[studentrob]

> Explain one country that I am in any way supporting the propaganda of.

You said propaganda is an effective means of helping China gain international influence:

> Public opinion outside of China is very important for business and strategy. Present China as an improving progressive regime, smooth over its human rights problems, and china can gain more influence internationally. [1]

I disagree 100%. It's not effective and it hurts China's relations. Relationships are built on trust.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11744448

[okc]

Come on. You said I was touting government propaganda.

If by that you mean exposing it and its influence. Then yeah.. I hereby tout all government propaganda and always will do.

I wish international relations were built on trust. But that's a bollocks and idealised view.

My example of the UN membership is quite fitting. Small countries with no interest in Taiwan have been directly bribed by china to vote against letting Taiwan join. Call that trust?

Point out why and how this isn't true. Make a succinct argument, support your assertions.

[studentrob]

> You said I was touting government propaganda. If by that you mean exposing it and its influence. Then yeah.. I hereby tout all government propaganda and always will do.

Touting does not mean exposing. "Exposing" is used for facts.

It is your opinion that propaganda is an effective means of helping China gain international influence.

[okc]

You've confused 'identifying propaganda in action' with 'actively engaging in delivering propaganda'.

Over and over again in these threads you have defended Taiwan as a sovereign state. You keep thinking I am attacking Taiwan's status as an independent country. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am however pointing out how Taiwan isn't always recognised as a country.

Thats not my opinion, it is the opinion of many countries.. including the UN. Don't confuse it with my own opinion. These are the facts. It would be deluded to deny these facts. You could at very least provide evidence that says otherwise - you haven't.

Instead you have been deluded to the point of accusing me of touting propaganda for mentioning these things.

[studentrob]

> You've confused 'identifying propaganda in action' with 'actively engaging in delivering propaganda'.

I do not think you are paid by the Chinese government to write these comments =)

If someone named Trevor argues that propaganda is an effective means of diplomacy, is Trevor part of the propaganda machine or not?

I would argue Trevor is part of that machine. A person can be part of an idea without being paid or asked to do it.

I believe you would argue that Trevor is not part of the machine. You would say Trevor is an outside observer and that he has no connections with it whatsoever. You might also say that I could be part of some machine of which I'm not aware, and I would accept that. I certainly am influenced by my environment.

> Taiwan isn't always recognised as a country. Thats not my opinion, it is the opinion of many countries.. including the UN

I said it's your opinion that China's propaganda helps its international influence. I did not mention Taiwan

It's fine that we disagree. Many nations do not recognize Taiwan as a country. That's a fact. It's also fact that Taiwan has its own directly elected government and does not pay taxes anywhere outside Taiwan. Both of these facts are educational.

I believe countries and the world benefit when all facts are shared. Chinese propaganda says that only some facts should be shared. Every time people outside China identify Chinese propaganda, it hurts China's stature internationally. Sure, plenty of people do business with China regardless. China could do heaps more business if it could stomach more facts once in awhile.

[okc]

Now you are just making stuff up. I give up.

I don't believe you. I don't believe you can't see the difference between identifying propaganda and being part of it.

Your arguments are putting words in my mouth by using straw men like Trevor in a straw man argument: "propoganda is an effective means of diplomacy".

All I can see is some-one wriggling out of an argument where they begun by calling me out for making propoganda posts.

You can twist that statement and apply your own criteria to it, but it just isn't true: pointing out propaganda has nothing to do with being part of it. Infact its the very process that stops it. You can close your eyes and pretend it doesn't happen - but that wont make it go away.

I hope you have mis-read the entire thread but its looking more clear that you can't admit your wrong. Try starting with my first post.

I have stuck with this thread, because I thought - just perhaps - you genuinely didn't understand. I've simplified my position, now you can believe it or not. Its really not that interesting and has little to say about censorship anymore.

[studentrob]

> Now you are just making stuff up. I give up.

No worries.

> I don't believe you. I don't believe you can't see the difference between identifying propaganda and being part of it.

For sure I can. You're doing more than identifying propaganda. You're saying it works. I'm saying that this is one of the messages pushed by propaganda/advertising.

I agree that it works until you're caught lying. Then it doesn't and you're discredited for a period. And, in the case of China, they lie so often that their propaganda does not work.

> Your arguments are putting words in my mouth by using straw men like Trevor in a straw man argument: "propoganda is an effective means of diplomacy".

Again, you said,

> Present China as an improving progressive regime, smooth over its human rights problems, and china can gain more influence internationally.

Again, I disagree 100%.

It's not a stretch to rewrite your above statement as "Propaganda is an effective means of diplomacy".

The definition of diplomacy is managing international relations. Those relations can be at any level, either between two citizens, two businesses, or two heads of state.

If English does not work, 你也可以用中文。

> You can close your eyes and pretend it doesn't happen - but that wont make it go away.

I'm not trying to make it go away. I think it's interesting to have a conversation with someone who has such a different point of view.

> I hope you have mis-read the entire thread but its looking more clear that you can't admit your wrong. Try starting with my first post.

One of the ideas perpetuated by advertising is that advertising is effective =). Unfortunately, we do not always know when advertising works because measuring the effectiveness of advertising is expensive.

Last I checked, I did not see any research published on the effectiveness of Chinese propaganda.

So, the question becomes, when people perpetuate ideas from advertising, are those people advertising or just expressing their views?

Who's right or wrong? There isn't a concrete answer.

> I have stuck with this thread, because I thought - just perhaps - you genuinely didn't understand. I've simplified my position, now you can believe it or not. Its really not that interesting and has little to say about censorship anymore.

No worries if you don't want to continue the discussion.