Hope this shoots the CCP in the foot. The interwebs are awash w/ the latest US election results, and viral youtube videos of Obama thanking his young twentysomething campaign staffers.
To give young Chinese such a glimpse of this and then brutally remind them that they don't have such luxuries of idealism and empowerment just highlights the failings of the CCP system even more...
A glimpse of what? That money buys power, and the "shining light" of democracy is just a plutocracy much like their own system... That IS brutal, but not in the way you think.
> The interwebs are awash w/ the latest US election results, and viral youtube videos of Obama thanking his young twentysomething campaign staffers.
Strangely enough, those kind of images remind me of a Chinese-style dictatorship. Legions of apparently adoring fans worshipping their benevolent leader, chanting slogans, etc.
To the rest of the world, the presidential election is a reminder of everything that is wrong with America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britishness In November 2007 The Times' Comment Central asked readers to define Britishness in five little words. The winning suggestion was "No motto please, we're British."
I'm sorry, what I meant was that (stereotype warning) the British are particularly cynical-reserved about putting your identity/politics on your sleeve, and the Americans are the opposite, so part of your disgust might be from cultural differences
or to further quote, “The point I was making is, this idea of a statement of Britishness; I cannot think of anything less British than that,” said 25-year-old David Bishop, author of the winning motto.
I know there is a tendency to be cynical, but I think a lot can be said about the following:
The public appearances of the President as well as the candidates are not sycophantic party propaganda. While the Wen Jiabiao's and Hu Jintao's of the world are lionized in The People's Daily and other party organs, the US media regularly shows American officials getting grilled or having to explain one thing or another. That not only are critical things said of Obama regularly in print or on air, but also often horrendous things from his opponents, and who can "get away with it" (meaning, no trip to a labor reeducation camp), says volumes.
Yes, this is a bit of a lionizing Obama video, but can you picture Xi Jiping doing anything this candid to his supporters? The whole idea of young students eagerly volunteering for a candidate they believe in is unheard of in China:
They don't care about their international image. Wondering in the press on why "the world doesn't trust China" is a complete red herring, they really don't care and think they are in a strong enough position not to care.
Everything went downhill after the 2008 Olympics, I mean, Twitter, Facebook, everything was open before that. Now? Its getting worse and worse every month.
To give young Chinese such a glimpse of this and then brutally remind them that they don't have such luxuries of idealism and empowerment just highlights the failings of the CCP system even more...