Imagine not being able to:
- Study Wikipedia
- Read news sources like BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Economist
- Reference the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
- Use MySpace, YouTube, Digg, or Orkut
- View pictures on Flickr
- Read blogs on Wordpress, LiveJournal, or Blogspot
- Access sites of Microsoft, Apple, Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo
This would be your world if you were a Chinese citizen.
We all know about the Great Firewall of China. Take a moment and really think about how we take our freedom for granted. Think about what is meant by individual rights. And if you're living in a democracy, cherish it!
You can test if a particular site is accessible from China or not using this online testing tool. No need to check your Wordpress, LiveJournal, or Blogspot blog, since they're all banned. Thanks to Oemar, from whose blog I found this testing tool.
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True, the level of freedom in China is pathetic, if at all existant. I think the day communism collapses in China, the common Chinese man will go mad looking at the hoard of information in the outside world. (Thanks for the pingback)
I really feel sorry for the Chinese.But the Indian Govt too tried its luck in banning blogs, isnt it! Of course, there are ways to access all kinds of sites, even if they’re blocked. Thats’ how I access orkut form work
Oemar: yes, they will surely have a difficult time with the information overload! In fact, the subject of how China will migrate to a democracy is a big one, with even entire books being written about it.
Harsha: yes, Indian Govt tried and see what happened in democratic India!
It make me feel sad to think of all of the “free” people in this world that so take their freedom for granted and even put shackles on themselves by acting as victims.
I feel that the concept here is so important that I dedicated a post on my site to this post.
Mahendra,
I was wrong when I said that this post is outside of my focus; this is right in line with my focus, because you just described one of my definitions of happiness; to focus on what you have instead of what you do not have.
Thank you!
[…] For a practical experience of the Great Firewall Of China, see a CNET’s reporter’s experience here. It is high time we learnt to appreciate the meaning of freedom. […]