There's a bunch of Chinese posts asking if the stuff about school shootings, fires, homelessness are exaggerated propaganda only to be told otherwise. It's both hilarious and sad.

If banning tik tok ends up galvanizing demand for healthcare reform I'm going to laugh my ass off

Eh, there's truth and lies on both sides. Coming from someone that lived in china for 4 years and was able to engage with Chinese primary news sources. But basic healthcare in china is faster and cheaper, but then again I went to get a wart removed and they prescribed me acorn paste that accelerated the growth of the wart. So win some lose some.

Circle jerking about China is as ridiculous as circle jerking about the US. We've been here before with US vs USSR, but this time everyone has a megaphone and an IQ that can be measured with a ruler.

It's honestly very wholesome to see this kind of interaction. On top of cute moments like Chinese users telling the new US users that they are their "spies," seeing a lot of blatant myth dispelling surrounding the PRC is great to help tear down the Red Scare.

People are people no matter where they live, which also means you can't trust any government anywhere. Propaganda is powerful.

The idea of a social credit score has always been hilarious to me, like yo bros we have credit scores over here and they legitimately fuck us over since you need good credit to do alot of things like renting a place to live.

Lmao

wow the level of cope in this thread (thankfully not that many tho) arguing over stats - which are probably made up anyway.

some people can't handle that most humans just wanna be friends regardless of gov politics bs

As a civ player, I know a cultural victory when I see one.

Few things blew my mind even though I've been a big fan of Chinese economic and political policy for a while

They actually really like Soviet Culture, the marching soldiers and flags etc. Soviet rock like Kino and the like is very popular!

They're casually Marxist, its not something they have to fight to learn about so socialism is a casual existence for them. I figured the youth would be "too cool or hip" but doesn't seem to be the case

They're very similar as gamers, they really like shooters like battlefield and cs go. I assume their MMOs are different but I'm asking about that

It truly is a massive cultural exchange the likes of which have never been seen before. I'm trying to find out if they grew up on the same games, Morrowind Deus Ex Thief Ultima Online D&D etc

I still don't believe the TEMU bit though

I didn't think child labor still existed in China, just harsh labor conditions and low pay.

China's government's strict control of the media did, however, lead to me not questioning the social credit score thing.

Reporter: [REDACTED]
Reason: Misinformation

Truths you find inconvenient are not misinformation, reporter.

Well tbf, even though it's strictly banned in China there are still some cases of it happening in rural areas.

Lol people actually believed that social credit score bullshit?

Remember that "Grapes of Wrath" completely backfired as a propaganda piece because Russians were amazed that poor Americans could still afford cars

I just want to point out that the attempt to compare medical costs in a direct comparison in US dollars isn't exactly easy as it does ignore purchasing power and base wages.

The point would probably be better made with hours of labor at a base pay to pay off treatment which I do think American healthcare would probably still lose quite handedly.

This is exactly what governments around the world are afraid of. Every government wants us to blindly accept that every citizen of the nation is profoundly evil and must be obedient to its government.

Russia wants its citizens to believe every single lie about itself and other nations. That everyone in Ukraine is a bloodthirsty Nazi, and Russia is liberating Crimea.

America wants its citizens to believe every single lie about itself and other nations. Every brown person is a terrorist waiting for its Manchurian candidate call sign to do a second 9/11, and that the economy is the greatest in the world.

No nation tells the entire truth, from lying from omission via national security, to straight up war time propaganda, to funding and owning news networks. From Radio Free Europe to Sputnik, a government will lie to your face and tell you its an unabridged raw truth.

The only way we could actually learn the "truth" (if there is such a one when anyone could be as brainwashed as their government wants them to be) is by directly talking to the citizens of each nation. The internet is a great equalizer, the only limit is language and translation. That's why governments censor the internet, or even shut it down when it gets too much for a government to manage.

We all have more in common with the random citizens of China, Russia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, America, Mexico, Canada, Uganda, South Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, Brazil... We have more in common with being human and being subjugated and redistricted in doing what makes us happy and free.

And the government and rich of each of those nations and beyond have more in common each other than to the citizens they try to control like dogs. They all disagree on why they do it, but the end result is the same. Status quo, monopoly on violence kept in place with whoever is at the top. The set dressing and costumes change, but the stage play goes on.

You and I have more in common than with the president or prime minister or dictator we are under. The only thing we share with the top 1% and our governments is the lanauge we share and the citizenship. I have friends around the world, and I have more in common with random geeks in Japan and China, than the leadership of my nation.

The governments want you to think that you have nothing to share and love with another human being outside the lines drawn in the sand by people out of touch with the people inside those lines.

Despite the unhappy circumstances, it's kinda nice Chinese and Americans interacting on social media.

The fact this isn't typically possible because of bans in China is not so nice. Neither is the fact the US is going down the same road instead of proper privacy laws.

But still, kinda nice

The social score thing isn’t really propaganda as much as it is idiots believing whatever they read. It started from what was essentially thinly veiled racism, and became “true” because people kept hearing it.