Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:25:00
Well this is a load of crap
Get a load of this load.
What to do about the new Axis of Evil?
I’m talking about Yahoo, Microsoft and Google, of course, those three Internet mega-corporations who are actively cooperating with totalitarianism in China.
Hyperbole much?
Since this is obviously a manifestation of corporate greed at its most unbridled, not to say cynically exploitive of (even, in a way, racist towards) the people of the most populace country on Earth, it’s time to deal with Google in a manner that could actually affect the retrograde policy of the company. In other word, it’s time for…
... a Google stock divestment campaign.
Everyone who cares about the free-flow of information, about democracy in China, in fact about democracy anywhere, should start selling their Google stock.
Oh horseshit. Let me in your house, Roger. I want to see how many items in it are made in China. Until you divest yourself of all Chinese influence, you are pissing in the wind and you’re posturing for attention.
This whole right-side-of-the-blogosphere uproar over Google.cn is so much hot air. Not one of the people that are outraged are ready, willing or even able to divest themselves of China’s influence on their lives. You want to effect change in China? Hit them in the wallet.
You either do this or don’t. Get rid of everything you own that is stamped or stickered ‘Made in China.” Stop doing business with EVERY company that does business with the Chinese government. You better devote a lot of fucking time to researching it...and don’t forget weird stuff like fast food franchises. No more KFC for you. No more BK or Mickey Ds. Drink much? No more Coke or Pepsi products...and the list goes on and on. Booze, cars, clothes...you ready for this?
Don’t act all outraged that Google complied with Chinese law until you yourself are ready to be completely China-free.
Posted by JimK at 07:25 AM on January 30, 2006
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Categories: News, International Events, Technobabble (Technology), The Internet(s), The Blogosphere
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Technorati: Google China
Comments:
#2 Posted by JimK 
on 01/30 at 01:24 PM -
DO you really believe that the Chinese government isn’t involved in every aspect of a foreign company doing business in China? That they don’t have to grease the same palms and follow the same laws that Google has to in order to operate in the country?
That is naive at best.
What makes this all the more ridiculous is that Google is being painted as the bad guy, but manufacturing actually puts MONEY in the pockets of that repressive government...money without which they could not maintain control.
Every time you turn a blind eye to “Made in China” you personally make it easier for that government to do what it does. Call me when someone gives a shit about that instead of grandstanding about Google.
#3 Posted by Yahonza on 01/30 at 03:09 PM -
Goods from China that end up on the shelves of Walmart are manufactured in China’s growing private sector. That’s a positive thing that necessarily yields economic freedom and makes politcal freedom more likely.
Knowingly and intentionally assisting the Chinese government in blunting the positive effects of the private sector on economic and political freedom is a negative thing, that moves things in the exact opposite direction from the person who purchases Chinese widgets from Walmart, i.e. toward less economic and political freedom.
And while I would agree that the chinese private sector is financially exploited by the Chinese government, I think my purchase of Chinese products is nonetheless a net benefit.
Your position is analagous to arguing that anyone opposed to Iran having nuclear weapons should stop driving a car, since some oil comes from Iran.
#4 Posted by padders 
on 02/02 at 08:54 AM -
The reason you should support Google is because the filtering is crap. Filtering is never going to work very well, anyone who has tried to filter spam shold know this. Even if google filters 90% of “sensative content” 10% is still going to get through and Chinese people are going to be exposed to more content.
Furthermore, they now know stuff is being filtered by their government. As they use the internet more and more they are going to get more and more pissed of the government controls what they use.
Thus I think the complaints against Google, MSN, Yahoo etc are unfounded.
The complaints against Cisco are perhaps stronger because they enable filtering at the hardware level. I think a case could be made for export restrictions on tools *designed* for censorship as opposed to IT services abiding by local laws. Hard line to draw though.
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#1 Posted by Yahonza
on 01/30 at 12:56 PM -
Jim, love you, love your site.
But I think you are mostly off on this one.
I agree that the Roger’s hyperbole is over the top, but I don’t think it is inconsistent to advocate boycotting Google and continuing to purchase products made in China.
Products from China are made by the private sector, whose expansion has undermined and will eventually, IMO, obliterate China’s communist autocracy. Helping the government suppress free speech is a step in the opposite direction.
Even if you don’t agree with that assssment, there is a huge difference between not particularly caring about the source of the goods you buy (even if you might be wrecklessly supporting something you disagree with like most consumers), and deliberately and intentionally helping a repressive government suppress free speech.