tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post8156636403467538421..comments2023-10-20T05:51:51.625-04:00Comments on The THINK 3 INSTITUTE: China debates media freedomSamuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-48550171180016393692013-01-20T13:13:12.699-05:002013-01-20T13:13:12.699-05:00I'm pretty sure that in every country that cur...I'm pretty sure that in every country that currently exists, there is a minority of people who are unhappy and blame the government for it. Does that mean they are right or ought to be allowed what they want, regardless of what is necessary or good?<br /><br />I don't fully support the notion of "free speech" in the way you seem to mean it. I do agree that there are people who do get censored when there is no need and in too many cases, people who ought to be censored are not. <br /><br />I believe that no one who can prove what they say is true and factual should be censored, but those who make a habit of lying should not be allowed to speak.<br /><br />I can see where propaganda, misinformation, etc., can demoralize a population, destabilize a legitimate government and otherwise bring about pain and suffering where there wasn't. These things should not be allowed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-45955208593408335982013-01-09T12:55:20.211-05:002013-01-09T12:55:20.211-05:00That's certainly the official Chinese view of ...That's certainly the official Chinese view of the situation, though I doubt whether any majority of the population actually and explicitly endorses censorship. It's more likely that, as in most countries, the majority doesn't give a damn about the dissidents one way or another because they have things other than politics on their minds. I suppose it's as much their prerogative to ignore these issues as it is the dissidents' prerogative (if not their right) to protest.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-88543718676689119632013-01-09T12:34:13.636-05:002013-01-09T12:34:13.636-05:00Perhaps the average Chinese person has no qualms w...Perhaps the average Chinese person has no qualms with their state of being? Perhaps most of the "problems" are superimposed by a western civilization that suffers from an acute sense of cultural superiority? <br /><br />It seems to me that, given a population of over a billion people, if they were truly that unhappy with the situation, they would do what they have done repeatedly in the past when faced with bad emperors: revolt en masse and overthrow the dynasty which had lost the "mandate of heaven".<br /><br />On the other hand, they could simply have decided that security trumps freedom. It is their decision to make, after all. A small minority of loud dissidents don't necessarily mean the voice of the people, no more than the teabagger movement represents the true voice of America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com