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chosenbreed37[dead post] ◴[] No.23831695[source]
Honest question. Can someone explain why the comment below was flagged? I can see why some might disagree but I fail to see any problematic about any of the statements made. I think of HN as one of the few places were people can have open discussions where everyone is free to state their opinion and have it up for debate/rebuttal.

"I disagree. Reports about China from many western media tend to exaggerate things about China, mostly influenced by western politics, not good at all. Also, western media tend to report selective facts to only show things they want people to hear and see. The right to life is the first clause of human right, which I see they are violated in many western countries. They refuse to treat the poor and old. Do you hear China criticise? Maybe they are, but for sure western media choose not to report them.

Freedom of speech is a relative term in today’s world. I can say some of the things you shouldn’t say in China are equally not welcomed in many western countries. If you split US, see how many troubles could come to you?

On democracy, I’m not sure what to comment. China has ran 4000 years under one empire system, and it’s just the culture there. Why democratic society is better than the 1 party system? What’s more important is to have the party represent people’s interests. In many democratic countries, each party represents the interests from certain groups, that’s why it’s necessity to have multiple parties perhaps. The downsides to democratic system is also quite obvious. There are countless debate on many small matters which waste tax payer’s money etc.. Also, the democracy can be manipulated, and if it is the case, it’s worse."

1. Karunamon ◴[] No.23831895[source]
Because it is false equivalence of the highest order.

- Yes, the US has a police brutality problem. (Though not near as bad)

- Yes, the US has a government corruption problem. (Though not near as bad)

That acknowledged:

* At no point will you disappear in the US for criticizing the government.

* At no point will you be placed into a concentration camp and tortured.

* At no point will you be barred from participating in society because you lost points on a "social score" calculated on things such as following the wrong religion or criticizing the government.

* At no point will you be subject to ethnic cleansing.

* This list could be many times longer.

The US is not a totalitarian police state and it is fundamentally dishonest, to the point of mendacity and/or trolling, to equate the two. There are no countries on this planet with entirely clean hands. All have committed abuses, all have fallen short. With the binary 1 and 0 off the table, that leaves us with a matter of degrees, and some countries objectively have worse human rights records than others.

On top of all that, most of the posts like the one you quoted amount to whataboutism, or the tu quoque fallacy. This is an ancient trope. Soviet-era Russia tried it[1] too. The response to "China puts people that disagree with them into concentration camps" is not "But the US..", or "that's not fair because.. (it's not as if these accusations are unsubstantiated by fact)", the answer is "that is wrong and should be condemned".

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes

replies(1): >>23836856 #
2. franklampard ◴[] No.23836856[source]
> Yes, the US has a government corruption problem. (Though not near as bad)

I don’t know about this. the U.S. is corrupt to its core.

Highest bidder for PPEs during a pandemic? Millions of small business loans go to Kevin Nunes’ vineyard? President allowing bounties set on its own Troops?