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arichi February 12 2006, 19:30:37 UTC
I suspect it'll be a moot issue in a few years. As you and I have discussed, China is heading in the direction of freedom lately. It's sad that they did this, but I suspect they'll reverse the decision soon enough.

On the other hand, I'm fully with Google in their decision. They have a business to run. And besides, there's only so much that Beijing can hide for so long.

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rosalindlancast February 13 2006, 18:24:02 UTC
I doubt China will over turn the decision. There's still a lot of censorship in China... and as much as they claim to be more free than before... they still have no respect for human rights.

I personally couldn't stand most Chinese from China after they go through college. They get so brainwashed it's sick.

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arichi February 13 2006, 20:15:28 UTC
I'm not trying to claim that the evils of socialism aren't still very much embedded in the government from Beijing. However, property rights - a major foundation of freedom - are becoming more and more recognized.

As for brainwashing, I don't doubt you for a moment. I haven't discussed the issue with my roommate (Chinese from PRC), nor will I. On the other hand, universities in the United States do a pretty good job of getting a large number of social science majors (particularly sociology, "women's studies", etc) to graduate every bit as pro-communist as anyone from a PRC university. Perhaps moreso, because they're less likely to see the ill effects firsthand.
In any case, this doesn't look good for either side, but I'd be curious how the two end up in a few generations.

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jamned February 14 2006, 00:52:24 UTC
I don't know how I reside on where China will be in another few generations. In American newspaper articles, I see many reports on unrest and harsh repression of PRC protests. I think China could go both ways (heh heh), either towards larger-scale politcal unrest and social instability, or towards...well anything "better" than what they have now (hopefully better will encompass less pollution; I'm sick of going there and having to blow black stuff out of my nose).

I feel that America definitely will decline from its current economic power in the future, not because it'll be eclipsed by another country, but basically because it's digging its own intellectual grave. Ben Stein covers most of these reasons much better than I can in this article

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