Job Discussion Forums

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

Although American, I am at odds with many policies and interpretations of law in the USA, such as the right to bear arms, freedom of the press and other things.

Although something may be true, if a government decides it is not in the interest of the State to publicize that information, people in certain locations could be penalized for telling the Truth, contrary to the interests of the State. Posting on a website, even the truth, could be interpreted as contrary to public interest and therefore subject to investigation and retribution.

That may be a difficult concept for many Westerners to grasp, but it is reality in totalitarian systems. Often the lie is preferred to the truth. FTs see this on a much smaller scale in their daily dealings with FAOs and other administrators. Perhaps Solzhenitsyn captured this phenomena in some of his works. It catches some completely off guard because it is not in the consciousness of people and is contrary to the spirit and culture of Western societies nurtured by a Judaeo/Christian ethos.

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

hey Tofuman good points that not only help us understand the culture of censurship both on the web and in Chinese schools, but could also be used by those considering working in China to draw a simple mental picture of the FT role - so simple indeed that all you have to do, when imagining that new job, is just throw in a tiny bit of gulag Laughing