The past few days i have noticed myself resisting clicking on links because i know they go to sites that are blocked by the Great Firewall
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It's a very interesting topic that i personally never truly understood until i was there.
I do want to stress that there is still diversity of opinion in China - there are a billion people there! Of course there are people with many different interests and ideas - the censorship and propaganda doesn't "brainwash" everyone, but it does create a different structure for looking at the world. There are some fundamental beliefs around governance, control, self-expression etc that people in China hold that is very hard to shake.
What especially upsets me is that the party is supposedly "communist" but they've deliberately constructed a class system. The argument you often hear is that it's not like people can't find out about other views - you can go to university and study it in books, or travel overseas and see it for yourself. They would say that Chinese people understand the alternatives and chose the current system. But that in itself is elitist, in my opinion, because most people cannot go to university, cannot travel overseas, and certainly not immerse themselves for long enough to "unlearn" the propaganda. The people who can afford those luxuries seem to have a vested interest in keeping the system as it is.
Of course. Some people must use VPNs too, right. I'm just startled by the default, and how many people only have exposure to that.
That's a good point. I also disagree that the people somehow chose this system because the only China most people have known is this one. (Also, isn't it up to the few elites in government, not the general population?) Going abroad and experiencing something else temporarily isn't the same as having vast changes and different systems in your own home.
I do want to stress that there is still diversity of opinion in China - there are a billion people there! Of course there are people with many different interests and ideas - the censorship and propaganda doesn't "brainwash" everyone, but it does create a different structure for looking at the world. There are some fundamental beliefs around governance, control, self-expression etc that people in China hold that is very hard to shake.
What especially upsets me is that the party is supposedly "communist" but they've deliberately constructed a class system. The argument you often hear is that it's not like people can't find out about other views - you can go to university and study it in books, or travel overseas and see it for yourself. They would say that Chinese people understand the alternatives and chose the current system. But that in itself is elitist, in my opinion, because most people cannot go to university, cannot travel overseas, and certainly not immerse themselves for long enough to "unlearn" the propaganda. The people who can afford those luxuries seem to have a vested interest in keeping the system as it is.
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That's a good point.
I also disagree that the people somehow chose this system because the only China most people have known is this one. (Also, isn't it up to the few elites in government, not the general population?) Going abroad and experiencing something else temporarily isn't the same as having vast changes and different systems in your own home.
Reply
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