Why I Changed my Opinion on China
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Why I Changed my Opinion on China
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Re: Why I Changed my Opinion on China
#2I changed mine at 2008 as well when the system showed off its ugliness. No way to deal with local corruption, these talk about how a foreigner can free ride a system may be great for one. And unlike old days in Soviet Union you American can seem to integrate into it. But that it is a totalitarian state. The elite those rich communists you do not see has power you have no way to control.
Now the axe is to of the New York like Hong Kong my home town, I feel all these are just trick.
And this guy do this comparison like USA should covert to china. Even advocate wechat pay without concern that everything you do is now in the government hand. One day if you said something they do not like, your kid will suffer and there is no appeal.
Such a strange video. But poison one can drink like all those food he can eat. One day when the axe come good luck.
Re: Why I Changed my Opinion on China
#3To be fair, I think the story of laowhy86 and serpentza is also one of consent manufacturing not by censorship but by incentives (a bit like journalists in corporate media implicitly knowing that they can kiss their promotions goodbye if they're anti-war).
They had really grassroot organic videos about their lives as expats and had extremely valid criticisms of China's policies and circumstances (such as him investing in property and realizing that all the amenities then become unmaintained because the developers finish a project and move on). They were thoughtful and nuanced.
But then at some point in the last few years, they realized that their full on China-bashing videos had way stronger YouTube responses and more monetization. At this point, their content just went Access Hollywood in organic quality where they would try to get into confrontational situation to generate negativity.
I don't think they're malicious, but they also know that their weekly China's going down the drain videos are keeping the lights on.
(I also don't doubt that the Chinese government 'invited him to have tea' and made him make positive videos or leave China. Nothing I said makes that acceptable. But it doesn't change the original point)
Re: Why I Changed my Opinion on China
#4To be fair, I think the story of laowhy86 and serpentza is also one of consent manufacturing not by censorship but by incentives (a bit like journalists in corporate media implicitly knowing that they can kiss their promotions goodbye if they're anti-war). They had really grassroot organic videos about their lives as expats and had extremely valid criticisms of China's policies and circumstances (such as him investin…
Based on the economic and social data coming out of China, it really does seem like China is going down the drain though (shoddy skyscrapers collapsing, massive economic slowdown, visas not being renewed out of retaliation, biometrics used for ethnic cleansing [which was covered by NPR], Americans being detained with frivolous cause).