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Messages - Pylons

#1
Quote from: im2smart4u on May 02, 2010, 10:11:38 AM
Quote from: Pylons on April 25, 2010, 09:46:00 PM
A good reason to censor seditious material is to inculcate a strong nationalism in the people. That way, in case of a war, China will have more manpower.
Isn't that the first rule in having a fascist govenment? 

Quote from: Guye on May 02, 2010, 12:49:20 AM
The benefits of censorship are just too slim in all the necessary ways and too easily facilitates corrupt actions. And the cost is immeasurable... literally, due to it being censored and all. :P
The job of the media is to make sure the government is doing what is suspose to do.  If the govenment controls the media, then the government can do whatever they want to do.  That will lead to further corruption and immoral actions in the government.

To your first comment, I have to reply:

So what?

To your second:

Free media also leads to rampant yellowness and populism.

Also, media is not, as many seem to think, a magic bullet to sway the people. There are the problems of access to media and living conditions. Ultimately, if there are enough discontented people, the government will lose all its power because it has no base of support.

Your weasel wording also disturbs me; what do you define as immoral or corrupt, and what evidence do you have to back it?
#2
General Discussion / Re: What does KZ mean?
April 29, 2010, 09:09:27 PM
I thought he was over 9000?
#3
General Discussion / Re: Canada (with rules)
April 29, 2010, 09:07:18 PM
The electorate system in the U.S. was implemented, contrary to what you and Zackirus seem to think, to give more power to the rural people.
#4
General Discussion / Re: What is your motto?
April 29, 2010, 09:03:50 PM
Quote from: rainen on April 25, 2010, 05:39:39 PM

I think, therefore I am. (I did a research project on the guy who created this idea)


You seriously do not know who Descartes is, even after doing a research project on him?

Tut tut  ;)
#5
Politics / Re: China, Google and Internet censorship
April 28, 2010, 10:05:38 PM
Did/do your parents make you go to school because you loved sitting in classrooms for seven hours a day? No, they made you go to school because it would benefit you in the long run.

You cannot assume something is wrong because you happen to think it is immoral. I happen to as well, but there is honestly no rational reason for such an idea. Fifty years ago racism was the norm in America. Now it is completely unfashionable. You could just as easily argue that unifying the people outweighs potential censorship, but given the trends of the times such an argument is what we perceive as grotesque and bizarre.

About your sister, if it was just her daughter who had the invalid passport it was her choice to leave China. Honestly, most Chinese have a very healthy respect for Westerners and she probably wasn't maligned.

Of course a larger population doesn't account for all the imprisonments, that is very clear, and although I often disagree with the Communist Party's monopoly over the media I can easily see why they would do such a thing, and I also know that a monopoly is not necessarily evil. China still produces millions and millions of cheap goods for other countries, exports hardworking and often well-educated immigrants to other countries (namely the U.S. and Singapore), and has the fastest growing economy in the world, so I don't see what we have to complain about as China Inc. is still working at a furious clip despite what you may see as an evil leadership.
#6
Fruit from the poisoned tree?

In the case Mapp v. Ohio, it was decided that you can't prosecute anyone on evidence obtained not the original target of the search/seizure.
#7
Healthcare for 11 million is a drop in the bucket even if all the same rights are extended to illegal immigrants.
#8
Communism is the most elegant form of government that can be imagined, but thanks to corruption it is extremely difficult to implement.

To put it shortly, communism is the abolishment of classes.

Which I think anyone would think desirable, however, it can easily be taken out of context.

FYI, 'A wise old man once said'/'Confucius say' is not a valid argument, in my opinion and I would think many others.

Anyways, my response was a reply to mike's groaning about the 'Republican/Democrat b.s. in the U.S.'.

There are many systems of government which would, in theory, far outclass democracy, such as noocracy, communism, or a government based on sharply contrasting classes with different privileges (sort of like the  opposite of communism). But they either have not been implemented or have been stained with corruption.

The idea of an ideal government is ultimately based on whether you think people in general can make good choices. Just because the U.S. happens to be the dominant nation right now and its a democracy does not necessarily mean that democracy is the 'best' government (rather that it was never invaded during WWII).

You also give no reasoning as to why democracy>everything else today.
#9
Politics / Re: China, Google and Internet censorship
April 25, 2010, 09:46:00 PM
Quote from: Guye on April 24, 2010, 10:23:19 PM
I have a sister that lived in China until problems were found with her daughter's passports (her's was just fine) and from what I've heard the censorship in China is wholly indefensible (in her opinion) and that on certain topics you could only guess at the truth (or accept what your told  :-X), because the information you were given was so twisted that it (the truth) was wholly unrecognizable. Of course I've never been there, but I have been told that it has imprisoned more journalists than any other country on earth.

I can understand the censorship of some topics that are widely believed to be immoral, though the means with which this censorship would take place and the content which could be censored would have to be very clear and defined in a "fair" and non-invasive manner (I can understand it, I'm not for it). But when it is a government who decides what is considered "seditious" then I can't stand by it. Giving a powerful leader the ability to whitewash anything that makes him/her/them look bad (implicitly or no) is just asking for trouble. Honestly, I don't think there is a government on earth that I would trust with such a responsibility.

Why would a country need to censor "seditious" ideas, anyways? If they are ridiculous then you only need to rely on your ability to adequately explain to your people why it is so. If they aren't ridiculous then they shouldn't be censored in the first place. It is the people who should decide if the content they are reading is immoral or not. In my opinion, a governments role is to serve the wills of the largest number of its people possible, to the best of its ability, regardless of what that will is.

Also I've been suspicious of Google ever since they started that "Don't be Evil" thing.  :P

Firstly, since when was a government's role to cater to people?

A government's responsibility is to cater to the people. If they were at the peoples' whims there would be nothing done because of the conflict in interests between the upper and lower class. Instead, a government needs to be hard-pushing, they need tax money, which, though it will negatively impact peoples' lives in the short term, will increase the prosperity of the state.

A good reason to censor seditious material is to inculcate a strong nationalism in the people. That way, in case of a war, China will have more manpower.

And yes, China may have a lot of reporters in jail but it has more reporters than any country in the world thanks to its large population, and again, free press and censorship do not jive very well together.

And about the passport...
Are you really sure it was valid? China isn't going to kick Westerners out randomly (assuming you are one), seeing as few Westerners live in China anyways and provide income for CCTV9, malls, and other companies. As long as your sister or her daughter had a valid passport and didn't really tick the government off they would still be there.
#10
Quote from: mikew781 on April 25, 2010, 08:53:52 AM
I agree. The United States is a prime example. The Democrat-Republican b.s. has gone too far. Now, wether the president is good or bad, wether the proposed bill is good or bad, and who it will help/how fast it will help them makes no difference.
If the bill is originated from Democrats, all the republicans stand against it. And visa versa. The system is terrible, and these politicians are too blind to see that they should concentrate on helping the people of America; the ones who elected them into their position. Both parties have had good leaders and bad leaders, and neither party is clearly defined by any sense of the term. But, for whatever reason, politicians foolishly stick to their party no matter the cost to anybody else.

There is a simple reason for such things.

Because America is a democracy, politicians have to get elected, clearly.

To get elected they need people to want to elect them, again clearly.

Because they need the peoples' support they'll get jelly-legged on issues such as taxes and healthcare.

And if they got elected once, the people electing them almost definitely support that politician's ideology.

Therefore, if they decide to side with the other party on a controversial issue they will often not get reelected.

Democracy sucks.
#11
Politics / Re: Third World Debt
April 25, 2010, 09:32:51 PM
Paying off 3rd world countries' debts is something of a dilemma.

If you either waive the debts or don't enforce paying them off it could be taken as a sign of weakness or that the creditor gives out freebies.

If you force the countries to pay them it would hurt those countries and bring about sensationalized articles about the creditor's brutality.
#12
Quote from: im2smart4u on April 24, 2010, 08:07:16 PM


Quote from: Pylons on April 24, 2010, 05:28:45 PM
Meh. Considering that Arizona is near Mexico and thus the majority of illegal immigrants to it will be Mexican, I'm more ticked off by the idea that this law will get some random activists to decry 'racial profiling' because the majority of people to be prosecuted by this law will almost definitely be Mexican.
Would you call a law that helps catch murders "sexest", because a majority of murders are committed by men?  I don't care about the demographics.  I don't care if the illegal immigrants are from Mexico, Kenya, Afghanistan, China, or Canada. They committed a crime and should be punished for it.

[/quote]

I wouldn't. A yellow paper will, inevitably, try to sensationalize a topic as sensitive and debatable as illegal immigration. There would inevitably be stories about little children being sent to foster homes when their parents got deported.

The problem with 'reasonable suspicion' or 'probable cause' is that those terms can easily be taken out of context, because they are very difficult to quantify.

Ultimately, while I generally agree with the idea, I do agree with im2smart4u's comment that racial profiling is going to be a pretext for repealing or protesting the law.

And protesters piss me off.
#13
Meh. Considering that Arizona is near Mexico and thus the majority of illegal immigrants to it will be Mexican, I'm more ticked off by the idea that this law will get some random activists to decry 'racial profiling' because the majority of people to be prosecuted by this law will almost definitely be Mexican.
#14
General Discussion / Re: What is your motto?
April 24, 2010, 05:22:33 PM
Quote from: Ertxiem on April 23, 2010, 07:42:29 AM
Quote from: Pylons on April 23, 2010, 01:11:46 AM
vade mecum parum puer
What is the correct translation for that?
Is it something like: Basic manual for little children or come with me little children?

The latter. The definition of a book developed because people carry books everywhere.
#15
General Discussion / Re: What is your motto?
April 23, 2010, 01:11:46 AM
vade mecum parum puer