• GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Eh, I think it’s kind of a stretch to say thinkers like Parenti and Losurdo are ‘erased’ Their works are widely accessible online and they have dedicated followings. I think it’s less about suppression and more about a general lack of interest in radical critiques among the broader public which is why thinkers like Chomsky and Orwell are held to such a high standard as they present a sort of more close-to-home type of dissent. This can also be applied to your assumption about the dominance of a narrative. While funding plays a role, the public’s demand for certain types of stories—like conflict and sensationalism—also influences what becomes dominant. Dissenting narratives can also gain traction even if they’re not beneficial to the capitalist class and resonate with the people’s lived experiences - the whole Luigi Mangione saga is evidence of this.

    All in all, this still doesn’t address the fact that China also doesn’t hesitate to tweak the narrative to suit their own agenda. Evidenced by the Uyghur pogroms in Xinjiang where the state censors reports of forced internment, reeducation camps, and cultural erasure, labeling them instead as ‘vocational training’ or ‘anti-terrorism efforts’. Also by efforts to control the narratives surrounding Xinjiang by enlisting the help of Chinese influencers to show Uyghurs ‘thriving’. Yes, i don’t doubt that Western media over-exaggerates some aspects of the situation but the Chinese government is also culpable in that they deny any wrongdoing when this isn’t so.

    This is why i think it is sensible to conclude that both the West and China engage in rhetoric twisting and why we should be skeptical of all governments and not just Western ones.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      4 hours ago

      I never said that China doesn’t do narrative twisting. I am telling you that by relying on YouTube and Wikipedia you are deliberately only hearing one side and can’t actually know anything for certain.