Comment by FpUser
2 days ago
I wonder at what point these countries will loose any moral ground against the likes of Russia, China etc.
Up until this point it was mostly that they would gladly fuck the other countries up but treated their own people way better than the other camp. But this difference is disappearing.
Of course there is always North Korea and other totally fucked up regimes they could use to compare and look white and fluffy
Iran used machine guns in protesters
China used tanks against students
Russia still has gulags for people who criticise the government
You’re incredibly naive if you think they’re the same as us
While you have a point, you are looking at this the wrong way.
20 years ago if you had told someone you needed to get a face scan or upload your ID to view certain websites or that you might get your messages and emails scanned in case you send something that the government deems suspicious to someone else, people would have laughed at you.
Yet as we are seeing currently this is what is happening slowly but surely.
Yes, the UK government is not gunning down protesters in the street but can you say with certainty that the screws are not being tightened and that the so called western values of freedom of speech are not being eroded systematically year after year under the pretense of safety?
It seems to me that every western government is looking at what China and Russia are doing and instead of staying true to their values, they are actually trying to figure out how to roll out the same exact measures in the west.
Will we see Gulags in the west make a comeback? Most likely not but in terms of freedom of speech and online privacy rights, we are seeing clearly a rollback and if we do nothing to stop it, we will end up like China with governments looking at everything we say and write on our phone and computer and that is unacceptable especially when these measures are cowardly disguised as 'safety" measures.
> 20 years ago if you had told someone … you might get your messages and emails scanned in case you send something that the government deems suspicious to someone else, people would have laughed at you.
20 years ago we already knew the US government was watching everything.
You haven’t been paying attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
>"You’re incredibly naive if you think they’re the same as us"
And you are "incredibly" inattentive (considering the best case). I did not say they're "the same as us", I said they're heading there. Depending on what particular country we are talking about mileage can vary.
> I wonder at what point these countries will loose any moral ground against the likes of Russia, China etc.
When arbitrary extrajudicial killings happen at some scale on a regular basis?
I heard Boeing whistleblowers died unexpectedly.
Two prominent Boeing whistleblowers, John Barnett (died March 2024) and Joshua Dean (died April 2024), have died in recent times, raising significant concerns about retaliation and safety at the aerospace giant; Barnett died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after battling Boeing in a retaliation lawsuit, while Dean died from a sudden infection after raising quality concerns, with his family suspecting foul play despite official rulings. Barnett's death was ruled a suicide, though his family's wrongful death suit claims Boeing's harassment caused his distress, while Dean's death followed rapid illness, with his family also alleging misconduct by his employer, Spirit Aerosystems, and Boeing.
Also Suchir Balaji. And if you’re willing to go back further, Michael Hastings and Gary Webb.
But that’s all the US. For the UK you need Gareth Williams, the GHCQ analyst who was found dead inside a padlocked duffel bag.
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'Moral ground' was the product of a controlled media environment.