{"id":853,"date":"2010-04-20T20:35:33","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T12:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.19thstep.com\/?p=853"},"modified":"2018-07-16T15:22:38","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T15:22:38","slug":"actual-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/actual-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Actual Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I came across a thought provoking article today<\/a> which compares the political freedom of the United States with the other freedoms that China offers. It presents (part of) the other side of the story that anyone living in China knows. That is, that political freedoms aren’t all that equate to what we really feel and interpret as personal freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s short so I decided to post it here in its entirety:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: What of kind person would look to China \u2013 yes, repressive, dictatorial China \u2013 as an example of a \u201cfree\u201d country?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: Any person who smokes, drinks, likes cheap movies, enjoys exotic foods and drinks, doesn\u2019t like wearing a seatbelt, has a knack for motorcycles, wants to start a business with minimal hassle, wants to buy sex, has passion for purchasing Louis Vuitton knock-offs, or really really likes driving the wrong way down a one way street.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, to many in the West, the idea of China being in any way free would seem counterintuitive. After all, the impression that the Western media presents of China is one of oppression, of a complete lack of privacy, liberty, and freedom. In the political realm, this is certainly the case: China is an authoritarian military dictatorship. There are no elections. There are no opposition parties. Freedom of political speech is curtailed. Internet use is monitored and controlled.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Freedom<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

But people are much more than merely political. And when it comes to all of the little pleasures that make life worth living \u2013 those small pleasures that make us fully human \u2013 China is, in many ways, a more free country than our own United States.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take anti-smoking regulations. Thirty-eight American states now ban cigarette smoking in essentially all indoor public spaces. In hyper-puritanical California, many cities and towns are now banning smoking outside as well. Meanwhile, cigarette prices continue to creep upwards. If you are an American smoker who travels to China, you will find that you are actually more free in the \u201crepressive\u201d Middle Kingdom. Even though some Chinese cities have passed partial limits on public smoking, people are still free to light up in bars, restaurants, and other spots of conviviality. Even in cosmpolitan Shanghai, it\u2019s still common for people to smoke in taxis, hospitals, and retail stores. I don\u2019t smoke myself, but I recognize that smoking is a pleasurable experience for many, and that smoking bans represent an infantalizing attack on a basic right. And when it comes to safeguarding that basic right, China far surpasses the \u201cland of the free.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not only smoking. Fancy a beer at 4 in the morning? I\u2019m afraid it can\u2019t be done here in Oregon \u2013 no alcohol can be sold after 2:30AM. China, of course, imposes no such limits. Have you grown some fresh fruit that you would like to sell on the street corner? Here in the States, I\u2019m afraid you\u2019ll have to apply and pay for a license, and thereafter be subjected to inspections by any manner of pointy-headed government bureaucrat. Too bad you\u2019re not in China: you could have just hopped on your bike and gotten to work. Or perhaps you\u2019re feeling a hankering for a Lady Of The Night? Better be careful you don\u2019t get caught, or you could be sent to jail. If you were in China, you could have headed to any of the technically illegal but wholly tolerated red-light salons and gotten your fix \u2013 as well as helped a young woman make her livelihood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"American<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

America is increasingly becoming a nation that considers political freedoms to constitute the entirety of \u201cfreedom.\u201d Political freedoms are important, and one can only hope that Chinese people will soon enjoy more of them. But there\u2019s so much more to life than voting in elections and petitioning for pet political causes. And indeed, there are basic personal rights and liberties \u2013 the right to have a drink when you damn well please, for example \u2013 that the US should protect as well as China.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in America, we can pat ourselves on the back about being the \u201cfreest people on Earth.\u201d But when you get thrown in jail for driving the wrong way down a one way street, don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across a thought provoking article today which compares […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[159],"yoast_head":"\nActual Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/actual-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Actual Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I came across a thought provoking article today which compares […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/actual-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Just Charlie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" 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