Comment Re:What you describe exists. (Score 1) 268
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122326
It has "simultaneous dual band", USB support, etc. I don't see what the problem is.
how do you get a C++ compiler working on a platform that doesn't have one
Why not bootstrap using a cross compiler?
Checking your comment history
The majority of my comment history is this discussion with you.
I hope you're cashing those checks.
If you can get paid for having futile debates on the internet, no one has told me.
SPIEGEL: During your career, you have kept your distance from Western style democracy. Are you still convinced that an authoritarian system is the future for Asia?
Mr. Lee: Why should I be against democracy? The British came here, never gave me democracy, except when they were about to leave. But I cannot run my system based on their rules. I have to amend it to fit my people's position. In multiracial societies, you don't vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion. Supposing I'd run their system here, Malays would vote for Muslims, Indians would vote for Indians, Chinese would vote for Chinese. I would have a constant clash in my Parliament which cannot be resolved because the Chinese majority would always overrule them. So I found a formula that changes that...
I'm also going to quote from another slashdot poster:
China has a long history of extremely violent and bloody revolutions. The relative political stability of the past 60 years is pretty much unprecedented. If the past is any indication, the transformation to complete freedom in China is not likely to go as peacefully as it did with the Soviet Union.
Sudden change in China usually results in the deaths of millions. They have little history of peaceful change. The government has an obligation to tread cautiously.
I guess the general idea is that the effectiveness of government matters in addition to the process by which it is arrived at, and the idea that a developed country and stable democracy like the US (civil war notwithstanding) will somehow establish itself if only more freedoms are granted is likely naive.
And how are we to know that?
Well, you could just ask them, if it was sufficiently anonymous. According to a poll by the University of Maryland, Hu Jintao recently had a 93% approval rating (http://www.newsweek.com/id/141764/). There's also the issue of if public support is a source of political legitimacy in the absence of free speech.
Of course, these ideas of political legitimacy were pioneered by western philosophers such as John Locke in the 17th century. There's that "cultural" thing.
An interesting read that touches on these issues is this interview of Lee Kuan Yew, the prime minister of Singapore for 30 years.
Freedom and liberty are not "cultural" issues.
Freedom is not absolute in any country. Copyrights and patents limit individual freedom. There's mandatory schooling. You can't do certain drugs, sell sex, or posses child porn. There are slander and libel laws. If you are engaged in some sort of business or trade you are absolutely not free to do as you please. You can argue that some rights are universal, but surely the extent of individual freedom is a cultural and political issue to some degree?
Also, consider for a moment that money also brings with it its own kind of freedom. The legal right to publish anti-government material on the internet is meaningless without access to both a computer and an internet connection.
Compared to the largest democracy, India, the Chinese government has been much much more effective at improving living conditions and is also less corrupt. They top officers have engineering degrees and do not have to spend their time conducting political campaigns or raising money from special interest groups. Major infrastructure projects are undertaken without endless debates. People do not have the same rights as western democracies, but there is also a benefit: China has been the fastest growing major economy for 30 years.
If the majority of the Chinese support this system of government, who are we to say that they need to sacrifice it in the name of "freedom."
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro