I think we all should boycott the NBA and Blizzard.
Right, a US company issuing an apologetic press release to continue profiting off China is just like what China faced after the Opium Wars.
Given how tightly the Chinese government controls domestic drug production and distribution I'm very skeptical that this export operation is in-spite of Chinese government action, maybe at best they ignore it. That is what I was referencing, I think it is at least probable that the Chinese government tacitly condones the export of opioids to the US and don't lose much sleep over it. This was exactly the same thing that Britain did to China during the Opium Wars except that that also included military force whereas this is the black market approach that the US has traditionally used when they've done it.
To cut off a possible avenue of criticism, yes the US has done exactly the same thing in South America time and time again, that was wrong too.
Calling it a Reverse Opium War is ridiculous though, as China hasn't invaded, forced unequal treaties, or made the US cede Long Island.
I think you give too much credit to that government apparatus.
China has over a billion people, and if you think their government is one big well-oiled machine of surveillance and oppression, that might be a bit naïve..
Illicit drug production has been a worldwide problem forever. It's logistically impossible to keep tabs (no pun intended) on every legit lab 24/7 and even more impossible to find and shut down every illegal operation, in any country, much less one with such a massive population and also with such a production-focused economy.
Creators of one of the most effective US-centric propaganda engines in recent times have an opinion that sides with the main-line US narrative that's parallel with every other op-ed article being blasted across other well-known US-centric propaganda engines.
Color me surprised.
To be clear : I have no dog in this fight personally; but South Park has been pretty obviously 'narratively - conveinent' for years. If you want to know what their opinion is going to be about a topic before the related episode just open up a page of the NY Times and radicalize the most popular op-ed opinion to the Nth.
'Team America'ify any article : bam , a new South Park episode.
Anyone paying attention during any of the Bush era wars can see this plain as day.
"Let's portray Bush as a total moron so that we can play off of public disdain for him, but let's depict his actions as successful and 'terrorists' as 'the bad guys' and the US as 'good guys' , don't want to rock the boat too bad." .
Talk about having your cake and eating it too, they get credit for being some sort of anti-PC badasses while toting the US main status-quo opinions.
I don't see any pro US propoganda. I guess I must be brainwashed. How is the episode about Amazon pro US? How is the episode about Disney corporate hypocracy pro US? How is the episode about hiring Mexican laborers pro US? Even the movie was all about how stupid the USA around censorship and how people get offended at bad words instead of bad actions. They did nothing but make fun of Bush in every episode their Bush-like character was in. They also made fun of Bush supporters showning how stupid they were in following him.
Isn't that very much aligned with the US media though? I don't know how much criticism of South Park holds true, I haven't watched it in years, but this doesn't strike me as a counter example. Also, they can be critical of some things inside the US and be aligned with US foreign policy at the same time, those aren't mutual exclusive.
Watching from outside the US it does feel pretty solidly pro US. The core message seems to be that sure, we have some dumb politicians and occasionally our huge companies do some dumb and evil shit, but that is the aberration. The Real America is made up of fundamentally Good People striving to do the Right Thing and that will always prevail over any temporary glitches in the system. All the criticisms they levy are the same criticisms being made at the time by all Good Americans.
The show is obviously made by two people who love their country despite/because of all its flaws and that clearly shines through.
It does often have that surface-level message: Good people will always prevail, evil is a necessary part of the status quo, etc. But that's always part of the joke.
I don't think anyone leaves South Park episodes thinking "wow that is so true" and having introspective thoughts about our country. It's more like "what the fuck did I just watch" and "that's about right," dismissive of the average American lifestyle or unhappy with the problems we often face.
I'll keep that in mind though. Interesting perspective.
Sure on one hand that's the joke, but I feel they never really subvert or question that joke (again with the caveat I really haven't seen much from the last ~10 seasons or so). As long as our heroes stay true to their Real American Values nothing bad can ever happen to them. Now I could be wrong, but the way that that message permeates everything the creators make feels genuine.
Quite the opposite. By being "disgusting" it makes itself required viewing by every school child in the country to to prove how subversive they are.
It surprising how so many people on HN don't get that. No wonder they think Dropbox can be easily replaced with an SFTP service.
How is that false?
Pretty disgusting really. It really shows that the dream of liberalization of China is dead, some thought that we could do it but irony strikes again and instead of opening up China our corporations and institutions have become infected and we're in the midst of The Reverse Opium War.