Share a story, ask a question, or start a conversation about (almost) anything you desire. Maybe you'll make some friends in the process.
RULES (updated 01/22/25)
Casual conversation communities:
Related discussion-focused communities
This is it. Self hosting, federation, not for profit is the way. We need an internet that is made by just regular people for no better reason than it's fun. Not just social media either. We need an entire open internet, free and clear of all ulterior motives (or more likely still having bad actors mixed in, but at least they're not pulling any strings at the upper levels).
I don't know how possible that is, but I know we need it.
Fully agree! Thanks for putting my thought into much better words.
The only issue I see now is how to surpass bad mods and admins? The balance between filtering off topic or bad content versus anything goes but then nazis come out seems to be a challenge plus power tripping.
That's a never-ending process of everyone voting and discussing where the line is and where it should be.
There is no "final" solution, instead the solution is for people to collectively and continiously keep solving it every day.
I just don't understand why it's a problem that the nazis come out. Would we not rather they utter their opinions in the open so they can be refuted? That way people can also just ignore that user if they don't like viewing what he has to say.
It's not like they don't exist just because we ban them here.. They'll go somewhere to discuss where only other people who agree with them is allowed to be.
Unless we're talking direct threats or doxing I'm always an advocate for free speech online.
I used to think this way, but no. Nazis should be shunned and banned and feel unwelcome everywhere. No one should ever think their rhetoric is harmless or ignorable. Those who tolerate Nazis enable them.
And yeah, folks can wring their hands about slippery slopes and where we draw lines, but the beauty of federation is that if someone is too loose or too draconian, we can go somewhere with more agreeable policies. We can decide as a society where the line is drawn, and it'll be fuzzy but as speech gets closer to Naziism, it will be rejected more and more places, as it should be.
Well said
Nazi punks, fuck off.
I've noticed a very pro-China shift on Lemmy since Trump became president. Yeah, Trump is awful, but it's not like that makes China or Russia better. It makes them all bad.
Pro or anti X nation state rhetoric is rarely helpful. I fully agree that blind support of another country just because it’s not the US is just silly. I don’t know what you mean by all bad. How’re you labeling all three of those countries?
Have you been to China? The thing that is affecting so many US users on xiaohongshu is waking up to how many aspects of Chinese daily life and society are actually better than the supposed best country in the world. This has been my experience on my most recent of many times in China. It shocking how many issues and stressors exist in America that don’t in China.
I don’t know what you mean by all bad. How’re you labeling all three of those countries?
Do you have your head under a rock? Over the past few years China has been putting the Uighur people in concentration camps while Russia has been invading and genociding Ukrainians.
No, China hasn't. There has been no evidence.
We know how much information should get out of a state with complete control over the flow of information, via Palestine and Ukraine's respective genocides. Instead of any of that, we have vague, contradictory accusations from Islamic extremists. The uighur people control Xinjiang, and thanks to investment it's flourishing.
China killed Islamic extremism via education and improving material conditions; that's not acceptable to the West, so they made up a story.
Neither the knee-jerk Americans nor you are being honest.
You don't serve a cause, whatever cause it may be, by lying.
No, because I don’t fall for the propaganda. I’ve met one of the NYT reporters on that and their sources were three Ugyhurs and trust me. I’m guessing you don’t speak Chinese and have zero knowledge of it besides MSN?
I think to each their own. My wife spent two weeks in China for work, and she’s still traumatized from it.
You definitely need to tell us what happened with your wife. Can't just write something like that and leave it hanging!
Lol. Alright I’ll try to be as vague as possible while still trying to respect those involved.
My wife is in an industry where she has a lot of knowledge in what she went to college for. She had a friend living in China at the time (caucasian), who was also in the same field. The company her friend worked for offered to pay for my wife’s travel and expenses to work for them (Research and Development) on a contract job for two weeks. This company was Chinese, with Chinese workers. I believe there was only one other caucasian person in the mix at the gym (aside from her friend)
From the get go, it was a problem. My wife is caucasian and does not speak the language. Cheng Du where she needed to go. She had to do a connecting flight on the way there in China. It was very difficult to navigate and no one would help her. She eventually managed to get where she needed to go.
Once she was there. It was a nightmare. My wife is in the fitness industry. She has a degree in exercise science and kinesiology. This should give you a frame of reference for how healthy she lives her life and how fit she is. While in china, men would get off their bikes, take pictures of her, point and laugh. I believe they called her Fat tan farmer, far farmer or big lady. Again, my wife is lean and not fat in any way, but China’s standards of what the human body should look like seems insane. Everyone was paper thin. The gym she was working for had banned weights in their gym, weights!
It was very difficult to interact with people at all. Going to starbucks for example, they would either ignore her to her face and have people skip her or go into the back to hide from her. She was under the impression she would have a guide with her most of the time, but that was not the case. They took her out to dinner once, and that was it, they left her to fend on her own. She was not used to the fact that over there, red traffic lights are merely a suggestion (though this aspect is many counties)
The conditions of the area were extreme and changed from block to block. Some streets would have slums and stores made out of sheets of metal right across the street from what look like a 4 star hotel. Where she stayed was a more safe area (where her friend lived). It’s overcast there from pollution or whatever, that If the sun came out people dropped what they were doing to take pictures of it. And it wasn’t even that impressive compared to what we see in the US. It happened twice in the two weeks she was there.
The thing that finally broke her situation was that they handed her thousands of dollars in cash with the directive to go back to the US and go to other gyms, so she secretly record, steal their ideas and report back to them. I guess thinking about it now, they basically wanted her to be a spy for them. The whole experience strained the friendship between her and her friend, they argued and never spoke again after this trip.
Finally on her way back, she had her final surprise. My wife is generally a nervous flyer, and this event put her off from flying for a bit. On her plane back (she can’t remember what company) while they were passing over Japan, they hit the most turbulence she had ever been on. The plan started to violently shake and lose control, the oxygen masks deployed and everyone started crying. She honestly thought she was going to die and this was it. Obviously she made it home, but she’s never going back. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan, but the thought of flying that long and even entering Asia is still traumatizing to her.
Honestly this is really hard to pity all. This reads like white woman goes to new country with new culture and new language and hates everything she doesn’t understand. Such a ridiculous warrants a response otherwise others may take you seriously.
Half of your wife’s “horror” story is her not being used to Chinese culture or speaking any Chinese. People staring and taking photos? This happens in any country where white people aren’t typically present. They’re curious not rude.
Since she can’t speak Chinese it’s a huge assumption for you two to assume they were calling her a fat tan farmer? How would you even come up with that if you can’t understand it. Chinese people do comment on tall or big westerns but not in a rude manner. Again, because they may not have seen someone like your wife before and are curious.
She’s upset about a city having nice and bad parts? Walk down any big city in America. China modernized very recently. She’s upset about people taking photos of the pretty sky? She’s upset about a culture that doesn’t wait in lines?
Idk if it’s worth commenting on learning how other Americans run gyms as “spying.” What an overreaction.
And now your wife is walking around spreading how bad China is along with you. This is just sad.
Wait until you get to Japan and find many places won’t welcome white people, people will move away from you on the subway, most don’t speak English, there are also bad parts.
I think to each their own. My wife spent two weeks in China for work, and she’s still traumatized from it.
What
Edit: oh his wife just can’t handle new experiences.
China is pretty sensitive about depictions of Mao, so it doesn't surprise me.
Ironically enough it's actually super popular in China to "Rent-a-Mao" or Chiang Kai-Shek or whoever else from China's modern history. There are a lot of Mao impersonators, just like we have impersonators of Elvis.
Even positive ones? But what's up with that?
It’s largely cultural. China is a place where filial piety is import so anything that can be construed as disrespect for your forbearers is looked down upon.
It's like how companies don't like satirical use of their trademarks even if positive. Brand control. Or for China, propaganda control. They don't want you to get comfortable using jokes about it.
I'm not really sure, it may be to do with how Jiang Zemin got called toad boy a lot.
Surprising to me too, it was a positive depiction of Mao.
Well yeah, Mao Zedong is kinda like Chinese Muhammad or Chinese Charlemagne (not supporting the guy, but still). Were you not expecting to catch some passionate attention? I mean, I'd also ask that of everyone; China is kind of known for censoring things, like Italians and cheese or Icelanders and their elves, so it's weird to see people think the equivalent of "I'm going to a flock of crows dressed up as an owl because it's exercising freeeeeeeedom!"
I don't "support" that from a Chinese government perspective, as their journey for power and reach, like a lot of territorial groups, involved lots of death and domination over things that couldn't "ethically" be owned, but from a service owner's perspective, I mean, if it's rightfully the child of your own two hands, it's just your right to ban as you wish.
the real name of this app in chinese is "Little Red Book"
surprised?
I can read Chinese. Maoist thought and censoring of Mao should not be connected lol
good point. i think i misunderstood your initial title
I still don't understand the title.
One of the most cringe things I've ever read.
Well you’re just rude.