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i find it amazing how much tolerance is expressed when authoritarian rule is passed "for the kids sake". I feel reminded of the current apple issue. Are peopl

i find it amazing how much tolerance is expressed when authoritarian rule is passed "for the kids sake". I feel reminded of the current apple issue. Are people really that ready to accept dictate over their and their kids behaviour in the name of moral and health? Isn't "time spent online" miles away from what the government should be allowed to regulate in your life?

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
If you know anything about the Opium problem in China during the Qing Dynasty, China doesn't take to kindly to that kind of stuff. This time they're not executing people in the streets though. Videogames are extraordinarily addictive. They should absolutely be limited for kids.
artificialLimbs 5y ago
>> Isn't "time spent online" miles away from what the government should be allowed to regulate in your life? For anyone who can think for themselves it is, but the CCP has crippled its population's ability to think independently with their constant, forced propaganda. This brainwashing is a form of violence against its people and I hope they rise up someday, but I don't know how that could happen.
- aeternum 5y ago
  It's a great narrative, but then how do you explain all the 'think of the children' laws passed in other countries including the US?
- Aperocky 5y ago
  Your comment reminds me of a joke. --- A high level official from China's propaganda department visits the CNN, and asks to learn the state of the art in propaganda. Bemused, CNN receptionist replies: we are living in a free country, there are no propaganda here. CCP official: That's exactly what I'm trying to learn!
  - rflec028 5y ago
    Tight.
javajosh 5y ago
Impressive doesn't mean good. I don't have any control over what the CCP does, which is why I hope the action they've taken will not hurt people. If the CCP decided to ban smoking, it would be a violation of people's rights. But it would also be a net benefit to almost everyone, and to society (health care costs would go down). That kind of authoritarianism is a LOT easier to stomach than, say, putting the Uygars into concentration camps. At least to me. (Singapore is an example of what I would call a mostly-benevolent authoritarian regime, for example.)
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > If the CCP decided to ban smoking, it would be a violation of people's rights. But it would also be a net benefit to almost everyone, and to society I think you are conflating “banning” with “convincing people to stop”; these are not the same. The PRC has banned lots of things without actually stopping them, and lots of countries have banned lots of addictive drugs without stopping their use, and with a whole lot of social harms resulting from the attempts to enforce the bans. > health care costs would go down Health care outcomes would no doubt improve if smoking was reduced by a ban, but healthcare costs would probably go up. IIRC, most studies have shown that reducing smoking increases lifetime healthcare costs (because, simplifying, people spend more time dealing with treatable problems instead of dead from incurable lung cancer.)
SolarNet 5y ago
> i find it amazing how much tolerance is expressed when authoritarian rule is passed "for the kids sake". > Are people really that ready to accept dictate over their and their kids behaviour in the name of moral and health? To be clear, most commentators here are probably from outside China. There isn't anything anyone commentating here can do about this. So all we can really commentate is on the outcomes and what it might mean.

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago

If you know anything about the Opium problem in China during the Qing Dynasty, China doesn't take to kindly to that kind of stuff. This time they're not executing people in the streets though. Videogames are extraordinarily addictive. They should absolutely be limited for kids.

artificialLimbs 5y ago

>> Isn't "time spent online" miles away from what the government should be allowed to regulate in your life? For anyone who can think for themselves it is, but the CCP has crippled its population's ability to think independently with their constant, forced propaganda. This brainwashing is a form of violence against its people and I hope they rise up someday, but I don't know how that could happen.

aeternum 5y ago
It's a great narrative, but then how do you explain all the 'think of the children' laws passed in other countries including the US?
Aperocky 5y ago
Your comment reminds me of a joke. --- A high level official from China's propaganda department visits the CNN, and asks to learn the state of the art in propaganda. Bemused, CNN receptionist replies: we are living in a free country, there are no propaganda here. CCP official: That's exactly what I'm trying to learn!
- rflec028 5y ago
  Tight.

javajosh 5y ago

Impressive doesn't mean good. I don't have any control over what the CCP does, which is why I hope the action they've taken will not hurt people. If the CCP decided to ban smoking, it would be a violation of people's rights. But it would also be a net benefit to almost everyone, and to society (health care costs would go down). That kind of authoritarianism is a LOT easier to stomach than, say, putting the Uygars into concentration camps. At least to me. (Singapore is an example of what I would call a mostly-benevolent authoritarian regime, for example.)

dragonwriter 5y ago
> If the CCP decided to ban smoking, it would be a violation of people's rights. But it would also be a net benefit to almost everyone, and to society I think you are conflating “banning” with “convincing people to stop”; these are not the same. The PRC has banned lots of things without actually stopping them, and lots of countries have banned lots of addictive drugs without stopping their use, and with a whole lot of social harms resulting from the attempts to enforce the bans. > health care costs would go down Health care outcomes would no doubt improve if smoking was reduced by a ban, but healthcare costs would probably go up. IIRC, most studies have shown that reducing smoking increases lifetime healthcare costs (because, simplifying, people spend more time dealing with treatable problems instead of dead from incurable lung cancer.)

SolarNet 5y ago

> i find it amazing how much tolerance is expressed when authoritarian rule is passed "for the kids sake". > Are people really that ready to accept dictate over their and their kids behaviour in the name of moral and health? To be clear, most commentators here are probably from outside China. There isn't anything anyone commentating here can do about this. So all we can really commentate is on the outcomes and what it might mean.