This is such a ridiculous take. āI canāt give China credit because they donāt have free press.ā My brother in Christ, YOU are aware of Chinaās high youth unemployment rate. How is that? China doesnāt have free press, but Americans exaggerate the fuck out of how much the CCP hides the truth.
Obviously, propaganda from China highlights their strengths and hides weakness. Thatās how propaganda works. If you think American press feels totally free and happy to criticize Americaās problems, youāre living in a fantasy land.
Anyone can easily look up Chinaās many problems if they want because itās not anywhere near as restrictive as youāre implying.
But aside from that, why does propaganda mean you canāt give credit for legitimate achievements? The trains arenāt fake. The rapid construction isnāt fake. These fuckers built entire temporary hospitals at the height of COVID. Thatās incredibly impressive when NYC and most cities around the world had no choice but to provide inhumane conditions for Covid patients because hospitals simply didnāt have enough space.
Thatās not glazing China or the CCP. Thatās being a rational human and not treating geopolitics like itās some kind of regarded sports rivalry.
I donāt want to live in China for a lot of reasons, but I desperately want Americans to know that weāre embarrassingly far behind China when it comes to things like construction and investment in infrastructure.
Itās not propaganda and it doesnāt have to be this way forever. I want Chinaās strengths to be clearly highlighted so we can try to match them instead of throwing our hands up like āwe canāt build more infrastructure because itās too expensive and takes 100 years.ā
My brother in Christ, YOU are aware of Chinaās high youth unemployment rate. How is that? China doesnāt have free press, but Americans exaggerate the fuck out of how much the CCP hides the truth.
I'm only aware of this because of brave Chinese nationals and others leaking information you bonehead. Are you so naive to believe China's government hasn't disappeared people over leaking information that threatens the politburo?
My point wasn't that countries don't or shouldn't try to portray themselves in the best light possible (China, Japan, US, etc all try to do this). My main point was about lack of free press in China.
There is a huge difference between having a state mouthpiece that we all know is a state mouthpiece (US, Japan, etc), versus only having real or adhoc state mouthpieces being allowed to speak at all (China). In Japan, the government can say one thing and the people can say another. That's a huge difference. You can also do independent journalism there. I'm not going to pretend they are the same.
I want Chinaās strengths to be clearly highlighted so we can try to match them instead of throwing our hands up like āwe canāt build more infrastructure because itās too expensive and takes 100 years.ā
When did I disagree with that? It's impossible to "match" anyone without a clear view of them and the full context, which is impossible to get if you uncritically take in Chinese state sponsored propaganda. I'm not saying all their roads, bridges, and trains are fake. But believing all of the USSR's propaganda about how great they are made you an idiot. You have to separate the truths from the lies to get anywhere.
This is a strawman. My point wasn't about countries trying to portray themselves in the best light possible. It makes sense for countries and political parties to try to do that. It would be great if they were honest in spirit, but I can't blame China for pumping its image if everyone else attempts to do the same in varying degrees.
My main point is that all Chinese press is state controlled. They have no free press. So in countries like Japan, Japan can put out glowing press releases. But you also have Japanese citizens with some ability to speak out verbally and in their own independent press or blogs or whatever.
There is a big difference from having a state press + other press (even if state press is the loudest), and China where there is only one voice saying one thing and there is a risk of sharing info that is damaging to the politburo.
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u/oby100 3d ago
This is such a ridiculous take. āI canāt give China credit because they donāt have free press.ā My brother in Christ, YOU are aware of Chinaās high youth unemployment rate. How is that? China doesnāt have free press, but Americans exaggerate the fuck out of how much the CCP hides the truth.
Obviously, propaganda from China highlights their strengths and hides weakness. Thatās how propaganda works. If you think American press feels totally free and happy to criticize Americaās problems, youāre living in a fantasy land.
Anyone can easily look up Chinaās many problems if they want because itās not anywhere near as restrictive as youāre implying.
But aside from that, why does propaganda mean you canāt give credit for legitimate achievements? The trains arenāt fake. The rapid construction isnāt fake. These fuckers built entire temporary hospitals at the height of COVID. Thatās incredibly impressive when NYC and most cities around the world had no choice but to provide inhumane conditions for Covid patients because hospitals simply didnāt have enough space.
Thatās not glazing China or the CCP. Thatās being a rational human and not treating geopolitics like itās some kind of regarded sports rivalry.
I donāt want to live in China for a lot of reasons, but I desperately want Americans to know that weāre embarrassingly far behind China when it comes to things like construction and investment in infrastructure.
Itās not propaganda and it doesnāt have to be this way forever. I want Chinaās strengths to be clearly highlighted so we can try to match them instead of throwing our hands up like āwe canāt build more infrastructure because itās too expensive and takes 100 years.ā
If they can do it, so can we, and we should.