Better in every metric? Try being Chinese and criticizing the government online, and see what happens to you. That’s a pretty scary metric. The US is fucked right now, but at least there is hope in a democracy, while it lasts. If we ever become a full on totalitarian dystopia like China, it’s over. It makes me sad to think that, with modern surveillance technology, there is probably no way for them to dig themselves out of it at this point.

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[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's just so pathetic. There's plenty you can do to criticize the government online and in-person in China (they have protests all the time, for example), but the user has never remotely looked in to this question, they just parrot received wisdom of reddit campfire stories and corporate media dreck. Obviously China has censorship and things like that and obviously some of it is bad, but the absurd generality of "Try being Chinese and criticizing the government online, and see what happens to you. That’s a pretty scary metric." doesn't help to advance even real criticism of China, just Cold War outrage at an Other.

[–] Flyberius@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

When in China I was amazed at how much complaining about the government actually went on. And it was far more nuanced than simply hating the current ruling party. People had issues with government officials pay, the way money was being spent on various infrastructure projects, things that actually mattered.

Not only that, I met a lot of rich young Chinese people in my travels, people who went to university in the US and spent most of their time over there. They loved the west for reasons like "you can own guns" and "it's easy to get really, really rich being a landlord", also tax havens. They frequently spouted Reuters and Bloomberg talking points about how the Chinese government was oppressive because it stifled their money making potential, and how the housing market sucked because it was impossible to make money speculating on property, unlike in the west.

None of these people were arrested the next day.