this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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China is authoritarian, but if you look only at the material conditions for democracy like prosperity, peace, education they are better than the US. People fundamentally want to exist and raise families in peace without constant terror, confusion and economic hardship. That is because even they are authoritarian, they can still "afford" to have pro-human or pro-national ideology. In the neoliberal countries choosing that over profit gets you fired or sidelined.
The US is more authoritarian, if anything, especially if you live in a country that's been on the receiving end of its foreign policy.
I agree but using it that way just creates confusion. Just call it imperialist or terrorist state. Or even outwardly fascist / nationalist. Authoritarian is used to denote how they treat their own citizens.
The concept that treating people differently based on whether or not the government decides they are "citizens" or not is authoritarian in its own right; it's an ideological position being unilaterally forced on people by the government, with lethal violence if needed.
Not that the USA isn't authoritarian towards its own citizens, it has the largest prison population on the planet - comparable to the gulags at the height of Stalin's rule - for a reason.