211–220 of 254 posts
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No you're not. Snowden wasn't allowed to denounce the government either.
He was, just not with a bunch of classified documents in hand.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/07/edward-snowden...
He is literally not allowed to denounce the government for breaking their own laws.
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While visiting, am I free to loudly denounce the government?
No, but oddly, you can do almost anything else. Most activity in China does not feel as though it's too intruded upon by the gov.. If you don't run afoul of the party apparatus, it's not unlike many other places. I'm not justifying anything other than to say it's not a dystopia for most.
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Unbelievable. It would be an atrocity merely to rob someone of “non-vital” organs that they can live without, like a spare kidney. To murder someone and profit from the sale of vital organs is simply beyond my comprehension. I cannot fathom a more monstrous act.
There is another way to look at this. These are people who are already subject to execution. They get to stay alive a bit longer in order to preserve the organs. So rather than causing death, the possibility of organ transplants is what keeps these people alive.
And then there’s the extraordinarily perverse profit motive to arrest more dissidents for organ harvesting.
China's arresting Canadians in revenge for the Huawei executive's arrest. Are those Canadians going to be murdered for their organs if the Huawei executive is extradited?
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He was, just not with a bunch of classified documents in hand.
Those classified documents showed how the government was spying on their own citizens and breaking the law. He was whistleblowing. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/07/edward-snowden... He is literally not allowed to denounce the government for breaking their own laws.
I agree with what Snowden did, and respect him for having the courage to do so, but I'm not sure if you're trying to demonise the US government or legitimise the Chinese one by claiming the prosecuting someone for publishing classified documents is equivalent to prosecuting someone for disagreeing with the ruling party.
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Can you name one with the appropriate morals for Western sensibilities?
South Korea is a good example maybe of a country that was happy to become technologically advanced and wealthy without trying to dominate its neighbors, and who was willing to buy into international systems of rule and trade.
Also...SK was for a long time a authoritarian American client state and being a neighbor of China and Japan was in no position to "dominate it's neighbours" even if it wanted to
Why does the west continue to tolerate China as a trading partner? China is pretty obviously building their empire. They, as a government, appear to have almost no regard whatsoever for human life. They, as a government, appear to have absolutely no regard whatsoever for national sovereignty. They, as a government, appear to have absolutely no regard for the environment. It just seems completely inevitable to me that…
I think the threat angle is questionable, even if China perfects altering human genetics to create a superior breed of humans, the theory of mutually assured destruction + our arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear payloads + the concept of a deadman's switch is still pretty solid insurance against anything they can do on a macro level along with any other major world power like Russia.
Any war/history buffs out there care to chime in and change or reinforce my opinion on the topic with some concrete facts and data?
Why does the west continue to tolerate China as a trading partner? China is pretty obviously building their empire. They, as a government, appear to have almost no regard whatsoever for human life. They, as a government, appear to have absolutely no regard whatsoever for national sovereignty. They, as a government, appear to have absolutely no regard for the environment. It just seems completely inevitable to me that…
"It just seems completely inevitable to me that China eventually wants to conquer the world. Why is the west enriching them, and by proxy funding their research into war machines when it seems obvious that these things will eventually be used against us?" I think the threat angle is questionable, even if China perfects altering human genetics to create a superior breed of humans, the theory of mutually assured destru…
Altering human genetics might lead to a creation of radiation-resistant human. If such mutation gets to a significant percentage of country population, such country might actually welcome an unfolding MAD scenario. (Subject to radiation-resistant food and energy supplies etc)
I think it is ultimately possible - elephants have large bodies but less cancer, cockroaches posses high resistance to radiation, etc. Would this be called "human" is another question...
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No, but oddly, you can do almost anything else. Most activity in China does not feel as though it's too intruded upon by the gov.. If you don't run afoul of the party apparatus, it's not unlike many other places. I'm not justifying anything other than to say it's not a dystopia for most.
This is exactly what I'm saying. It's like when you walk into your work office. Not smart to talk shit about your job in the office. China is not America, but it's not dystopia either.
A dystopia doesn't have to be as all-permeating and starkly obvious as the one depicted in 1984 to be a dystopia.
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Buenos Aires is packed with these protests. I had the same skepticism you had, but my main obstacle is that its such a distant reality that is hardly meaningful to act on.
That's very true, and I had the same thought. With that in mind, what do you think is their end goal? Is it just out of desperation they create petitions and such? It seems clear that China doesn't care much about the West's disapproval.