781–790 of 1001 posts
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Sorry for not entirely related to the main thread, but since it seems there are many people in this thread knowledgable on what's going on in Hong Kong, I'd like to ask 2 questions. I'm not siding with CCP, but my issue is I'm not sure I can side with the protestors either. Because 1. Does the protestors representing the majority of citizens? If yes at this stage why the working class in Hong Kong hasn't started long…
1. Any short or long-term strike action would hurt the protestors more than the government due to lack of food and welfare. 2. Violence against Pro government folk is bad. However there has also been a lot of documented instances of Pro government forces being dressed as protestors and sparking violence. From what I've seen it all started remarkably peaceful and had since been escalated to a position where the govern…
2. I guess I was having too much hope that democracy fighters would hold onto their principles even when being enticed to use violence against civilians.
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"Are they being shot at by police, or are they police shooting at people" is a good place to start.
That seems like an extremely bad rule of thumb to me. Neo nazis sometimes get into violent confrontations with the police, for example
The FBI has been warning about white supremacist infiltration of police departments since 2006[1], and nothing has been done about it, because the infiltration is already complete: most cops are at least comfortable with white supremacy. Those who speak out against white supremacy from within police departments get kidnapped and beaten by their colleagues, or left in dangerous situations without backup.[2]
1. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-i...
2. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/414/right-to-remain-silent#...
Interesting how an incidence in gaming garner more eye balls on the topic of Hong Kong politics than whole month combined. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... Good for the people of Hong Kong. The topic of Hong Kong didn't struck me as sensational/desperate as it deserves until a Hong Kong friend send me this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yXTHODE24Q Am moved by the clip, especial…
This one is the top story, but "Apple Hides Taiwan Flag in Hong Kong", "Hong Kong protest safety app banned from iOS store", "Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests", and others all got substantial attention.
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These studio's should not stop publishing their games in China. The issue lies that these studio's happily comply with whatever restrictions a govt is willing to oblige due to possibly playerbase loss. Think lootboxes, forbidden skins in regions, exc... exc.. Companies as big as Blizzard should be prepared to lose 5/10/15% of their playerbase to defend free speech, the thing is they do not care about free speech. All…
Blind defense of this narrow and immature notion of free speech from Blizzard would have people up on stage shouting racial slurs. Rather, I think a consistent and humane stance on ethics and human rights abuses would help and address the real issue here. They have the right to deny people access to their services and nothing they do is essential, but they do and will very obviously grab a lot of negative attention w…
What narrow and immature notion of free speech? What the player said or what I have said?
Of course a consistent and humane stance on ethics and human right abuses would address the real issue. I do not believe for one second that its own employee's believe in the stance Blizzard has taken. Will some not care? Of course, it is their right to not care.
Is it feasible to think Blizzard has done risk analysis on the outcome of these events depending on which stance they've taken? What would they lose by taking a negative stance on the matter (which they have done)? They've currently created a situation where players of their games, whom aren't even located anywhere close to China have decided to step down from any blizzard game. What would they gain by taking a positive stance on the matter? Say the Chinese were to cut them off entirely, revenue loss of 25-30, perhaps 35%?
I understand the decision from a management perspective, I truely do. I do not understand the decision from a neutral, humane perspective. Blizzard entertainment does not have roots in China Blizzard entertainment's main focus is entertainment, fictional entertainment. Can u imagine a game, based on a pseudo-reality where free speech is non-existent? I for one can't..
I'm not sure where I'm going with my reply, I just wanted to write out these few sentences.
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I thought Western companies had to pursue profits at all costs? China is a big juicy market.
I expect companies to do what’s morally right not merely maximize profits while doing anything that is legally acceptable. I expect leaders of companies to do what’s morally right while explaining to shareholders that if they disagree they can sell their shares or replace them. I have zero respect for a manager at Blizzard or the NBA who decides to try to pull what they did this week.
Then we have to boycott Hearthstone. While the current case is neither surprising nor substantially important, it is important because of principle. Blizzard is not responsible for what players say in interviews. In our society, it still matters that people can tolerate other opinions. The Chinese government tries to make it a new normal that entire people can have their "feelings hurt" (what?) by mere non-insulting…
Honestly never even heard of it so that's pretty easy then.
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>These are not incredibly difficult to distinguish between this is fundamentally misguided. who gets to judge who is the marginalized individual? global geopolitics is more complicated than there being strict good actors and bad actors
"Are they being shot at by police, or are they police shooting at people" is a good place to start.
Fortunately, unlike in times past, we don't need to rely on hearsay or propaganda. Everybody has their camera out and we can see what's happening, at least most of the time. This [1] is the video of the first shooting. And this [2] is the video of the second and, to my knowledge, final shooting. Do you feel the officers acted disproportionately, abusively, or in an otherwise inappropriate fashion?
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN4MvOrPotk
[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHKbe5mAoNo
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For those concerned the videos are mostly safe-for-life in what is depicted, even if it is somewhat unsettling.
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Translation: "Let me dismiss and trivialize that which I'm too scared to admit might be true." Good luck keeping on pretending the opinions of a large chunk of the world don't exist, don't make sense or don't matter. Or maybe it's you who needs to expand your mind, show a bit of empathy and try to understand the other side? Sure, I guess it's easier to pretend the other side doesn't really exist, than to come to unde…
> Or maybe it's you who needs to expand your mind, show a bit of empathy and try to understand the other side?
If the other side was doing the same, sure. The other side is actively denying my side the right to speak, though. I give zero empathy to their actions.
> Keep arrogant and ignorant at your own peril. But I guess it's easier to close your mind and feel better by pretending it's wrong, than to try to know the rest of the world?
You don't find it arrogant for China to try to prevent the rest of the world from saying that they support Hong Kong? You don't find it ignorant for China to try to keep information from the west out of China via the Great Firewall? You don't find that "closing your mind"?
China has no right to appeal for us to show those values, when China so clearly has no interest in them itself. (Yes, we should support the values that we claim. China has no right to demand that we do, though.)
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Why does the fact that the person making a political statement knew that they were making a political statement make their banning okay?
There's a difference between accidentally and knowingly breaking a rule. Regardless of if you feel the rule is fair or right, knowingly breaking is more egregious, e.g. manslaughter is not as bad as first or second degree murder.
If the rules are ridiculous, then the reaction to them should be to dismantle the rules and disavow the rule-makers.