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14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

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Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#421
post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think tax cuts are possibly a decent enough proxy for this subject? While there's certainly a case to be made for tax cuts in very specific use-cases (e.g. where they're strangling demand/innovation/living costs/government-corruption/etc); a general belief in tax cuts is a constraint that makes it very hard to believe in society. If you believe in tax cuts as a principle (i.e. 0% is a goal), then generally its hard…

You seem to be assuming that government action is the best way to solve social problems. Is that really true or are there better approaches? I think government has a role to play but often it overreaches, causing negative second-order effects and wasting tax money. For example, in the USA government subsidized student loans were intended to make higher education more accessible to deserving low-income students. But i…

> You seem to be assuming that government action is the best way to solve social problems.

I would suggest that the context of government is superior than the context of the individual or localised groups in solving issues in a fair and just manner, as long as its institutions are well balanced. That's because it has a national perspective as opposed to a localised one. In practice there is a balance at play that is necessary, I think there is arguably a tyranny in only one of these two choices. The principal issue with giving up on the federal level is that minorities will be disadvantaged.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#422
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We recently had a record-sized protest in Taiwan and major political movements as a result. The recall movement was also unprecedented, though it ostensibly failed. However the KMT has failed in its coupe so there's still a positive outcome. It's why I'm here - it's one of the only countries on earth for which I'm politically optimistic.

> It's why I'm here - it's one of the only countries on earth for which I'm politically optimistic. My curiosity is piqued by this. Do you mean to say you've moved there from somewhere place? And what do you mean, why is it the only country for which you're politically optimistic? I don't mean to pry, and have no ulterior motive or point in asking. It just seems like a strong statement, and I cannot guess what you me…

Yes I moved to Taiwan, from the USA. I was exposed to the political activism of Taiwan when I happened to be there during the sunflower protests in ten years ago, and spend 7 years working to return. My beliefs were confirmed day by day as I participated in g0v and witnessed the bluebird protests.

Political activity is high in Taiwan and there are many viewpoints represented. The government doesn't lash out mindlessly against protestors which is something I've never encountered having attended protests throughout the West - the USA, the UK, France, Australia, it seems governments are compelled to meet all protests with violence.

Furthermore taiwanese activists are incredibly organized. At the bluebird protests it was estimated there was many tens of thousands of people, but within hours of the protests being announced there were tents, food lines, water, and bathrooms set up for people. Some anarchists even set up a sound system and had a little rave down the street. There were also anarchists peppered throughout the crowd with medical supplies, and inevitably communists selling newspapers lol. There were two massive PA systems on side roads with hundreds of chairs for people to sit on, and plenty of cover to block the rain - and all these people her despite the massive rain storm!

I saw similar during the multiple pedestrian rights protests I've been to. The only bad protest I went to was a poorly organized bike protest.

I also very much enjoy the shenanigans of the Taiwanese legislative yuan. Throwing sausages at each other, stealing bills and running to the MRT so they can't be signed, barricading each other, getting into fist fights. It shows proper respect for the life or death nature of the decisions they're making.

Here's some photos from the bluebird protests https://photos.app.goo.gl/45L8FE6bVPDLVmdFA

I recently also went to a massive music festival that was highly politicized. Did you know there's a taiwanese politician that's also a singer in a metal band? Anyway his band did a lot of political speech during their show, which I found interesting. Furthermore there was a great deal of anti PRC messaging and art (which is often implied to be anti kmt as well). Another random memory of the music festival is that people will just leave their things lying around in the park, and the festival is ungated in the middle of the city, but nobody will take people's things because that just doesn't really happen in Taiwan. It's incredibly safe here.

I rambled. My overall point, is that people here genuinely feel like they can make a difference individually, because they truly can, and therefore they do. In my pictures you can see people sitting around on laptops. That's an impromptu working group to organize some recall efforts or something along those lines.

Other countries convince their populations that to make anything happen you need to convince 30 million people to agree with you first. In Taiwan you can go to a g0v hackathon and change the country in a small way in an afternoon.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I don't consider regulating social media as "censorship" at all because the nature of foreign owned social media platforms means that you do not know if it is your own citizens talking or some foreign agent with their own vested interest. Media and communication platforms in every country is regulated. All countries also have stricter regulations for foreign media and telecom companies. Online platforms -…

"Stricter regulations" like what? It's easy to talk in the abstract about how "someone ought to do something", but if you're not asking for censorship then what exactly are you asking for? Without any specifics, "government oversight" of what people are saying to each other on social media gives off some very Orwellian vibes in my mind...

> "Stricter regulations" like what?

For communication platforms (messengers) - the same kind that telecom companies are bound to, for example. For social media platforms - similar to what older media platforms are bound on content, editorial / journalistic format and integrity etc. Both also require new, stricter privacy and data laws. I live in a democracy and I find the idea of BigTech "regulating" itself while also being a bastion of "free speech" to be an oxymoron, especially a foreign one.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I don't consider regulating social media as "censorship" at all because the nature of foreign owned social media platforms means that you do not know if it is your own citizens talking or some foreign agent with their own vested interest. Media and communication platforms in every country is regulated. All countries also have stricter regulations for foreign media and telecom companies. Online platforms -…

>you do not know if it is your own citizens talking or some foreign agent with their own vested interest You wouldn't know that if the site was from your own country either. Could you be sure your neighbor is not a foreign spy? >I don't consider regulating social media as "censorship" at all To clarify, you don't consider it censorship because you believe your government would make it more difficult for foreigners al…

I am just restating my faith in my country's democracy to protect my rights, than any private BigTech or foreign government. You, on the other hand, are deliberately ignoring that foreign media platforms have, and are, used for malicious purposes against a state.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you do not know if it is your own citizens talking or some foreign agent with their own vested interest You wouldn't know that if the site was from your own country either. Could you be sure your neighbor is not a foreign spy? >I don't consider regulating social media as "censorship" at all To clarify, you don't consider it censorship because you believe your government would make it more difficult for foreigners al…

I am just restating my faith in my country's democracy to protect my rights, than any private BigTech or foreign government. You, on the other hand, are deliberately ignoring that foreign media platforms have, and are, used for malicious purposes against a state.

I'm not ignoring it, I simply don't care. I recognize that misinformation is going to be spread and act accordingly, by fact-checking and suspending judgement. What you want is for a government entity to decide for you which statements are "true" and which are "false" and to be shown only the "true" ones. It's idiotic. Even if the government has your best interest in mind (which it doesn't; at any given time the ruling party is self-interested), outsourcing your critical thinking faculties is not something you should want.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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> Capitalism has done more to overcome hunger and poverty than any other system in world history. The most devastating man-made famines over the past 100 years all occurred under socialism – in the 1930s alone, according to a range of estimates, between five and nine million people died in the Soviet Union from famines caused by the socialist collectivisation of agriculture. > The end of communism in China and the So…

adamsmith.org/blog

Is that really what passes for a "You can't blame capitalism" source on this damn site?

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Stricter regulations" like what? It's easy to talk in the abstract about how "someone ought to do something", but if you're not asking for censorship then what exactly are you asking for? Without any specifics, "government oversight" of what people are saying to each other on social media gives off some very Orwellian vibes in my mind...

> "Stricter regulations" like what? For communication platforms (messengers) - the same kind that telecom companies are bound to, for example. For social media platforms - similar to what older media platforms are bound on content, editorial / journalistic format and integrity etc. Both also require new, stricter privacy and data laws. I live in a democracy and I find the idea of BigTech "regulating" itself while als…

>For communication platforms (messengers) - the same kind that telecom companies are bound to, for example.

So, like, maximum response time to outages? That kind of thing? Do you actually understand what you're asking for? Those sorts of regulations exist as consumer protections, because you're paying for a service, so a minimum standard of quality is required. You don't pay for WhatsApp, Telegram, Matrix, etc. If your country tried asking for something unreasonable out of those companies, all it would do is make those companies block your country off.

>For social media platforms - similar to what older media platforms are bound on content, editorial / journalistic format and integrity etc.

Totally absurd. First, social media platforms are not journalistic outlets. What, because Bloomberg posts videos to YouTube, every YouTuber should abide by the same kinds of standards that Bloomberg abides by?

Second, I don't know where you live, but if your country has free speech in its constitution, it doesn't have regulation of journalists. Those things are in direct contradiction. Now, of course there are defamation laws, but other than that, the government in a country with free speech cannot regulate the speech of journalists. Things like journalistic integrity and such are matters of etiquette, not legality. There are no laws that, say, forbid a journalist from revealing his sources; it's just that if he does, no one will trust them again.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. So do you think if Facebook hadn't existed the obvious racial tensions also wouldn't have existed?

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Not to the point of one group wanting to enact genocide on another, so that's completely irrelevant, and you know it. If Facebook hadn't existed, would the genocide still have happened? Since you seem to be in a deflecting mood, I'm going to answer for you: yes. If you have one group that hates another, removing a technological means of communication solves nothing.

Re: 14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

#430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with broad generalizations like that is you will make enemies of allies and allies of enemies, only you won't realize it and fail to understand why people aren't 100% behind your agenda. This is itself a form of corruption.

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