Hacker News Reader

Comment by colechristensen | Hacker News Reader

In the US I’m not really afraid of China. There are some people who should be, but I’m not. I’m annoyed at American companies who bow to their wishes, but I’m also annoyed at American companies who censor to advertisers so nobody says “fuck” on YouTube and my level of annoyance is about the same.

Some other places would do good to ban tiktok and people concerned about national secrets and the like sure should, but I’m just some dude leaking plenty of information plenty of places and china is among the least of my concerns.

View on HN

TikTok is a massive platform that can be used to subtly influence popular opinion through its algorithmic feed. That should make you afraid, even if you don't believe you'll ever be targeted as an individual by China.

Agreed. Plus have you NOT seen the crap TikTok put out these days? YouTubes Shorts are no better. It's like some hypno crap now.

What’s the worst case? That China subtly influences the American youth to be less supportive of Washington’s wars? Because TikTok has tons of ‘ex’ CIA and FBI manning the Trust and Safety Dept just like the other socials

If you work for a company that could be punished by China, you should fear them. They can have you fired if your say the wrong thing.

That’s the kind of fight I’d like to have though. A good thing to stand up for.

I could also probably be fired for things i say on the internet with my real name, but i think it’s worth standing against that kind of thing and not being afraid of it even though it’s entirely possible. (I do on occasion say things which are very much not well thought out, rude, just to trigger good discussion, or because I’ve had too much wine or am feeling ornery… in other words I’m not ashamed to be human)

Even billionaires like LeBron James are afraid, I doubt there is hope for the little guys.

they are afraid because their yachts are on the line

They're afraid because their future, even larger yachts are on the line.

If they stopped working tomorrow they'd be rich for the rest of their lives. Just not 'even richer'.

Little guys don't have their mansions paid for with the money coming from China. So it makes perfect sense they would be less afraid than LeBron. They have less to lose here, and a way less likely chance to actually lose anything at all due to this.

All those rich celebrities are not afraid of China per se, or any other rich totalitarian regime (the World Cup in Qatar comes to mind), they are just too corrupt to care about anything else then their huge pay checks. The same for companies so.

Makes sense, if you think about it. because it is just peak capitalism, unchecked by anything else then the need for money (the best approximation for power the west has).

Fear of not being a billionaire is still like most irrational fear, but it is still fear per se.

If you work for a company that could be punished by China you should furiously work to get your company out of China so that they can't do this.

Keep your comments in the boardroom, but whatever influence you have, you use.

I am afraid of China. China has developed missiles that can evade our ability to detect them until it's too late. Meanwhile our military is busy with initiatives like... declaring "Sir" and "Ma'am" as gendered language that should be eliminated.

The fact that American boys are increasingly preferring video games to sports should also worry you. There is a shortage of fit young American men for special-ops programs like the SEALs, etc.

The military is perfectly capable of solving more than one problem at a time. This issue is being dealt with in addition to the other items you read about in the news.

The USA, technologically and manpower wise is doing fine at the moment in addressing these external threats.

> The fact that American boys are increasingly preferring video games to sports should also worry you.

You should not worry about the fighting ability of the average Chinese man vs the average American man. U.S. has the most violence-ready population of young men on Earth, and it's not close.

Maybe Latin America or parts of Africa and the Middle East beat us in terms of willingness to commit violence, but we have much more resources, training, and equipment. China has none of this.

In fact, you should be worried about our young men choosing to exercise this violence against you here before you worry about some kind of military defeat at the hands of the Chinese.

>U.S. has the most violence-ready population of young men on Earth, and it's not close

Can confirm. I have seen South Park.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com