China's government now outsourcing oppression to private citizens

[Fpqxz]

From the Associated Press newsfeed:

The Chinese government, continuing in the proud tradition of pervasive surveillance found in many previous communist states, have found a new way of keeping unemployment down:  hiring parolees, retirees, unemployed youth, and even underpaid farmers and teachers to monitor dissidents (i.e. anyone who has ever criticized the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China or the policies it implements).

In fact, the government there is now spending more money on this project than on the military:

Money now fuels the extensive surveillance system. Budgeted spending for police, courts, prosecutors and other law enforcement has soared for much of the past decade, surpassing official outlays for the military for the second year in a row this year, to nearly 702 billion yuan, or $110 billion.

Of course, this creates an incentive to watch as many people as possible for the narrowest possible reasons.

"Social activists that no one has ever heard of have 10 people watching them," said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. "The task is to identify and nip in the bud any destabilizing factors for the regime."

Mostly unknown outside their communities, the activists are a growing portion of what's called the "targeted population" — a group that also includes criminal suspects and anyone deemed a threat. They are singled out for overwhelming surveillance and by one rights group's count amount to an estimated one in every 1,000 Chinese — or well over a million.

***
Allocated by Beijing to the provinces and on down, the money sometimes is called "stability preservation funds" for the overriding priority the government now puts on control. As long as trouble is quelled, Beijing doesn't seem to mind how this money is spent. It's proving a growth opportunity for cash-strapped local governments and small-time enforcers.

The spirit of the Cultural Revolution lives on.

[Damen]

Seems they're taking a page from the USA's playbook.

[Fpqxz]

Seems they're taking a page from the USA's playbook.

That's not a completely fair comparison.

While I am troubled by the increasing surveillance/police state which has developed in the USA, we're not even close to the level China is.

These people have minders physically watching pro-democracy activists 24/7/365.

Seriously, just read the article.

[largeham]

I don't think it can last, there is a huge amount of unrest in China and economic collapse isn't that farfetched considering they have what is possibly the largest housing bubble ever. Not to mention the fact that they have an aging population and are running through rural workers faster than you can say wage-slavery.

[Flutters]

China...~

I've spent the better part of 5-6 years researching it intently~  I'm a Philosophical Taoist (NOT religious) and there's just something about China to me...~  That having been said, as a self-respecting utilitarianist and Anarcho-Communi-Libertaria-Brony...~

China is a land of stark contrasts and heavy dissonance along with rapid growth and change~  The postie I'm making will only touch on one part of these things~  China, A nation supposedly socialist and communist...~  Founded by the totalitarian Mao Zedong and has recent leaders who have trended so capitalist that the nation seems socialist only in official name~  Their totalitarian regime is a mockery of all that socialism stands for and this news bit only further shows that not only do they not care for egalitarianism but they are willing to capitalize--and help others capitalize--on their way of doing things...~

This is depressing to me and it is everything I am working to change about this world through the BLA~  China interests me and frightens me all at once...for sure a nation to keep a close eye on~

[Witchyjoshy]

Suddenly, tildes, everywhere.

But I tease.  That's a very interesting viewpoint you bring to the discussion.

[Flutters]

Hehe, thanks, Zachski~

China's been a fascination for me for maybe 5 or 6 years and even a bit beyond that...~

China is a nation that while involved in global affairs, they are largely private.  The more news like this comes outta China, the more I worry that Xi Jinping (the guy who is the supposed upcoming leader of China) will be even more restrictive, capitalist and totalitarian than Hu Jintao...~


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[largeham]

Frankly I don't understand how Maoism can even be considered Marxist (this is aimed at Maoists, not other people). Marxism advocates a revolution by the working class, not a civil war by a party with a peasant base.

[Fpqxz]

Frankly I don't understand how Maoism can even be considered Marxist (this is aimed at Maoists, not other people). Marxism advocates a revolution by the working class, not a civil war by a party with a peasant base.

As I understand it, Mao considered his brand of communism to be some sort of anti-revisionist stance which the Soviet Union strayed from after Stalin's death.

I'm not saying that I agree with Maoism or even that particular definition of it, but that's what the party line is in China.

[Osama bin Bambi]

Frankly I don't understand how Maoism can even be considered Marxist (this is aimed at Maoists, not other people). Marxism advocates a revolution by the working class, not a civil war by a party with a peasant base.

Heh, I think I remember stumbling across some guy on YouTube who was a Maoist. He actually thought that Mao's crimes were miniscule compared to all the crimes of capitalism combined, as if there's only one capitalism or as if it's all one entity.

The gist I get from the Wiki page is that Maoism's most notable feature is in mobilizing peasants for violent revolution, and that the idea of the "revolution" must continue to justify stamping out "bourgeois" influences. I read an autobiography once by a woman who grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China, and her whole family kept getting shit from the Party because they were 1) from a "bourgeois family" (her grandfather was a landlord) and 2) Muslim. I think Maoism in particular had a certain xenophobia to it because of the bitterness resulting from the Opium Wars and stuff like that. Colonialism tends to leave space for radically xenophobic political ideologies to take root after they become free nations. Another example of this would be pan-Arab nationalism after Middle Eastern independence. (To be fair, Arab leaders kind of wanted that from the start when they revolted against the Ottoman Empire, but the Mandates were basically set up to drive the the mandates against each other so it took a while for it to become "fashionable" again.)

[largeham]

Frankly I don't understand how Maoism can even be considered Marxist (this is aimed at Maoists, not other people). Marxism advocates a revolution by the working class, not a civil war by a party with a peasant base.

As I understand it, Mao considered his brand of communism to be some sort of anti-revisionist stance which the Soviet Union strayed from after Stalin's death.

I'm not saying that I agree with Maoism or even that particular definition of it, but that's what the party line is in China.

That would have to apply after '53, possibly as late as '69. I'm guessing it is considered Marxist because he claimed (while still hiding in the mountains in the late 30s) that Maoism was Marxism-Leninism changed to suit China, so I guess it then depends whether you consider Stalinism/Marxism-Leninism socialist or not.

[armandtanzarian]

For all the talk about China's censorship laws, has anyone actually spent time in China?

They suffer from the same problems as the US; gigantic country where the vast majority have never left the nation, news and media dominated almost entirely by local (controlled) media and facilitated by the language barrier. They know very little about the outside world. And they've long since accepted such restrictions as part of daily life with no incentive to break out of it, while they still have food on the table and a roof over their heads.

[Saturn500]

For all the talk about China's censorship laws, has anyone actually spent time in China?

They suffer from the same problems as the US; gigantic country where the vast majority have never left the nation, news and media dominated almost entirely by local (controlled) media and facilitated by the language barrier. They know very little about the outside world. And they've long since accepted such restrictions as part of daily life with no incentive to break out of it, while they still have food on the table and a roof over their heads.

...You're right. I need to see the world. I can't just spend my life cooped up in one place... eh, some other time. Besides, I can always use BBC News to get a more balanced view of the events here and possibly elsewhere. I mean, the US government hasn't managed to censor the internet like China's government has... yet.

[Distind]

For all the talk about China's censorship laws, has anyone actually spent time in China?

They suffer from the same problems as the US; gigantic country where the vast majority have never left the nation, news and media dominated almost entirely by local (controlled) media and facilitated by the language barrier. They know very little about the outside world. And they've long since accepted such restrictions as part of daily life with no incentive to break out of it, while they still have food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Used to work at a company with a china subsidiary, it's kinda funny as the folks who did go over only had two kinds of stories those ending with "and we got out of there ASAP" or "once we got out of the car we kissed the ground". Though I did have a deeply enlightening conversation on 'superior engineering' which really broke down to having a larger legal team to defend against the inevitable consequences. The US rep got chewed out because a competitor was 'able' to make a crane we 'couldn't'. I'm not a civil engineer by any shot, but not even I would think that simply bolting a  multi ton crane to the floor was a good idea.

[MadCatTLX]

I mean, the US government hasn't managed to censor the internet like China's government has... yet.

It's not like they haven't tried...