There is 100% an information war. Something to consider is that Zelensky was an actor/comedian. His whole government was essentially a film crew, that got elected. Kind of useless until your in an information war.
The Russian propaganda seems so insane to me; I've even heard that even Russians don't believe it, they just accept it. Or choose to remain apolitical.
Its so interesting that 140 million people will observe the state narrative created by... a few hundred people? Probably less.

Then the Chinese authoritarianism. Over 1 billion people falling in line. Authoritarianism is so fascinating to me. There are aspects of it that smash "democracy" in terms of efficiency; However the derision of truth and of such limited personal freedom are the most challenging concepts in my opinion.

I think "political" freedom isn´t something most people actually care about. My view is that the main benefit of a democracy is that power is transferred peacefully, rather than through internal conflicts that are bloody(which is usually the case in authoritarian countries). One doesn´t need to look further than libya/iraq/syria to see that a very small group of people dictates the narrative even in democratic countries.

I am interested in geopolitics, but even I would trade my right to mention the leadership in exchange for a better life-style, lets say free housing. Living in iraq 1970s was pretty good i would imagine, as long as you didn´t say anything about baathists

This post was edited by ownyaah on Jan 16 2023 12:27pm

Interesting take, some of which I agree with. I would add that personal freedom and political freedom are not interchangeable.

I think what you are describing is something that I believe to be true. More often that not, the majority of people will take the path of least resistance. Or, people are inherently lazy; Maybe it is an affect of our physical parameters and limitations. Or maybe a self preservation response.

Either way it applies to something like bold, or "Living conditions in Russia have improved under Putin; So remaining passive to the authoritarianism and all that brings, is essentially the path of least resistance"

Do you have a list of dictatorships offering "free housing" ? Maybe you are talking about Prisons ?

If you are going to hang a yellow tag on the chinese neck or a red tag on their neck like what the koreans and japanese are doing now when the Chinese are going there for travels, with armed guards following them around.
Sooner or later they will all fall in line with the CCP.

It's funny when you talk about personal freedom.

There is more personal freedom in China and even more so in Hong Kong as compared to my own country.

If you considered personal freedom as smashing windows and throwing molotov cocktails when you are unhappy than perhaps i have a misunderstanding of personal freedom

us: 4% of world population 21% of prisoners



Political/personal freedom is a complicated concept and differs greatly from state-to-state. Singapore which is a dictatorship doesn´t really impose on any individual-freedoms. I think China has a lot of personal-freedom as well, even though they have 0 political freedom.

As for the path of resistance I agree but i think it has more to do with self-interest. Lets put it this way, a rich man will be happy in 99.99% of countries. It makes sense really, if i was chinese id suck xi´s dick even if he was Satan incarnate because he made me and every other Chinese rich, this is sake of arguement, i don´t think chinese are as oppressed as you think.

This post was edited by ownyaah on Jan 16 2023 04:38pm

Furthermore is at times using his cultural lens to view us Asians.
I think he failed to understand what a lot of us wants.
We are a pretty homogeneous society.

1. two to three meals a day
2. a Roof to live in
3. Education for our kids so hopefully our next generation will do better than us.
4. Social Mobility
5. If we have some money , two or three holidays a year , the richer ones will go further , the poorer ones can still travel around the region with relative ease.
6. Subsidized healthcare.
7. No woke and crazy LBGTQ + ideology , you can have your own sexual preference and fantasies but don't media wash us.

Congrats to , your thread reached 100K

This post was edited by Hamsterbaby on Jan 16 2023 04:43pm

I think most people want that on an individual level, ideology isn´t a main motivator in most places, not just Asia.

Not answering to my question: Do you have a list of dictatorships offering "free housing"
US isn't a dictatorship, you can criticize central power as much as you want you will not be jailed for that.

Yes and we don't want war and we want to be treated as equals not as an honorary Whites or Westies. I respect your culture you respect mine. I respect your safe space and you respect mine. Simple as that.
If you are going to demonize me or with your military or economical clout and try to take away my dignity, I guess there is a rather familiar American way of describing it. Fuck around and find out.