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Not to mention that, once in a while, even people who don't dare speak against the authority get caught up and obliterated by the system. It's the nature of opp

Not to mention that, once in a while, even people who don't dare speak against the authority get caught up and obliterated by the system. It's the nature of oppressive authoritarian systems where the rule of law is absent. You don't necessarily need to do anything for it to single you out. On the topic of the 'American Dream': the more successful you are, the more likely it is in such a system that you don't pay off the right guy in time, or don't surrender enough of your wealth to a well-connected guy who wants a piece of it. And off to the Gulags you go, sharing a cell with the 'political prisoner' who pointed to as a cautionary tale of why you must not speak out and criticize the government. Wait, does that mean you're also a 'political prisoner' now too?

ThinkBeat 7y ago
Assange, Snowden, Manning.. Speaking truth to power is not without its risks in the US. The list can be made much larger, but then it needs to explain each case, whereas the ones above most people know about. You can say this is not speaking truth to power, it was leaks that are different but not really. Concentration camps in China, might be a secret. I dont think they are but what goes on in side of them is meant to be, breaking the government's repression of information is a good thing. Just like telling the world what the US really does is good for our country.
- bassman9000 7y ago
  Tell me of another superpower or large country with better basic rights protection than the US. Perfect? By no means. Far better than China? Absolutely.
- 99052882514569 7y ago
  Are you trying to say all states use coercion, or actually trying to draw parallels between Chinese and US government's methodology for suppressing dissent? Because if it's the latter, they are not comparable. You wouldn't even hear of a Chinese soldier who did what Manning did, regardless of motivations and how wrong the military's exposed actions were. Neither would his family hear about him, ever again. People have been executed in China for far less, sometimes simply for losing a high-stakes political game. The larger point I was trying to make is that having the rule of law usually moderates the severity of repression, sure, but it's not just a difference in degree. It's a difference in kind - it prevents arbitrary oppression. You can fault the US for suppressing whistle-blowers/leakers, but you cannot tell me those whistle-blowers/leakers simply stumbled into their actions without knowing they'll get in trouble. They knew the game, and knowingly broke its rules. Are there rules in China? Maybe, until there aren't. Ask the two Canadians being held in isolation without even the right to a book, just because their files turned up at the wrong bureaucrats desk and became needed to send a message to the Canadian government. This is also why I won't set foot in the PRC if I can help it. I don't want to be used as a message to my government, no matter how unlikely it is for an insignificant pawn like me to get caught up in something like that. I'll limit my travel to places where I can read up on rules beforehand, and those rules are actually followed.

ThinkBeat 7y ago

Assange, Snowden, Manning.. Speaking truth to power is not without its risks in the US. The list can be made much larger, but then it needs to explain each case, whereas the ones above most people know about. You can say this is not speaking truth to power, it was leaks that are different but not really. Concentration camps in China, might be a secret. I dont think they are but what goes on in side of them is meant to be, breaking the government's repression of information is a good thing. Just like telling the world what the US really does is good for our country.

bassman9000 7y ago
Tell me of another superpower or large country with better basic rights protection than the US. Perfect? By no means. Far better than China? Absolutely.
99052882514569 7y ago
Are you trying to say all states use coercion, or actually trying to draw parallels between Chinese and US government's methodology for suppressing dissent? Because if it's the latter, they are not comparable. You wouldn't even hear of a Chinese soldier who did what Manning did, regardless of motivations and how wrong the military's exposed actions were. Neither would his family hear about him, ever again. People have been executed in China for far less, sometimes simply for losing a high-stakes political game. The larger point I was trying to make is that having the rule of law usually moderates the severity of repression, sure, but it's not just a difference in degree. It's a difference in kind - it prevents arbitrary oppression. You can fault the US for suppressing whistle-blowers/leakers, but you cannot tell me those whistle-blowers/leakers simply stumbled into their actions without knowing they'll get in trouble. They knew the game, and knowingly broke its rules. Are there rules in China? Maybe, until there aren't. Ask the two Canadians being held in isolation without even the right to a book, just because their files turned up at the wrong bureaucrats desk and became needed to send a message to the Canadian government. This is also why I won't set foot in the PRC if I can help it. I don't want to be used as a message to my government, no matter how unlikely it is for an insignificant pawn like me to get caught up in something like that. I'll limit my travel to places where I can read up on rules beforehand, and those rules are actually followed.