41–50 of 219 posts
Can anyone comment on the risks of posting such an essay while still living in China? Is this considered safely within the lines, a calculated risk, or something else? (Or has he already left China before posting the essay?)
He is leaving so they probably aren't sweating it and he serves as an example to others about losing your job.
It does get exhausting really quick however
I find it strange that the author continues to reiterate how they're a libertarian and even criticizes the "god is money" view of the Chinese, when back here in the United States the god is indeed money too, we just pretend it is not. Libertarianism requires the same practice around fiscal matters. The god must be money under libertarianism because it is every man for himself, dictated by your level of wealth. The wi…
>it merely replaces a government not actually formed by the will of the people I'm confused by this statement. What do you mean "not actually formed by the will of the people"?
> A common one is when someone is run over by a car and pedestrians just step over the body until a family member finds the body. The video goes viral, prompts a week of hand wringing, and then censors step in to talk about Confucianism and how the economy is growing. There is no innate value given to human life as precious.
Can anyone comment on the risks of posting such an essay while still living in China? Is this considered safely within the lines, a calculated risk, or something else? (Or has he already left China before posting the essay?)
Gawking as well is common in a lot of places which aren't as culturally diverse as say California. If a Chinese or white person visits India, then outside of a few areas in the big cities they'll see similar behavior. Heck I could see people staring at me when I was in Charlotte, NC a while back.
Contrast this: "I will use strong language about the authoritarian communist government but I do not want that in anyway to reflect upon the Chinese people." With these sentences: "There is a complete and utter lack of respect for the individual or person in China. People do not have innate value as people simply because they exist. This leads most directly to a lack of respect for the law/rules/norms. One thing I be…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wordpress doesn't scale that well, I assume the database was just overloaded.
It scales just fine. Some of the world’s largest publications run on it.
I like to distinguish between "culture" and something vaguer, which is what type of equilibrium someone is trapped in. I started to think this way when I lived in Argentina. Argentina is very corrupt, but just across the river is Uruguay...the least corrupt country in Latin America by some metrics. Argentines and Uruguayos are culturally quite similar (the relationship is analogous to that between the US and Canada), but one country is much less corrupt. I mused about this to my Argentine friend and he said "The difference is that in Argentine politics, if you're not corrupt you'll get destroyed." (This is kind of exaggerated but it gets the point across.) So while the cultures are similar, individuals in each country find themselves in different equilibria: if you're the only corrupt person in a group, you'll get caught and ostracized; if you're the only uncorrupt person, you'll get forced out (the same thing happens to police departments in the US). It is impossible for an individual to change the equilibrium.
Likewise with standing in line: Chinese immigrants to America preserve much of their culture for a while but don't cut lines; if they did they would be called out for it, being among the few who do so. But if everyone around you is blatantly cutting, then maybe you'll do it, too.
One thing I try to explain to friends is the observation (and generalisation) of the tier of social behaviour. In short, if the person is a stranger you are total apathetic to them. If they are an acquaintance or friend you treat them kindly at face value. If they are family... you treat them with a disturbing blind loyalty.