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China’s bad influence (Criticism)

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 12:41 (1623 days ago)

https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Disgusting. If I hadn’t already written off Blizzard I’d do it now.

This is type of thing is a real possibility with Netease investing in Bungie’s next game. I hope it doesn’t become hard for Bungie and other developers to do the right thing in the future.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by kidtsunami @, Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 13:06 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Disgusting. If I hadn’t already written off Blizzard I’d do it now.

This is type of thing is a real possibility with Netease investing in Bungie’s next game. I hope it doesn’t become hard for Bungie and other developers to do the right thing in the future.

I love how capitalism is willing to toe the line for authoritarian communists if there is $$$ at stake

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*Obligatory South Park reference here*

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 14:02 (1623 days ago) @ kidtsunami

- No text -

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 14:47 (1623 days ago) @ kidtsunami

https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Disgusting. If I hadn’t already written off Blizzard I’d do it now.

This is type of thing is a real possibility with Netease investing in Bungie’s next game. I hope it doesn’t become hard for Bungie and other developers to do the right thing in the future.


I love how capitalism is willing to toe the line for authoritarian communists if there is $$$ at stake

Capitalism isn't a person with a will--but yes, the model can be corrupted just like socialism or communism (this isn't the place to argue which system is more susceptible to corruption).

This is an area where I agree with Cody. If you don't like a business's practices, don't do business with them. I admit I don't always practice what I preach. I'd love to find a competitive alternative to Google Fiber.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 15:20 (1623 days ago) @ Kermit

https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Disgusting. If I hadn’t already written off Blizzard I’d do it now.

This is type of thing is a real possibility with Netease investing in Bungie’s next game. I hope it doesn’t become hard for Bungie and other developers to do the right thing in the future.


I love how capitalism is willing to toe the line for authoritarian communists if there is $$$ at stake


Capitalism isn't a person with a will--but yes, the model can be corrupted just like socialism or communism (this isn't the place to argue which system is more susceptible to corruption).

This is an area where I agree with Cody. If you don't like a business's practices, don't do business with them. I admit I don't always practice what I preach. I'd love to find a competitive alternative to Google Fiber.

At first I was really upset. So many movies and games I could not feel like I could play/ watch or support. But since starting to actually do it I’ve found it’s not that hard at all. And that makes me even more mad because it’s so fucking easy, yet people don’t do it. We could easily stop a great deal of this if we hit them in the wallet.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by cheapLEY @, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 17:08 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I think just saying "it's easy" is a bit disingenuous. Theoretically, sure, it's easy. When it's Blizzard, it's easy. I haven't been interested in anything they've made in at least five years. I'm already not playing any of their games--that's not a difficult boycott.

If it was Bungie, though . . . I don't know, it becomes much harder. Destiny is a huge part of my life, and if I stop playing Destiny tomorrow, my connection to this community mostly goes away, and I stop playing games with just about everyone here, because Destiny is the one thing we play together (with some isolated examples of playing other things with certain people). That's much, much more difficult to give up, and it's far from something I would call "easy." I like playing Destiny with the people here more than I like most other forms of entertainment. Sure, I would live without it, and I'd even still find plenty of enjoyable things to do, but I would absolutely feel like I was giving up something great.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 19:47 (1623 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I think just saying "it's easy" is a bit disingenuous. Theoretically, sure, it's easy. When it's Blizzard, it's easy. I haven't been interested in anything they've made in at least five years. I'm already not playing any of their games--that's not a difficult boycott.

If it was Bungie, though . . . I don't know, it becomes much harder.

Dude. I quit. It's actually not hard at all. Destiny was a big part of my life too.

I really wanted to play Detroit… but I haven't. Easy.

I want to play Last of Us 2. But if it has single player microtransactions? I won't. Easy.

You only think it's hard precisely because the game is designed to make you think you'll lose a lot by quitting. But you won't.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Harmanimus @, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 19:58 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Your post is pretty illustrative of the point you are trying to counter. You haven’t been invested in Destiny for a pretty long time. You only think it is easy because you don’t find a sufficient valuation of what you are losing.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 20:36 (1623 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Your post is pretty illustrative of the point you are trying to counter. You haven’t been invested in Destiny for a pretty long time. You only think it is easy because you don’t find a sufficient valuation of what you are losing.

Do you have any idea how much I want to be doing the raid :-p

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Harmanimus @, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 02:08 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Not enough to engage with everything else involved with the game?

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 09:36 (1623 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Not enough to engage with everything else involved with the game?

That's not really fair. There are many things we may want to do but our morals stop us. Everyone has a line they draw.

I will say in the global economy of which we are all a part, moral purity is not possible, and you have to pick your battles. Microtransactions are bad, but weigh that against Bungie creating a kick-ass game that shines above others in several ways, employing lots of talent and bringing a lot of joy to many all the while.

I'm not a fan of boycotts--although I understand the often-good motives behind them. I'd rather win people over with arguments than organize a mob to punish people. I admire Cody for talking about issues like this. Spreading the word moves the needle toward better behavior. Bad publicity is almost as bad as taking a financial hit because the former can easily lead to the latter. It harms the brand. So the bad publicity might not be enough for me to decide not to buy Detroit straight up, but it might make me hesitate, which is enough to allow some other bauble to catch my eye so that I forget about Detroit.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Harmanimus @, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 10:06 (1623 days ago) @ Kermit

My comment doesn’t even require some moral stance against MTX from Cody, as he has expounded at length on enough reasons related purely to the playable and experiential aspects of Destiny to make it clear that he doesn’t value the majority of the game enough to get into a position to Raid.

Boycotts are useful tools, but they are ineffective if not tied to public outcry. Especially if the boycott is against something of sufficient size. Just “voting with money” by not buying something is a non-impact, too. You have to spend that money on competition to actual vote with the dollar. Talking about it is very, very good. Awareness is important because awareness influences much better than abrasions. But none of it is easy unless you aren’t invested in it. Once you make the decision, sure, it gets easier over time. But it doesn’t start that way.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by cheapLEY @, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 20:12 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by cheapLEY, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 20:18

Dude, c'mon. Don't even pretend like it was easy to quit playing Destiny. If it was, you'd have done it the first time you said you were going to three fucking years ago.

I'm not ragging on you. Seriously, good for you for not supporting shit you don't agree with. I've also not played Detroit. I won't let microtransactions stop me from playing The Last of Us 2, either.

I'm curious where you draw the line though. There pretty credible accusations of harassment at Naughty Dog, but you've not mentioned that, despite it being your reason for boycott of Detroit.

I'm not trying to start some argument, I'm genuinely curious.

These things aren't black and white. I wouldn't ever do anything that gives David Cage money--he seems like an irredeemable shitheel. But that's also punishing a lot of other people who are just doing their jobs and making a game. Maybe some of them deserve to be punished, too, for not standing up or for even joining in on what seems like a really terrible workplace culture, but I'm sure lots of them are just normal people trying to get by.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 20:37 (1623 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I'm curious where you draw the line though. There pretty credible accusations of harassment at Naughty Dog, but you've not mentioned that, despite it being your reason for boycott of Detroit.

I was unaware! Link?

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by cheapLEY @, Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 20:41 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:31 (1621 days ago) @ cheapLEY

https://kotaku.com/former-naughty-dog-employee-says-he-was-fired-after-fil-1819557683

Thank you. I will certainly think about this, but it kind of seems like one individual issue rather than a company wide toxic culture, and I don't think we know the specifics of the individual case well enough.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Schedonnardus, Texas, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:13 (1621 days ago) @ Cody Miller

first couple of months are hard. then you get so far behind you don't want to go through the effort of catching up.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by cheapLEY @, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 10:49 (1623 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Amazon is maybe the worst company to ever exist and it’s like the most profitable company in the world or something. We can’t even quit going to fucking Chick-Fil-A. And you expect anyone to boycott a video game?

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 10:59 (1623 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Amazon is maybe the worst company to ever exist and it’s like the most profitable company in the world or something. We can’t even quit going to fucking Chick-Fil-A. And you expect anyone to boycott a video game?

Why not?

I stopped ordering from amazon a long time ago, and I do not eat at Chick. It's not actually that hard to do. Which is why I get sad when people say it's hopeless :-(

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by cheapLEY @, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 11:36 (1622 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I also do not use those services.

Convincing the rest of the country to do the same is hopeless. People don’t care. Boycotts don’t work unless a massive amount of people buy in.

They’re also a weird way of shifting blame for the atrocities of corporate greed onto consumers.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 09:02 (1622 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by Kermit, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 09:16

I also do not use those services.

Convincing the rest of the country to do the same is hopeless. People don’t care. Boycotts don’t work unless a massive amount of people buy in.

They’re also a weird way of shifting blame for the atrocities of corporate greed onto consumers.

Another thing is the rhetoric gets out of hand, and it's easy to be dismissed as the boy who cried wolf. Amazon is the worst company ever to exist? Really? Worse than Union Carbide? And it's fine not to buy chicken sandwiches because the guy who started the company has beliefs you don't like, but that's not going to persuade anyone who shares his beliefs to change their mind, and the latter is the real hard work of change. Boycotts are too often (mostly painless) gestures done to appear virtuous to those who already agree, and these days no one seems as interested in talking to anyone who isn't already on board their train.

Strongly disagreeing with a chicken maven's personal opinion is one thing, and then there's Google, who is helping a regime that's killed at least 62 million people over the past 70 years. No wonder they removed "Don't be evil" from their code of conduct. Yet we all do business with China. We've all benefited from the low cost of living in the United States largely enabled by cheap goods made in China. We're all implicated to a degree in a global economy. Part of the impetus for improved relations with China was the theory that economic development would weaken their oppressive system. So far China is trying to use their increased wealth to finance their oppressive system. I guess we'll see if their plan works long term.

I'm not trying to bust your chops, CheapLEY, or Cody's. I think it's good when Cody brings up these issues, although sometimes I'm less willing than he is to believe at face value the worst spin (e.g., regarding HR accusations and such). Maybe Cody underplays how hard it was to give up Destiny, but I also suspect he's got many varied interests and, as happens to a lot of us when we give up something we enjoy, he realized it was easier than he thought it would be. Good for him.

I don't know the answer, but it's good to keep talking about these things. Bungie employees read this forum now and then, and I'm sure many of them share our concerns. They just got out from under the yoke of Activision; let's hope the powers that be over there are sensitive to the pitfalls of a relationship with Netease. I'm glad they're no longer associated with Blizzard.

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Relevant

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 09:09 (1622 days ago) @ Kermit

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Relevant

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:36 (1621 days ago) @ Kermit

Way to go, Apple. SMH.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-pulls-hong-kong-cop-tracking-map-app-after-china-uproar-11570681464

WTF am I supposed to do? Learning Linux is ACTUALLY HARD :-p

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PREACH.

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 14:18 (1621 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Claude Errera @, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 09:17 (1622 days ago) @ Kermit

Boycotts are too often (mostly painless) gestures done to appear virtuous to those who already agree with you, and these days no one seems as interested in talking to anyone who isn't already on board your train.

Just wanted to throw in a slightly different perspective here: while it's true that this can be what boycotts are about... often, they're just a personal way to 'save your own soul'. (That's in quotes because I'm not assigning any religious significance to it here.)

For example: I boycott Exxon because of the Valdez spill; I have since it happened. I don't tell people I'm doing it, I don't talk about it - so it's not an attempt to 'appear virtuous', it's simply my way of keeping myself from supporting a company that did something unforgivable (in my eyes). (I don't use BP for similar reasons.) I feel better about myself by not giving money to companies that have committed what I believe to be egregious sins.

(To be clear: in both cases, the accident by itself isn't what caused me to stop using the product - it's either HOW it happened (drunk pilot for the Valdez), or how the company responded (unwillingness to admit the problem for far too long for Deepwater). Lots of oil companies have spills; if my rule was 'if you have a spill, I won't buy gas from you', I wouldn't be able to buy gas.)

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that virtue signaling isn't the only reason to boycott a company, and so the fact that convincing those who don't share your views is the 'hard work of change' shouldn't discourage people from withholding money from companies whose moral code clashes too strongly with your own. I know that my choice not to purchase gas from Exxon or BP has ZERO effect on either company's bottom line. I don't really care; I simply know that I sleep a little better knowing my money isn't going to them.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 10:09 (1622 days ago) @ Claude Errera

Boycotts are too often (mostly painless) gestures done to appear virtuous to those who already agree with you, and these days no one seems as interested in talking to anyone who isn't already on board your train.


Just wanted to throw in a slightly different perspective here: while it's true that this can be what boycotts are about... often, they're just a personal way to 'save your own soul'. (That's in quotes because I'm not assigning any religious significance to it here.)

For example: I boycott Exxon because of the Valdez spill; I have since it happened. I don't tell people I'm doing it, I don't talk about it - so it's not an attempt to 'appear virtuous', it's simply my way of keeping myself from supporting a company that did something unforgivable (in my eyes). (I don't use BP for similar reasons.) I feel better about myself by not giving money to companies that have committed what I believe to be egregious sins.

(To be clear: in both cases, the accident by itself isn't what caused me to stop using the product - it's either HOW it happened (drunk pilot for the Valdez), or how the company responded (unwillingness to admit the problem for far too long for Deepwater). Lots of oil companies have spills; if my rule was 'if you have a spill, I won't buy gas from you', I wouldn't be able to buy gas.)

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that virtue signaling isn't the only reason to boycott a company, and so the fact that convincing those who don't share your views is the 'hard work of change' shouldn't discourage people from withholding money from companies whose moral code clashes too strongly with your own. I know that my choice not to purchase gas from Exxon or BP has ZERO effect on either company's bottom line. I don't really care; I simply know that I sleep a little better knowing my money isn't going to them.

Perfectly valid. For the same reason I've avoided Exxon myself except in emergencies. Maybe it comes down to what we mean by often. Surely, the kind of personal boycott you're talking about happens more often, but I was thinking of the kinds of boycotts that make the news or proliferate on social media--the explicit purpose of those boycotts is to facilitate change. I like to think good arguments win, consensus leads to a more stable peace, and so on. Building consensus is the hard work, listening to differing views, finding common ground, perhaps even compromising a little. I feel like many organized boycotts are simply team-building exercises for people who think alike, which feels good for sure, but maybe isn't that effective for changing minds.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:05 (1621 days ago) @ Claude Errera
edited by Cody Miller, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:10

You are correct. The vast majority of these types of things I do I just do, and it only comes up if someone asks or needs to know. It's mostly about not feeling guilty myself. What I post here is relevant because it's about gaming, and this is a gaming forum.

I am also full of shit on a lot of stuff. I eat meat, drive a gas car and burn jet fuel for fun, sometimes see Tom Cruise movies, etc even though I really shouldn't.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 10:39 (1622 days ago) @ Kermit

On the other side, I saw this bit of satire related to which businesses we boycott and why and the relative, often incompatible reasoning behind boycotting one business but still enjoying the goods and services of objectively worse businesses.


WORLD—A grim report indicated Wednesday that the count of people murdered by known hate group Chick-fil-A has risen to 0 this year.

While previous years saw counts averaging 0 and sometimes going in the negative as Chick-fil-A employees saved the lives of their customers, this year the count has skyrocketed to 0. Critics are claiming the company's strong and pervasive culture of hate is contributing to the expanding number of deaths.

"Chick-fil-A is poisoning our cities, killing people by the zeros," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "We do not welcome hate in our country, and neither should any other countries, eh?"

He then had to go address a 76th blackface photo that had emerged.

Reporters and journalists have demanded an answer from Chick-fil-A, but so far spokespeople have only responded with, "My pleasure."

Meanwhile, Apple just pulled multiple apps helping people in Hong Kong maintain their right not to be secretly shipped over to China to be imprisoned or whatever.

It’s a complicated world... one where boycotting every single injustice would leave us without food, power, technology, etc. Personally, I think this stuff with China is a much larger and more widespread issue that will continue to get much worse before it gets better. :(

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 11:47 (1621 days ago) @ Ragashingo

On the other side, I saw this bit of satire related to which businesses we boycott and why and the relative, often incompatible reasoning behind boycotting one business but still enjoying the goods and services of objectively worse businesses.


WORLD—A grim report indicated Wednesday that the count of people murdered by known hate group Chick-fil-A has risen to 0 this year.

While previous years saw counts averaging 0 and sometimes going in the negative as Chick-fil-A employees saved the lives of their customers, this year the count has skyrocketed to 0. Critics are claiming the company's strong and pervasive culture of hate is contributing to the expanding number of deaths.

"Chick-fil-A is poisoning our cities, killing people by the zeros," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "We do not welcome hate in our country, and neither should any other countries, eh?"

He then had to go address a 76th blackface photo that had emerged.

Reporters and journalists have demanded an answer from Chick-fil-A, but so far spokespeople have only responded with, "My pleasure."

LOL.

Meanwhile, Apple just pulled multiple apps helping people in Hong Kong maintain their right not to be secretly shipped over to China to be imprisoned or whatever.

It’s a complicated world... one where boycotting every single injustice would leave us without food, power, technology, etc. Personally, I think this stuff with China is a much larger and more widespread issue that will continue to get much worse before it gets better. :(

I agree, sadly.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by bluerunner @, Music City, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 14:28 (1621 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Personally, I think this stuff with China is a much larger and more widespread issue that will continue to get much worse before it gets better. :(

I've been giving this some thought over the last few years. Through work I have traveled to China several times, and I have made some very close friends there. They are great people, and I wish I could spend more time with them there. But I also see that they just don't see the problems with their government that we see. I've seen the censorship and propaganda first hand, but I see it from a perspective of knowing what it is. Some of my friends there have only known that, and anything but that is foreign to them.

Back in January I was traveling around the Shanghai area. I was on a train with a friend and saw a picture of Mao. My friend just started talking about how great he was and how he helped so many people. Of course, I know what she doesn't, but I was at a loss of how to tell that to her without personally offending her. What she was telling me was what she had been taught all her life, and there isn't any good way for her to find out any different.

Another friend of mine has traveled out of China many times and is more aware. We have conversations about higher topics like personal liberty and democracy. We also discuss Chinese history and she is much more aware. I've noticed though that she only talks with me about stuff like that in a whisper, and only in places we aren't over heard. I do enjoy our back alley coffee shop talks though. It shows me that there is hope, and maybe more people than I think there are looking for change. Probably like her they just keep their heads down since the consequences are high.

I visited Hong Kong in January and then Guangzhou. It's such a stark difference between the two. In mean, Guangzhou has nice buildings and looks modern, but culturally the mainlanders and Hong Kongers are different. It's like the people living in the Matrix and the people living outside it. I did notice there at dinner a couple of my hosts cracked jokes about the government. It just didnt seem like something my Shanghai friends would do though.

All that said, people are people. My friends there go about their lives relatively unscathed. They live their lives, enjoy food and movies, and many things we do. Of course, they arent part of the groups getting imprisoned. As long as they're left relatively alone and have a job and a little free time, they're not going to push for anything more. They seem to have a fear of stiring the pot, and they see the folks who do get taken out quickly. So how do you start a change?

A few other observations:
I use a VPN whenever I am there. I had people see me use it (I pulled something up on Google and they asked how I did that), and they told me I could get away with that because I was an American businessman, but they would be jailed for that.

The only outside news I saw there was CNN and BBC. If a story about China came up, the channel would go black during that segment.

They really want to learn English, and asking a good ol' boy from Arkansas (me)for help was not a good idear.

I enjoyed thinking about the virtues of communism while standing next to the factory boss's Rolls Royce Phantom while watching the workers ride bicycles to work. Inside the lobby they had pictures of the top brass of the company hand in hand with top officials of the Party. Oh, and that factory makes a lot of the grills you can buy at Lowe's and Home Depot.

I've been in factories where it was 120-130F and the workers worked 12 hours shifts. Guys were handling glowing hot pieces of metal in shorts and flip flops.

On one trip in July a couple of years ago I lost 7 pounds in a week just touring factories.

In one of those factories I watched a bunch of people crammed into a small room place labels on dog food bowls for hours on end. I wasnt allowed to take pictures. I picked up a bowl and looked at the brand on the bottom. It was an Ellen Degeneres brand dog food bowl.

I walked around Hong Kong on a Sunday. I passed several churches having service. I can count on one hand the number of churches I have seen in mainland China. I know an American pastor who was arrested on an airplane and interrogated because they found out he had started some home churches in China. He did not give up any names of the people he was meeting. He was put back on a departing plane and had his visa revoked.

It's dirty there. Like not just the smog and air pollution. There's just trash everywhere.

Anyway. I can go on, but it's quitting time and I want to go home.

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Great post. A must read.

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 14:56 (1621 days ago) @ bluerunner

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Agreed.

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 15:16 (1621 days ago) @ Ragashingo

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Here's a good read on the subject.

by bluerunner @, Music City, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 15:34 (1621 days ago) @ Ragashingo

I got the chance to hang out with Dr. Ming Wang a few months ago. He was a victim of the cultural revolution and has a pretty crazy story. He learned to dance and play the erhu (like a chinese violin) to survive as part of the Communist Party propaganda department until Mao died. He managed to make it to the US and eventually became an eye surgeon. I got a kick out of him playing the Tennessee Waltz for me on his erhu. We spent a lot of time talking about what we can do about China, and some of the kinda underground work he has going on there.

His book:
From Darkness to Sight: A Journey from Hardship to Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1939447917/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Q86NDbNH5B1A8

His website:
http://drmingwang.com/chineseheritage.html

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This reminded me of the Three Body Problem

by kidtsunami @, Atlanta, GA, Friday, October 11, 2019, 09:56 (1621 days ago) @ bluerunner

I got the chance to hang out with Dr. Ming Wang a few months ago. He was a victim of the cultural revolution and has a pretty crazy story. He learned to dance and play the erhu (like a chinese violin) to survive as part of the Communist Party propaganda department until Mao died. He managed to make it to the US and eventually became an eye surgeon. I got a kick out of him playing the Tennessee Waltz for me on his erhu. We spent a lot of time talking about what we can do about China, and some of the kinda underground work he has going on there.

His book:
From Darkness to Sight: A Journey from Hardship to Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1939447917/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Q86NDbNH5B1A8

His website:
http://drmingwang.com/chineseheritage.html

Just a solid sci-fi trilogy that kicks off during the Cultural Revolution. Good stuff.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:02 (1621 days ago) @ Kermit

Another thing is the rhetoric gets out of hand, and it's easy to be dismissed as the boy who cried wolf. Amazon is the worst company ever to exist? Really? Worse than Union Carbide? And it's fine not to buy chicken sandwiches because the guy who started the company has beliefs you don't like, but that's not going to persuade anyone who shares his beliefs to change their mind

Honestly, only a very small portion of it is about convincing others. It's almost entirely about me not contributing to a problem.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:16 (1621 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Another thing is the rhetoric gets out of hand, and it's easy to be dismissed as the boy who cried wolf. Amazon is the worst company ever to exist? Really? Worse than Union Carbide? And it's fine not to buy chicken sandwiches because the guy who started the company has beliefs you don't like, but that's not going to persuade anyone who shares his beliefs to change their mind


Honestly, only a very small portion of it is about convincing others. It's almost entirely about me not contributing to a problem.

Which I respect, especially because of your relatively weak efforts to shame those of us who haven't followed you. :)

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:17 (1621 days ago) @ Kermit

Another thing is the rhetoric gets out of hand, and it's easy to be dismissed as the boy who cried wolf. Amazon is the worst company ever to exist? Really? Worse than Union Carbide? And it's fine not to buy chicken sandwiches because the guy who started the company has beliefs you don't like, but that's not going to persuade anyone who shares his beliefs to change their mind


Honestly, only a very small portion of it is about convincing others. It's almost entirely about me not contributing to a problem.


Which I respect, especially because of your relatively weak efforts to shame those of us who haven't followed you. :)

Oh I will shame about lootboxes. I'll never forgive Speedracer for spending 40 bucks to get that ornament :-p lol jk.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 12:19 (1621 days ago) @ Kermit

Maybe Cody underplays how hard it was to give up Destiny, but I also suspect he's got many varied interests and, as happens to a lot of us when we give up something we enjoy, he realized it was easier than he thought it would be. Good for him.

I'm not unsympathetic to this. Cruel has posted here before about how Destiny was basically his only social outlet for a long time while his daughter was young. Cheaply has said something similar here.

But also realize the games are precisely designed that way in order to hook you in that exact fashion.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 14:18 (1621 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Maybe Cody underplays how hard it was to give up Destiny, but I also suspect he's got many varied interests and, as happens to a lot of us when we give up something we enjoy, he realized it was easier than he thought it would be. Good for him.


I'm not unsympathetic to this. Cruel has posted here before about how Destiny was basically his only social outlet for a long time while his daughter was young. Cheaply has said something similar here.

But also realize the games are precisely designed that way in order to hook you in that exact fashion.

What you mean by exact fashion might not be interpreted as underhanded. I mean, if a game is designed to be played with friends, that isn’t a bad thing. The friendships you make or deepen while playing a game aren’t necessarily lesser than friendships fostered through other means. (There is a switch that gets flipped once you meet a person in real life, but that’s another topic for a different thread.)

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 09:14 (1623 days ago) @ kidtsunami

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-10-08/blizzard-punishes-pro-gamer-for-supporting-hong-kong-pro...

But on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, the official account of Hearthstone reposted Blizzard’s statement in Chinese -- with a significant change. “We will, as always, resolutely safeguard the country’s dignity,” it added.

Literal Evil. Legit never buying anything from Blizzard or Activision ever again.

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 09:14 (1623 days ago) @ kidtsunami

I love how capitalism is willing to toe the line for authoritarian communists if there is $$$ at stake

[image]

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Ah, capitalism and communism, hand in hand

by kidtsunami @, Atlanta, GA, Wednesday, October 09, 2019, 09:23 (1623 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

[image]

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Not surprising...

by bluerunner @, Music City, Thursday, October 10, 2019, 20:40 (1621 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Reverse

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Friday, October 11, 2019, 19:25 (1620 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Blizzard partially backpedaled. They shortened the ban to 6 months and reinstated the prize money. But I am cynical. I don't think they did this because it was the right thing. I think they did it because…

The threat of losing money is the only thing that works.

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