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Younger Americans are friendlier to China (www.economist.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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[–] 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I visit China frequently for work and feel that the impression most older Americans have of China is incredibly out of touch. The traditional media portrayal of the country is definitely a part of this. Yes, it's certainly an authoritarian state, but this doesn't change whether the people are nice or what they want in life.

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  • [+] 40 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)
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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I think it's probably better to simply say that "authoritarian" is a buzzword, though your implied argument that all states work by exerting authority on (at least some portion of) their population is certainly true. Anyone who uses a term like "authoritarian" rather than even a marginally more-descriptive negative term like, idk, "bureaucratic" or "state capitalist" (which gets misused, but I digress) is immediately demonstrating themselves to have untrustworthy judgement on the topic

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    maybe bring back totalitarian and use it against countries like the US? have a word that, like Huey P. Newton said regarding coining the term 'pig' for police, "highlights the contradiction", in this case, between the selective usage of a word and it's inherent meaning, none of which is understandable without contradictions from a prescriptive linguistic context

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Hot take. What's the eli5 behind the idea?

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  • [+] 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)
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  • [+] -6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    the state maintains that this is a moral and legitimate use of force: that it has the authority to do this.

    I don't necessarily agree with "moral". In western democracies laws and use of force doesn't legitimize itself by a call to morality usually. Just using some kind of authority, doesn't make a government authoritarian by any common definition of the word.

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  • [+] 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)
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  • [+] -6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It absolutely does imo, it legitimises itself through an appeal to an underlying moral framework.

    Yes, but very indirectly. We don't have a "moral police", but one that enforces laws which are, as you say, legitimized by the people as a sovereign.

    So you don't see police stopping people on "moral grounds" in some vague interpretation.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    What about abortion? Tracking if women are pregnant and hunting them down if then stop being pregnant.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Usually codified by lawy not prosecuted as "immoral behaviour" as such. Although if you look at recent anti-abortion legislation in the US it is intentionally vague. That shifts some burden of interpretation to the executive branch and is a sign of authoritarianism I'd say.

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  • [+] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)
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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    And every functional family.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    wait i have something relevant to say too...

    All happy families are alike, all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way. — Anna Karenina

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It is authoritarian to ask your children to go to bed on time

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    no I think it's, um actually, only when parents tell their kids in china / s <--- to indicate it's sarcasm

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Traffic lights in China is a sign that the CPC will go to extreme lengths to micro manage traffic and human movement.

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  • [+] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I've been once for work. Didn't have an issue with anyone there. I live in Australia now and a few of my friends are Chinese. In fact, I've had 2 Chinese really good friends / best friends

    None of them agree with the government at all

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