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US is a stable democracy with an independent media and judiciary. And Trump’s unpopularity (~60%) means that his world view is not shared by the majority of Ame

US is a stable democracy with an independent media and judiciary. And Trump’s unpopularity (~60%) means that his world view is not shared by the majority of Americans. So this idea that it is not that secure/free because of a minor uptick in racism is ridiculous. China is routinely kidnapping and torturing anyone who disagrees with them - citizen or not. And we still don’t know where many missing journalists have ended up.

AsyncAwait 6y ago
> independent media Actually the mainstream TV & newspaper media are overall owned by a very few holding companies and there's plenty of stories of people being subtly or overtly pressured to either change tune or be forced off the air if they ie spoke extensively against the Iraq War pre-invasion.
- threeseed 6y ago
  They aren’t directly controlled by the government though. And you have plenty of organisations like NPR and PBS which are truly independent. Also anyone can create a news site or blog without worrying about it being blocked.
  - umanwizard 6y ago
    PBS and NPR are in fact directly controlled by the government. It’s interesting that those are your two examples of gold standard independent media.
    - selimthegrim 6y ago
      No, you’re thinking of VOA and stuff that used to be under erstwhile Broadcasting Board of Governors
    - threeseed 6y ago
      They are both independent non-profits which rely on a mix of private and public funds. Not sure through what mechanism you think they are directly controlled.
      - pishpash 6y ago
        The state-controlled CPB exerts significant influence via funding and the FCC via regulatory reach. This isn't theoretical. Whether that's "direct" control or not is in the eye of the beholder, but people have accused media in other countries of being not independent under similar circumstances. Personally I think anyone can live in their own fiction as long as they are not hurting anyone else, but to consider a strategic resource like the media as being truly independent in any country is naive. You're literally missing an entire world if you do not look outside your home country.
  - minerjoe 6y ago
    > aren't directly controlled Why control things directly when you don't have to? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
  - AsyncAwait 6y ago
    > They aren’t directly controlled by the government though. No. They're controlled by multinational corporations with clear profit motives and conflicts of interests and thus tend to be biased in favor of those industries. In China you have state dominance so you have state controlled media, in the U.S. you have corporate media. That's not independent media, just the other side of the same coin. And if your argument is "they don't control the army", the military industrial complex means they don't have to do so directly.
pm90 6y ago
The US is neither a stable democracy (incredible levels of partisanship and voter suppression) nor does it have an independent judiciary (justices even in SCOTUS mostly vote around party lines on issues of voting ie power). The most popular media network is Fox News which is openly subservient to the President. The uptick or racism is not minor either. Racism has been embedded in the American way of life and the fight against it has been long and painful. Being a minority in the US is absolutely a huge risk factor. > China is routinely kidnapping and torturing anyone who disagrees with them American police kill a lot of citizens, and incarcerate a large number of mostly POC. And the current POTUS has repeatedly said he won’t leave office even if votes out, and has speculated openly on staying in office beyond term limits. So please don’t give me crap about China when our country is at the precipice of losing its status as a Democracy.
- fermienrico 6y ago
  Tell that to hundreds of thousands of Indian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Philippino, Taiwanese, etc immigrants that work here in the tech industry. I am a little bit speechless at all this vile of anti-US propaganda. It is insane.
  - ahelwer 6y ago
    As a Canadian living in the US: it really isn't. The US wants to believe it isn't a dumpster fire but beyond its natural beauty (literally the Chinese name for America means "beautiful country", of which I'm jealous because the Chinese name for Canada is Jianada) and high salary there are so, so many reasons why it is not a very desirable place to live. Institutional racism and a comically horrible healthcare system are some examples. Many Americans are quite delusional about this. One big benefit of living there is you won't be bombed by the US military, I guess.
    - fermienrico 6y ago
      > One big benefit of living there is you won't be bombed by the US military, I guess. US Military bombs Canadians living in Canada? I didn't know, source?

AsyncAwait 6y ago

> independent media Actually the mainstream TV & newspaper media are overall owned by a very few holding companies and there's plenty of stories of people being subtly or overtly pressured to either change tune or be forced off the air if they ie spoke extensively against the Iraq War pre-invasion.

threeseed 6y ago
They aren’t directly controlled by the government though. And you have plenty of organisations like NPR and PBS which are truly independent. Also anyone can create a news site or blog without worrying about it being blocked.
- umanwizard 6y ago
  PBS and NPR are in fact directly controlled by the government. It’s interesting that those are your two examples of gold standard independent media.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    No, you’re thinking of VOA and stuff that used to be under erstwhile Broadcasting Board of Governors
  - threeseed 6y ago
    They are both independent non-profits which rely on a mix of private and public funds. Not sure through what mechanism you think they are directly controlled.
    - pishpash 6y ago
      The state-controlled CPB exerts significant influence via funding and the FCC via regulatory reach. This isn't theoretical. Whether that's "direct" control or not is in the eye of the beholder, but people have accused media in other countries of being not independent under similar circumstances. Personally I think anyone can live in their own fiction as long as they are not hurting anyone else, but to consider a strategic resource like the media as being truly independent in any country is naive. You're literally missing an entire world if you do not look outside your home country.
- minerjoe 6y ago
  > aren't directly controlled Why control things directly when you don't have to? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
- AsyncAwait 6y ago
  > They aren’t directly controlled by the government though. No. They're controlled by multinational corporations with clear profit motives and conflicts of interests and thus tend to be biased in favor of those industries. In China you have state dominance so you have state controlled media, in the U.S. you have corporate media. That's not independent media, just the other side of the same coin. And if your argument is "they don't control the army", the military industrial complex means they don't have to do so directly.

pm90 6y ago

The US is neither a stable democracy (incredible levels of partisanship and voter suppression) nor does it have an independent judiciary (justices even in SCOTUS mostly vote around party lines on issues of voting ie power). The most popular media network is Fox News which is openly subservient to the President. The uptick or racism is not minor either. Racism has been embedded in the American way of life and the fight against it has been long and painful. Being a minority in the US is absolutely a huge risk factor. > China is routinely kidnapping and torturing anyone who disagrees with them American police kill a lot of citizens, and incarcerate a large number of mostly POC. And the current POTUS has repeatedly said he won’t leave office even if votes out, and has speculated openly on staying in office beyond term limits. So please don’t give me crap about China when our country is at the precipice of losing its status as a Democracy.

fermienrico 6y ago
Tell that to hundreds of thousands of Indian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Philippino, Taiwanese, etc immigrants that work here in the tech industry. I am a little bit speechless at all this vile of anti-US propaganda. It is insane.
- ahelwer 6y ago
  As a Canadian living in the US: it really isn't. The US wants to believe it isn't a dumpster fire but beyond its natural beauty (literally the Chinese name for America means "beautiful country", of which I'm jealous because the Chinese name for Canada is Jianada) and high salary there are so, so many reasons why it is not a very desirable place to live. Institutional racism and a comically horrible healthcare system are some examples. Many Americans are quite delusional about this. One big benefit of living there is you won't be bombed by the US military, I guess.
  - fermienrico 6y ago
    > One big benefit of living there is you won't be bombed by the US military, I guess. US Military bombs Canadians living in Canada? I didn't know, source?