Re: AMERICA'S YELLOW PRESS

"ltlee1" <ltlee1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:5f302fb7-f62c-403a-9165-98c3af7b6aa3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Jul 2, 1:49 am, "Toby" <kyma...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "ltlee1" <ltl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> schrieb im 
>
Newsbeitragnews:d6b83cb7-86cc-4951-a95a-4d8f28de56de@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Jul 1, 8:53 am, "Toby" <kyma...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > > Alternatives for the sake of having alternatives, for those who have

> > > the
> > > intelligence and interest to try to ferret out the truth. The
Chinese
> > > have
> > > no such choice. They are forced to eat whatever the government puts
on
> > > the
> > > table.
>
> > Those who have intelligence can tell that the press is always reflects
> > the opinions of a small group of people re****ting on a tiny slice of
> > world events according their own criteria. The only difference is
> > this: In a guided press, the criteria are the criteria of hte
> > government which mission is to satisfy the needs of the people. In
> > the so called free press, the criteria are the criteria of the
> > cor****ations which mission is to maximize profit for the
> > shareholders.
>
> > You make the assumptions that the government's mission is to satisy
the
> > needs of the people, without defining which people. It has always been

> > the
> > case that those in power seek to remain in power, and in any situation

> > in
> > which scarcity exists and there is a conflict between personal and 
> > general
> > welfare, the needs that government officials seek to satisfy are their
> > own.
>
> > Your own government has admitted that combatting corruption is
critical
> > and
> > the fate of the party depends on doing so in an effective and timely
> > manner.
>
> > Except perhaps at the very top, the CCP is corrupt through and
through.
> > This, by definition, means that there is a distinction between the 
> > "needs"
> > of the people and the needs of the government officials, at the
expense 
> > of
> > the former.
>
> > However this is digression. Essentially you are saying that the 
> > government
> > can lie to people for their own good, if it perceives this as serving
> > their
> > needs. But it is not the mass of people who get served by such 
> > dishonesty,
> > it is the select people who promote it. And such a philosophy leaves
the
> > door open to the worst forms of tyranny and abuse.
>
> Either you beleive the people or you don't. If you don't, then there
> will never be any kind of democracy. If you do, you need to trust the
> people that they can tell whether the government is serving their
> needs. And if not, they will over throw out the governemnt one way or
> the other. Free the criticize the government but please do not begin
> with the premise that the people are dumb. At least not until you have
> become one of them.
>
> People in China are not dumb, they are terrorized.

What a ridiculous assertion. I will not even dignify it with a reply.

The difference is that this is not an assertion. It is a fact.  I have
seen 
it countless times with my own eyes in the two years I have been here, and

many Chinese have told me so as well. They say, "I will tell you this 
privately, but I cannot tell you on camera because I am afraid of what
might 
happen to me."

They need only to look at courageous people like Hu Jia, now serving a 
three-year jail sentence after years of state persecution, to understand
the 
cost of speaking freely. I do not blame them at all, but I feel very sorry

for them.

Toby