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   Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 09:02:01 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

   My question is how these US folks DID NOT know all this. I dweller in English medium Internet all my life until recently. I have known all of this waaaaaay before the 小红书 (Little Red Book) wave. The Internet isn't walled for the Americans? And yet, the Chinese who are behind the Great Firewall knows more about American politics…. a mystery for the ages.

   My question is how these US folks DID NOT know all this. I dweller in English medium Internet all my life until recently. I have known all of this waaaaaay before the 小红书 (Little Red Book) wave. The Internet isn't walled for the Americans? And yet, the Chinese who are behind the Great Firewall knows more about American politics…. a mystery for the ages.

   • Embed this notice
     skribe 🇺🇦 :verified_mustard: (skribe@aus.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:07 JST skribe 🇺🇦 :verified_mustard:

     in reply to

     @liztai everyone knows about US politics because they constantly broadcast it to the world. It's impossible to avoid. The yanks rarely hear anything else.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:07 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • skribe 🇺🇦 :verified_mustard:

     @skribe Lol even China with their firewall can't avoid it

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:14 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • veer66

     @veer66 me too! haha

   • Embed this notice
     veer66 (veer66@mstdn.in.th)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:15 JST veer66

     in reply to

     @liztai I got Red Note ad on YouTube. 🤦🏽

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:52 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Jenxi Seow 萧晨熙

     @jenxi Love the proverb. As usual always so poetic

   • Embed this notice
     Jenxi Seow 萧晨熙 (jenxi@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 16:36:53 JST Jenxi Seow 萧晨熙

     in reply to

     @liztai living in a bubble vs knowing that the world is big. 世界那么大，我先去看看. As the proverb goes: 人外有人，天外有天

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 17:06:08 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Dave Rahardja

     @drahardja very interesting perspective. From my point of view, that's why it's incredibly hard to talk to Americans about these issues (not all). It's like they refuse to even go there. So I've given up. I don't think I can convince these folks who want to live in their self delusions.

   • Embed this notice
     Dave Rahardja (drahardja@sfba.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 17:06:09 JST Dave Rahardja

     in reply to

     @liztai As an ASEAN-born person who naturalized into the US, one thing I painfully notice is that there are a *ton* of “thought killer phrases” that people use to prevent US citizens from criticizing their own country.

     Things like “we are the greatest country in the world” and “we love freedom” and “I earned what I own” and any number of other trite appeals to just leave things alone is SO embedded into our national psyche, that it’s almost impossible to have a discussion that doesn’t get zapped by one of these trip wires. It’s more comfortable for people to withdraw into self-delusional circles where no one challenges the system, because you’ll find a great number of friends who do nothing but agree with you.

     Because we are unable to talk about our problems, we aren’t able to appreciate that we *have* problems. It’s refreshing to see foreigners criticize the US on the Internet in a way that those short-circuit phrases cannot stop.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 17:10:23 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Badri

     @badri unfortunately not. A large swatch of America just discovered reality

   • Embed this notice
     Badri (badri@snipetteville.in)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 17:10:33 JST Badri

     in reply to
     @liztai at first I thought this was satire 😮
   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:00:23 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • villainous friend

     @villainousfriend if you find the answer lemme know lol

   • Embed this notice
     villainous friend (villainousfriend@federatedfandom.net)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:00:27 JST villainous friend

     in reply to

     @liztai the USA is the *only* country where medical expenses and student debt are that out of whack… how did they not know this?

   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:17:28 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • benny
     • villainous friend

     @benny thiiiis. Chinese English media is literally a Google away, even the progressive ones like radii. 😆 @villainousfriend

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     benny (benny@kirche.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:17:30 JST benny

     in reply to

     • villainous friend

     @villainousfriend @liztai One thing that comes to my mind is them hardly ever speaking a second language. But then again they should be able to consume British News. Or even other countries do have news channels in English, but probably they are just considered fake news and "jealous of the freedom" USians have. At least these are the "arguments" I get when talking to them about those issues. If you only trust Fox and Breitbart, there is hardly anybody can do.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:21:56 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • benny
     • villainous friend

     @benny I happily read propaganda from other countries. After all, I regularly read the New York Times 😆. I guess they lack the confidence or the media literacy to weed truth from propaganda. There's always a kernal of truth! And to compare what's published by diff papers. Malaysians do it to an expert degree due to our propaganda heavy media ☠️ @villainousfriend

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     benny (benny@kirche.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:21:57 JST benny

     in reply to

     • villainous friend

     @liztai @villainousfriend Being from Europe I thought more about France24, DW English, ... but yes, absolutely.
     I figure they consider it all propaganda and lies. I mean how would they know?

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:35:02 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • benny

     @benny I can only conclude that the benefit of living in more oppressive societies mean we build better critical thinking skills. Joking!

   • Embed this notice
     benny (benny@kirche.social)'s status on Friday, 17-Jan-2025 18:35:03 JST benny

     in reply to

     • villainous friend

     @liztai @villainousfriend tbh I have hardly a clue about Malaysia, I'd find it on a map though :D
     And yes, lacking the ability of critical thinking is a thing. I remember people from Eastern Germany looking at media rather differently than westeners who lived not in a dictatorship. Easteners were more trying to read between the lines. After decades living in a western democracy, this has fllipped and there is a tendency coming up to believe in all kind of conspiracies.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 13:59:21 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Dave Rahardja

     @drahardja people don't believe me when I say I have been telling people about the reality in China but they don't believe me

     Wrap your head around this modn twister lol

   • Embed this notice
     Dave Rahardja (drahardja@sfba.social)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 13:59:22 JST Dave Rahardja

     in reply to

     @liztai They have heard about other countries having a better system. They’ve heard about it a lot. But they think it’s propaganda. They dismiss such comments from fellow USians as “socialist nonsense”.

     Now that they hear the same thing from someone whom they don’t consider idiots and traitors, their minds are blown.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:22:57 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Dave Rahardja

     @drahardja kinda like my parents not believing me when I say something but totally will believe their friend's kid 😅🤣

   • Embed this notice
     Dave Rahardja (drahardja@sfba.social)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:22:58 JST Dave Rahardja

     in reply to

     @liztai “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” (Mark 6:4)

     Familiarity breeds contempt, I think. People who grew up around you dismiss you because they think they got you nailed—why should you be any smarter than them?

     Then they hear the same thing from a foreigner, and they’re amazed.

     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 repeated this.
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     Dave Rahardja (drahardja@sfba.social)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:26:47 JST Dave Rahardja

     in reply to

     • Dan Sugalski

     @wordshaper @liztai Can’t have that indeed.

   • Embed this notice
     Dan Sugalski (wordshaper@weatherishappening.network)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:26:48 JST Dan Sugalski

     in reply to

     • Dave Rahardja

     @drahardja @liztai aw, c’mon, Dave — if we started questioning whether we’re the greatest country on earth the next thing you know someone’ll notice the country was built on genicide, conquest, and slavery! Can’t have that, what would the neighbors think?

     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 repeated this.
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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:39:31 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Dave Rahardja

     @drahardja I had been advising my mom how to eat to control her diabetes. She refused to follow. Then she heard her friends daughter tell her the same thing and she was, like, telling me about how it has improved her blood sugar levels and I told her: NOW you believe this? I've been telling you for years! 😆

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     Dave Rahardja (drahardja@sfba.social)'s status on Sunday, 19-Jan-2025 17:39:32 JST Dave Rahardja

     in reply to

     @liztai hahahaha exactly!