American century of humiliation continues unabated as we sell our parks to the highest bidder
… china is looking better and better all the time :\
here in the 'states, people always reflexively bark “but you can criticize the government here without being thrown in jail or executed” and yet that statement is becoming shakier and shakier by the DAY. The US government has detained and attempted to disappear legal residents for criticizing the regime, and It’s starting to look terrifyingly possible that they’ll soon do that to full-fledged CITIZENS TOO.
Man. We are fucking cooked.
China is working on embarrassing the US whenever they can. And in this case I very much approve of this specific case.
It’s not like they have to work very hard at it at this point.
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That’s the problem with autocracy: too much depends on the monarch. If the monarch is an adequate ruler, then you have something like China: many autocratic nuances, but overall progress. Not so much progress in freedoms, but democracies aren’t famous for granting new freedoms to citizens either. But if the monarch is an imbecile, then you have something like the USA. And it’s only the start. Less than half of the year has passed. Can’t even imagine what Trump will do with the USA in 2-3 years. And he “works” fast.
that’s basically the history of China.
They always were mostly autocratic, of course they don’t differ much from any other autocratic country.
The interesting part here is that full autocracy is a new thing for the USA. Previously it always maintained some minimum level of democracy. This status quo is ending now.
But like the republicans, China often distracts to do bad things. So… Great national parks for Chinese people but then forced labor for Muslims
And those that start out as adequate often get surrounded by yes-men and lose touch with reality, after which it gets weird.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/china-national-parks-system
It’s a good read, parks bigger than Florida. Ambitious goals. I’d like to visit.
Your entire body is censored there… so, good luck.
Visiting China is pretty safe, easy and affordable (after the flight). Not a great government but that is mostly a pain in the ass for the citizens.
This is not a comment for you
I’ve been to a few of them, they’re pretty excellent. At least the ones I’ve been to had good signal and wifi throughout the park. Also a ton of staff to help.
Edit: I guess I’ve been to the national parks that are not IUCN certified like some of the historic mountains. Still awesome parks.
That’s… not a good thing. Not having a signal in national parks is one of the perks, it keeps the glampers away. I fully expect a park with WiFi to have Bluetooth speakers playing nonsense everywhere you go.
This news still makes me fantasize about moving to China, though…
Having good wireless coverage (even cellular, let alone wi-fi) in national parks implies a level of development that such parks should not have. I mean, sure, they’re not “wilderness” (in the US park taxonomy sense), but still…
Absolutely! Even something janky like dirt roads can be a helpful barrier to keep crowding down and nature preserved. I live in WA and the road to the famous Hoh rainforest recently washed out and it’s actually a blessing. It’ll take a few years to repair, giving the Hoh a much needed break.
Tourists peel the moss off the trees!
I suppose you also have to be careful not to make your dirt roads too janky or else they become fun for the 4x4 folks and mountain bikers (and yes, I’m speaking for myself in both cases). It always sucks when a trail gets closed because too many users and/or inconsiderate users tore it up too much.
Haven’t heard a single speaker other than for a tour guide and those are clipped to their belts and connected via a cable to a mic.
Yeah, and I have a great bridge to sell you
