上位 200 件のコメント表示する 500

[–]envatted_love 586ポイント587ポイント  (155子コメント)

The title means:

The Human Rights Record of the "Human Rights Guardian"

[–]MonteDoa 511ポイント512ポイント  (133子コメント)

Really glad you point this out, because that's the entire point of this film. It did NOT say that China > USA. The point of this film is to deride the state of human rights in America, within the context that the USA uses human rights as an excuse to intervene in the domestic affairs of other nations, often through open warfare.

I would argue that although the human rights situation in China is indisputably way worse, the hypocrisy situation in China is not nearly as bad. You don't see "Operation Saudi Freedom" coming out of China, do you? As a Chinese-Canadian (been here since elementary school), I have the mindset and perspective of a Canadian citizen, but speak Chinese well enough to watch the Chinese state news. There is NO TALK of China's human rights superiority, NO TALK of opinions on the human rights conditions of other nations (factual events are still reported), and NO TALK of whether or not it's a good idea to attack the other countries for human rights issues.

Again, I definitely believe that the state of human rights in China is way worse than the U.S. But they never claimed to have more human rights either. This film is simply to illustrate that the U.S. does not practice anything near what it preaches.

[–]ajm7 31ポイント32ポイント  (7子コメント)

"The insidious Carthaginians are at it again! They're about to invade another of their defenseless neighbors - OUR ALLIES - lest we intervene and yield aid to our brothers."

Romans would ally themselves to the enemies of their foes, even civilizations they knew were bad, just for the ability to declare that a military mobilization to attain a strategic asset - was to defend - not to invade. Being the noble defender and not the thieving aggressor was very important.

Tldr: our species has always been shitty

[–]envatted_love 53ポイント54ポイント  (11子コメント)

Yes, you're right. It's quite hard to listen to a foreigner criticize one's own country without defensively jumping to tu quoque, and instead to simply listen and evaluate what the person is saying on its merits.

[–]JJDude 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

Given all the talk of human rights, it's shocking how horrible the American inner city ghettos are. Kids live in a war zone, constantly fearing for their lives or being forced into gangs on a daily basis, and nobody gives a fuck just because they're mostly black or brown. And then we have the balls of being critical of other countries. China is a horrible place to live in term of human rights, but at least they don't go tell other people that the Chinese live in a liberal paradise.

[–]ImagineJesusPooping 86ポイント87ポイント  (41子コメント)

I agree with this. In the first 8 minutes of this film (which is all I watched) there's nothing inherently "untrue" about what they're saying... it's what they're not saying that makes it propagandistic. Anyone who thinks that the US doesn't play the "human rights" card to further its own interests is simply deceiving themselves; while we Americans do care deeply about human rights, our government has also used human rights a pretext for involvement in parts of the world that just happen to be of interest to us for other reasons.

But what the film is not saying, of course, is how abysmally far China lags behind the West with regards to basic human rights. It's like a serial pedophile with a basement full of young boys speaking out against the Catholic church for child abuse.

[–]ApexWebmaster 36ポイント37ポイント  (32子コメント)

As someone who has done a shitload of business in the middle east, I can tell you for a fact that our media is guilty of EXACTLY THE SAME THING. 99% of the arabian people are peaceful and decent, but we only broadcast the 1% who commit terrible acts of violence, giving the impression the the entire region is a hellhole full of manics. (nothing could be further from the truth).

[–]jaylip88 21ポイント22ポイント  (26子コメント)

I'm assuming these places you have done lots of business are places like UAE, BAH, and Qatar which are all very cruel to their imported labor forces.

[–]setionwheeels 31ポイント32ポイント  (23子コメント)

We do really atrocious things to our own people - have you been to the Tenderloin in San Francisco? Where the stricken and mentally ill keep shouting at you dragging their feet and walking around in rugs. There are some places in LA and Oakland that I am afraid to stop at a traffic light. I went to school in Cincinnati and remember certain places towards downtown were scarier than a war zone. We need to seriously look at ourselves, why we have so many people left behind in poverty and violence, like some animals left to die on the streets. This pains me so much. I often muse on the fact what is the point of building a civilized society.. ultimately it should be for the wellbeing of all, for the greater good, for building a better future for humanity.

Sorry for the extra verbosity, I never downvote but use the occasion to muse on things i care about. This was not meant as a personal attack.

[–]Llamaorlama 4ポイント5ポイント  (1子コメント)

lol

Tell it to your victims in Guatamala, who were used by your country as guinea pigs.

Hell, try telling it to the Black people who were sterilized as late as 1974 by your country's government.

your country even supported genocidal maniacs like Pol Pot, while the Vietnamese communists tried to save the people of Cambodia, your country took the position that the "legitimate" government of Cambodia was the Khmer Rouge.

[–]MonteDoa 37ポイント38ポイント  (3子コメント)

It's like a serial pedophile with a basement full of young boys speaking out against the Catholic Church for CONDEMNING EVERYONE ELSE for child abuse.

Fixed it for ya.

[–]landoindisguise 9ポイント10ポイント  (0子コメント)

You don't see "Operation Saudi Freedom" coming out of China, do you?

No, but too be fair, the reasons for that are much, much more complicated than just "China isn't hypocritical on human rights." And with the increased engagement we're seeing in Africa as China tries to secure strategic interests there, I personally think it's really only a matter of time. Case in point: China recently legalized overseas anti-terrorism operations for its military (as usual with things they don't want the international community to notice, they did it over Christmas break).

There is NO TALK of China's human rights superiority

This is really not true. For example, here's a Xinhua article from like two days ago about how China's human rights and rule of law situation is continuously improving (despite the fact that most experts would say if anything the opposite is true). State media talks about how great China's situation is all the time. You're right that it's rare anyone says directly "human rights in China are better than the US," but when you put an article like the one I linked next to the myriad state media articles about bad human rights in the US, is there actually any practical difference? They just do it this way to avoid being accused of lying, but if you're constantly saying "our human rights situation is great and getting better, and by the way America sucks" the message being sent is exactly the same.

NO TALK of opinions on the human rights conditions of other nations

Reporting facts selectively to promote the narrative you want is no different from pushing an opinion. China's state media may be less direct about its hypocrisy than the US is, but I don't think that really makes it any less hypocritical. It's just harder to point to a specific sentence because they draw implied comparisons rather than straight-up saying "we're better."

If you watch a lot of Chinese TV news, then surely you've heard the old joke about CCTV's nightly news show:

前十分钟,领导很忙;中间十分,人民很好;最后十分,外国很乱

(Translation for those who can't read it: The first ten minutes are about how China's leaders are very busy, the next ten minutes are about how happy China's people are, and the final ten minutes are about how foreign countries are chaotic. The joke—and it's really quite accurate—is that nearly every episode of this news program that's been on every weeknight for decades follows this basic formula).

That's the way state media does it. It's not any less hypocritical than the US. It's just as hypocritical, but smarter by introducing some level of plausible deniability while still constantly hammering home the message that foreign countries are a mess and China is great.

[–]crashnburn254 20ポイント21ポイント  (6子コメント)

You don't see "Operation Saudi Freedom" coming out of China, do you?

They justify occupying Tibet by saying "Old Tibet was a backwards, feudal society and the Dalai Lama was an evil slaveholder, now Tibetan people are prosperous and autonomous"(which is a lie).

[–]dhalfe 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

In the past, Dalai Lama actually commented that the serfs were better off as slaves.

[–]johnlee3013 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

"Prosperous" of today might be a lie, but it is certainly an improvement over the old times.

[–]mothzilla 13ポイント14ポイント  (9子コメント)

Sure, you don't point out that someone else has stood in shit when you're covered in shit yourself. China is keeping its mouth shut and it would really rather others do the same.

[–]DieMensch-Maschine 1219ポイント1220ポイント  (652子コメント)

15 minutes in - the documentary can be accused of cherrypicking, but not of inaccuracy. The My Lai massacre, homelessness, wealth inequality, an abusive prison-industrial complex, police brutality, gun deaths - all true thus far.

[–]Tokyo__Drifter 375ポイント376ポイント  (266子コメント)

Consider this when we see short snippets of what other countries around the world are and how America is miraculously #1. Maybe so, maybe not. Who are we to judge?

[–]CUNTstandinople 75ポイント76ポイント  (44子コメント)

In Australia we only ever see the worst of America, a bit like this doco.

I moved to the U.S a year ago and was pleasantly surprised.

[–]bob2049 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

That's weird, because in the US Australia tends to be portrayed in a very positive light. Maybe the US tourism industry is just not on it's game?

[–]Deadaim156 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

The entire media is full of shit and bias. This is for nearly every country. Only way to know the actual truth is to go places and see for yourself and have an open mind. I have friends who immigrated from all over the world and have told me of horror stories from supposedly "the highest ranked" or "safest" places and in reality bad things happen everywhere and if you don't get that then you are just ignorant. No country is anywhere near good enough for the conditions we all deserve.

[–]markdacelt 31ポイント32ポイント  (24子コメント)

They hate us 'cause they ain't us.

[–]AbeLincoln30 50ポイント51ポイント  (14子コメント)

They hate us 'cause they ain't us.

All the bombs we drop might also have something to do with it

[–]X71p3qvf 32ポイント33ポイント  (8子コメント)

Yeah, all those bombs the US dropped on Australia.

[–]AbeLincoln30 14ポイント15ポイント  (4子コメント)

Yeah, all those bombs the US dropped on Australia.

to be horrified by mass murder through bombing (as well as mass murder through any other military means), you don't actually have to be one of the victims, believe it or not.

[–]catpigeons 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

You could even argue that being the victim would be unlikely to leave you horrified as you'd probably be dead

[–]Repyl 118ポイント119ポイント  (162子コメント)

That's why we check objective meauseres of countries - like HDI where america is "very high" (number 8), the GINI, or even just the GDP per capita. A lot can be spun in a different way, but the objective numbers are still there.

EDIT: I'm not defending the viewpoint that America is number 1 in everything, so stop writing about that. I'm just stating that we can, in fact, judge other countries (including America), that we are, in fact, not in the dark, just because documentaries can be biased. This is not an obscure viewpoint.

[–]ReddEdIt 183ポイント184ポイント  (36子コメント)

GDP is not an objective measure of useful information. It only tells of currency churn. Overspending on sub-par healthcare increases the GDP.

[–]TestesWrap 7ポイント8ポイント  (3子コメント)

As do wars and hurricanes. GDP on its own is a pretty useless stat.

[–]Repyl 21ポイント22ポイント  (26子コメント)

Yup, I know and agree. That why i wrote "or even". It's still very useful, but has it's consequences (as you yourself mentioned). Here's a map, which makes it somewhat obvious that it's not totally skewed. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/GDP_per_capita_%28nominal%29_2014.png/1280px-GDP_per_capita_%28nominal%29_2014.png Besides, my point still stands, even if we disregard gpd per capita.

(The median gpd would probably be even better.)

[–]cavehobbit 22ポイント23ポイント  (4子コメント)

just because documentaries can be biased.

Not just can be, frequently are, perhaps almost always.

They tend to be made by activists or those with a particular axe to grind, or agenda to push.

This does not mean they are completely inaccurate or false, but must be viewed with the realization that they will be heavily biased towards a certain viewpoint, and perhaps may unjustly sanctify or demonize a target

[–]BluShine 13ポイント14ポイント  (2子コメント)

Even if a documentary is made by a journalist, or a scientist, or a random layperson, they're still gonna be "biased" because all humans are biased. Merely saying "this is biased" is not much of a critique until you start investigating why it is biased, and in what ways it is biased.

[–]mais_je_t_emmeeeerde 37ポイント38ポイント  (13子コメント)

Using one of your objective measures, ranking by GINI coefficient (which measures inequality), the USA is down there, in the 116th position; accompanied by jolly countries like Senegal (111), Madagascar (112), Morocco (113), Turkmenistan, Qatar, Gabon, Russia, DR Congo, etc.

[–]StarfoxEpiphany 5ポイント6ポイント  (8子コメント)

...2 cents madam/sir...Median GDP is even more indicative than GDP per capita

[–]Ex-Y-Zed 25ポイント26ポイント  (31子コメント)

Where do you see America as #1? All I see / hear is that everything in America sucks.

This is my view of America from watching documentaries, reading / watching the news, and talking to people online and my fellow Canadian friends:

Violence / shootings are rampant, the roads / bridges are falling apart, people are dirt poor and dying in the streets from lack of insurance, the water supply is fucked, corporations run everything, the justice system is a disaster, everyone's addicted to prescription meds and probably depressed, impotent and fat, the military is in every country and invading every country in the Middle East, everyone's a total dumbass cause the education system is also a disaster, etc.

Where is this positive view of America you speak of? If anything, America is portrayed (both by American's themselves, and by other countries) as being a cesspool of shit (either liberal shit or conservative shit depending on your political views), and on the verge of economic / political collapse at all times.

EDIT: Haha, this sub is so ridiculous sometimes. I think it's pretty obvious from my comment that I don't think America is like this. I'm just reflecting the near total pessimism expressed in media / documentaries about the state of American society. I don't really believe the whole country is a fat, depressed and impotent. Or that every system of government is completely fucked and on its last leg. If anything, America is surprisingly stable and serene in contrast to the message portrayed by media / documentaries. Obviously not perfect, but far from the hell hole you'd expect if you were from another country and only watched Netflix documentaries and CNN (American edition).

[–]jvnk 18ポイント19ポイント  (0子コメント)

That's the product of outrage porn and echo chambers.

[–]hodd01 5ポイント6ポイント  (5子コメント)

Your view appears to be from the liberal perspective of /rpolitics which is the most depressing ass subreddit in the world.

[–]TimHortonReborn 3ポイント4ポイント  (4子コメント)

the most depressing ass subreddit in the world.

Agreed, there are plenty of other subs with a lot more ass.

[–]daworstredditor 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

So like any popular documentary then.

[–]itshonestwork 76ポイント77ポイント  (18子コメント)

So basically how the US and its citizens like to portray China then.

[–]natufian 53ポイント54ポイント  (141子コメント)

At almost the same point in, I came to post this as well. It's really sobering. I wish we as a nation would put aside our differences and address these issues.

[–]TechnoRaptor 60ポイント61ポイント  (140子コメント)

Its not sobering, America isn't candyland, everyone knows it, unless your under 18. But I know I'm still lucky to be here despite shortcomings of humanity's nations. This was made to be viewed by middle lower class Chinese to deceive them into never questioning their government and being obedient. Its more sobering that such a large developed nation can pull this off because they censor so much over there. I mean my girlfriend is Chinese, and whenever she goes back to china she is sick for over a month because she needs to acclimate to toxic air.

[–]authorgabrielland 123ポイント124ポイント  (102子コメント)

It goes both ways though. Lots of Western media points at China as a horrible place.

The biggest difference i see is that the U.S. exports its oppression. At home we all have rights, but we deny those rights all over the world, with the biggest most expansive military in the world, dropping more bombs than any other nation in the world.

[–]translunar_injection 60ポイント61ポイント  (19子コメント)

Also outsourcing to third world labor is a way of getting the fruits of a labor system that would never fly in the US itself.

[–]raleigh_nc_guy 14ポイント15ポイント  (18子コメント)

Outsourcing third word labor is a natural result of the world economies becoming interconnected. I can't think of a situation where businesses wouldn't have to use it if it were made available to them. Competition is too steep.

[–]hitch96 37ポイント38ポイント  (56子コメント)

Every country has problems. Our insistence on American exceptionalism is born out of pride, just like Chinese nationalism is born out of pride. The My Lai Massacre was a murder of 500 civilians and it wasn't reported soon enough because of the natural reluctance of any country to accept that its soldiers have committed war crimes. But it was reported.

During Mao's rule 50 million Chinese people were murdered and starved to death during the great leap forward. If you don't trust U.S. sources, look for sources in other countries. In 1989 the Chinese regime shot thousands of students protesting in Beijing in the Tian'amen massacre. Neither of these crimes or any of the other crimes that Mao and his associates committed are discussed in China.

In judging something as broad as the "morality" of a country one can't look at individual incidents. One can look at the structure of society and determine from that whether it is predisposed to good or evil. The United States, with all its racial problems, and other social problems is a country where people can speak their minds freely. I guarantee that if you went to China, sat down at a computer, and wrote a message about the Chinese government like the one you just wrote about the U.S, you wouldn't like the results.

[–]ReddEdIt 23ポイント24ポイント  (8子コメント)

At home we all have rights

I agree with your overall point, but this statement is wildly untrue. Rights to clean water, decent education, freedom from police oppression, right to a fair trial, reproductive freedoms and basic healthcare are all determined by how much money you have.

[–]Buffalo__Buffalo 32ポイント33ポイント  (11子コメント)

You know this is exactly the kind of air-quality problems that were the rule, not the exception, for western countries as they became fully industrialized, right?

[–]pjokinen 30ポイント31ポイント  (22子コメント)

I think China is one to talk about prisons/punishment of citizens when they execute so many people (including political prisoners) they won't even release the statistics to the rest of the world

I'm not saying America isn't without its problems, but I'd take some poverty, a broken prison system, and a 50-year-old military atrocity as more than a fair payment for my rights as an American citizen.

[–]GloryOfTheLord 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

You have to consider context as well. I'm Chinese and am from China. My family was prosecuted like many others during the early years of the regime, but even I can look at it objectively.

Is what the communists did terrible in China? Yes. The death of millions will not be forgotten, and the hardships we all endured and the prosecution the same. However, before that occurred, we had a civil war that killed millions upon millions, and sent shattering destruction onto the country. We had the Japanese rain down millions of more blows, killing and maiming millions. When the communists took over, they had inherited a broken, dilapidated state. The slow decline of China over the Qing dynasty and its later rebellions, the forty year period of civil war, and the destruction of much of the productive coast during the Second Sino-Japanese war had led the nation to suffer.

And so we were forced to build on its foundations. It's unbelievable what has happened in China since the first years of the regime. China has become a great power, and the lives of citizens have been completely revolutionised. There are metric tons of problems still in China, from corruption, to pollution to education, etc. but compared to the lifestyles 70 years ago, it's absolutely amazing. India is an example of a comparable nation that while currently rapidly developing, has fallen far behind China.

I completely understand why many might think China is a den for human rights abuse, but this is something that is the price for its development. China had to be revitalised from its bare bones, when all that was left in China were ruins and the people. It takes time to make progress, and develop and there are prices to pay for whichever road we take. I hope my homeland can improve and one day be a place I'd be happy to raise my children in, but to damn the Chinese government and the country for its problems is to also completely ignore the past. We have to see things through contextual lenses, and the context definitely accounts for some of the problems that are currently going on in China .

[–]RockerDawg 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

Surprised more people here choose not to see things in context like that.

[–]SpotNL 141ポイント142ポイント  (18子コメント)

When the US talks of human rights, on the surface it says that it is higher than sovereignity, higher than anything, but in reality the interests of the US are higher than anything.

Can't say that this is not true...

[–]8-4 27ポイント28ポイント  (15子コメント)

There was this Singaporese diplomat who said that the East used to look up to the USA and try to match it's moral standards, but then Guantanamo happened and the Eastern powers were like fuck it, if they can do it, so can we.

[–]macroaggression1 30ポイント31ポイント  (3子コメント)

they picked Guantanamo and not the hundreds of other things such as overthrowing other countries democratically elected leaders for the sake of private profits?

[–]8-4 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

I think they drew a line between the actions of puppet governments and of actual governments.

[–]_The-Big-Giant-Head_ 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

Or the torture and prisoner abuses in Iraq (Abu Ghraib) and Afghanistan or the torture and renditions all over the world or......

[–]Ohtoko 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, had a similar view. The US acts as moral authority of the world, and promotes individual rights at the expense of group harmony, even when it is outstripped by other nations in many other areas.

The book Confucius Lives Next Door has some discussion of him and other Asian leaders, while a Foreign Policy interview has some of his ideas on the state of US culture vis-a-vis its authority in Asia:

https://books.google.com/books?id=geiCymK1IWIC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false

[–]AnalogAccount 2ポイント3ポイント  (3子コメント)

So they weren't paying attention to American history. So let's just forget about that whole Wounded Knee thing and jump right into our actions in the Philippines. We've been committing Human Rights abuses ever since we decided to be a Big Boy power. Human Rights violations is what Great Powers do. The only rules are don't lose, don't get caught and deny deny deny.

[–]Rigolobobo 364ポイント365ポイント  (40子コメント)

It seems that all they say is pretty accurate. If you're outraged by this like many people seem to be, it's a good time to think about what our documentaries on other countries show us. If they can make the US look like a hell hole in a 45 min documentary, any documentary that shows us how shitty another country/region is should be taken with a grain of salt

[–]Roquentin007 145ポイント146ポイント  (22子コメント)

This is how propaganda works. The strange thing is that you generally only notice it when someone else is doing it. You get so habituated to the propaganda of your own country that it doesn't even seem like propaganda anymore, it just seems normal. When it's another culture doing so, all of that sense of normalcy is gone and it looks like what it really is....crass manipulation.

[–]Rigolobobo 17ポイント18ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yeah I've been realizing this more and more in the past few years. I currently live in Turkey and a recent example was the shooting down of the Russian fighter plane by Turkish forces. The different ways this information was treated by the news from different countries was interesting for lack of a better word.

[–]Astrokiwi 59ポイント60ポイント  (17子コメント)

This is the thing.

Like, the US is fine as far as wealthy first-world countries go. It does some things a lot better than other countries, and it does other things a lot worse than other countries.

But what bugs me is that many Americans seem to have bought into their own propaganda, and will without qualification say that their country is literally the best country in the world, seeming to believe that they are the sole bastion of freedom and prosperity amongst a planet full of oppression and poverty.

There is a video clip from some film, where some student asks "Why is America the greatest country in the world?". This is intended to be a profound video, because Jeff Daniel's character explains that America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. But even that is still buying into the propaganda. Firstly, it surprises me that anybody would even ask that question and expect a serious response - I don't think I've ever heard someone ask "Why is New Zealand the best place in the world?", without being more specific ("Why is New Zealand among the best countries for quality of life in the world?" or "Why is New Zealand one of the least corrupt countries int he world?). And secondly, Jeff Daniel's character is still holding onto the idea of American primacy: he says that America is no longer the best country in the world. The idea is that America used to be the best, but that it lost hold of the perfect ideals of the American Spirit that made it the best. That somehow something is wrong with the world if America isn't the best.

I feel it would work out better for everybody if people just had a more realistic perspective on these things. This isn't about bashing America - there are a lot of things that America does well. It's about having to confidence to acknowledge that another country else might do important things better, without feeling that it's some sort of surprise or personal insult that your country isn't the best in the world. Then we might actually have a chance to learn from each other and improve ourselves.

[–]Roquentin007 26ポイント27ポイント  (3子コメント)

Another important thing, when people are convinced they live in the best country in the world and that all other places are bad, they are far less likely to question the way that society is constructed or the behavior of that government towards other parts of the world. It works the same pretty much anywhere, dictatorship or not.

I agree about that video clip which made the rounds on the internet a couple years ago. It masqueraded as a critique of American Exceptionalism, but was just a further expression of it. It's practically hard coded in our political DNA to think this way. You are right that the whole question is absurd.

[–]NaiveMind 5ポイント6ポイント  (3子コメント)

As a American, of Brazilian mother and german father, that has lived in all 3 continents, grew up in Florida..I LOVE the US, it truly is a great place. However, the view that americans have of he world is so silly, its embarissing how ignorant americans are. The way american culture has painted the rest of the world is so wrong and people have no interest in changing it, in fact, when living in America I would get into constant arguments about these things.

[–]Astrokiwi 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

See, I think that is the perfect attitude. It's good to love the place where you live, and if you love the US, then that's awesome. It's just the weird doctrine of American Exceptionalism that's a problem, warping their perspective of the world and their own history. You can totally love your country while admitting that it has problems, in the present and in the past, and that there are other countries that do well too.

[–]NaiveMind 6ポイント7ポイント  (1子コメント)

Theres nothing wrong with an American love the US. The problem is when things like what I'm about to tell you happen.

I'm at Daytona International Speedway for a monster truck/car show event. Daytona has this big parking lot at the back of the track, so like every other event theres hot dog stands, souvenir stands, marketing stuff, brands showing off their cars. There a section where kids car ride ponies, play with go-karts. Etc, real nice family place.

So my friend and I are hanging around and a friend of the friend shows up, guy from North Carolina, guy starts chanting about how the US of A is this and the US of A is that when some song comes on. Okay, I'm fine with talking good about the US. Then, some guy revs his V8 engine and the kids at the ponies are all laughing, he says something along the lines of... "yeah, I don't have a fucking problem bombing the hell out of anywhere, because this is worth it, freedom of living in a happy place".

Yeah, okay idiot. The only place in the world where there are car shows, outdoor events with hot dog stands and kids playing is in the US. YES, THAT IS 100% correct, we have this is and noone else is the world does because we AFFORDED that by bombing the shit out of places, yeah, okau, sure.

Sure, its a simple example, but a good part of americans have a stereotypical view of the world, like that little map that south america is jungle, japan is weird anime people...its disgusting.

[–]free_partyhats 180ポイント181ポイント  (19子コメント)

  1. This is a documentary specifically about US human rights violations.
  2. In my opinion, this is a pretty fair representation.
  3. Isn't nearly as harsh as regular US documentaries about China.

[–]THHBBB 20ポイント21ポイント  (0子コメント)

It may be state produced, but it is using footage that came from the US. Accuse them of cherry picking, but everything shown did happen.

[–]ColoniseMars 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

I must say it doesnt look to far off this far

Why would american media, adept at reporting shootings, refuse to cover the Mt Lai Massacre?

Hehehehehehe

China is being a bit hypocritical though. It also has big wealth divide despite being supposedly "communist" and its prisons are shite.

[–]zabadap 73ポイント74ポイント  (10子コメント)

It's always good to have a different perspective, that's actually the basis of democracy. There is certainly much to say about the internal politic but I can't really tell as I am not US citizen, but the real problem for the world is that the US has never been challenged for their crimes, be it the genocide of the natives, war crimes in middle east, its economic war with the world, toppling of government and more generally the way it messed with other countries.

Mind me I much love the US people, but US politics and government bodies are so corrupt and imperialistic that nobody in or out this country can really stop them from fucking with the world.

[–]ssntf7 70ポイント71ポイント  (11子コメント)

"Cherry-picking"... Pshhh. Maybe the context is exaggerated, but boy, those human-rights violations are all very fucking real.

[–]StarCraftGirl 78ポイント79ポイント  (24子コメント)

Very interesting. Makes me want to do more reading into UN human rights ratifications by the world. It also shows an interesting perspective of outside-looking in on the U.S. Very interesting.

[–]ty9025 91ポイント92ポイント  (19子コメント)

Something I've realized over the last few years after speaking with people from all walks of life and all over the world is that basically everyone on this planet wants the same thing and corporate agendas are what keep us apart.

[–]pataglop 33ポイント34ポイント  (5子コメント)

The truth right here.

I have travel a fair bit and everyone everywhere wants the same thing:

Peace, work and safety for their family

[–]TheLarkAscending90 26ポイント27ポイント  (2子コメント)

I spoke to an acquaitance the other day who knows his money comes directly from the exploitation of poor Chinese people in order to sell to an international market. He also wants peace (for himself), work (for himself) and safety for his family. He said he was a living example of "survival of the fittest" (he was born into wealth.

Don't be blinded by thinking "corporate agendas" are removed from what real people do every single day to make themselves comfortable.

[–]ty9025 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yep, just slightly different cultural norms. Otherwise we're all very similar.

[–]free_partyhats 11ポイント12ポイント  (0子コメント)

Well, this is what communists tried to tell you all this time.

Guess who promoted the anti-communist agenda and always tries its darndest to conflate all communist ideologies there are with fascist bullshit like Stalinism (something that's pretty much the polar opposite of Marxism).

Why do you think it's so important for those in power to make sure everyone hates exactly the kind of "dangerous" ideas you just expressed?

[–]Nichijo 21ポイント22ポイント  (7子コメント)

You nailed it. Business/corporate/money interests keep us apart. Nation-states are going obsolete, with money interests such as the Carlyle Group, the oil companies, international banks, etc. take over the world's wealth, they work real hard at keeping us peons and peasants under different flags, hating each other, so that we'll be easier to control.

[–]ty9025 5ポイント6ポイント  (1子コメント)

It's called monopolizing, it used to be illegal in my country for that very reason.

[–]Wall-SWE 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

And yet, every company strives for monopoly, or at least an oligopoly. While they rely on lobbying to keep out of trouble.

[–]nickpufferfish 7ポイント8ポイント  (0子コメント)

take that american exceptionalism!

[–]Bujidou 32ポイント33ポイント  (2子コメント)

American Nightly News makes the U.S. look like the worst place to live everyday

[–]MinneapolisWisconsin 6ポイント7ポイント  (1子コメント)

I was actually impressed by the thorough knowledge of recent events. and popular culture within the U.S. Even Steven Avery from r/MakingaMurderer/ makes an appearance at 6:12: https://youtu.be/L-_r3PxEWZQ?t=6m12s

[–]wannabuyawatch 34ポイント35ポイント  (26子コメント)

I'm from the UK and I spent a year travelling around America. I honestly got the impression that the general public, although aware of their issues, are still very proud to say they're the greatest country in the world.

[–]Bayesian11 6ポイント7ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yeah, the mentality is that America sucks but every other country sucks more.

[–]Basic-Income-Now 24ポイント25ポイント  (0子コメント)

This is like Hitler telling FDR that it's super fucked up to put American-Japanese in camps. He's not wrong...he's not wrong.

[–]blizter 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

As a Canadian, this looks accurate. Not saying it is, just saying that's how our medias and reddit has been showing me the USA lately. The "news" are just as cherrypicked as this documentary.

[–]edsonmedina 6ポイント7ポイント  (0子コメント)

News flash: Other countries do biased documentaries about you too

[–]vbonline777 111ポイント112ポイント  (188子コメント)

im german, and i want to add that the most people i know would say USA is an evil country.

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[–]axemurdereur 10ポイント11ポイント  (6子コメント)

Evil may not be the right word. But the view has notably shifted a lot in the last few years.

[–]jasoncyke 117ポイント118ポイント  (34子コメント)

I am gonna get downvote but fuck it, Being a Chinese who lived in both China and North America, watching this made me infuriating, the amount of hypocrisy displayed is astounding!

Every regime or state at some point has committed atrocities, the difference is were the government willing to discuss and be self-critical, the transparency and the awareness is the key. You don't get punish for talking about Japanese interment camp or various atrocities America/Canada committed in the past, as a matter of fact the academic institute encourage discussion over such issues.

On the other hand in China you can't even openly talk about politics or history that might sear the benevolent image of the party, censorship are imposed at all level. Anyway, reading some of the comments made me really really furious.

To this date you can't even find an archive on some of the atrocities the party committed, such basic number such as the deathtoll of the great famine or cultural revolution are being censored by the party, just recently I am sure a lot of you are unaware of one of the scholar who studied and even experienced the tail of the famine himself, his works and transcript was fucking confiscated by the party. To this date the benevolent party has yet to admit, not apologize just fucking admit some of the worst monstrosity committed in the history of mankind, I am done bruh, fucking hell.

[–]de_jure 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

The USA and Western nations in general are held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. To many liberals, criticising one's own government is seen as morally sophisticated, while pointing out the inequities of other, less powerful countries is seen as punching down. I say this as a liberal who hates this double standard.

[–]TauntaunTrooper 12ポイント13ポイント  (0子コメント)

I was thinking this doco could be about almost any country. There is so much going on everywhere that there is lots of good and lots of bad

[–][deleted] 29ポイント30ポイント  (11子コメント)

Reluctant upvote.

I'd still rather be an American than a Chinese (citizen). My fam's originally from China, but I was born in the US and I'm grateful. At least I can say almost whatever I want without fear of being hauled off into some black pit of death.

[–]Roquentin007 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

The grandest irony of all, is that the US uses the political situation in China in a very similar manner. It's always easy to use a foreign power to excuse you own problems, wherever you are.

[–]axe_murdererer 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

I think that it will take time, but the youth of China seems very hungry for knowledge and the truth. Granted there are a lot of kids who are "brainwashed" into thinking that the communist party and Mao was the best thing that has happened to their country. But being an American kid growing up and now living in China teaching kids, I see that I was thinking in a similar way about the US when I was young. Any crimes against a countries people, be it the famine during the cultural revolution, the wars US have engaged in, or 9/11 possibly being prevented, the governments are going to try to keep it under wraps for as long as possible and hope that when the truth is finally leaked it has been so long that the generation of people who find out has no tangible understanding or experience of it. I just hope that we as a people of the world start understanding we have to make changes now to prevent future atrocities.

[–]Steveweing 130ポイント131ポイント  (37子コメント)

I'd like to see the day China allows their own people to view and public ally discuss videos about their own problems.

[–]Oreo_Speedwagon 333ポイント334ポイント  (14子コメント)

Free speech in China and the United States has a lot in common. In the United States, you're allowed to criticize the U.S. as much as you want. Similarly, in China, you're allowed to criticize the U.S. as much as you want.

[–]robophile-ta 46ポイント47ポイント  (1子コメント)

Was this originally a Soviet joke?

[–]DemonicSquid 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yes and Hitler Germany before it I believe...

[–]SlutwinVanHoburgXIV 15ポイント16ポイント  (5子コメント)

My girlfriend is from China. She's very non-traditional and open-minded in general. I don't feel allegiance to any specific country, although the U.S. provides me probably the best lifestyle I could have for my line of work. However, I have been absolutely flabbergasted at how little she has been taught about actual Chinese history. She had no idea about many aspects of the cultural revolution. When I asked her what people say about the Tiananmen Square massacre she literally had no idea what I was talking about. After I explained it in detail she was like, "Oh no, that was just a small protest of a few dissidents and only a few people were killed by accident." Holy shit.

[–]Sameoo 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

People in China talk about it all the time. Just not in the news but among themselves during meals and out about

[–]MonkeyKing90 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

It seems fairly accurate though. Kinda scary

[–]Pan_troglodytes 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog...

[–]BigOldCar 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

We're not immune to criticism. We are often hypocrites and our government is schizophrenic. The well-being of corporations is put above the well-being of individuals.

That said, China is certainly no paradise.

[–]random_us3rname 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

There's three pictures of a man holding a weapon at the 6 second mark. The man in those pictures isn't even American, he's the Finnish school shooter Pekka Auvinen. btw I went to school like 15km from where that shooting happened.

[–]Disenculture 72ポイント73ポイント  (24子コメント)

ITT people thinking propaganda can't provide accurate facts.

[–]_Particle_Man 32ポイント33ポイント  (14子コメント)

Objectively speaking it's a biting social critique that doesn't have many inaccuracies. That being said it's hard to ignore the hypocrisy coming from the Chinese.

[–]Sunwukong97 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Goes to show how hypocritical the US is as well

[–]free_partyhats 12ポイント13ポイント  (3子コメント)

What hypocrisy?

China has to deal with a constant barrage of anti-Chinese propaganda coming from the Est (primarily the US).

In the meantime, nobody is properly criticizing the US as everyone is too scared of the consequences.

The US is constantly attacking China. Now China makes a very level-headed and accurate documentary about US human rights abuses and you actually accuse China of being hypocrites? Give me a break. It's about damn time someone takes a proper stance against the US.

[–]axemurdereur 7ポイント8ポイント  (4子コメント)

Yeah thats what I thought the whole way through: The difference is that it apparently is discussed publicly since the majority of footage was from american media and showed americans criticizing. Try that in China. Its still valid though but feels a little odd when they call the US hypocritical.

[–]HiCZoK 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

I mean, they got some things right.

[–]teious 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

Just like any documentary I see on my country from foreigners. Must be weird for americans.

[–]teejK 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

lol Making a Murderer guy appears at 6:17!

[–]chet- 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

If anyone has the time, read the book "The Savage Wars of Peace" by Max Boot. it's a detailed compilation of first person accounts of the dozens of secret wars America has partaken in or even provoked over the last 200 years. I read the book while in the Marine Corps which subsequently lead me to get out of the Marine Corps. I would compare the subject matter to "the History of America Told By The Americans". We've all been played.

[–]TexanMcDaniel 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Well its unfortunately true that our military has killed many, many innocent people. By now, who's military hasn't?

[–]sarcastroll 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

Sadly it's not really wrong. Totally hypocritical yes. But not wrong.

[–]Ifrit1445 9ポイント10ポイント  (0子コメント)

Lol when China complains about American human rights violations.

[–]GuysImConfused 33ポイント34ポイント  (12子コメント)

American politics is just a corporate tool; a way to see their profits increase. America isn't a country, it's a company.

[–]U2SpyPlane 9ポイント10ポイント  (1子コメント)

These types of docus and with all the action films we export they probably think we're a nation of maniacs.

[–]free_partyhats 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

Not only "they" think that.

[–]LordQuagga 7ポイント8ポイント  (0子コメント)

There is a lot of truths mixed with disturbing elements to skew the viewer into a disposition of the U.S.; it is not constructively critical, but completely critical. You will not find any redeeming qualities to the U.S. in a "documentary" like this, because that is what it is designed for. It takes as much bad in the country it can find -the worst of it, usually- and says "Hey! Look at how everything is!"

Propaganda leaves little or no room for interpretation.

You could make a very similar documentary for almost any other major nation -China included-. It's a very simple formula that is convincing (the best type of propaganda).

Show a very, very violent or controversial event in a country's history. Show upsetting images. Throw in the talk of fanatical myths and mindless drones who march in line with such a myth. Continue to list all major domestic issues the country has, and be sure to remind the viewer the people who live here follow a strange, drone-like ideology. Do not show anything that would obscure this image, and you can make ANY country look and sound like North Korea.

How could you not walk away from such bad images thinking less of such a place?

That's what propaganda does. It uses selected truth to feed a general negativity.

And, to be fair, U.S. media does this shit too.

[–]StonehengeMan 11ポイント12ポイント  (0子コメント)

Absolutely fascinating.

[–]NGD80 18ポイント19ポイント  (10子コメント)

It's weird that we laugh at their blatant propaganda, while assuming that what we're not subjected to the same type of propaganda.

[–]free_partyhats 12ポイント13ポイント  (7子コメント)

their blatant propaganda

It's not, though.

At least not in the negative sense of the word. It's not promoting any falsehoods to harm the image of another. It's promoting valid criticism of a hypocritical nation that needs to tone it down a bit.

These are important issues and because Americans apparently are unfit to deal with it themselves, external actors need to start criticizing.

while assuming that what we're not subjected to the same type of propaganda.

The US is far more guilty of anti-Chinese propaganda than vice versa.

[–]de_jure 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

Perhaps not inaccurate, but there is some serious cherry-picking going on, not to mention spit-your-drink-out hypocrisy.

Wealth inequality in China is huge, the standard of living is far worse for the average citizen, and racial tensions are just as bad if not worse. That's not to mention their human rights record and state censorship.

Not saying the US is perfect (I'm from the UK) but if the purpose of this documentary is to show the average Chinese citizen how much better they have it than people in the US, then yeah, it's pure propaganda.

[–]Anthrotrollogist 34ポイント35ポイント  (9子コメント)

I only watched the first three minutes, but all of what I saw was accurate.

[–]mynameispaulsimon 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

I got about halfway into it before the subtitle speed and the propaganda quick cuts got to me. It makes some very solid, fair points but it suffers the same watchability problems as Western propaganda. It just doesn't give you the time to consider the points being made, it's just a 45 minute info dump overlayed on fast, powerful imagery.

All in all, it's eye opening, but hard to watch.

[–]returnofthedok[S] 19ポイント20ポイント  (6子コメント)

Pretty much. Later it goes into prison overpopulation and gun violence in the US. Gnarly.

[–]Oznog99 9ポイント10ポイント  (4子コメント)

I hope they mentioned debt slavery at some point.

[–]TechnoRaptor 13ポイント14ポイント  (1子コメント)

ehh they cant do that because practically every country's citizens living in modern societies are dealing with that. That would be a turn off to the chinese viewership, which this is made for, to ignore that common problem.

[–]Linskye 15ポイント16ポイント  (22子コメント)

I feel that Americans are the only ones surprised by whats shown. I'm Australian and I've long known about the majority of the issues brought up.

I have noticed a lot of defensiveness and denial in this thread, so I'd like to point out, just because China may be just as bad, it doesn't change the truth and impact of these issues. So instead of brandishing pitchforks at China, perhaps we should discuss how to fix these issues?

Edit : Okay I'm done. I'm tired of wading through all this pride and hate, just to see some goodness in people. You guys would've gained so much respect from me if you told me of how these issues are being worked on, or what we could do to change things. Instead. I get a flood of Insults and Excuses. Which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place. YKnow what IDC` downvote me all you want but:

JUST BECAUSE CHINAS WORSE DOESN'T MAKE IT OKAY FOR AMERICA TO STUFF UP TOO. YES IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE, BUT WE SHOULD BE THINKING YES IT COULD BE BETTER. AND SO WHAT IF I'M FROM AUSTRALIA? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO EVEN DO WITH ANYTHING?! - we're actually number 2 on the hdi. Insulting my country, is just disgusting.

[–]Hybrazil 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

What do you feel is surprising to Americans? We know the atrocities which happened in Vietnam, the terror on civilians in the "war on terror", the shootings that happen. Heck, social media gets into a frenzy when a shooting like that of Tamir Rice happens. We aren't ignorant to these things, just used to them.

[–]ViolentSugar 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Other "My Lai Massacres" are still happening today. Same aggressors, different victims.

[–]uselesspennies 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

do we not do the same?

[–]JohnChoncho 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

I mean, are they really all that wrong?

[–]_What_a_Cunt_ 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

I imagine this is how most of the world see us. We Defend ourselves because we see it as a personal attack on us as individuals. Our government has done some horrible things. Things done by any other nation, would be considered acts of terror.

EDIT: Grammar.

[–]HonkersTim 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

I think its important to remember the population differences as well. Statistically a million people will have a certain number of artists, athletes, criminals, murderers, and psychotic government officials. China has 4 times the population the US does, so it follows there are 4 times as many murders and corrupt officials.

So while in the US you see a story about some crazy Chinese provincial government official, you should keep in mind that statistically that out of 4 crazy officials this one had the craziest story (which is why you're seeing it on the US news). So while in the US you'd have to make do with the merely moderate insanty of Joe Arpaio, in China they got to pick the best of 4, so you end up with the full-on insanity of Bo Xilai.

[–]YES-TO 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

China's not a shining beacon of human rights. That said, this documentary is accurate in its depiction of US hypocrisy regarding human rights issues

I found myself nodding several times throughout the documentary. Particularly the US refusal to sign major UN documents and its violent military interference in Vietnam and the Middle East. This was well-made.

[–]Furiou16 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Is this not how the whole rest of the world sees us?

This is coming from a veteran who loves this country with every fiber of my being and who would never live anywhere else, but this Doc is pretty spot on. We are hypocrites who try and police the world. Maybe if we held this mirror up to ourselves more often we would quit acting like the stereotypical idiot christian jock we act like now.

[–]FichaelJMox 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

The film addressed our gun control problem pretty heavily. Looking at it through another countries bias, it looks really bad... but they weren't far from the truth.

[–]Llamaorlama 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

This is what the USA does to any nation that refuses to recognize US hegemony.

How's it feel to have the tables turned?

They're using your own media as source material, so don't try to claim it's "propaganda."

[–]FreeBeans 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

I watch a lot of Chinese television when I visit my grandparents since they don't have internet. They actually do documentaries like this for China too.

[–]18114 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

I as an American citizen have no problem with this at all. A documentary portraying facts. Sometimes I guess the truth hurts but not me. I saw not one lie or exaggeration of facts.

[–]sulkoma 27ポイント28ポイント  (14子コメント)

lmao, 21 seconds in and I've paused it to post. I'm sitting here thinking, what's wrong with what they are showing? I don't live in the US and the first 21 seconds is honestly my opinion of America haha. I guess not literally to that extent all over, but the country definitely has a lot wrong with it considering how perfect and #1 a lot of their civilians think they are.

Their government is pure evil, so I guess that's what sways the bad view such as what's shown in the video. I find the police & your government to be very evil and it seems that it's a daily event to read something horrendous taking place by the hands of one of the two.

:) sorry to all the people who live there and also don't like the bad things I'm talking about!

[–]Space_Cadet_1983 7ポイント8ポイント  (9子コメント)

You hear about all the bad stuff and it's a very big country. I've lived in the US for 32 years and I've never encountered a cop even overstepping his bounds.

[–]Johnson_N_B 7ポイント8ポイント  (0子コメント)

Nor have I, and I've lived here for 31 years. It's not a common thing, but there aren't multiple headlines about police officers doing their jobs correctly.

Unfortunately, we live in a "if it bleeds, it leads" media society.

[–]McGirton 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

Agreed. It doesn't show anything untrue.

[–]virtualvirgincake 10ポイント11ポイント  (3子コメント)

America is the most powerful nation on Earth, and on a macro level, it is an essential pillar of security for many nations around the world.

That said, I find it comical how they don't have their domestic situation in order. The most powerful country the world has ever seen, and yet they don't look after their own people. Their streets could be lined with Gold the amount they spend on the military.

Its just comical

[–]GaoFooShwai 20ポイント21ポイント  (1子コメント)

It's a cultural problem. If you believe that hard work can solve anything and that wealth is the best indicator of worth, then it logically follows that poor people will be treated like dirt and thought to be lazy.

[–]madam-cornitches 8ポイント9ポイント  (4子コメント)

True or not, I didn't see anything that our own news outlets haven't reported,

[–]Lolatyourban113 8ポイント9ポイント  (0子コメント)

They are not wrong

[–]harrasfl1 4ポイント5ポイント  (1子コメント)

Objectively speaking it's a biting social critique that doesn't have many inaccuracies. That being said it's hard to ignore the hypocrisy coming from the Chinese.

[–]sheps 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

It would be hypocritical for Americans to dismiss an accurate critique just because it's from a country of hypocrites, because that's the very same critique being made of Americans in this documentary.

My head hurts.

[–]Jason_Green_ 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Right in the beginning there's a picture of Pekka-Eric Auvinen, a dude who did a school shooting in Jokela, Finland. *http://imgur.com/YXy1s0A

[–]theguybesideyou 10ポイント11ポイント  (3子コメント)

All this stuff has taken place ...not bad

[–]landoindisguise 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

Why does everyone in this thread seem to have come in assuming that China would just make shit up? It's not North Korea. They're not idiots. China's propaganda machine has been honed over decades on the international hot seat, and they're very good at what they do. And one of the basic tenets of good propaganda is that it has to be true (although it does not have to be the whole truth).

[–]NoahJoad 6ポイント7ポイント  (0子コメント)

From the youtube comments:

"China, indicting the United States? Laughable. We have problems, that's for sure. But at least the power to fix these problems (contrary to popular belief) still resides with the people. A problem we have over here is that citizens have actually bought into the idea that they are powerless to impact the direction and policy of our country. Which seems to be the tone of this movie as well.

Sadly, this idea has been perpetuated by a broken and tightly controlled 2 party system of "representative democracy" that tries to convince us that they can accurately represent what is essentially 11 different "Americas". Adding just 1 viable national party improves, I believe exponentially, the representation of the body politic.

With that said, now imagine a gigantic government that calls itself a 'Republic' but has only a single party and how that might look for the average citizen. That is what China is. If you think the USA is bad about dropping black bags over people's heads and making them disappear, for good, you might want to learn a little more about China. I'm confident that with a little effort, you'll put things back in perspective.

Try to remember, you're watching this extremely biased propaganda about the United States because you can. If the roles were reversed, and you were in China and this was about China, it is highly unlikely you would ever have seen it or hear about it, other than a quiet whisper from someone you completely trust.

That is the difference between an open and closed society. An open society is the American promise, not perfection, or flawlessness. But that you, an average citizen, are allowed to read, view and say whatever you want, and except in extremely rare situations like screaming 'fire' in a movie theatre, will be protected by soldiers who are taught and believe strongly in your right to speak openly and without retaliation. Being a US Vet I can tell you that the idea that "I may disagree with everything you say, but I'll fight and die to retain your rights to say it" is a cornerstone of our country. Take a second and just for a moment try to imagine if you could say the same about China.

Again, I'm not saying America is spotless, perfect or divinely endowed with goodness. I'm just saying that we still live, at least at present, in an open society and that is what matters most.

The Chinese? Well, not so much."

[–]Justanick112 6ポイント7ポイント  (0子コメント)

Could be really interesting.will take a look after work!

[–]Trynottobeacunt 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

Wierd how the US claim to be the 'city on the hill' (or whatever it was), the claim of being this 'lighthouse' of international human rights standards... A lighthouse that in reality is like four miles inland and causes you to sink your boat.

Child homeless and child prison populations too high for them to ratify 'the convention on the rights of the child'. Too corrupt generally to do the same for 'International covenant on Economic, Social and Culturual rights'. Too discriminatory to sign 'the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women' and 'the convention on rights of persons with disbilities'.

Propose of these things to the UN then once they're passed- and you're caught breaking them- then just say 'u fookin wot m8? we're the arbiters of social justice and human rights, wot u on about?'... Damage control bait is set and ready for future use.

This hypocritical 'city on the hill complex' is nothing more than what you see from most other countries, don't get me wrong. It's the same thing everywhere, but it's just the balls of America in insisting it is this moral leader of the planet... Literally just like the SJWs.

[–]TheKingOfDrews 8ポイント9ポイント  (10子コメント)

The Chinese government is responsible for the largest genocide (45,000,000-75,000,000+) of the 20th century and continues to systematically limit free speech. I'm not saying that viewing this didn't alter my perspectives, as it is important to do so, but it's entirely hypocritical and redundant for China to use such rhetoric.

[–]GloryOfTheLord 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

uhhhh, my family was actually prosecuted by the communists and I have to say, that is the highest range I've ever seen given for the Three Year Famine. High estimates are around 45 million with 15 million being the government estimate. Most scholars estimate somewhere around 20-30 million.

I'm not saying that it wasn't terrible, but you do know that the Second Sino-Japanese war killed around 25 million as well, and so did the Chinese civil war? Approximately 20 million Russians died in World War II as well.

In addition, I find it odd that you refer to it as a genocide. Was the famine unnatural and caused by specifically terrible policies? Yes, and were some of these policies intentional? Definitely. However, a large amount of bodies in the Earth at the end of the day does not define a genocide, and there is not a doubt that the Chinese famine was not a genocide. The Second Sino-Japanese war was far more a genocide, and killed around the same number of people.

[–]cuspgreen 29ポイント30ポイント  (49子コメント)

The European Union is the leader of human rights. I love America. I grow up watching all your movies and listening to your music but you guys have some problems. I mean you have accepted mass shootings as part of life, that shouldn't be.

Edit: You Americans need to learn how to take criticism without taking it personal.

[–]returnofthedok[S] 18ポイント19ポイント  (16子コメント)

Hey a little bang bang here, a little bang bang there never hurt anyone!

Except tens of thousands of people annually.

[–]ty9025 36ポイント37ポイント  (130子コメント)

First of all I don't intend to offend anyone here.

But the truth hurts, America in my opinion is one of the worst countries in the developed world. They have some of the worst figures in the world when it comes to inequality, racism, and violence, not to mention the acts of genocide committed abroad in several countries. With the amount of deaths recorded each year in the states you could almost declare it a war zone. I genuinely believe a large proportion of the western world including the majority of Americans are brainwashed and borderline extremists when it comes to this. Their politics are well and truly corrupt, they have the biggest margin of debt by far, which has basically been swept under the rug and are the sole reason the world is such a mess at the moment. Mind you they've done a great job at convincing the majority they're not guilty of any of this.

[–]returnofthedok[S] 28ポイント29ポイント  (18子コメント)

I know fully that America certainly has its problems (and there are many) but the simple fact that I can post a documentary from another country, that's sharply critical of my country, people and government AND no one can tell me I can't, means to me that America isn't all that bad.

Just my opinion.

[–]nikto123 17ポイント18ポイント  (8子コメント)

The difference between your standard totalitarian regime and what seems to be in america is that american powers that be don't have to actively suppress your freedom of speech, they learned long ago that it's more economical to just ignore your voice and let it drown in the static.

[–]fattyg 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yup, and PBS isnt going around making docs that are clearly motivated to make us dislike other nations.

[–]free_partyhats 6ポイント7ポイント  (2子コメント)

Freedom of speech is used as a weapon by the US. You yourself just used it as a way to make Americans feel better about themselves.

It's an irrelevant freedom. You being able to post these things serves the purpose of making you falsely believe you are free. Every time you make use of the freedom in a way that would actually threaten the status quo you will be silenced.

[–]mrfishsticks 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

nice evidence. If you unironically think freedom of speech is irrelevant you don't deserve to live in a country that has it.

[–]RebelAllianceFighter 9ポイント10ポイント  (14子コメント)

Go to the midde east or poor areas of Africa or Eastern Europe. Sure America has it's problems(No country is perfect) but to say America is one of the worst Countries is just a stupid claim.

[–]aesamattki 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

One of the worst countries in the world? Seriously? You have to be joking.

[–]vorpal_username 10ポイント11ポイント  (5子コメント)

America in my opinion is one of the worst countries in the world

Are you high? The U.S. has its problems and many of them are quite bad, but you're naive if you think those problems put it anywhere even REMOTELY near the bottom. Things get much much worse elsewhere in the world, we have it easy here in the U.S.

[–]MightierThanThou 27ポイント28ポイント  (40子コメント)

But the truth hurts, America in my opinion is one of the worst countries in the world.

The US has the highest wages in the world and the most generous people.

The US has the top spot in the Better Life Index.. You talk about inequality, and yet even the bottom 10% in the US are wealthier than the vast majority of people in the world.

Americans have the highest secondary educational attainment rate and the 2nd highest university-level education attainment rate in the OECD.

American universities are the best in the world.

The US has the most responsive health care system in the world, as evidenced by higher survival rates from treatable diseases like cancer.

The US leads the world innovation, technological advancement, and scientific impact.

Just about every technology you just used to post your comment on this American site, is American in origin.

They have some of the worst figures in the world when it comes to inequality, racism, and violence, not to mention the acts of genocide committed abroad in several countries.

In each area you just mentioned, the US is not even close to being uniquely or particularly bad. You're just accustomed to an anti-American narrative that people rely on to divert attention from their own problems that are almost always similar or worse than those that exist in the US. People love depicting the US in unrealistically negative ways because it helps them cope with their inferiority.

[–]AndyAndrophile 17ポイント18ポイント  (5子コメント)

I truly hope this comment isn't downvoted to invisibility because it exemplifies the average massively deluded, reflexively anti-American, vapid cluelessness that passes for "insight" in this sub so perfectly it should really be framed or pinned on the front page permanently for all to see.

[–]zangerinus 7ポイント8ポイント  (1子コメント)

Wait, are you saying the US is NOT a third world country??!??

[–]AndyAndrophile 5ポイント6ポイント  (0子コメント)

Isn't it amazing? I mean, every time I think they must have reached the bottom... nope, the basest form of literal state propaganda upvoted straight to the top and praised as high holy truth. astonishing. It's really as if there's virtually no capacity at all for genuine critical analysis in these people.

[–]ThrewUpThrewAway 7ポイント8ポイント  (3子コメント)

The reason you have racism is because your country is diverse. You can't have racism in a homogenous country because there's no one to be racist towards.

[–]Speech500 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

It's no less biased than the documentaries and movies that make America look like the best place on Earth. If anything, this documentary is more correct, because it portrays real events - they're just cherry picked. And frankly, a lot of the stuff in this documentary is correct. Despite obvious bias, it's more illuminating than any American big budget documentary you'll see on the US's past actions, because it holds nothing back and shows why the US is so unpopular across the world. It's not tailored to an American audience, so it doesn't care if it shows things which an American audience wouldn't want to know.

There's also the fact that tons of US documentaries about other countries use this kind of reporting, so it's nice to see it done the other way around.