Yikes, I wouldn't boast about being scared of a govt. That's on the cusp of being fascist.

I think the commenter brings up an interesting point that China more effectively regulates industries that commit wrong [1]. I wouldn't reduce their point to being tantamount to fascism; rather, I read @gsatic as arguing for equal application of the law. This seems fundamental to the US constitution vis à vis John Locke: people (corporations in this case) cede rights for security. If we give corporations regulatory fines that pale in comparison to revenue as a result of malfeasance, are we allowing companies to enjoy our society's benefits, without having to sacrifice the same rights others do?

[1] - Of course, this isn't the complete picture: China has a penchant for arbitrarily dealing a heavy hand to law-abiding companies/persons.

Isn't the ideal something like:

Citizens should respect Government, and Government should fear citizens?

I think we are straying away from both of these at the moment.

Right. Democracy is fake…