I emailed the embassy office a few weeks ago telling them I was a teacher and asking if they had any literature or materials about the PRC and the CPC. This is what they sent me. Looking forward to it.
I emailed the embassy office a few weeks ago telling them I was a teacher and asking if they had any literature or materials about the PRC and the CPC. This is what they sent me. Looking forward to it.
You’re not going to be watched.
Unpopular opinion of mine, I know, but it’s most likely that, given the prevalence of activism and organizing, since the early 2010s, never mind the logistical nightmare and manpower that is mass camera and audio surveillance, which is unwieldy, they likely won’t care or won’t even know or will just let you pass by while they go for the current big fry.
Hell, the databases they have are hard to navigate and you do NOT know what you’re looking for and most times it’s just BS leads that the police apparatus is either just harassing for nebulous reasons or is suspicious of for nebulous reasons.
Seriously. I’m not trying to detract from the threat that we’re up against, but let’s not act like capitalist government is “literally 1984” as that is not how capitalist inter-collaboration (in which there is a lot of infighting and bureaucracy) work.
@hero_ball@lemmy.ml is fine.
Okay but what if my kink is being watched
Many of your kinks will be exposed.
But that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
the surveillance-denier has logged on 🤦
fyi all postal mail in the US is scanned and OCR’d and that data is stored indefinitely.
while it is true that there simply aren’t enough humans on earth to manually review all of the data that the various US surveillance apparatuses continuously collect, that doesn’t mean that the collection isn’t happening or that it is inconsequential. the data is automatically machine-analyzed and used for automated decisions, and is also made searchable, so, specific bits of information can be accessed by humans years later.
i’m all for making informed decisions to exercise one’s privilege and choosing to not let fear of surveillance stop you from associating with people or ordering books on the internet, but you aren’t doing anyone a favor by telling them that the surveillance isn’t happening.
Yes, I’m aware.
“Machine-analyzed” “Automated decisions” “searchable”
Again, this means nothing.
You don’t know what you’re looking for with that system. You can’t read through everything. You can’t get all the details.
lmao
While you are probably right about general surveilliance being overbloated mess, this particular case probably is different. It’s physical package from embassy of a country considered enemy, the place that IS watched all the time, it’s not the question of a database, they do have real people doing the surveilance.
Yes, I’m aware, but even the overloaded and unwieldy (I want to make that point clear) mess that is the current mass surveillance system has to prioritize.
Hell, even 5 years ago, they were saying that it’s hard to know what you’re looking for when you have literal information overload (this was said around 2015 or 2016, but I digress).
I get what you’re saying, I do, but at the end of the day, much of the conversation seems to be driven by popular conspiracist notions, popular portrayals in science fiction novels (as well as other media), and, well, George Orwell’s 1984.
For example: some people think that we’ll land a person on Mars within the next decade… but that is quite literally sci-fi BS that, at the very least, is out of our reach for a century (and I feel like I’m being generous there).
Alternate universes? People think they exist and will swear to you that they do because the Science Channel talks about them… but there is no scientific proof and the notion of alternate universes comes from religion, myth, and old novels over the centuries.
Again, I’m not saying that you may not have a point, but the whole conversation seems driven by popular notions that come from mass fiction and mass media than, well, anything that is actually scientific and feasibly manageable.
Like I said: I think the OP of this thread is fine and, most likely, they will not make it into the top 1,000 people that contacted the embassy, asked questions from the embassy, asked for a book on China from the embassy, asked for a student exchange program to China, etc., etc., etc.
He will probably fall by the wayside, even, in terms of ever being tracked.
I think the fear is that an even worse version of the US government might be interested in Mr. simply_surprise asking for a book from the Chinese embassy in the coming future
Tbh, people have been saying that stuff for decades and then some.
I’ll say this: normally when a fascist takeover happens, it’s not unheard of to simply go for the more “radical” elements and activists and dispose of them first and then leave it at that (basically, sending a message and making sure that at least the early years are as smooth as possible before moving on to later policies that promise more repression and violence) so I would assume that if worse comes to worse that he would have at least have a window of opportunity to leave the country, but like I said, you often don’t know what you’re looking for in the records and databanks and watchlist priorities are either changed or done away with when the eyes look elsewhere).
Look, I may be coming off as flippant, but I already prepared myself for possible danger and being a communist is potentially dangerous, never mind being a political minority in general.
I think if people think that they’re “safe” as long as they continue to purchase or read books of communist material (or even just downloading PDFs) that can clearly be seen by the agencies in question or if they agitate (even if it’s on the Internet) and actively convince people and go into arguments convincing people that communism is ultimately correct… then you’re certainly not far behind our friend here.
But there’s another reason why I feel that this 2000s conspiracism that many grew up with (which paints the bureaucratic structure of the intel agencies as more efficient and less braindead than they actually are, like they’re from “Zero Dark Thirty” or something) should die: we need morale. If the current generation of communists do not organize and start creating continuity in the movement, then there will ultimately be no movement to take over the state after either invasion by other states (when China and Russia might be forced to do if the American super-power gets more erratic and destructive), which will only prolong any mass fighting and prevent as smooth (and I use that word loosely) a transition as can possibly be attained so that many millions more will not die due to our negligence.
Yes. We’re a political minority in America and communists at that: it is dangerous, despite all the jokes you watch by some Marxist-Leninist YouTuber that’s likely more concerned with making a quick buck while simply saying what’s popular on Reddit (their “praxis” generally extends as far as them saying “Palestinians are in another altercation with the Israelies! Solidarity, Palestinian comrades!” Raises fist in salute Okay, now, smash that like button, hit that notification bell, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t for MORE commie updates!")
I really hope that people are seriously not just “joining communism for the fun of it” because there are people that are risking their lives or doing work on the ground right now and not so they can see Internet discourse get plagued with how the super cold and efficient and deadly the FBI (they aren’t; they simply have a lot of resources, but they also constantly undermine each other and can’t pinpoint who’s doing what 24/7 as it’s incredibly fucking hard to catch somebody doing something in the fleeting moment that they do).
The problem with that is simply this: that in a world where social media, unfortunately, influences discourse and rhetoric in real life, it would hurt the resolve of the groups on the ground. We don’t need “open debate” or “free speech” (ESPECIALLY by people that generally do not have organizing experience) in that regard, we need people to be ready and willing. It is not out of the ordinary for bot and troll farms to work at creating a sense of demoralization and loss of will so stop doing their job for them.
(Not you, specifically, lmao, I just mean some people that I’ve seen).
But all the same: I do understand everyone’s concern, but I’d rather people also realize that there are people that have been fighting for decades and especially recently.
So, honestly? Tone it down at least a little because everybody is too willing to not only joke about something that’s serious but also over-emphasize certain things above others and jump immediately to acting and joking about how “uh oh, SOMEBODY is in trouble lolololololololololol”
(Again, not to you, specifically, but I’ve been seeing these comments for years and anybody that mildly pushes back on it are immediately told to be “realistic” and “face the facts” or some BS haha)
(And yes, I realize that the comments are so far just jokes, but honestly, I’ve also seen some of them in other times develop into Orwell’s 1984 paranoia tale or something hehehe)
Anyways, ciao! 🤣
Fair point
Yep
deleted by creator
No prob.