You are trying to impose your western vision to a country which had a writing system when all we had was stone tools. You won’t even begin to understand China if you don’t realize that they think you are a young fool with a long nose. Neither will you understand China if you don’t realize that they have the first world economy and more than twice as many people as the USA and the EU combined.
Nah, you are confused about what I am saying.
I don’t question the Chinese government’s right to do this. They have the right to govern their people how they like. The Chinese people have the right to choose how they are governed (in the west we confuse that with democracy, but it is simpler than that. They could revolt, and historically the west will “help” them if we are not distracted, particularly if some of our tycoons get to own what is currently state property)
My objection here is people IN THE WEST accepting the extraordinary claims of any government without question.
Perhaps for you the government can claim that 2+2=apple, that is your right, but we “happy mutants” are supposed to try and separate truth from propaganda before we judge technical things, not after.
For simplicity sake, here it is supposed to be 2+2=4, 4=apple.
From the technical prowess of the Chinese I know for a fact their technocrats believe the same, maybe you didn’t get the memo.
Please don’t confuse a criticism from the west TO THE WEST with criticism of something you have blind loyalty to. I have plenty of criticism of China, and that’s my right here, but I’m not even criticising China in this thread. I’m picking on boing boing credulity.
And I understand the history here. That’s why I giggle when china ships fentanyl to the United States…although I would like to point out that it is Britain that did that thing.
Indeed I was. Of course the Chinese government cannot make this project work, I never doubted that.
But we will not convince the Chinese, because they think that they outsmarted us for over 6000 years. While that is not quite true, they have an argument.
Well, no, the Chinese government can make this project work. They likely have no interest in making this element work AS STATED, and the discussion of the merits of the project while ignoring that possibility is ignoring the likely propaganda.
That’s the problem I’m pointing out: governments engage in propaganda, even when they are being fully honest, and ignoring that element when talking about technical things is inappropriate if you are safe to discuss those things.
If you want some great examples of propaganda removed from the emotions of our day, and without any if the nastiness of the Nazi regime,.check out some of the work by the undisputed masters of the craft: the us war office after WW2
Hell many people don’t even think the war office was engaged in propaganda 
Also seriously on the fentanyl bit, I know china invented gunpowder not cartography, but Britain is the OTHER WAY, and we didn’t have anything to do with the opium wars.
Well I don’t think we did 
Edit to add: also how the hell did china nearly collapse the economy of the strongest empire of that time with tea? Tea. No seriously, wtf how.
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I don’t think the government really gives a shit about whether they pay, or stigma, or anything else, it’s just another handle for control.
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