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Originally Posted by Pearl Trade
Not brainwashed? Have you seen any pictures or read or swatched anything about North Korea? An international group of doctors took a trip to North Korea for the purpose of fixing an eye problem that plagues the entire country (I think it was cataracts). They were blind until these doctors did a minor surgery on them and made them see. The first thing the Korean did after being able to see was going up to a giant picture of Kim Jong-Ill and praising him. The doctors get no "thanks," only Kim Jong-Ill, who did nothing. Kim Jong-Ill has this crazy cult of personality that requires brainwashing.
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An interesting story, but I am not going to take the position that a whole nation of people are brain washed. I don't support our President's policies and I don't like him based on what I see as duplicitous empty rhetoric used for political power - but I don't say the people who have portraits of him hanging in their living rooms brain washed. Some of these folks could careless about his politics and adore him for other reasons.
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We have the option to use those luxuries, a country like North Korea or China does not allow them.
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We could start a list of the things we don't allow and compare it to the things not allowed in China. Most of those items would be cultural. Many luxury items on the US list are often not affordable to average Americans.
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Whether it helps anyone or makes lives better is a non-issue.
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Maybe not to you.
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I'd say the health and food issue at the very least is completely different between America and North Korea, maybe China as well. NK has limited food and is very near the bottom of the list when it comes to health.
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In China the life expectancy is 73. In the US it is 78. North Korea 67. For comparison Switzerland is 82. Zambia is 45. Russia is 67. Canada is 81. India is 63. Brazil is 72. Iraq is 68. Thailand is 68. Cuba is 78. China doesn't seem to be doing to bad
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Why can't parents pick their child's school? If you're talking about public school, you're right, but everyone has the option for private school.
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Assuming one can afford it. A middle class working family pays taxes going to public schools and if they wanted to use a private school they often can not afford it - hence many people support vouchers - it is not an option.
My point is that there are two Americas, one for the "rich" and one for everyone else. If we compare China to the America that is available for "everyone else, the differences are pretty small between the two countries.
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If you're Chinese, you can't speak against the government.
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There have been many people who have paid a price for speaking out against our government. Look at our history. Look at some of the freedom of information materials being released and see the questionable activities of agencies like the FBI. What was all the fuss about during the Bush administration concerning supposed illegal wire taps. Half the nation was fit to be tied.
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You can only belong to one of the five state approved religions in China. Extreme internet censorship; where do Americans get all they need: the freedom to use the internet. China has no laws for due process. One child policy (which I support) is a limit to freedom that Americans don't have. China kills more people in capital punishment than the entire world, some crimes aren't even violent. Communist countries have notoriously restricted travel, and China does that to this day. What country has the most journalists in prison? That's right, China. America is way more free than China any way you spin it.
Let's put it this way: would you rather live in America or China, as a citizen?
The Wikipedia page "human rights in the People's Republic of China" has a good summary of what China is up to.
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I love this country and there is no place I would rather be, but I don't pretend that we are perfect. We have issues. At the same time, I am not going to pretend that a nation like China is worse than it actually is - they have issues, but they do some things correctly. I have interacted with people from China - based on those interactions I would never say that they are a nation of brainwashed people or that they are a people who don't enjoy life or have some freedoms similar to those we enjoy.
I read the Wiki page referenced, the US can be considered guilty of many of the same violations or different ones.