That is the tradeoff… The government may restrict the Internet in a more direct way in China, but similar things have happened in the US.
Advertising companies and server cost have vicariously limited the scope of what we are allowed access on the internet. Internet sites that are deemed to be un safe for advertising are removed from search engines or denied hosting. That’s happened over the course of a decade and now the government is taking a direct hand in censorship.
Soo… It’s kinda hard to say which is more free if we account for the private sector removing choice for their own benefit. We just don’t take to account what private companies do to us as removing our freedoms, even though it restricts is in more definitive ways.
Just look at healthcare in the US being used as a form of indentured servitude, where you may be gambling with your very well being if you want to change your job.
Just look at healthcare in the US being used as a form of indentured servitude, where you may be gambling with your very well being if you want to change your job.
Yes, healthcare situation sucks in the US.
But, my parents had Taishan (rural) Hukou and they worked in Guangzhou (urban-city). And they weren’t allowed to access any of Guangzhou’s benefits (in which there weren’t even much of at the time). I was born in Guangzhou, but I was not legally considered a 广州人, my Hukou Location is inherited from parents, Taishan. Its very ironic that its practically impossible to change the Hukou to Guangzhou, meanwhile its easier to obtain foreign citizenship. I wasn’t allowed in Guangzhou’s public schools. (many migrant parents paid out of pocket for privately-run schools that’s inferior to the public schools) Literally a whole population of second-class residents. You can have family live in Guangzhou for generations, but it doesn’t matter, you are never really part of them, legally speaking. Often times, children get left behind in their village while the parents worked in the city. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-behind_children_in_China
People moved to the US because, prior to 2025 at least, it used to be much easier than places like Europe, for example. I mean, some people already have relatives here in the US, much easier to acclimate.
That is the tradeoff… The government may restrict the Internet in a more direct way in China, but similar things have happened in the US.
Advertising companies and server cost have vicariously limited the scope of what we are allowed access on the internet. Internet sites that are deemed to be un safe for advertising are removed from search engines or denied hosting. That’s happened over the course of a decade and now the government is taking a direct hand in censorship.
Soo… It’s kinda hard to say which is more free if we account for the private sector removing choice for their own benefit. We just don’t take to account what private companies do to us as removing our freedoms, even though it restricts is in more definitive ways.
Just look at healthcare in the US being used as a form of indentured servitude, where you may be gambling with your very well being if you want to change your job.
Yes, healthcare situation sucks in the US.
But, my parents had Taishan (rural) Hukou and they worked in Guangzhou (urban-city). And they weren’t allowed to access any of Guangzhou’s benefits (in which there weren’t even much of at the time). I was born in Guangzhou, but I was not legally considered a 广州人, my Hukou Location is inherited from parents, Taishan. Its very ironic that its practically impossible to change the Hukou to Guangzhou, meanwhile its easier to obtain foreign citizenship. I wasn’t allowed in Guangzhou’s public schools. (many migrant parents paid out of pocket for privately-run schools that’s inferior to the public schools) Literally a whole population of second-class residents. You can have family live in Guangzhou for generations, but it doesn’t matter, you are never really part of them, legally speaking. Often times, children get left behind in their village while the parents worked in the city. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-behind_children_in_China
People moved to the US because, prior to 2025 at least, it used to be much easier than places like Europe, for example. I mean, some people already have relatives here in the US, much easier to acclimate.