nihil- largely OT-
I'm not sure where I was engaging in defensiveness about the USA (I think you said I was, but I'm not sure). Where do you think I was?
<<When there are valid criticisms of American human rights abuses they should be corrected also. >>
Did you mean "invalid"?
A careful reading of my post would indicate that I in no way defended the imprisonment of drug users or dealers. While such people knowingly break Caesar's laws (laws which I think are more severe in China), I would agree that adults who use drugs or sell to other adults should not be punished by the state for doing so. The law is, simply, an ass in this regard. I for one find it particularly galling that a coke snorter who gladhands and ingratiates his way into the White House becomes a supporter of the Insane War on Drugs. FYI, Harry Browne, the probable Libertarian candidate for President of the US, has pledged to commute the sentences of all non-violent drug offenders in federal prisons.
<<After all, when we criticize others we open ourselves to just criticisms in turn. When China's government criticizes American problems, we are justified in criticizing theirs only if we cure our own problems first>>
hui zhou made, I think, completely baseless indictments of human rights in America. I took him to task for that. Perhaps he will be good enough to identify specifics on such matters as how women's rights are abrogated in the US, but he totally failed to do so. And while I think I indicated that he may have valid criticism of our society (eg. the number of murders is quite appalling, albeit a small fraction of the number he cited), the presence of criminals in America is simply not proof of government oppression of human rights. In fact, I suspect much of it results from too great a permissiveness throughout many of our institutions, including government. While we have many thugs in this country, they are not, for the most part, in control of the government. I've made it clear I don't believe the same can be said of China.
Finally, I think what most bothered me about hui zhou's post (and this was hardly the first time) was the tedious shallowness of it. It read like disinformation for the masses. I think if I were to live in a foreign country, I would at least try to understand what I was criticizing before I opened my mouth. Like you, I think I welcome intelligent criticism of my country and my civilization, but hui zhou has repeatedly failed that test.
Larry |
