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Do you think the only measure of authoritarianism is number of prisoners per capita? At any rate, I was reading that countries like China have alternatives to
by refurb 4y ago
Do you think the only measure of authoritarianism is number of prisoners per capita?
At any rate, I was reading that countries like China have alternatives to prison called “administrative detention”. Maybe we should just change the name of our prisons so we can goose the stats?
- InCityDreams 4y agoCall them "Guantanamo's". Problem solved.
- xtian 4y agoNo I think we meet all other reasonable measures also. The experience of freedom in the US is the freedom to make increasingly virtual and arbitrary consumer choices. That’s pretty much it. It’s not the experience of freedom of speech in practice, not free time, not freedom from usurious debt, not the freedom of rising prosperity, not freedom from opaque government interference and meddling. When people use the word “authoritarian” they are just signaling that they believe the narratives that our media speaks with one voice about those bad, bad other countries.
- n4r9 4y agoThe US (at least the Republican party & some supporters) possesses other authoritarian traits as well, such as using excessive force to quell protests, pushing a narrative which alienates outgroups (Mexicans, Muslims...), or widespread surveillance. Obviously it's not as bad as China or Russia, but it's not exactly a bastion of hands-off governance either.
- refurb 4y agoI can't think of a single country that doesn't exhibit some authoritarian traits. That doesn't make them authoritarian.
- n4r9 4y agoIndeed, it's a matter of degree. I wouldn't call it autoritarian relative to the world, but it's lagging behind Western Europe and a bunch of other countries.