Comment by palata

4 days ago

Sure. I just noted the irony that the US discourse has sounded a lot like "we are better than China, we are more free" for decades.

11 comments

palata

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infecto  4 days ago

But we are, there is no irony. China has the great wall and massive corporate espionage games to steal state and corporate secrets. The US and its various federal intelligence agencies have certainly done nefarious things but never quite as documented at the level as China's. They actively monitor all of their Social Media, block most foreign social media. I can easily go to any Chinese social media/website from the US.

lenerdenator  4 days ago

In some ways, this is still true, even surrounding this decision.

Do you think there were many people standing outside of government buildings in Beijing protesting the potential ban of Facebook and Google while politicians of different political parties were debating the ban in the country's primary legislative body? Do you think you could launch a campaign for office on repealing said ban in China?

  • antifa  3 days ago

    I think they could, and fundamentally won't because they can be accessed via VPN, but ultimately aren't necessary because those companies are not exactly interesting for any purpose but talking to Americans or studying Americans.

shlant  4 days ago

> "we are better than China, we are more free"

Anyone who disagrees with this is either not being honest or is not aware of what extent China restricts it's citizens.

  • palata  4 days ago

    But wouldn't you say that there is some irony there, still?

    I see multiple comments saying "shut up, we're not China!", but that's not what I meant :-). I just meant that there is some irony here.

    And that next time we criticize China's protectionism, we may take a step back and think that we do it too, sometimes.