Chinese Government: Smog a Health Benefit and National Defense Aid

[NickNitro]

Are you kidding me China?

http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-gover...Rwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

A Time magazine translator indicated that Global Times offered up the following rationalizations for smog:

1. It unifies the Chinese people.
2. It makes China more equal.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.
4. It makes people funnier.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze).
That's some interesting rationalization. Following that line of thinking, hurricanes also unify people by forcing them to leave their isolated homes and gather in collectives. Tornadoes give people a sense of the power of nature. Wildfires place everyone on an equal footing by burning everyone's possessions to the ground. See? The problem isn't nature, the problem is you.

Oh, but the disinformation campaign wasn't done. The Global Times, a newspaper connected to the Communist Party's preferred publication the People's Daily, noted that smog has a defensive benefit. “Smog may affect people’s health and daily lives," the newspaper wrote, "but on the battlefield, it can serve as a defensive advantage in military operations." The article pointed to military operations in Kosovo and Saudi Arabia that used smoke as a means of obscuring the enemy's sight lines and fouling electronic equipment. This takes "we had to burn the village to save it" to a completely new level.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Haha gotta love the propaganda machine, it's definitely in full swing here

 

[KevanG]

DJ, are you running a country? Are you trying to keep people from taking advantage of people you are trying to take advantage of? No? Then you can't speak badly about the Chinese government.

 

[NickNitro]

They are trying to smoke out Godzilla

 

[KevanG]

It's not propaganda.

1. It unifies the Chinese people. Everyone is dying of smog.
2. It makes China more equal. Everyone is equal when you can't tell who is who.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development. Especially the cost of losing your lungs.
4. It makes people funnier. Or else.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze). They'll know more and know when to shut up faster.

 

[Teelie]

It's another of those it's too good to be true stories that's possibly actually true. Though I'm doubtful of the translation being proper.

Per the original reporting:

I’d like to think the piece as well-intentioned satire. Perhaps it was. But the article, which has since been pulled, was followed by another piece of pollution promotion. On Monday, the Global Times published a piece that said air pollution might help the Chinese military by obscuring sight lines, reducing the effectiveness of surveillance and weapons systems.

 

[Anita18]

Although I can't vouch for the authenticity of the translation nor the legitimacy of the source (my Chinese is horrid and I was born in the US), I can say that the Chinese culture does not have a history of satire. All of my relatives who emigrated to the US do not understand satire. So IMO, the claim that the original piece in the Chinese newspaper is satire can be put to bed.

My mother is an extremely bright woman, but she has a hard time keeping up with The Colbert Report because she has to remind herself every minute or so, that he's pretending.

 

[Victarion]

It's not propaganda.

1. It unifies the Chinese people. Everyone is dying of smog.
2. It makes China more equal. Everyone is equal when you can't tell who is who.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development. Especially the cost of losing your lungs.
4. It makes people funnier. Or else.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze). They'll know more and know when to shut up faster.

6. It will eventually free America from it's debt to China
7. It will give Canada it's Dark Knight

 

[terry78]

Although I can't vouch for the authenticity of the translation nor the legitimacy of the source (my Chinese is horrid and I was born in the US), I can say that the Chinese culture does not have a history of satire. All of my relatives who emigrated to the US do not understand satire. So IMO, the claim that the original piece in the Chinese newspaper is satire can be put to bed.

My mother is an extremely bright woman, but she has a hard time keeping up with The Colbert Report because she has to remind herself every minute or so, that he's pretending.

Yeah, I know satire and sarcasm doesn't translate in a few asian cultures. The joke is pretty much just "haha, this happened."

 

[jmc]

I gotta give 'em points for trying to put a positive spin on a serious health hazard that's for sure.

 

[Tropico]

It makes people funnier? Funnier looking covered with soot or what?

 

[NickNitro]

It makes people funnier because once you live in Smog for soo long you start to lose your mind and start laughing uncontrollably and psychotically like the Joker........

 

[Sundancer]

Looks like a final defense against the kaiju