[jimbob45]

No it’s not. Xi has power as absolute as Newsom and manages just fine. When your country has large, but solvable problems, absolute power works great for quelling unrest by fixing problems quickly and efficiently. Newsom is just generationally incompetent.

[ginkgotree]

With all do respect, I do not want to live in anything remotely close to the Chinese CCP. (laughs in Free Floridian)

[ActorNightly]

The issue is that you don't know what free actually means. You rely on a lot of government support for your perceived notion of freedom, its just invisible to you because its never been taken away. And if you ever get to experience a life where its been taken away, you sure as shit will be in favor of more authoritarian government.

[WillPostForFood]

The argument isn't that authoritarians can't solve problems.. It more about how they do it.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/08/china-still-n...

[jlarocco]

Unfortunately, America is just as bad, without the benefit of solving problems.

https://truthout.org/articles/ice-agents-are-using-family-se...

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166816

[fasterik]

> America is just as bad

The Human Rights Index for the United States dropped from 0.93 to 0.83 in 2025, which is concerning. Meanwhile, China scores 0.18, which is significantly worse. For comparison, countries that score higher than China include Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.

Globally, China is 6th percentile on the Human Rights Index. The United States is 65th percentile. That puts the U.S. well below most developed countries, but it's nowhere close to "just as bad."

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-rights-index-vdem?t...

[raven12345]

So this index is just a joke, how Iran, Russia, and Venezuela higher than China?

[elictronic]

I would expect China limiting the movement of their rural populations from moving into cities might be a big factor.

Also it seems to end in 2025 before Iran started killing protesters in mass. Glancing around the index in question is very focused on civil liberties vs financial and life attainment in others.

[fuhgyvg7466]

Iran was not a haven of freedom before 2025. Women could get stoned for not wearing a burqa or attending men’s volleyball matches. Scoring Iran higher than China at any point in the past couple decades is ridiculous.

[fasterik]

- The detention of 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, forced labor, and mass surveillance in Xinjiang. The destruction of Tibetan society and culture. The only comparable violation of human rights on this scale in the other countries is potentially Russia's war in Ukraine.

- China does not have competitive elections or an independent judiciary. The other countries do have these institutions to some extent, though deeply flawed and authoritarian.

- There is no freedom of religion in China or Iran. Russia persecutes some religious minorities, but tolerates different religions. Venezuela has constitutional protections for freedom of religion.

- There is no freedom of association in China. Independent trade unions, NGOs, and professional organizations are heavily suppressed and censored. These exist to a greater extent in the other countries.

- There is no freedom of speech in China. Political dissent is forbidden. All major media outlets are state-owned. Large parts of the internet are censored. Private conversations are monitored proactively. The other countries persecute speech, but in a less comprehensive, more retroactive way.

[jimbob45]

Yes but Newsom isn’t even solving problems. It’s the worst of both worlds.

[ActorNightly]

Every argument against California can be easily disproven by the fact that people aren't moving out in droves like everyone says, and house prices are still very high because people want to live there.

Covid should have dropper the house prices drastically in Cali since people had the option to do remote work in a cheaper cost of living state, but all it did was just move the rate negative for like one year - everyone who couldn't afford it was able to get out, only to be replaced by people who can afford to live there.