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by A4ET8a8uTh0 1736 days ago
You are making a very valid point. For a good amount of time China was not just tolerated, but supported by US business in general. In a sense, Lenin was right about the rope. The trope about prosperity bringing democracy was wrong.

I will go even further. What China is doing may become something US will at least partially adopt.
3 comments
dillondoyle 1736 days ago
We already have. Thinking of HK, Xinjiang makes me feel we have lost moral standing. But I do understand the calculus and nuance of weighing what an actual war would inflict if we stood up to stop the wrong.
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justicezyx 1736 days ago
> but supported by US business in general

Aside from earning more profit doing business in China. Is there other support from US business?

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postingawayonhn 1736 days ago
I think it is correct that prosperity will eventually bring democracy.

Xi sees that too and is busy trying to knock China's wealthy citizens down a couple of notches.

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tablespoon 1736 days ago
>> I think it is correct that prosperity will eventually bring democracy.

> Xi sees that too and is busy trying to knock China's wealthy citizens down a couple of notches.

What do billionaire-wealthy citizens have to do with prosperity or democracy (besides the fantasies of pro-billionaire propaganda)?

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ddoolin 1736 days ago
Well, they did pick up Jack Ma for speaking out against gov't regulation (to put it simply). Celebrities in China, including the wealthy, have a lot of influence. Their "abductions" almost certainly are intertwined with keeping a grip on their power.
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A4ET8a8uTh0 1736 days ago
From that perspective, I can understand why Xi wants to limit power of individuals he sees in US ( they do wield tremendous amount of power ). He obviously understands it is a threat to the system ( and by extension himself ).

I have long argued that too much power in one individual is a bad thing ( and that includes billionaires ).

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postingawayonhn 1735 days ago
I didn't say anything about billionaires.

I was talking more broadly about upper-class people in China. Generally anyone who lives in a tier 1 city and has a quality of life approaching that of people in developed nations.

It's easy to keep poor people happy through continued economic growth but once people reach a certain level of material wealth they're going to start demanding more personal freedoms.

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