Hooray for Chinese fashion lol. But real personal freedom in China will come when they have democracy and free speech and freedom of the press, and when having a brother or sister is not a crime.
China Fashion then - and now (See the Chinese girls at Sochi)
by fulltimestudent 13 Replies latest social current
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fulltimestudent
and from Taiwan, (just possibly) a retro designer drawing on the past.
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yadda yadda 2
Mean no offence by the way, I like the Chinese and Confucionist/Tao philosophy a lot and think the West can learn a lot from it, and I think Chinese women are beautiful.
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fulltimestudent
yy2:
But real personal freedom in China will come when they have democracy and free speech and freedom of the press, and when having a brother or sister is not a crime.
Are you mindlessly repeating what you've heard, without question?
Point 1. I supposedly live in (Australia) a representative democracy, with 'free speech' and a 'free press.' Yet, when my grandfather, a founding member (and President) of a branch of the Australian Labour Party (still in existence and often the governing party), said that the Douglas Credit Party ( a very small party with some unique ideas - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Credit_Party ) had some good ideas, he was expelled (disfellowshipped - haha!) from the party.
The Australian security service has an old, dusty file labelled with my name. Why? Because at about age 16, I gave 5 quid (pounds) to a political fund to be spent in an advertising campaign against the incumbent government.
When, a few years later, my uncle applied for a public service job, he was taken to a security office and questioned about his political affiliations, because they said, "You're nephew is a communist." I wasn't, I was just interested in social justice. I am still not a communist, why? Because I think its too easy, in a large enterprise, for lazy people to bludge on the real hard-workers.
Only a couple of years later, I was in trouble with the elite again. My idealism and interest in social justice had led me to knock on the door (another grin) of the JWs. This co-incided with the Korean war, and compulsory military service. I applied to be exempted on conscientous grounds. The state decided I did not have a conscience. "Up U," I said and refused to join a marching squad when ordered. I was jailed for mutiny! (Only to be released - on medical grounds' by a Doctor with the rank of Major, who opined the whole world was 'bloody mad.')
These days, if I spoke out about certain ideas (even though they may be held conscientously), I could be arrested in the middle of the night, no-one would be allowed to contact me, or to even discuss my arrest. My trial would be in secret. And, I could be jailed in secret and no-one would know, or would be allowed to know where I was.
How free is that?
Point 2. freedom of the press.
Funny point this one: The Watchtower prints under the rules governing 'freedom of the press' -- does that guarantee 'truth' - Or, is it more like the branch of the ALP that expelled my grandfather, interested only in expounding its own rigid dogma?
Do Rupert Murdoch's media specialise is wide ranging open discussion, or is its editorial policy controlled by the minds of an extremely rich old man who is most interested in maintaining his status in contemporary society?
I read an extremely wide variety of news sources every day. I will speak plainly - the media in english speaking countries is very much into supporting the present system. They tell only part of the story - the part that is favourable to the west.
Point 3. Democracy.
Polls indicate some 30+% of Australians thinks there's a lot wrong with the present system of 'democracy' in Australia. YOU can consider why that may be so.
A two party system has developed in most English speaking nations. Politics devolve into childish point-scoring - attempting to make the other side look bad. They no longer trade in ideals.
In the USA, members of Congress can, it is said, be bought by lobbyists who will, in return for favouring certain interests, ignore the interests of their electorate, in order to gain financial support in the very expensive process of re-election.
Even so, its a long road that has been travelled to get to that point. Yet naive westerners believe that 'democracy,' can be imposed by the wave of a gun. Bush promised 'democracy' to Iraq. Yes, they can vote for someone - but has it solved one problem?
India is touted as a democracy. And yes! government can change at an election, but that's about all. 550 MPs representmore than 700 million voters. Even if each MP cares, and has some skill in government, how does he/she know what those millions of people think and want. And judging form the very large number of illiterates, what will each voter understand about the issues of the day. Come to that, how many people in western countries understand the complex issues facing their own nations?
You can have your opinion about what's happening in China, but do you understand the very complex path that has led to where that nation is today?
And, finally the comment: 'and when having a brother or sister is not a crime.'
What should a responsible government do, in response to runaway population growth? Just let it happen, and have a situation where there is less and less chance of being able to reach a good level of prosperity. Indian attempted population control under Indira Ghandi and failed, the population spiral handicaps everything in India. Illiteracy is still a huge problem, some 400 million (0ut of 1200,000,000) still live in poverty with one of the world's longest running armed rebellion still causing deaths. Average income is $3910 (in 2012).
Compare India with China: China's average income in 2012 was $6091, and that has likely increased by 20% since that date and the government is attempting to double the 2012 figure by 2020. In 2012 there were 128 million living below the poverty line. Literacy is way ahead of India, and so is health in spite of the problems caused by pollution. And on that subject pollution in Delhi and Mumbai is probably similar to Beijing and Shanghai.
By 2020 the population of India will have exceeded that of China, whose population seems to have establised, and may even have started to fall. How stable do you think the India of 2020 will be with the world's largest population of young people, so many of whom will not be able to access a good education and have little hope of moving out of India's terrible slums into decent accommodation and a job? Maybe India will then become the world's most unstable economy.