Hacker News Reader

Comment by graemep | Hacker News Reader

There is a lot wrong with the US, and I (not American BTW) will criticise it quite freely and frequently BUT comparing the US to China is just ridiculous.

What the US does can be criticised by its citizens, and protested. People can be punished. Wrongdoing can be exposed. Plenty of people in the US criticise the invasion of Iraq. I doubt many Chinese will find it safe to criticise the occupation of Tibet.

Democracies can and do bad stuff, but internal opposition and accountability limit it, and often but an end to it.

View on HN

> What the US does can be criticised by its citizens, and protested. People can be punished. Wrongdoing can be exposed. Plenty of people in the US criticise the invasion of Iraq.

You won't be protesting in the U.S. without significant risks to your economic and social status. BTW - The Iraq war was several wars ago, and most of the people chatting here weren't even born for the first Iraq war.

2017 became the year the censors and suspensions of anti-social media started. Now with A.I. mods owned by an entitled parasitic elite, we get a highly censored world were your only recourse is offline, often in solitude.

If you care to test your theory, that you can criticise who you like in the U.S., I suggest you protest Israel, loudly and often.

> If you care to test your theory, that you can criticise who you like in the U.S., I suggest you protest Israel, loudly and often.

People do, and are.

Go to China and protest about Tiananmen Square. You'll be picked up, and put away in minutes, no due process, no independent court, nothing. Who knows what happens to you, or when you get out.

yes the US has better rule of law and is an actual democracy, for sure. but China does not seem to be so bad by the standards that we hold our own allies to, so to me it is unclear why we have become locked into this neo cold war so quickly. some of our allies make china look like a saint in comparison

Which of our allies make China look like a saint?

Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Thailand, Vietnam. That's not counting those relations that aren't close nor adversarial.

The only authoritarian regimes not allied, nor neutral, with the US are Cuba, Iran, NK, Russia and Venezuela.

It's not present day but let's not forget the series of military genocidal dictarships supported, founded and allied by the US in south america in the second half of 20th century.

Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, has terror bombed Lebanon, and is stealing land in Syria for Greater Israel.

I agree. But you think that makes China’s treatment of the Uyghurs look saintly? Really? Saintly?

saudi arabia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

Reply on news.ycombinator.com