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>Ultimately, what would such a system be optimized for? You're completely right. The purpose of such a system shall be used to maintain power but that's not th
by nendroid 6y ago
>Ultimately, what would such a system be optimized for?
You're completely right. The purpose of such a system shall be used to maintain power but that's not the sole purpose of such a system. More than just benefiting the ruling class China wants to be better than and more powerful than the United States of America in every possible way. In order to do this their policies must benefit the working class as well as it is the working class that will be responsible for building a society that supasses the United States economically and technologically.
It's naive to think that China sole purpose is just to have a fat happy ruling class... as the status quo pretty much supports that already. Like all humans no one stays satisfied forever and China's ruling class wants to be better than the United States. Given the state of things China of course has ambitions far greater than your presumptions.
That being said there is a more immediate purpose for the system that involves changing people's' behavior so that they can avoid the tragedy of the commons. If you ever been to China you'll notice that people in general just don't care about the common good. Such systems stop people from pissing on the sidewalk or shitting out in an open field, spitting everywhere and littering cigarette butts wherever they please as this is much of what chinese people do without care.
Improving society is not just a gimmicky cover for consolidating power. It is an actual goal to be used in conjunction with consolidating power. Chinas' goal is to build a happy society that is more affluent and happy than the US but has less freedoms.
A similar system has already been tried in another country successfully. They used extreme punishment in place of extreme monitoring. See Singapore. In Singapore you can get the death penalty for possessing weed, not kidding.
- jacobwilliamroy 6y agoI'd be happy to let the chinese take over but I think they'd put me in a death camp and harvest my organs and rape my sister because we're brown. Just seems like what they'd do, after seeing what they're doing to the uighurs.
- dang 6y agoPlease do not take HN threads further into nationalistic flamewar. Such discussions are repetitive, predictable, nasty, and dumb. We're trying for thoughtful conversation here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jacobwilliamroy 6y agoAre we not supposed to think about the uighur holocaust? Am I not supposed to wonder if the same thing could happen to me? I am the one being thoughtful here. You should know that when you willfully ignore problems, that doesn't actually make them go away. Vanishing my comment is just shameful and childish. All you've demonstrated to me is that HN doesn't want any discussion of human rights abuses. So go ahead and full-ban me Dang, if you really don't think anything I have to think or say belongs on here. I'm sick and tired of your immature, over-reactive, naive userbase anyway. If I could spit on you all through the computer, I would.
- dang 6y agoI understand that it's frustrating, but no, that doesn't follow. The problem is that the signal/noise ratio of internet fulmination is just super low. It doesn't add anything of use. It doesn't contribute to solving any problems. Maybe it provides a little relief to the person venting, but even that doesn't last, and in the meantime it damages the community. That's not in anyone's interest, including yours if you're participating here. Which of course you are welcome to do. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- bamboozled 6y ago"Chinas' goal is to build a happy society that is more affluent and happy than the US but has less freedoms." It seems this is the case if you're Han Chinese only.
- hker 6y agoNot only that. Not only non-Han Chinese face oppression (Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongolians [1]), but lower class Han are also not well treated [2]. Point is, we should not judge the progress of China based on its most affluent class. Things are much more messy behind the cover. And when we try to see the full picture, China is less and less a role model for others to follow. [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/world/asia/china-protest-mongolian-language-schools.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/world/asia/china-protest-... [2]: https://international.thenewslens.com/article/136734 https://international.thenewslens.com/article/136734
- powerapple 6y agoSince when you want to have a developing world as a model for others (developed world) for follow? There is a reason developing world is called developing world. And it doesn't mean a developing country should not follow China's approach to multiple issues.
- hker 6y agoThis comes back to the article: we should not follow Chinese social credit system.
- nendroid 6y agoThe government isn't targeting people by race. It's targeting people by culture and behavior. You either conform to the affluent chinese westernized lifestyle or they will force you Assimilate. Very similar to what happened to much of the Americas. Race is just a correlation, the causative factor is the culture associated with the race as practitioners of falun gong (who include the Han people) are also targeted. In America, I have the freedom to brainwash people into following Scientology, in China such cults cannot exist. The line of demarcation is blurry, when does a religion become a cult? How is the fantasmic stories of walking on water or coming back from the dead in christianity make it any different from scientology? When China sees serfdom as part of the Tibetan culture do they label it backwards and raze the entire belief system or do they leave it alone? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-china-feudalism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-...
- wombatmobile 6y ago> China wants to be better than and more powerful than the United States of America in every possible way Citation?
- chrischen 6y agoI don't think you need a citation for something that every country most likely aspires towards.
- wombatmobile 6y agoWhat does those terms even mean, “better than and more powerful”?
- m9731526 6y agoWhat do this question means? Do you think they mess around with so many neighbor countries is just looking for love, peace and equality?
- pertymcpert 6y agohttps://www.merriam-webster.com https://www.merriam-webster.com
- Matticus_Rex 6y agoI... don't think many countries aspire to that.
- nendroid 6y agoIf the aspiration is unrealistic than no, but when two superpowers are toe to toe in power, there of course will be a rivalry for the top spot.