As a citizen of the USA, I have my personal perspective about the ongoing debacle with China. My thoughts on the matter go like this:Gotta love how Red China has learned western ways. This week they're using a propaganda trick right out of the Neo-Con-Job book. And it's my favorite! When someone accuses you of a sleazy move, take their words and turn them right back on them, pretending with a straight face that it is actually you that are the accuser and they the guilty. If that sounds entirely pathological, you get a *DING* and a gold star. ;-)
Here is the story of deceit that got me all riled up today:
China slams US criticism of Internet controls
Let me very briefly and simplistically set the scene. The story by now is very old, 12 years old to be precise. I've told it many times across the net as have plenty of others. So if you've heard it before, you're excused from class.
1998: US President Clinton and the US Congress provide Red China, aka 'Mainland China', aka 'Communist China', aka 'People's Republic of China', with Most Favored Nation status. It is the culmination of over two decades of courting the Red Chinese government to open up China once again to the west for trade and biznizz (my spelling of 'business' whenever something childish, primitive or self-destructive is afoot).
That same year, immediately after Most Favored Nation status was acquired, the Red Chinese government reached out to their computer hacker community and encouraged them financially to form what became the Red Hacker Alliance. You can read about the RHA HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE. Their stated goal was to prevent hacking of Red Chinese computers by foreign countries. Here is a paraphrasing of their manifesto,
'The "Alliance" which identifies itself as “a network security research organization made up of Chinese patriotic hackers,” specializes in network security, “patriotic hacker training,” and software development, according to the group's Internet site.'However, their activities evolved such that their purpose served to perpetuate Red China's paranoia, as expressed through their requirement of subverting all rights of privacy, across the entire planet.
[The timeline table above is from the original online version of 'Evolution of the Red Hacker Alliance'.]
Meanwhile, the Red Chinese government have been discovered soliciting hackers at US universities. A secret Red Chinese government memo was also discovered a few years ago that explicitly declared a 'Technology War' against the USA.
Mankind can be so strange. Humans require a sense of security and safety. Here we see that requirement taken to an extreme expression of selfishness and self-destruction. Again we have the simple equasion that one's behavior toward others is an expression of one's behavior toward one's self.
The US government, in their incompetence, their fear of looking foolish, as well as their need to feel safe behind a mask of perceived security, didn't acknowledge the actions of the Red Hacker Alliance until circa 2007. This was despite the fact that the RHA had blatantly and admittedly attacked hundreds of US websites, including the White House and the US Navy, in 2001. That's six years of public denial. The mind boggles. Among the proven hacks by the RHA have been the Bot zombieing of numerous US federal computers such that all and any data posted to them, banal or top secret, was sent directly to computers of RHA members in Red China.
(Hmm, I forget. What is supposed to be the purpose of the NSA?)
Meanwhile, many Internet companies capitulated to Red China's censorship 'laws' in an effort to profit from their huge population. The first serious protest against Red China's totalitarian tactics was made by Google this past week in the aftermath of their discovery of Red China's hacking into the Gmail accounts of anti-Red China dissidents. After reading these private email messages, their contents were used to prosecute the dissidents as enemies of the state, leading to jail time and execution. The hack was performed via yet-another security flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer. (A patch for the IE security flaw was posted this past Thursday). Bravo Google for fighting both hacking and censorship, finally living up to your motto of 'Don't Be Evil'.
PERSPECTIVES:
Here we are in the USA, bizy giving the citizen rights of free speech to corporations while China refuses to extend to any citizen the simple right of privacy. There is no such thing as freedom of speech or freedom of thought or freedom of choice in Red China. Red China is the world of the book 1984 by George Orwell. THE PARTY is watching you. It's the SOS that inspired the Cold War. And yet, looking at the situation from inside the head of a Red Chinese citizen can frazzle your mind. They believe they're fighting for 'freedom'!
"For we love China, our motherland! We love Freedom!"To get perspective from within Red China, have a look at a grab of the short film "2008 !China Stand Up!". It was created by Tang Lie, a Red Chinese citizen, in response to western media condemning Red Chinese aggression against Free Tibet protestors. It extols the views of Mao, rants at western imperialist subversion of the Red China economy (despite the fact that selling products to the west is the basis of the modern Red Chinese economy), and blames the Dalai Lama for violent protests against Red China's own imperialist occupation of Tibet. Here is a quote from the video using what I call 'reverse propaganda':
"And they lie, they lie, lie...again and again!"The liars lie about their country's lies. Or do they? What if these people believe what they're saying? What if what sounds like ridiculous propaganda to me sounds entirely righteous to them?
Of course, this issue gets messed around from black and white into gray mud when considering that the west, certainly the USA, does indeed interfere with Red China's affairs. If only the USA were pristine, innocent and well meaning in their affairs with the rest of the world. But we're not. The USA, unfortunately, is home to some of the most exploitative and self-destructive power brokers in the world. Toss in the political lunacy perpetrated by the Neo-Con-Jobs in the USA since 1997 and it's not so hard to understand why thoughtful people view the intentions of the USA with skepticism.
Therefore, I end my brain twisting essay by pointing out that we have two corrupt and dishonest powers attacking each other on many fronts. History teaches that this is what humanity does in general. Both sides are enemies of sanity when they play manipulation games against each other. As individuals we can only take what means the most to us and express it to others. In my case, I have no way of knowing all the dirt pulled on China by the USA. But it is blatant what China has pulled on the USA and what they pull on their own citizens regarding human rights, particularly their rights to privacy and free speech. Don't consider me any fanatic of USA skullduggery. However, consider me at odds with the foolish and paranoid government in Red China attempting to lie about their persistent 'Technology War' against the rest of the world.
Here are a couples sites where you can keep track of Red China's computer crimes:
China Digital Times
The Dark Visitor
And of course, here is a counter-perspective site that follows western crimes against Red China. Use a translation site, such as Babel Fish or Google Language Tools, for reading.
Anti-CNN.com, Access China Communication Network
If you're into understanding the human frailty I call Deceptive Truth, try reconciling the information provided by these three websites. Bring aspirin. Better yet...
If you're really into a challenge, make your head explode by watching the disturbing video of a nice little Red Chinese kid reciting the propaganda line fed to the populace about how Tibet really is part of China, come visit and see. "China has done nothing wrong." And so forth. (o_0)
'STOP ATTACKING CHINA.2008 CHINA STAND UP!'
We never know everything about anything. This little kid lives with reality distortion and so do the rest of us. All we can do is make choices that help us gain enough perspective to think outside the boxes we are handed. We struggle to find sanity in the midst of a cacophony of confusion and delusion.
"We will stand up and hold together always as one family in harmony!"It could happen. But I believe we have better success focusing on oneness and harmony within our individual selves. That's hard enough to accomplish in one lifetime. Then let The Reverse Golden Rule naturally follow from there. One's behavior toward others is an expression of one's behavior toward one's self.
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4 comments:
I'm a little afraid to leave a comment on your site, by exposing myself to your vitriol. However, the hatred you have for "Red China" is off the charts.
The US and probably every country in the world has their own nationalistic hackers. Not saying that is a good thing, as we should all think ourselves as citizens of the world working together for peace, however, why when China does something it is considered to be so much more of a threat than the US?
The US has proven itself much more interested in killing innocent people all over the world and cloaking it with a veil of goodness. However the outcome is the same, people all over the world have suffered tremendously in the name of what the US considers as good. Yes US might have killed some terrorists as well, doing some good, but at what cost?
Your vitriol and judgment strike me in the same fashion. You obviously have a good heart to try to expose secrets and empower people, but your determination and single mindedness and belief that you know the best, and will destroy anything in your way to prove it, is no different.
We should all have caution to clean our own house first, before throwing stones elsewhere.
Thank you for your insights teanitiki.
I covered some of what you discussed in my article. All I can comment is the usual "read what I said".
I like your point about all us being citizens of the world. The words of the song 'World Citizen', by Sylvian and Sakamoto, brilliantly cover much of my sadness regarding mankind in general. As a species we are tribal and primitive compared to what I consider we must be in order for us to survive our own behavior.
Me stuff: I've never understood why humans kill one another. That is called idealism. I also have never understood why people are deliberately irresponsible toward other humans or the Earth in their choices. I'm also practical, knowing full well I'd blow the head off anyone attempting to kill someone I love. But on the other hand I am willing to put up with the ridicule of the others by both speaking and acting as a human being I believe we all must be, to the best of my meagre ability.
I'm also a dyed in the wool judgemental personality. I've accepted it as a locked in POV and I do my best to use it as a contributed skill to the whole of human diversity. My 'vitriol' meanwhile is part of another aspect of my personality and physiology, in that I am innately manic. Knowing this, I have been confrontational with the fact that, as I say, 'we never know everything about anything', forcing me to consistently consider other POVs within my ability to perceive.
Where Red China upsets me most is its deliberate deceit toward everyone. The horror stories of what has been done to Chinese citizens are plentiful, despite censorship. Fitting to my 'Reverse Golden Rule', the Red Chinese government treats the rest of the world with similar destructive deceit. I don't accept that treatment.
Where the USA upsets me is exactly what you described so well. I don't have to add a word to what you stated. But consider that in the current propaganda / marketing moron era of politics here in the USA, any intelligent thought about the self-destructive nature of USA behavior is considered to not just be 'unpatriotic', but treasonous. "YOU HATE THE USA" is a very popular neo-con-job retort to intelligent discourse.
I throw stones everywhere I believe they require to be thrown. If you read what I have written in this blog so far, that is very evident. I've smashed plenty of glass in the USA greenhouse and considering recent history, I will be continuing to do so for quite a long time to come. It's part of my diversity contribution, me being ever wrong in some way, yet determined to get valuable insight into the discussion, or to simply force discussion.
Someone once told me that I am a teacher/rabbi of the nature of human 'evil'. I believe my point is to point out human deception to help allow better insight into truth.
Red China is a deadly source of deception within mankind. I sadly verify that so is the USA. Who is the lesser of two evils? I ask that question every single time I vote here in the USA. Because I live in the USA, I live within its bias. Never will I accept the damage the USA does to the rest of the world. That is why I work with peace groups and causes. But using the 'lesser of two evils' concept, I have to point out that, setting aside the asinine political behavior, the USA is clearly the lesser of two evils.
Unfortunately, I also see the USA bankrupting itself, in every respect, into total irrelevance in the world. I see both the Muslim retrograde right and the Red China loony left ascending to world dominance, bringing mankind into its last dark age, ending life on the planet in the last of the idiot wars mankind insists upon perpetrating against itself. Meanwhile, considering the above mere imagining, I do my best to keep, or bring, sanity in the world of human thought.
Apologies for the rant, but I write at such length with deliberate purpose. I look forward to more of your insights.
Frankly having watched the documentary "Century of the Self" available on youtube, I think the level of deceit in North America/UK is so much more sophisticated, almost to the point of being undetectable.
With China, what they do is blatant, and the citizens are much more aware of their governments actions, and hold the government much more responsible because they are aware. I can't say the same thing about North Americans because in my opinion, most people are still asleep, and are blinded in the same way that you accuse China of doing. The spin masters love to point to some other monster that is evident, to hide some other monster at home that is hidden.
People accuse Mao of being a mass murderer, which is true, because of various things, including the cultural re-education, his initial failed policies that tried to redistribute wealth, but he is also blamed for deaths that occurred because of natural weather conditions. He had nevertheless admitted responsibility.
Few realize the mass murders committed in the name of the British Empire, such as the 30 million that died in China, because of actions that the British were fully responsible for. Nobody counts the countless natural disasters that happened under all the countries that the Queen reigned under, and attributed them to the Queen. I think this is unfair calculations. I haven't done much research on the deaths caused by US hands, but I wonder how many millions as well.
I do agree and acknowledge that you are aware of many wrongdoings, and are trying to rectify the situation by bringing awareness, and I do applaud you.
One thing that always strikes me as being unusual about Americans, is the level at which Americans will fight or die for their freedom. This is a concept that is not necessarily shared with the world. The scale in other countries might be life over freedom, but the US in most cases is weighted severely towards freedom over life of oneself and/or others. That is a fairly unique sentiment that Americans impose and view other people in the world as also sharing, which may not always be the case.
Here is a (UK/Canadian?) blogger, that argues about why China is a far less controlled country than the UK. Of course I don't agree with everything that he is saying, but he has a different perspective.
http://www.savethemales.ca/finding_wholesome_refuge_in_ch.html
Hi teanitiki. Thank you for further comment and insight.
You won't find me disagreeing with your comments about 'The West'. You pointed out "most people are still asleep". That's one way to put it. The subject is culture and culture is very complicated. I grew up in an intellectual family where all of us were in competition with my very bright and commanding British father. That sort of environment has its damaging aspects, but it also drove my rational mind to be remarkably fearless and relentless compared to others around me. I personally don't comprehend how masses of Americans descended into the world of dimwit lowest common denominator thinking except to point out the parallel effect of corporate marketing that created the 'consumer mentality' via TV, radio, bill boards, etc. In the USA the contemporary culture is very much a product of corporate manipulation. Somehow this 'dumbing down of America' and corporate hegemony damaged US politics as well to the point of ridiculousness. How does one explain to anyone anywhere the phenomenon of Sarah Palin? Her fame is clearly in the realm of mass insanity. IOW, the USA is in the throws of irrational cultural thinking. I could give illustrations for days.
I'm interested in your insights about China:
"With China, what they do is blatant, and the citizens are much more aware of their governments actions, and hold the government much more responsible because they are aware."
There most certainly is a lot more going on that just that. Again, we're talking about culture. But it is an interesting point to open my mind in a new direction on the subject.
I read through your linked article "Finding a Wholesome Refuge in China". One has to recognize what Mao intended and accomplished relative to the self-destructive imperative the British left in China before the revolution. Part of 'The Cultural Revolution" was to restore what had been a traditional family-centric imperative, with of course the 'family' extending to the government. I very much appreciate much of the, what we call 'conservative', sentiment the author David Richard appreciates in contemporary China.
Let me point out that I just applied the word 'conservative' to what is called 'liberal' Red China. Clearly the 1 dimensional view of political philosophy is dead stupid and useless. I strive to be 3 dimensional in all things. 4 and 5 dimensional would be nice, as long as my brain doesn't explode. But try to get these US Neo-Con-Job suckers to even properly think in merely 1 dimension has turned out to be extremely difficult! Imagine my frustration when these dimwits call Obama both 'Nazi' and 'Marxist' in the same sentence! That's what I call hopeless propaganda victimization. What does one do with such clueless people? How did this happen to their culture?
Now I am off to my tea time, then I'll watch "Century of the Self" this pm. I am VERY MUCH enjoying this exchange. Kewl stuff teanitiki. Thank you.
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