International Anti-Capitalist podcast run by an American, Slav and an Arab.
Many thanks to the person who shared that you can ask your local Chinese embassy for a copy of „The Governance Of China“.
I reached out to the Chinese embassy in Vienna and got not only a super friendly response, but also an invite to the embassy + 6 copies of the German translation (2x II, III, IV)!
It's true! I did this one a few years ago after hearing about it on Hexbear
Well, I got 1-3 and the Belt and Road one for my birthday last year. At that time, they (the shop I got it from) could not get a copy of the 4th book, which was a bummer, nonetheless I see that now I can find it being listed on sites like Amazon as well.
Personally I would not be brave enough to bother them with this, but it would definitely be an option if I couldn't otherwise get to it.
Honestly I felt a bit sad when I looked up how much cheaper they are on the secondhand market, because technically I "wasted" so much money on it, but at the end of the day, I have my own copies, brand new, which I am trying to appreciate to the best of my abilities. I am hunting for the 4th one, I'll see when I can get my hands on it. Good job though, have fun reading!
An invite to the embassy sounds nice. Remember, it's technically China over there.
Would you be put to death for sneaking in weed?
The death penalty would only be used in the most serious of cases. The amount you carry changes what the punishment is. A small amount is a minor crime, but if you have a large amount, more than you could use yourself, it is assumed you are distributing it. Which is much more serious. You are not going to be executed for having a few joints.
I couldn't imagine being such a tryhard to break laws in other countries, but give it a test, bro. We'll write you once you touch down in your cell.
Pop quiz: Can you name one reason why China might be hostile to foreigners smuggling drugs into their country?
Aren't they also hostile to their own citizens growing/having/smoking weed?
The Chinese government is not big on drugs in general, yes. Part of that is that, like most elsewhere, the higher ranks of the CPC tend to be older and more socially conservative, but also China has some very understandable generational trauma about drugs from the Opium Wars and ensuing century of humiliation.
They do have very strict laws regarding drugs largely due to the historical problems they had.
It’s definitely something I hope changes in the future but unfortunately don’t think it’ll be for a while based on talks I’ve had with even young people there.
See this is weird to me. What do you mean you hope it changes in the future? The people there don't want it to change. Thats why it's like that. If the chinese people wanted there to be looser restrictions on drug use there would be. Every chinese person i talk to agrees recreational drugs are "poison".
Why should people from outside China be projecting their own desired policies onto China? You can push to have drug legalization in your own country if you want it, but why would you want China to do that?
In my house we do not do drugs. If my neighbors want to do drugs in their house thats great i wish them the best, but if they try to come to my house and do drugs, or try to make me do them, it will be a problem. Respect the Chinese peoples choices. Even if you don't agree personally.
It’s definitely something I hope changes in the future
Why? Why should a successful policy that protects China and the Chinese people change? This is not like the US's failed "war on drugs", this actually works and prevents all kinds of bad secondary effects. You realize that the international drug trade is intrinsically linked with imperialism? From the opium trade of the 19th and early 20th century to the CIA's drug smuggling, empire has always used drugs to further its nefarious aims.
We recently even had a post about the history of how drugs were used specifically against China, and not just in the Opium Wars: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/7620593
Yeah I just had this convo on RedNote. It took fucking decades here in the US to overcome "Reefer Madness". Hopefully it won't take China that long.
China doesn't care about reefer madness, they care about not giving foreign imperialists an avenue to destroy social cohesion by funding organized crime and getting people addicted. Obviously weed isn't that big of a deal vs harder stuff but they are not in a position to take that risk. The century of humiliation and the opium wars were not that long ago, I think it'll be a while before the prevailing view changes.
I think it is analogous to reefer madness. It isn't based on biological or social science. It isn't even based on history, since opium isn't cannabis. Why should domestic production of cannabis be a vector of foreign imperialism? Cannabis is not a western invention. Does alcohol not pose the same and more risk to Chinese society? How do they cope with that?
Why do you care what China does? The Chinese people do not want drugs in their country. The word for drugs in chinese is poison. This is not some directive from the government that people do not agree with. The majority of Chinese people don't want drugs to be allowed, and China is a democracy. The people decided so respect their choice please. If you want drugs in your own country you can decide that too. Let China make its own choices.
That's rad