by ChinaXpat
So I lived in China for 9 years, moved back to the US in 2017. Here are some obervations:
In China if the govt. doesnt like a website they block it, making the web site inaccessible without a VPN. If they dont like a movie they dont approve it and it never makes it into production. If its a western film, they block it from theatres and major online platforms. Same for books, news, and bloggers. For people, at best you get blacklisted which means you cant get a job or do really anything, at worst you go to a work prison.
There is only one major news channel ,CCTV, but it has 10 or so channels with different things.
To maintain control of this massive censorship they have a massive army of ppl, the largest and most complex firewall in existance, and almost complete control of all instituions.
The govt. rewards people who become party members through access to career opportunities and advancements both within state-owned enterprises and for private companies. Private companies that do not kowtow to the govt. get extorted via targeted regulations, fines, and corporate sabotage. Most go bankrupt or eventually give in. Although in recent years it has not been as necessary to be a party member to ensure career advancement, it has def been necessary to have strong party afilliations. The govt. rewards people and companies who have shown to be aligned with the party interests, as demonstrated through their own investments into supported industries and official commitments in the media. Rewards are things like access to investment funds, invitations to lavish banquets, and favorable regulations.
The education system in China teaches rote memorization of whatever teachers want, including a lot of political brainwashing. Most ppl there think Tibet decided to rejoin China to help itself develop. Marxist ideology courses are mandatory for all universities in China for several years. People have all sorts of crazy understandings of history and the West.
While living and interacting with people on a daily basis, the general attitude was either completely brainwashed or they kind of knew that there was more to the story than they were being told, but believing anything else would be unpatriotic and they believed that that is bad. Or in many cases ppl like taxi drivers and blue collar workers just feel that talking about stuff like that is just not worth the trouble.It never ceased to amaze how strong some beliefs were about Taiwan being part of China or how Mao Zedong was a great man. Poking holes in some of the political narratives, I learned, was not an acceptable topic of discussion, nor was anything in opposition or different than party rhetoric. Of course when you have close friends that are open minded you can be more open, but its fairly rare.
I found it frustrating that people did not want to accept new ideas from individuals even when they made a lot of sense, preferring instead to do things through emulating past examples of something being done sucessfully. There was always a drive for people to take or copy what others had done instead of just thinking through it and doing it yourself.
Years of strict control in the education system and Chinese style companies makes ppl’s critical thinking abilities weak or totally atrophied. In a company, when working with a colleague if you dont explain something exactly or show an exact example of what you want, he or she will never get it.
Now that Im back in the US…
Having spent years reading in between the lines to find truths in Chinese mouthpiece news sources, it makes it easier to see what is going on with MSM in the US. At the same time, having experienced China (in many ways, China is the way the US will go if we dont do something about it) it is easier to see some of the methods of control and social programming going on in the US.
The US media has always had a problem with paying attention to the wrong thing with the argument that murders and gossip were what the people actually watched, saying international news and topics with more depth bored ppl. But now, its fuckin ridiculous how shamelessly all MSM channels are committed to one thing above all else, and that is being critical of Donald Trump. I hear their ratings have been better than ever through all this Trump reporting, but its pathetic how little else gets reported. This is either a massive concerted attack, which means their is a group behind it with an agenda, or they are 100% ratings whores. Personally, I think there have been too many examples of MSM shamelessly pushing an agenda to consider the latter option seriously, but it is a small possibility.
I have a lot to say about the level of depth and complexity in the psy ops and smokescreens being used by both Trump team and MSM, but Ill save it for the discussion if some one brings it up.
I have several of these, but heres and observation on a specific recent event:
- Charlottsville riot-Aug 2017 I wasnt paying this much attention initially as I was focused on North Korea ‘war of words’ from Trumps Fire and Fury comment. Same comment Truman made threatening Japan btw. I saw Trumps brash words to Kim within the context of korean culture. Now, Korea is def not China but both countries are what I consider Face-based cultures. ‘Face’ is very important in China and Korea, including North Korea. By making these comments to Kim which were very obviously and directly a challenge, Kim not accepting would undermining the authority of the ‘supreme leader’ diminishing his power over his citizens resulting in a massive loss of face. Now if you think Chinese media is controlled, North Korea is a whole other level. North Koreans prob have no idea even what twitter is. However, enough media pointed at them and maybe the message will make it through to some extant. Undermining and challenging leadership would be a first step in destabilizing the society and waking ppl up.
Anyways, the outcome of the ‘war of words’ is that Kim backed down in classic indirect way, but very significant in face-based cultures. Right when it could have come out in the media as a big victory for the administration, the Charlottsville riots happened.
Im sorry, but the timing of this staged riot was too much to be coincidence. Im open to counterevidence, but from what I know about rent-a-protesters or in this case rent-a-rioters, is that they are very real. Paid protesters are used extensively. This event just seemed to me like people were paid to protest as skinheads to distract from Trumps N Korea victory. Im sure there were real protesters too involved too maybe even the majority, but I would not be at all surprised to find out some of the organizers and more boisterous participants of the skinhead/neonazi riot were paid by the deep state. the key is who set the date for the riot and when did they set it?
Anybody has leads on this would be greatly appreciated.
got some other ‘comprehensive interpretations’ like the charlottsville riot example above for later posts if there is interest.