Internet censorship

[scaeagles]

I guess that's one place we differ. I do believe government censorship, particularly and most extremely in cases of political speech, is evil. I believe participating in restriction of political speech, most explicitly in politically oppressive countries, is evil. (This is one reason I laugh at Harry Belefonte, standing next to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, talking about Bush being like a nazi and calling him a terrorist, when if he said that about Venezuela's government as a Venezuelan citizen, he'd be imprisoned. That's a different subject, though.)

Other companies do business in China all the time. I am not in favor of most favored nation status for China, but that's the situation, so they can do business as they wish. However, does building a car there contribute to an oppressvie regime? Does giving them McDonalds (if they are there - I don't know) help keep a communist regime in power? I suppose arguments could be made to that effect, but I would argue that giving oppressed peoples an opportunity to see some western style business and products as they open their economy only makes them want more.

One interesting thing that I read once (and I can't even remember his name, but it was a former Soviet dissident) was regarding the TV show Dallas and Levis jeans being allowed into the USSR. Soviet citizens were fascinated by both and wanted more of the west. He said that introduction of western products and media into their culture really assisted in sparking the end of the USSR as we know it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Other companies do business in China all the time. I am not in favor of most favored nation status for China, but that's the situation, so they can do business as they wish. However, does building a car there contribute to an oppressvie regime? Does giving them McDonalds (if they are there - I don't know) help keep a communist regime in power? I suppose arguments could be made to that effect, but I would argue that giving oppressed peoples an opportunity to see some western style business and products as they open their economy only makes them want more.

I see a major disconnect in your thinking here. "Building cars under Chinese rule, which includes working conditions we would consider inhumane and beyond illegal here, is good because at least it's exposing them to some ideas of the western world, but providing internet access under similar opressive rules is evil." I'm with Alex, it's one or the other.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that we should not be doing any business in a country that is not at least demonstrating progress towards improvement of civil and human rights. As far as I'm concerned, we missed the boat long ago when we began as a country to enact labor laws within our country, but turned a blind eye to it abroad. By taking that hypocritical path, we gradually funded corrupt and opressive regimes over the decades, while putting ourselves at a competetive disadvantage. Now we find ourselves facing a world that has the technology to match (or surpass) our manufacturing standards (thanks to the billions of dollars we've pumped into these worlds), and instead of them being dependent on us, we are dependent on them. All at the expense of the working class of those countries.

Simply moving in and starting inudstry under their rules is not enough. We need to have the backbone to say that we will not do business unless it's done at a level of ethics equal to (or at least on path towards) our own.