On 2/10/06, Juan Buhler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
But Frank, how much of everything we consume was made in China? The
American economy (and I'd say the world's economy, for the US won't
collapse without bringing all the rest down with us) depends on
China's credit. It isn't like we could just stop doing business with
them.
Yahoo and Google are just doing what everybody else is, from Walmart
to Apple: play along with China, hoping the government will change at
some point.
j
You're reading too much into what I said, Juan. I wasn't advocating a
boycott on China. I was discussing the very narrow issue of Yahoo,
and whether one of their subsidiaries provides into to the Chinese
gov't that has led to jailings of those who advocate free speech.
Paul said (I think I'm accurate in my paraphrasing here) that, yes,
the Chinese gov't is evil and wrong, but that Yahoo had to play along
with them in order to service that market, and that Yahoo was not
morally on the hook for the above situation.
I merely pointed out that Yahoo did indeed have a choice. Choosing
not to provide such information would certainly have resulted in Yahoo
losing access to that vast market, and Yahoo chose profits over
humanity.
Whether Yahoo was right or wrong in that choice is a decision that
each person must make for themselves; I've already made it clear what
I think.
What Yahoo did (if the reports are accurate) is far worse than simply
"trading with China", they've become complicite with an evil regime.
Google's situation (as I understand it) is not so bad. China has
basically said to them that they must censor their search engine and
not show all hits, if they want to provide their service in China.
Google, the great and honourable defender of internet freedom of
speech and enemy of censorship said, "Okay". As far as I know, no one
has been jailed due to that sudden change of policy, but again,
they're working in cahoots with a repressive regime, and they've shown
themselves to be a bunch of hypocrites insofar as they're prepared to
throw their corporate morals out the window in order to make huge
dollars.
I don't advocate a boycott of either Yahoo or Google, but I think that
consumers have a right to know what these companies are doing, who
their dealing with, and to be reminded that generally, corprate
capitalism sometimes (but not always) makes profits the highest good.
Personally, I try not to buy goods made in China - you're right,
sometimes it's hard not to, but given a viable choice, I'll always buy
non-Chinese. This is a small protest against the government, ~not~
the people. As with the repressed subjects of any regime (or indeed,
people everywhere), the Chinese people are honourable, good people
(and as everywhere, they have scoundrals and criminals, but in no
higher or lower percentages than anywhere else, I'm sure). It's the
government with which I have my beef.
Over the past 1/2 century the Maoist regime has murdered literally
millions - about 1/4 of the population of Tibet alone - and the West
has sat by and done nothing. No boycotts, no military incursions, no
threats, not even wagging of fingers. Once China became "open for
business", we gleefully rushed in, looking to tap into that vast
market, and sell, sell, sell, for profits, profits, profits.
It all makes me wonder...
cheers,
frank
--
"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
