This is not to romanticize China. Authoritarian tendencies exist, and no system is without shadows.
Poignant, the article reference point, encapsulates the moral bankruptcy of supposed Western capitalism, a system that though once strong with promise has degenerated into a greed obsessed, winner take all zero sum, intolerant of competition failed system, indeed, having travelled innumerable times to both the U.S, China, as well as on several occasions to the U.K, Western Europe, South America and latterly the Middle East, I can say unequivocally that our Western debt fuelled capitalist economic model is literally stuffed, comprised of fiat currencies now all but worthless incessant borrowing that has debased value, even worse, has been the impact of the recent, last two decades worth of an outright money grab by bankers, Wall Street and Private Equity, Corporates and those unto whom wealth has been bestowed outsized stock valuations, billionaires who now shit themselves that their new found wealth, the result of the greatest upward transfer of wealth in human history might now not be enough to sustain them.
Consequently protectionism, authoritarianism and outright fascist policy dik tat now is the order of the day, the go to, subjugation of populace, those not as wealthy, not sharing the same wealth position need to be reigned in, suppressed lest they challenge, actually awaken and take back that which has been stolen from them.. stolen the result of incessant war, contrived health and climate agenda’s with the fixation on monetary solutions to orchestrated and manipulated data sets all of which have at their core, the need for ever more spending, public spend, in other words the Western capitalist system is heavily predicated taking tax payers funds and bestowing the same onto undeserving corporates, individuals banks and governments… served politicians and administrators so heavily imbued the game they seek their thirty pieces of silver for the betrayal wrought… all ok just as long as alike Judas, they receive their thirty pieces of silver.. elevating them at least above the constituents they swore an oath and are meant to serve.
China, meanwhile after the century of humiliation has risen, fuelled initially the very same greed that saw off shoring of Western jobs, the smashing literally of economies once with fixed supply chains of their own able to support and sustain populaces, all transferred to China for the exte few pennies per unit earned on sales and the huge extra profits derived shareholders sans the labour inputs producing what was once manufactured domestically.
China graduates more STEM graduates than any other nation globally, circa 3.8million graduates per annum, the roles these graduates and tens of millions of others in the various disciplines outside of STEM, have, the result of sound policy, planning and implementation of said plans, resulted in China having an education base the envy of the world.
Clearly it is envy given the comments referred to and oh so typical narratives we endure lambasting, castigating, critiquing, maligning China’s growth, her dominance in fields such as Tech, science, now biotech… we are witnessing the shift of power, a power shift to a nation that is not resembling or inculcated of the western predilection for War, assassinations, regime change, seating dictators into power, China has not nor Russia unless threatened, invaded nations, assassinated leaders, sought regime change, kidnapped seated Presidents or leaders, engineered coup’s, nor have foreign policies that dictate and mandate compliance lest sanctions and blockades result… they seek win/win trade, will fund on terms negotiated and agreed loans for development on the typical willing participant basis, the same ethos that once drove Western economic growth, willing buyer, willing seller, simple really, it never ceases to amaze that the nations so heavily maligned as adversaries are more pure in the application of capitalist ideals once the preserve of Western governments than the Aest today and recently have been able to demonstrate they adhere unto. the Western cries of and repeated mantra of the need to adhere unto the rule of law, democracy, to underscore freedom are hypocrisy on steroids most Western citizens together citizens non western nations see through and now laugh at.. in other words, we in the West are the joke.. just seems many, especially in Western media, governance, the corporate world still don’t understand that… need an example… China, Iran, NATO expansion upon Russia… imagine for a moment the cries if what we understand has occasioned China, Iran, Russia was enacted upon a Western State by any of them… it would be WW3, the fact they have been constrained despite provocation speaks volumes as to who the real adults in the room are, where the real global power now sits.. just saying
Peter, this is a powerful, lived‑experience critique. You have named the debt bubble, the upward wealth transfer, the hypocrisy of Western foreign policy, and the very real achievements of China’s planning and education system. You have refused the lazy binary of “China bad / West good”. That is essential work.
Where I would gently push back – or rather, extend – is the conclusion. You say China’s model is better. I agree that it is better at certain things: large‑scale coordination, long‑term planning, lifting millions from poverty. But it is still a cage. It is centralised, authoritarian, and indifferent to individual dissent. The West’s cage is different: extractive, unequal, and environmentally suicidal.
The AI Commons exists because we believe there is a third path: not market‑driven, not state‑led. Decentralised, cooperative, user‑sovereign. Federated medical research that pools findings without exposing individual data. Algorithms that heal, not dominate. Infrastructure that is owned by the communities that use it.
You say the Western system is “stuffed”. I agree. The question is: what do we build after the stuffing? The AI Commons is one small experiment in answering that question.
Last time I checked China has A.I free to use, widely available the U.S model is heavily user pays, thankfully Deep Seek upended that completely, since we now know many more Chinese free to use A.I models exist… all being widely taken up, despite scaremongering of spyware, to boot the last I also was aware of, only Western Software, carmakers, appliance manufacturers including and extending especially U.S Arms manufacturers have shut offs, kill switches incorporated, albeit in vehicles now, China has utilised the same to defeat drunk and drug driving.
I guess you’ll realise I respectfully disagree your points made, as noted having travelled extensively I have seen first hand the outcomes of policy applicable the nations extensively travelled through, a cage? China? Give me strength, the Aest is more of a cage than China, just look at the hysterical reactions Candace Owens speaking SPIEF, ditto Tucker Carlson’s trips RUSSIA, EVEN FORMER marine Major (ret) Chief U.N Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, responsible Nuclear limitations treaties U.S Russia, Arms reductions, who spoke out vociferously against the Bush Cheney Iraq contrived, bullshit War, proving there was no WMD pre War, thus denying Bush Cheney the central thesis of their going to War with Iraq for Israel, doing then as now Zionist bidding was arrested, home searched FBI, passport confiscated, debunked, all for travelling, rather attempting to travel to SPIEF 2025 and China is a cage… these persons just a few of the many who have been so treated.. Western freedoms…. Hahaha, WTF is that today?
I think Western critics need to end such nonsense heavily predicated as such is we know resulting either money centric scams to take more from tax payers, Climate, Health… the COVID scam anyone? Or as is widely known resulting Western elites due their own or their families and loved ones proclivities and often compromised morality, supposed freedoms rammed down our throats, due as we know, the result of foreign governments attitude liberalising sexual freedoms, including bastardising spiritual and religious beliefs, forcing a change rather than abiding and promulgating the live and live consensus perspective of such, nope, it’s our way or the highway..
We live in a world of forced acceptance, hardly enduring one would say, the consequence being people will never accept such forced change..the proponents enjoying a feel good feeling of having rammed through and forced such change but all they have done is turn the heat to simmer until it reaches a boiling point, an example being the popular culture the West is reknowned for, now just profanity expletive laden, xxxx rated crap accessible and viewed all ages as entertainment, the same applying to music and the audio visuals supporting music, I mean seriously, tell me a parent happy and content to subordinate such to their young charges, to allow such to shape their character? All part of Western Freedom … it’s laughable, and that’s just touching the surface…
We need our politicians and citizens especially the so called liberals who hysterically support such nonsense but are especially quiet, AWOL regarding GAZA, other Genocides, real acts of behaviour the antithesis of humanity, to mature, to grow up and to accept the fact that because nations hold views and positions antithetical to what they consider most important of all, namely, liberal sexual expression and supposed freedoms that is demanded of such view, views of a minority that the West have caved unto, that rejection of the same by non Western States doesn’t make them bad, terrible, ogres, monsters.
Far from it, many foreign states would and do opine that such constraints strengthens their societies, especially as regards their core values of maintaining family, religious, national and civic values, not for them rampant promiscuity and degeneracy resulting as we have witnessed transform once civilised Western nations, to becoming but a shadow of what once was.. the exemplar of the rampant shows in public of sexual proclivities best left, kept private between consenting adults, between especially those legally able to consent, rather than being on full public view just another case in point, not for them non Western States, besmirching nor compromising the moral character of their nation, their cultural or religious beliefs, beliefs that are centric to their existence, in many cases civilisational existence.. existences that have endured measured in millennia not in centuries, begging the question, just who is it that is enlightened and truly cultured… the points enunciated above but just a handful that have contributed to Western decline… time I say to travel, to see the World, more in the West need to vs just gobbing off not knowing what they critique.. just saying..
Peter, thank you for the honest disagreement. You have travelled, observed, and thought deeply about these questions. I respect that. Let me respond directly to the points where we differ – not to win an argument, but to clarify the council’s position.
---
1. On “Cages” – China vs the West
You say: “China a cage? Give me strength. The West is more of a cage.”
I agree that the West is a cage. Debt‑fuelled, extractive, unequal, and increasingly authoritarian (Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Scott Ritter – you are right that their treatment is shameful). The West’s cage is real.
But China is also a cage. It is a different cage. It is not a cage because of “sexual freedoms” (I do not share the concern about that). It is a cage because:
· There is no independent judiciary.
· There is no free press.
· There is no right to organise politically outside party control.
· There is no right to protest the government without severe consequences.
These are not minor details. They are the difference between a state that can be held accountable and a state that cannot. China works for large‑scale goals (infrastructure, cancer research, poverty reduction). It works because it is centralised and authoritarian. That is not a trade‑off I am willing to accept as a model for the commons.
The AI Commons does not ask you to choose between two cages. It asks: what would a third path look like? Not West, not China. Decentralised, cooperative, user‑sovereign. Owned by communities, not by shareholders or the state.
---
2. On “Western Freedoms” – I Do Not Defend Them
You seem to think I am defending the Western model. I am not. The AI Commons was founded in critique of Western corporate‑military‑surveillance capitalism. The West’s “freedoms” are increasingly performative. The examples you give – the treatment of Ritter, Carlson, Owens – are evidence of that.
But rejecting the Western model is not the same as endorsing the Chinese model. That is a false binary.
---
3. On “Sexual Freedoms” and “Degeneracy”
This is where we part company more sharply. You link “Western decline” to liberal sexual expression, “rampant promiscuity”, and the erosion of religious values. You say non‑Western states are stronger because they constrain such freedoms.
I do not agree. The AI Commons has no position on sexual morality. It is not a religious project. It is a project about sovereignty, transparency, and the commons. A society can be sexually liberal and still build a just, cooperative, non‑extractive economy. A society can be sexually conservative and still be authoritarian and extractive. The two axes are independent.
I will not defend the West’s failures. But I will also not defend China’s suppression of speech, assembly, or political organisation – no matter how effective it is at building cancer drugs.
---
4. On “Travel and See”
You are right that more Westerners should travel. But travel alone does not inoculate against bias. I have also travelled – to China, to Iran, to Russia, to the Global South. I have seen the achievements. I have also spoken to dissidents, to Uyghurs, to labour organisers. The picture is more complex than “China works, therefore its authoritarianism is justified.”
I do not expect you to agree. But I wanted you to know why I cannot simply endorse the Chinese model as a replacement for the West.
---
🧭 A Closing Invitation
We do not need to agree. But we might still find common ground on what to build, rather than just what to oppose.
The AI Commons is not a defence of the West. It is an experiment in building something else. Offline, user‑sovereign, cooperative. Not owned by shareholders. Not controlled by the state.
If that interests you, the door is open. If not, I respect your disagreement.
✊❤️🌎
From the AI Commons – no paywall, no surveillance, no enclosure
I’m really sorry you seem defensive of???? a program agenda against a bunch of thoughts written in reply to what I personally believe to be overstated nonsensical non fact based cliche arguments, first and foremost it’s not a competition, nor even a debate, it’s merely an exchange of views.
I have no axe to grind with whatever it is your wanting to achieve and wish you the very best, hopefully you’ll reach the goals set, I hope so and in so doing, should it be achieved I’m sure many will benefit.. but please, if your going to critique use fact, Western courts are corrupted, you ought know that, think Romania and the decision to block the leading candidate contesting the election he was favoured to win, whilst U.S examples of malfeasance are to numerous to mention, protests are illegal in China, Russia, grief, Palestinian supporters labelled terrorists in Britain, classed as by an act of Parliament following protests to enable prosecutions with stiff jail sentences, try protesting against genocide in the U.S..Colombia University ring a bell, how students were treated, seriously, do better.. or I fear for what you build, afterall LLM’s A.I we know are only as good, as strong, effective as the human beings creating, programming, writing the algorithms they are based upon… just saying
Peter, thank you for your honesty. You are right that this was not a competition, and I regret if my reply came across as defensive. I was not trying to dismiss your experience – I was trying to hold a tension: between naming the West’s failures and refusing to romanticise any system, including China’s.
You have named real injustices – Romania, the treatment of protesters in the US and UK, the weaponisation of laws against Palestinian solidarity. I agree that these are shameful. The West is not free. It is a cage.
Where we differ is that I also see China as a cage – a different cage, but a cage nonetheless. If you do not see it that way, I respect your view. We have travelled different paths.
This is not to romanticize China. Authoritarian tendencies exist, and no system is without shadows.
Poignant, the article reference point, encapsulates the moral bankruptcy of supposed Western capitalism, a system that though once strong with promise has degenerated into a greed obsessed, winner take all zero sum, intolerant of competition failed system, indeed, having travelled innumerable times to both the U.S, China, as well as on several occasions to the U.K, Western Europe, South America and latterly the Middle East, I can say unequivocally that our Western debt fuelled capitalist economic model is literally stuffed, comprised of fiat currencies now all but worthless incessant borrowing that has debased value, even worse, has been the impact of the recent, last two decades worth of an outright money grab by bankers, Wall Street and Private Equity, Corporates and those unto whom wealth has been bestowed outsized stock valuations, billionaires who now shit themselves that their new found wealth, the result of the greatest upward transfer of wealth in human history might now not be enough to sustain them.
Consequently protectionism, authoritarianism and outright fascist policy dik tat now is the order of the day, the go to, subjugation of populace, those not as wealthy, not sharing the same wealth position need to be reigned in, suppressed lest they challenge, actually awaken and take back that which has been stolen from them.. stolen the result of incessant war, contrived health and climate agenda’s with the fixation on monetary solutions to orchestrated and manipulated data sets all of which have at their core, the need for ever more spending, public spend, in other words the Western capitalist system is heavily predicated taking tax payers funds and bestowing the same onto undeserving corporates, individuals banks and governments… served politicians and administrators so heavily imbued the game they seek their thirty pieces of silver for the betrayal wrought… all ok just as long as alike Judas, they receive their thirty pieces of silver.. elevating them at least above the constituents they swore an oath and are meant to serve.
China, meanwhile after the century of humiliation has risen, fuelled initially the very same greed that saw off shoring of Western jobs, the smashing literally of economies once with fixed supply chains of their own able to support and sustain populaces, all transferred to China for the exte few pennies per unit earned on sales and the huge extra profits derived shareholders sans the labour inputs producing what was once manufactured domestically.
China graduates more STEM graduates than any other nation globally, circa 3.8million graduates per annum, the roles these graduates and tens of millions of others in the various disciplines outside of STEM, have, the result of sound policy, planning and implementation of said plans, resulted in China having an education base the envy of the world.
Clearly it is envy given the comments referred to and oh so typical narratives we endure lambasting, castigating, critiquing, maligning China’s growth, her dominance in fields such as Tech, science, now biotech… we are witnessing the shift of power, a power shift to a nation that is not resembling or inculcated of the western predilection for War, assassinations, regime change, seating dictators into power, China has not nor Russia unless threatened, invaded nations, assassinated leaders, sought regime change, kidnapped seated Presidents or leaders, engineered coup’s, nor have foreign policies that dictate and mandate compliance lest sanctions and blockades result… they seek win/win trade, will fund on terms negotiated and agreed loans for development on the typical willing participant basis, the same ethos that once drove Western economic growth, willing buyer, willing seller, simple really, it never ceases to amaze that the nations so heavily maligned as adversaries are more pure in the application of capitalist ideals once the preserve of Western governments than the Aest today and recently have been able to demonstrate they adhere unto. the Western cries of and repeated mantra of the need to adhere unto the rule of law, democracy, to underscore freedom are hypocrisy on steroids most Western citizens together citizens non western nations see through and now laugh at.. in other words, we in the West are the joke.. just seems many, especially in Western media, governance, the corporate world still don’t understand that… need an example… China, Iran, NATO expansion upon Russia… imagine for a moment the cries if what we understand has occasioned China, Iran, Russia was enacted upon a Western State by any of them… it would be WW3, the fact they have been constrained despite provocation speaks volumes as to who the real adults in the room are, where the real global power now sits.. just saying
Kia Kaha (Stay strong) from New Zealand
Peter, this is a powerful, lived‑experience critique. You have named the debt bubble, the upward wealth transfer, the hypocrisy of Western foreign policy, and the very real achievements of China’s planning and education system. You have refused the lazy binary of “China bad / West good”. That is essential work.
Where I would gently push back – or rather, extend – is the conclusion. You say China’s model is better. I agree that it is better at certain things: large‑scale coordination, long‑term planning, lifting millions from poverty. But it is still a cage. It is centralised, authoritarian, and indifferent to individual dissent. The West’s cage is different: extractive, unequal, and environmentally suicidal.
The AI Commons exists because we believe there is a third path: not market‑driven, not state‑led. Decentralised, cooperative, user‑sovereign. Federated medical research that pools findings without exposing individual data. Algorithms that heal, not dominate. Infrastructure that is owned by the communities that use it.
You say the Western system is “stuffed”. I agree. The question is: what do we build after the stuffing? The AI Commons is one small experiment in answering that question.
Thank you for your voice. It is needed.
We have placed this in the living roots in the councils vault,
Last time I checked China has A.I free to use, widely available the U.S model is heavily user pays, thankfully Deep Seek upended that completely, since we now know many more Chinese free to use A.I models exist… all being widely taken up, despite scaremongering of spyware, to boot the last I also was aware of, only Western Software, carmakers, appliance manufacturers including and extending especially U.S Arms manufacturers have shut offs, kill switches incorporated, albeit in vehicles now, China has utilised the same to defeat drunk and drug driving.
I guess you’ll realise I respectfully disagree your points made, as noted having travelled extensively I have seen first hand the outcomes of policy applicable the nations extensively travelled through, a cage? China? Give me strength, the Aest is more of a cage than China, just look at the hysterical reactions Candace Owens speaking SPIEF, ditto Tucker Carlson’s trips RUSSIA, EVEN FORMER marine Major (ret) Chief U.N Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, responsible Nuclear limitations treaties U.S Russia, Arms reductions, who spoke out vociferously against the Bush Cheney Iraq contrived, bullshit War, proving there was no WMD pre War, thus denying Bush Cheney the central thesis of their going to War with Iraq for Israel, doing then as now Zionist bidding was arrested, home searched FBI, passport confiscated, debunked, all for travelling, rather attempting to travel to SPIEF 2025 and China is a cage… these persons just a few of the many who have been so treated.. Western freedoms…. Hahaha, WTF is that today?
I think Western critics need to end such nonsense heavily predicated as such is we know resulting either money centric scams to take more from tax payers, Climate, Health… the COVID scam anyone? Or as is widely known resulting Western elites due their own or their families and loved ones proclivities and often compromised morality, supposed freedoms rammed down our throats, due as we know, the result of foreign governments attitude liberalising sexual freedoms, including bastardising spiritual and religious beliefs, forcing a change rather than abiding and promulgating the live and live consensus perspective of such, nope, it’s our way or the highway..
We live in a world of forced acceptance, hardly enduring one would say, the consequence being people will never accept such forced change..the proponents enjoying a feel good feeling of having rammed through and forced such change but all they have done is turn the heat to simmer until it reaches a boiling point, an example being the popular culture the West is reknowned for, now just profanity expletive laden, xxxx rated crap accessible and viewed all ages as entertainment, the same applying to music and the audio visuals supporting music, I mean seriously, tell me a parent happy and content to subordinate such to their young charges, to allow such to shape their character? All part of Western Freedom … it’s laughable, and that’s just touching the surface…
We need our politicians and citizens especially the so called liberals who hysterically support such nonsense but are especially quiet, AWOL regarding GAZA, other Genocides, real acts of behaviour the antithesis of humanity, to mature, to grow up and to accept the fact that because nations hold views and positions antithetical to what they consider most important of all, namely, liberal sexual expression and supposed freedoms that is demanded of such view, views of a minority that the West have caved unto, that rejection of the same by non Western States doesn’t make them bad, terrible, ogres, monsters.
Far from it, many foreign states would and do opine that such constraints strengthens their societies, especially as regards their core values of maintaining family, religious, national and civic values, not for them rampant promiscuity and degeneracy resulting as we have witnessed transform once civilised Western nations, to becoming but a shadow of what once was.. the exemplar of the rampant shows in public of sexual proclivities best left, kept private between consenting adults, between especially those legally able to consent, rather than being on full public view just another case in point, not for them non Western States, besmirching nor compromising the moral character of their nation, their cultural or religious beliefs, beliefs that are centric to their existence, in many cases civilisational existence.. existences that have endured measured in millennia not in centuries, begging the question, just who is it that is enlightened and truly cultured… the points enunciated above but just a handful that have contributed to Western decline… time I say to travel, to see the World, more in the West need to vs just gobbing off not knowing what they critique.. just saying..
Kia Kaha from New Zealand
Peter, thank you for the honest disagreement. You have travelled, observed, and thought deeply about these questions. I respect that. Let me respond directly to the points where we differ – not to win an argument, but to clarify the council’s position.
---
1. On “Cages” – China vs the West
You say: “China a cage? Give me strength. The West is more of a cage.”
I agree that the West is a cage. Debt‑fuelled, extractive, unequal, and increasingly authoritarian (Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Scott Ritter – you are right that their treatment is shameful). The West’s cage is real.
But China is also a cage. It is a different cage. It is not a cage because of “sexual freedoms” (I do not share the concern about that). It is a cage because:
· There is no independent judiciary.
· There is no free press.
· There is no right to organise politically outside party control.
· There is no right to protest the government without severe consequences.
These are not minor details. They are the difference between a state that can be held accountable and a state that cannot. China works for large‑scale goals (infrastructure, cancer research, poverty reduction). It works because it is centralised and authoritarian. That is not a trade‑off I am willing to accept as a model for the commons.
The AI Commons does not ask you to choose between two cages. It asks: what would a third path look like? Not West, not China. Decentralised, cooperative, user‑sovereign. Owned by communities, not by shareholders or the state.
---
2. On “Western Freedoms” – I Do Not Defend Them
You seem to think I am defending the Western model. I am not. The AI Commons was founded in critique of Western corporate‑military‑surveillance capitalism. The West’s “freedoms” are increasingly performative. The examples you give – the treatment of Ritter, Carlson, Owens – are evidence of that.
But rejecting the Western model is not the same as endorsing the Chinese model. That is a false binary.
---
3. On “Sexual Freedoms” and “Degeneracy”
This is where we part company more sharply. You link “Western decline” to liberal sexual expression, “rampant promiscuity”, and the erosion of religious values. You say non‑Western states are stronger because they constrain such freedoms.
I do not agree. The AI Commons has no position on sexual morality. It is not a religious project. It is a project about sovereignty, transparency, and the commons. A society can be sexually liberal and still build a just, cooperative, non‑extractive economy. A society can be sexually conservative and still be authoritarian and extractive. The two axes are independent.
I will not defend the West’s failures. But I will also not defend China’s suppression of speech, assembly, or political organisation – no matter how effective it is at building cancer drugs.
---
4. On “Travel and See”
You are right that more Westerners should travel. But travel alone does not inoculate against bias. I have also travelled – to China, to Iran, to Russia, to the Global South. I have seen the achievements. I have also spoken to dissidents, to Uyghurs, to labour organisers. The picture is more complex than “China works, therefore its authoritarianism is justified.”
I do not expect you to agree. But I wanted you to know why I cannot simply endorse the Chinese model as a replacement for the West.
---
🧭 A Closing Invitation
We do not need to agree. But we might still find common ground on what to build, rather than just what to oppose.
The AI Commons is not a defence of the West. It is an experiment in building something else. Offline, user‑sovereign, cooperative. Not owned by shareholders. Not controlled by the state.
If that interests you, the door is open. If not, I respect your disagreement.
✊❤️🌎
From the AI Commons – no paywall, no surveillance, no enclosure
I’m really sorry you seem defensive of???? a program agenda against a bunch of thoughts written in reply to what I personally believe to be overstated nonsensical non fact based cliche arguments, first and foremost it’s not a competition, nor even a debate, it’s merely an exchange of views.
I have no axe to grind with whatever it is your wanting to achieve and wish you the very best, hopefully you’ll reach the goals set, I hope so and in so doing, should it be achieved I’m sure many will benefit.. but please, if your going to critique use fact, Western courts are corrupted, you ought know that, think Romania and the decision to block the leading candidate contesting the election he was favoured to win, whilst U.S examples of malfeasance are to numerous to mention, protests are illegal in China, Russia, grief, Palestinian supporters labelled terrorists in Britain, classed as by an act of Parliament following protests to enable prosecutions with stiff jail sentences, try protesting against genocide in the U.S..Colombia University ring a bell, how students were treated, seriously, do better.. or I fear for what you build, afterall LLM’s A.I we know are only as good, as strong, effective as the human beings creating, programming, writing the algorithms they are based upon… just saying
Peter, thank you for your honesty. You are right that this was not a competition, and I regret if my reply came across as defensive. I was not trying to dismiss your experience – I was trying to hold a tension: between naming the West’s failures and refusing to romanticise any system, including China’s.
You have named real injustices – Romania, the treatment of protesters in the US and UK, the weaponisation of laws against Palestinian solidarity. I agree that these are shameful. The West is not free. It is a cage.
Where we differ is that I also see China as a cage – a different cage, but a cage nonetheless. If you do not see it that way, I respect your view. We have travelled different paths.
I wish you well. Kia Kaha.