Steve-Baker-100?share=0970f8b5&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Gray-codes-used/answer/Steve-B... https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-proper-name-for-a-roly-poly/answer/Jeff-Barber-17?ch=99&share=b147cc87&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-proper-name-for-a-roly-pol... https://www.quora.com/How-much-damage-does-Marine-1-cause-to-the-White-House-lawn-when-it-lands/answer/Gregg-Gray-1 https://www.quora.com/How-much-damage-does-Marine-1-cause-to... https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-put-out-candles-in-the-olden-days-Werent-there-too-many-to-simply-blow-out/answer/Jay-Bazzinotti?ch=99&share=49e4cce8&srid=OUaT https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-put-out-candles-in-the-... https://www.quora.com/Why-do-urban-trees-have-short-lives-compared-to-wild-trees-that-live-hundreds-of-years/answer/Matt-Pizzuti-2 https://www.quora.com/Why-do-urban-trees-have-short-lives-co... https://www.quora.com/What-is-normal-in-your-country-but-weird-in-the-rest-of-the-world/answer/Rachid-Haroune https://www.quora.com/What-is-normal-in-your-country-but-wei...

dmix 7y ago

Even the first answer has “Western media won’t tell you this”. Like there’s some western conspiracy to downplay Chinese agriculture industry. The Chinese media is constantly telling their people that the US is plotting against China and is hostile to them, so the citizens don’t get any crazy ideas like democracy and human rights. While simultaneously amplifying the bad news coming out of America to show the ‘dangers’ of western culture. Plus there is a large group of astroturfers constantly scanning the web for mentions of China (aka “50 cent army”). I don’t blame the individuals for holding these views but it’s something to always be conscious of when reading anything online about China. And I say that as someone who loves their country and people, just not their cultural controls.

foobar_ 7y ago
Western media likes to portray asians as either brutes or poor or stupid or nerds.
eeeeeeeeeeeee 7y ago
I found that comment a bit bizarre, too, as an American. Many (most?) people in America simply don’t care about this or have any general curiosity about the world outside of them. America is the land of fast food and unsustainable cheap beef; we have a president that denies climate change, so it’s no wonder that there is simply no interest in understanding sustainable fishing by a large portion of the population, regardless of which country is succeeding at it. That is much different than some kind of conspiracy like that post implied. I think it’s actually worse than a conspiracy because it shows widespread ignorance and no desire to seek out the information or analyze the food we eat and it’s impact on the environment. America doesn’t need a conspiracy to hide this, they won’t seek it out anyway.
- pm90 7y ago
  Americans work longer hours and save less than most other developed nations. Plus they don’t have extensive social safety nets. If you’re struggling to get by it’s hard to be curious about the world. Also the country is ginormous.

president 7y ago

Usually either: 1. Paid Chinese State-sponsored propaganda/troll [1] OR 2. Super nationalist Chinese person (most are) either from China or abroad who take major offense when "their" views are challenged. [1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/17/how-to-spot-a-state-funded-chinese-internet-troll/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/17/how-to-spot-a-state-fun...

tepidandroid 7y ago
Besides being a broad generalization, your point #2 applies to basically anybody on the internet who has their views challenged, to be honest. Doesn't need to be a paid troll or nationalist at all.
nathanyukai 7y ago
I'm Chinese, I think the trolls (50 cents army) is mostly just a joke/meme. But I might be wrong.

_bxg1 7y ago

I enjoyed having my perspective on China as a country expanded; I don't hear many positive things about it, and the environmental focus is genuinely refreshing, in stark contrast to my own country's idiocy in that department. With that said, nothing outweighs their government's human rights violations. Nothing. I know the U.S. has some of its own, but not to an extremity nor scale nor public acceptance that comes anywhere close to that in China.

crimsonalucard 7y ago
Both countries are equal in terms of human rights violations. It's not popularized, but the US has a good amount of this stuff as well.
tombh 7y ago
The very existence of America is a human rights violation, vis-a-vis the original inhabitants and African slavery. Not to mention the multitude of similar abuses those same Europeans caused over the rest of the world. China's violations are certainly serious, but it's just not comparable to the sheer extent of the West's.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  I was of course only talking about the present and future. That's what matters when it comes to foreign policy.
  - roboys 7y ago
    We are tied to so many treaties and agreements made in the past, that I believe this is not the case.
- mhh__ 7y ago
  > China's violations are certainly serious, but it's just not comparable to the sheer extent of the West's. Within recent history this just isn't true. In fact I'm not even sure it's true over history going back to the creation of the colonies: Decades spent under communism - millions dead, freedom totally unknown and nothing to show for it. I don't know to assign magnitude to anything like that, but to say they aren't comparable is wrong.

nobody0 7y ago

Aparting from political views, it does depend on types of questions are asked to some degree. Like 'Do China have cars?' Questions without basic googling. Well, even this type of questions, there are still many people who try to answer it by statistics.