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Why do tankies brigade and downvote anything critical of China without the slightest inkling of objectivity? (hexbear.net)
submitted 6 years ago by to c/main@hexbear.net
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Not just here, but also on reddit and other social media.

Sure, there is a propaganda war brewing wherein a lot of Western media are pushing exaggerated narratives, Adrian Zenz is a theological dope of an academic, and the CIA has a vested interest in accelerating conflict, etc. but surely there's got to be room to also address the shortcomings of China as well? Whether it's about LGBTQ+ issues, or the exploits of Chinese capitalism, or being able to criticize or make fun of Xi, I see posts here routinely and systemically brigaded and comments downvoted to oblivion that even sniff at criticism of China.

I consider myself a free agent, and China's meteoric rise gives me some hope for a brighter tomorrow (in contrast to the US), but this blatant campaign of social media manipulation gives me pause for concern. It just screams insecurity and makes me not trust what feels like a counter-propaganda narrative. (Mods, please never get rid of the downvote counter.)

Anyway, here's hoping for a brighter future, but please let ideas breathe.

Thanks for listening.

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[–] 0 points 6 years ago (1 child)

First of all leftists being critical of China on leftist forums is completely irrelevant to imperialist policy towards China. Secondly you can be critical of the path China is pursuing without advocating for regime change, just like you can be critical of religious fundamentalism in Iran without advocating for any action on the part of the American MIC and their allies. Otherwise it's too close for comfort to the "shut up and vote for the lesser evil" rhetoric that stifles any analysis and debate.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 years ago* (last edited 6 years ago)

    I see your point, but when you're exposed to the sheer amount of hypocrisy/violence and reality-denial of white westerners, it becomes hard to suppress the amygdala. That's just how humans work. Not reacting emotionally takes energy.

    Eventually that energy budget is surpassed and "China good no matter what" because fuck it, 99% of the world is shitting putrid diarrhea out of their mouths anyway. They go low, you eventually go low as well, or else you will be driven insane. For the record, that's where I stand, both on a rational level and when I feel outburst-y.

    Otherwise it’s too close for comfort to the “shut up and vote for the lesser evil” rhetoric that stifles any analysis and debate.

    this is a false equivalence, it assumes every lesser evil is lesser by the same amount.

    Biden is barely better than trump. The only way he's better is he says less overt dogwhistle racist shit. Harris is just as bad. Biden would be as bad if not worse globally.

    China on the other hand, is leagues and leagues and leagues better than the west. And no, the US is not the analogy to China, but rather the entire west. The US is just a small fraction of the west, which population-wise is equivalent to China.

    The west administered a continental-scale genocide on hundreds of millions of Americans. They emitted 90% of our current CO2 burden. They committed 95% of animal extinctions/declines of the last century. They starved 100,000,000+ across Africa and India and SEAsia, and are responsible for the early deaths of billions of people suffering the effects of colonialism to this day. The west owns 60% of world GDP, China owns 15%.

    Now contrast with China's crimes, which are...they might be putting 1,000s of Uyghurs in reeducation camps, at least if you believe the nazi cryptofascist Zenz who is the sole source of this entire rumor. So we have thousands as opposed to BILLIONS, being reeducated as opposed to EXTERMINATED, and even this comparatively benign accusation comes from a literal fascist nazi who unironically believes that white Jesus will magically pop out of Krakatoa and smite the CCP--meaning it's probably bullshit.

    China is MULTIPLE orders of magnitude preferable to and more blameless than the west. It's the same as comparing Jeff Bezos+BillGates+Musk to an office worker who makes $50k. Sure, you can be critical of the office worker because he lives in a nice-ish house, or eats steak, but this issue literally could not fucking matter in any conceivable way whatsoever when compared to the scale of what's happening above it.

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