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A comment on Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile Service. Parent comment

Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by carabiner on Saturday January 13, 2024 @06:06PM (#38985603)
China is as free as the US. You can leave the country and emigrate to the US, and that's why there are so many Chinese everywhere. No, it's not Orwellian any more and people do not carry a "little red book" with them. Chinese people can choose their jobs, start a company, pursue hobbies like rock climbing and guitar and gardening and live basically like most westerners.
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Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by coolbreezetft24 on Saturday January 13, 2024 @07:39PM (#38986239)
No one in China is allowed to criticize their leader lol
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Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by chpatrick on Saturday January 13, 2024 @09:02PM (#38986686)
Except you can't have certain political opinions without going to jail, that's a pretty big difference.
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Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by piloto_ciego on Monday January 15, 2024 @12:31AM (#38997724)
I feel like - and I don’t mean to do the whataboutism thing, but… - that rings a lot less true to me after BLM and the border patrol tear gassing grandmas. Arguably it’s better here, but like, I feel like the boot comes down more or less the same.
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Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by chpatrick on Monday January 15, 2024 @06:17AM (#38999566)
It's absolutely whataboutism. Just because bad stuff happens in doesn't mean America is authoritarian. It has many many flaws but it's one of the few places where checks and balances still work, for now.
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Re:Starlink Successfully Tests Space Direct to Cell Mobile S... by piloto_ciego on Monday January 15, 2024 @12:24PM (#39003439)
Do they though? Like, basically the Supreme Court is legislating morality now…

I’m not saying China is “better.” But, like shit is pretty bad here in a lot of ways. I think it’s folly to look at them with much of a sense of superiority.

Now, Russia? Russia is real messed up… but that wasn’t the topic of conversation here. I don’t see much practical difference between BORTAC tear gassing grandmas and Hong Kong protesters getting tear gassed.

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