Why does China`s government cheat common people, especially without election rights and survival rights in China.
I smell fish. Flounder, perhaps?
This could be a joke. All right, I give up–Why DOES China`s government cheat common people, especially without election rights and survival rights in China?
forget exactly where, but somewhere I read on China-Rising website that the person is not smart enough to choose for himself who to vote for and what his rights should be, so its easier if the CPC party chooses for them.
By having only one major party dictating how you should behave and what your freedoms are, it saves you the trouble of having to think for yourself, and helps keep everyone united and stops people from getting bad ideas.
Most people are too concerned about feeding themselves to give a shit about who the local government gangster is.
Is India any better off than China for 50 odd years of democracy? All I see in India is mass confusion in government.
Ok, just in case this is a wind up, why DOES China`s government cheat common people, especially without election rights and survival rights in China?
Maybe because that’s the way it’s been for all 5,000 of China’s glorious history as the “middle kingdom” and greatest civilization on Earth? tongue planted firmly in cheek
[quote=“holmes5668”]
Is India any better off than China for 50 odd years of democracy? All I see in India is mass confusion in government.[/quote]You could say the same thing about Italy. 
Chinese people have no human rights because human rights increase the accountability of the central government for their actions, limit the options available to it to quash opposition, and remove its ability to brainwash millions into political ignorance.
So far it has worked because the most people on the mainland people have become so ignorant (unbeknown to themselves) that the dont think to question whether or not they have rights. Even those that would ask questions are disposed of either tacitly (how many missing people?) or by brute force (Tiannemen Square).
But, the political system is a little different now, and may change altogether since the adoption of a market economy, although some would argue otherwise and say that a market economy simply gives more financial power to the central government (arguably, of course).
It’s all the fault of that Confucius character.
They have human rights, but an Asian version. Like Singapore.
Gloria: I want a big version of your avatar! Where d’you get it !
let us just say that they enjoy “human rights with chinese characteristics”.
I think that the (western perception of a) lack of human rights in Chinese society may be a direct outgrowth of the very paternalistic ethical norms which have been a forceful part of Chinese society from as long as anyone can remember.
To elaborate a bit on this, the Chinese have traditionally been family oriented, although that includes the “clan” of course, especially in older times when there was very limited geographic mobility. In each clan, there will be an elder. For disputes or other problems that arise, or indeed in dealing with a large number of fairly important issues, the elder makes the decision, and it is not questioned … (this is the traditional model of clan organization … )
What one Chinese person explained to me one time is that this type of clan structure promotes harmony. In other words, if everyone follows the instructions of the elder, there will be harmony in the clan.
However, the westerner may quickly notice that the elder may base his decisions on whatever rationale he chooses. There need be no attention to the “legal rights” of the persons involved.
In other words, the elder says: “My grandson Lin Phing is now 21, and I have decided he should marry my former classmate’s daughter Mei Chu.”
At this point, there is no discussion of what Lin Phing wants, or the fact that as an adult he has the sole and exclusive right to pick his own wedding partner.
Granted, this is an extreme (and somewhat out-of-date) example, but it does show how this value system functions at the most basic level.
And at that most basic level, there is no attention to “human rights” in the western sense.
It would be useful to first define what one means by “human rights”. I like Hartzell’s anecdotal illustration. Very on point and helps point out the divergence in Chinese and Western notions of what a “human right” is/ought to be.
There is no such thing as Asian values --only human values. Lee Teng-hui has said as much, although Lee Kuan Yew and other Asian values idealogues (ex-Malaysian PM Mattahir Mohammed comes to mind) may disagree. But as Warren Christopher once tersely said to Lee Kuan Yew
Hmmm…maybe this thread really is a set-up with a punch line coming…
Its rather strange that no one has mentioned the obvious answer…or maybe the “C” word is verbotten among the cognoscenti here.
The name of mainland China is the…PEOPLES REPUBLIC of CHINA…its friggin’ communist. Chairman Mao and his bloody regieme replaced paternalism with communism.
Communism dictates that ALL RIGHTS COME FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Humans have no entitled rights under this system.
The communist party is the source of any and all rights.
OK…was this the punch line?
aaaajooooooo, now you spoiled it. This was meant to be said on page 8 of the thread, not before…
EVERYTHING that has been said in this thread regarding the topic, has been precisely what I have been thinking about, daily, over my last two years here. It even went chronologically in the logically progressive way I came about thinking the very same things, down to the punch line!
Though, Taiwan has its differences from China at the moment, it is precisely the availability of those differences that irritate the conscious mind. Taiwan is not hopeless like some other 2nd/3rd world countries. As a matter of fact it has enough money to afford building currently the world’s tallest skyscraper! Does this not in itselt represent the 2nd richest economy in Asia, next to Japan? Does this not signify one of the richest economies in the world? The very fact that they have struggled out of a dark age and into such financial disposal, offers what should insitinctively and morally be an interest in human rights! Yet, my chronic experiences, and those of my chums continue to prove the contrary. Even trying human to human rationing of certain basic ideas with certain bosses we have all had, in good intentions of making friendly progression in the benefit of healthy lifestyles, bodies and mental states; seems a tedious and delicate task. The consciousness has chosen to prosper for the hedonistic gain, however not always for the moral way about obtaining it. The Ideology seems very much the same here, as to China, though perhaps a bit less drastic.
But, as I said, Taiwan has struggled out of darkness in such a short time, that one can only hope and have faith in that the conscousness will soon follow… tapping fingers impatiently
Well, finally have found an interesting forum, related to so many diverse interests! This be my virgin post My salvation in thinkers alike, and in the desire to contemplate perspectives!
PostmodernFunk, is there any reason you are writing vowels in small letters and the consonants in capital letters? And why is “EVERYTHING” an exeption? What is the hidden meaning regarding human rights in China?
The patterned characters are simply for aesthetic, and for drawing attention to key words. “EVERYTHING” is all in caps because it is intended to be said with great vigor, and has nothing to do with any personal proverb.
The hidden meaning behind the subject of this thread, could very well perhaps be, or so I too have thought, the ideologies of Confuscious, Paternalism and / or Communism (in China’s case).