China's web users now 500 million, micro-blogs changing society

[Cowperson]

If you're a dictatorship, how do you whack all these irritating gophers - 250 million micro-bloggers - and keep a lid on things?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/tech...3-million.html

Cowperson

[Muta]

Time to renounce communism, and admit that capitalism is the source of their financial might.

Although, when I think of that happening, I just don't see it. Visions of the Iraqi Information Minister dance endlessly in my head.

[DementedReality]

well, China may be the flagship for communism but in the streets you wont find a more pure caplitalistic enviroment.

goto a market and there arent even prices on items. everything is negotiated and the price will change if you are a gwilo or a local and of course how well you can speak broken calculator english.

probably off topic but an observation of the dynamic.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by DementedReality

well, China may be the flagship for communism but in the streets you wont find a more pure caplitalistic enviroment.

goto a market and there arent even prices on items. everything is negotiated and the price will change if you are a gwilo or a local and of course how well you can speak broken calculator english.

probably off topic but an observation of the dynamic.

Yet, in the end, a dictatorship in general and taking great pains to try to control information and communication internally and externally.

There was some thinking that China might be the new model for capitalism but they remain very weak in important, foundation areas.

The new drive towards prosperity and material things is occupying the attention of the masses in general but eventually that attention will divert to the rest of the package . . . . . hence 250 million opinionated micro-blogs.

There was an article a couple of days ago - somewhere that I can't find - talking about the efforts of Iran to whack a mole the internet and mass communication. All internet cafes must have video cameras recording the interior and checked once a day, as one example.

It just seems like a losing battle for control freaks, aka, dictators.

Cowperson

[kirant]

Originally Posted by DementedReality

well, China may be the flagship for communism but in the streets you wont find a more pure caplitalistic enviroment.

goto a market and there arent even prices on items. everything is negotiated and the price will change if you are a gwilo or a local and of course how well you can speak broken calculator english.

I've been of the mind for years to call China a Communism in name only. Their actions are much closer aligned to a single party system. If they dropped the name from the title of thier country, nothing would really change.

More on topic...I think it'll be interesting to see what the role the Internet will play when the economy of the Chinese begins to slow. My theory has been that the tolerance of such an oppressive government is only tolerated as it is bringing in wealth. When that vanishes, people will have no reason to support a government that has this kind of dissent from the populace.