A recent article in The New York Times pointed out that many U.S. businesses are practicing self-censorship in order to appease China’s government. Why? Because when they look at China, all they see are dollar signs. All they see are 1.4 billion potential customers.
Hollywood is notorious for this. “World War Z” was rewritten so that the zombie virus didn’t originate in China. (And this was 6-7 years before COVID-19 broke out!) “Transformers: Age of Extinction” depicted U.S. officials in a negative light and Chinese characters as heroic. This movie was made with support from Beijing, and despite negative reviews – it has a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – it was a box office bonanza, raking in $300 million in China alone.
Movies can have a profound effect on how people view the world. A film that celebrates democracy, condemns racism, or otherwise makes its audience think seriously about current issues or problems can lead to a push for positive change. Meanwhile, respected celebrities can encourage people to do right, such as registering to vote, recycling, helping the less fortunate, protecting endangered species and ecosystems, and so on. However, when people self-censor, they prevent evils from being exposed. We as a society need to shine lights on China’s brutal human-rights violations, such as the oppression of the Uyghurs and other minorities.
Sadly, there seems to be little the Little Guy and Gal can do. Big Business doesn’t care about human rights, only about the Bottom Line. Big Business will gladly grovel before the most brutal dictators as long as there is money to be made. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger said “You try in the process not to compromise what I’ll call values. But there are compromises that companies have to make to be global.” In other words, profit is more important than ethics and morals.
Mussolini said “Fascism should rightly be called corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.” We are seeing that right now in the USA, and to a lesser extent in other countries. One of the many early warning signs of fascism is protection of corporate power. How many items do you see on store shelves that are marked “Made in China”? Big corporations have moved much of their manufacturing overseas to where labor is cheap and workers have little or no protection from abuse or on-the-job hazards. Which leads to another early symptom of fascism: suppression of labor.
Authoritarianism is everywhere on the rise. Countries that have long been democracies, where human rights had respect and protection, are moving ever towards the fasces. Canada and Australia are leaning that way. The “Freedom” Convoy received support from Australia as well as the U.S. and Canada, and probably from a lot of other countries. Ironic that people whining about wearing masks and calling it a matter of individual rights are in bed with people who seek to destroy freedom and personal liberty.
The United States is supposed to be a country that stands for freedom, justice, democracy and liberty; but we are sliding into the pit of authoritarianism and fascism. And by catering to the interests of China’s Communist government, we are handing authoritarian and Communist Beijing power over us. How ironic that capitalists who howl about the “evils” of socialism – which they confound with communism – are kissing China’s jackboots in the name of commerce.
As consumers we have some power. We can avoid buying products made in China, or other countries with authoritarian regimes, as much as possible. We can refuse to see movies from studios that cater to dictators. We can sign petitions and post cards, make phone calls, send texts and e-mails, even demonstrate at business headquarters and demand change. We can wait for movies to come out on DVD, then borrow discs from the library. We The People are more powerful than we realize – and more powerful than Big Business wants us to think.
It is up to us to stop authoritarianism’s creep – before it’s too late.
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