generalfrevious said:
I'm not trying to imply that American get arrested every day and we have a government-controlled media that spits out communist propaganda. The similarities between China and the US is that we are similar in our concern of the economy over the environment, our relatively high prison populations, degrees of government spying on citizens, and that we are rival superpowers, to some degree or another.
I'm not trying to imply that American get arrested every day and we have a government-controlled media that spits out communist propaganda. The similarities between China and the US is that we are similar in our concern of the economy over the environment, our relatively high prison populations, degrees of government spying on citizens, and that we are rival superpowers, to some degree or another.
Similar on the surface maybe, but the devil is in the details.
Concern of the economy over the environment. You have to be kidding. Unless you're referring to the recent "climate change" hype, then the US has been very good about protecting the environment at the cost of the economy in the past. Fuel economy has gone up, large areas of land have been set aside, water and air quality standards have been increased. Contrast this with China where you can't even breathe the air without a mask in some cities (Beijing I think). China has no environmental controls. The US has plenty. Try another argument.
Prison populations. Yes, the US puts people in jail when they break the law. China puts people in jail for speaking out against the government. Again, looks very similar on the surface, but the devil is in the details.
Spying on citizens. This is practically laughable. China blocks access to all but certain "approved" material (Internet, books, etc) and arrests people that subvert these controls. The US has no such thing in place. You want to protest in the US? Go ahead and do it. As long as you're doing it peacefully, you won't have any trouble. You want to put up a website saying how bad and evil the US government is? Go for it. You might get a lot of traffic, but you won't find yourself in prison. You can't do any of those things in China.
I think we get where you're coming from. The US is like China the same way Barack Obama is like John McCain. They have some similarities on the surface, but are completely different in the details.
Mao is revered in China due simply to government propaganda. Repeat a lie long enough and eventually people will believe the lie.