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Comment by cryptnoob | Hacker News Reader

I'm sorry you're feeling ill. As somebody who spends a good deal of time in China, and as somebody who feels that US freedoms are atrophying at an alarming rate, I sympathize somewhat with your position, but in all honesty, I really have to question the sincerity of somebody who would state what you just stated.

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He said he feels more safe and free. In China, the criminals don't have guns, so that's one big point in favor of safety. As far as freedom, he's a Westerner, so he's granted much more freedom than the average Chinese citizen.

I've been living in China for 10 years. I'm trying to think of what these extra freedoms Westerners living here are supposed have. Can you give specific examples?

Here's one, which this article touches upon: Being able to start a blog to vent any issues you find the government to be lacking in. If I started this here in Australia, I won't have government officials knocking at my door, let alone having the site blocked at a federal level.

Yes in Australia. I was talking about Westerners in China.

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You really think we're free to do that because we are Western?

Oops, bnomis, misunderstood your question, thought you were asking what freedom we have here over the Chinese. Sorry.

Yes, and he comes off sounding like an expat that doesn't realize that his freedom is merely derivative of Western freedom and enhanced by his economic standing. Of course he feels freer. Here's a challenge to him. How about I start blogging about all the problems with the government (right or left) in the U.S., and he starts doing the same with the PRC. We'll compare notes; see how many swat teams run up in my house, vs. PRC troops raiding his place. How much censorship happens. I predict he'd start to feel quite a bit less free once he comes face to face with the extent of his perceived freedom.

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"If the government doesn't continue to make progress, the people of China will hold them accountable."

Some people are trying to do just this, and they are being put in jail or silenced in other ways.

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