There are freedoms and freedoms, and it really depends on your needs.
I'm a neighbor of Bulgaria, and I remember what it was like behind the curtain, although I was only 8 when it fell.
The problem with totalitarianism is the inherent corruption it begets. This is from our experience and from history in general ... I don't think I ever heard of a totalitarian government that wasn't corrupt on all layers.
The biggest force that works against corruption is mass-media, that with all its imperfections it mostly works as a method of informing citizens. Take that away, and you'll end up with even more corruption.
My mother used to bring me bananas in a shoe-box, hiding it from her comrades because the economic rebirth of my country required sacrifices such as limiting the import of foreign goods and exporting most of our internal products (so food was in limited supply). To buy a kilo of meat you had to wake up in the morning and stay in line for a few hours. Electricity was also cut off for a few hours a day.
All of this while the leaders enjoyed such a luxury that would make the Playboy mansion fade in comparison, while mass-media hailed economic growth ... and this was the picture projected to the outside world too.
So yeah ... I'm a skeptic of China's quality of life. Either way, if you don't have the freedom to point out the government's mistakes it will degenerate into something far worse sooner or later.
Comments
There are freedoms and freedoms, and it really depends on your needs.
I'm a neighbor of Bulgaria, and I remember what it was like behind the curtain, although I was only 8 when it fell.
The problem with totalitarianism is the inherent corruption it begets. This is from our experience and from history in general ... I don't think I ever heard of a totalitarian government that wasn't corrupt on all layers.
The biggest force that works against corruption is mass-media, that with all its imperfections it mostly works as a method of informing citizens. Take that away, and you'll end up with even more corruption.
My mother used to bring me bananas in a shoe-box, hiding it from her comrades because the economic rebirth of my country required sacrifices such as limiting the import of foreign goods and exporting most of our internal products (so food was in limited supply). To buy a kilo of meat you had to wake up in the morning and stay in line for a few hours. Electricity was also cut off for a few hours a day.
All of this while the leaders enjoyed such a luxury that would make the Playboy mansion fade in comparison, while mass-media hailed economic growth ... and this was the picture projected to the outside world too.
So yeah ... I'm a skeptic of China's quality of life. Either way, if you don't have the freedom to point out the government's mistakes it will degenerate into something far worse sooner or later.