I mean literally standing near the White House, with a large sign condemning the administration for not dropping its case against Assange, or Edward Snowden, BLM protestors, or whatever other situation I'm unhappy about.

Is there an expectation that I'm going to be carted off and sentenced with subversion, 'endangerment of national security', or whatever other nonsense you're guaranteed to find in an actual totalitarian system like the PRC's?

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

If one person stands with a sign in any place on Earth you will probably not be detained. I literally gave you links done by Western media mouthpiece about how the US detained in recent years more than 10.000 BLM protesters, one even stating that they detained more people during the BLM protests than during the Capitol Riot (a right wing propelled event). Here they detained 32. I did the math, so the US would be the equivalent to 312.5 "actual totalitarian systems" if we just go by with the event only.

[–] gzrrt@feddit.de -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a crucial difference: the PRC just jailed 32 people for very-knowingly risking life sentences to voice their discontent around June 4 and (more broadly) the National Security Law that has openly erased Hong Kongers' right to free speech and free assembly.

If you're a Chinese citizen standing in the street next to Zhongnanhai to criticize the unelected ruler Xi Jinping, you are 100% going to be hauled off in an unmarked van and locked away indefinitely. By all means, mount some very justified critiques of the USA's treatment of BLM protestors, or its horrible track record around race relations, or policing, warmongering and overthrowing Latin American democracies- just be aware that 'the USA being bad' is not enough, when the goal is to justify authoritarianism (bordering on fascism) in China.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago

No, there's no crucial difference, there's just you excusing your lords over commiting worse crimes and not recognising that what China is doing is nothing compared to what the US does to its own citizens in one year. The difference is that the US is not bordering on fascism, the US picked up the baton and continued what Nazi Germany left off, they are literally a fascist regime.