There are freedoms and freedoms, and it really depends on your needs.

I'm a neighbor of Bulgaria, and I remember what it was like behind the curtain, although I was only 8 when it fell.

The problem with totalitarianism is the inherent corruption it begets. This is from our experience and from history in general ... I don't think I ever heard of a totalitarian government that wasn't corrupt on all layers.

The biggest force that works against corruption is mass-media, that with all its imperfections it mostly works as a method of informing citizens. Take that away, and you'll end up with even more corruption.

My mother used to bring me bananas in a shoe-box, hiding it from her comrades because the economic rebirth of my country required sacrifices such as limiting the import of foreign goods and exporting most of our internal products (so food was in limited supply). To buy a kilo of meat you had to wake up in the morning and stay in line for a few hours. Electricity was also cut off for a few hours a day.

All of this while the leaders enjoyed such a luxury that would make the Playboy mansion fade in comparison, while mass-media hailed economic growth ... and this was the picture projected to the outside world too.

So yeah ... I'm a skeptic of China's quality of life. Either way, if you don't have the freedom to point out the government's mistakes it will degenerate into something far worse sooner or later.

I'm sorry you're feeling ill. As somebody who spends a good deal of time in China, and as somebody who feels that US freedoms are atrophying at an alarming rate, I sympathize somewhat with your position, but in all honesty, I really have to question the sincerity of somebody who would state what you just stated.

He said he feels more safe and free. In China, the criminals don't have guns, so that's one big point in favor of safety. As far as freedom, he's a Westerner, so he's granted much more freedom than the average Chinese citizen.

I've been living in China for 10 years. I'm trying to think of what these extra freedoms Westerners living here are supposed have. Can you give specific examples?

Here's one, which this article touches upon: Being able to start a blog to vent any issues you find the government to be lacking in. If I started this here in Australia, I won't have government officials knocking at my door, let alone having the site blocked at a federal level.

Yes in Australia. I was talking about Westerners in China.

You really think we're free to do that because we are Western?

Oops, bnomis, misunderstood your question, thought you were asking what freedom we have here over the Chinese. Sorry.

Yes, and he comes off sounding like an expat that doesn't realize that his freedom is merely derivative of Western freedom and enhanced by his economic standing. Of course he feels freer. Here's a challenge to him. How about I start blogging about all the problems with the government (right or left) in the U.S., and he starts doing the same with the PRC. We'll compare notes; see how many swat teams run up in my house, vs. PRC troops raiding his place. How much censorship happens. I predict he'd start to feel quite a bit less free once he comes face to face with the extent of his perceived freedom.

"If the government doesn't continue to make progress, the people of China will hold them accountable."

Some people are trying to do just this, and they are being put in jail or silenced in other ways.

I'm not very moved by this action either; this type of "moral stand" usually just serves to make the doer feel righteous rather than actually helping anyone. But, as an American, I really can't understand why you would say

"For the most part, I feel more safe and free in Shanghai than the U.S."

By "safe", are you just talking about physical security from crime? If so, I don't know why crime rate is very pertinent to the discussion. (...or did you mean safe from the government?)

And how could you feel more free? I'm no expert, but I've never heard anyone say that people are more free in China, civil-rights-wise.

"For the most part, Chinese people I meet from all walks of life and age groups feel more free than they did 10 years ago."

I don't think many people would disagree that China is more free now than 10 years ago. But that doesn't mean it is sufficiently free (or as free as the US).

1. I think the issue of physical safety is disjoint from this discussion.

2. I'd rather deal with open-container laws and be able to vote.

> For the most part, I feel more safe and free in Shanghai than the U.S. For the most part, Chinese people I meet from all walks of life and age groups feel more free than they did 10 years ago.

Did you know why Shanghai is the safer metropolitan city in the world? Because there are two things called 城管 and 暂住证.

If those two were canceled, I guarantee you Shanghai will be hell.

Minority's security is based on majority's misery. That's what China's prosperity really about.

Care to elaborate on what you are talking about here for non-Mandarin readers ?

"暂住证" literally means "temporary living permission". It's a piece of paper you have to carry along with you if you are going to live for a longer period of time (I think > 1 month) in a city which is NOT your household registration place. This is how China manages the flow of population.

"城管" (literally "urban managers") are the bunch of guys to kick you ass out of the city if you don't have the temporary living permission. (though they do a lot more than this).

Thanks for clarifying, I hadn't realised this - is this the case for all major Chinese cities ?

Usually it's not a big issue. And when it is, it's usually in the top big cities (Beijing, Shanghai, etc).

The problem is, they have such things there, and they can choose when and where to enforce it, which can be pretty annoying. For example, it's much more likely you get "deported" from Beijing during the two sessions of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Same applies for Olympics 2008 and World Expo 2010.