121–130 of 157 posts
Where I live (Sweden) it’s legal to use GitHub (with or without a VPN). But if I fail to report 138000 USD in earnings I’d still be in for a world of hurt: First the tax authority would take about 100000-200000 USD from me. Then I’d be prosecuted for tax fraud. Nobody would be upset or come to my defense. Not saying I prefer the Chinese system, but it’s interesting that in this specific case it’s probably more lenien…
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"If you crush a cockroach, you're a hero. If you crush a beautiful butterfly, you're a villain. Morals have aesthetic criteria." This applies to the context of west vs China. Everything China does is because of oppression and everything the west does is because of democracy and protecting you.
Absolutes are far from helpful in this conversation. There's a fair bit of nuance in this topic, but it can be argued that a totalitarian regime whose primary interest is remaining in power will resort to more oppressive measures towards its citizens than one that at least has some semblance of respecting human rights and democratic processes. This doesn't mean that there aren't things to praise and criticize about b…
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I'd love to see your well-developed argument against economic freedom. Our billionaire Chinese friend can escape to the free world, or buy political influence at home.
> Our billionaire Chinese friend can escape to the free world, or buy political influence at home. This is probably easier for a Chinese millionaire that a Chinese billionaire. If any of the Chinese big tech guys moved to Australia I imagine it cause a bit of a scandal.
And the scandal would be “Nobody has had any news from for the past ten days, suspicions of forced disappearance creates diplomatic tensions between Australia and China” or something like that.
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One of the most important interests if not the primary interest of a democratically-chosen government is to remain in power as well. We should be an absolute beacon of morality and principles with a stellar track record to criticise (or even, instill change through violence in) in other countries. That is not the case yet, so let's work on that.
> We should be an absolute beacon of morality and principles with a stellar track record to criticise ... other countries. That is not the case yet, so let's work on that. I completely disagree. We can have many problems but when another country, say, invades another one, we should respond appropriately. Waiting until everybody becomes crystal will never work because it's never going to happen. > (or even, instill ch…
The American Revolution? The Civil War?
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Your entire argument is nonsensical, but this part: > With enough money you can buy all the others is particularly easily falsifiable. A billionaire in China does not have freedom of speech and cannot buy it.
Primarily due to a lack of economic freedom. If a billionaire in the west (or even just an ordinary wealthy or high income person) doesn’t like how oppressive their government is, they can just take their wealth and productivity to a place they’re more happy with. A wealthy Chinese person has far less property rights over their wealth, they’re absolutely not free to remove it from the country, and their continued acc…
Money isn't yours if you can't spend or move it.
I will never understand China or Chinese people.
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Your entire argument is nonsensical, but this part: > With enough money you can buy all the others is particularly easily falsifiable. A billionaire in China does not have freedom of speech and cannot buy it.
I'd love to see your well-developed argument against economic freedom. Our billionaire Chinese friend can escape to the free world, or buy political influence at home.
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> Our billionaire Chinese friend can escape to the free world Unless you threaten the authoritarian leader via, for example, having too much money or saying negative things. Where, for example, is Jack Ma? He used to be very focal and visible until his disappearance, but nowadays he is allegedly peacefully enjoying his retirement with painting. According to Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, Jack Ma "is fine. He is lying l…
He travels afaik - he did a lecture in Tokyo on entrepreneurship - his family is back home in China so there is no risk for the govt.
Those in China who have power and criticize the PRC are swiftly punished for it and stripped of that power. I know "freedom of speech" is a term that's been significantly watered down in common parlance, but this is the poster child of not having it.
[0] https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/china-jack-ma-wealth...
It's important to keep into perspective that China is a 1.4Bn people's country and highly decentralized (much to the chagrin of the pro-US). This happened under the "Chengde" administration. There might be many reasons for this: Chengde is over-zealous, The police has a particular issue with a particular individual, the central state wants some examples, the local state wants to show its toughness on VPN, the local s…
I know we're in the midst of a cold war, but you don't have to be "pro-US" to be critical of an authoritarian regime.
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Weakness is a comparative thing. I’m European. Compared to Europe, American unions barely register. You gave an example where one union did something big one in the US once. Still small and weak compared to Europe. Unions can stop the economy of whole countries for 2 weeks if they get really pissed. Often with support from the rest of the population. I’m not trying to downplay how things are in China by any means, an…
So? The parent is Chinese. Their point is that Chinese unions are much weaker than US ones. What does Europe have to do with that?