Not gonna lie, being in good faith, the Chinese government having a 90% approval rate looks sus, at least to a Westerner. The West looks at this and shouts “That means they are brainwashed!” which I don’t buy into. Yet that idea that all these anti-imperialist people are just brainwashed really, well, brainwashes a lot of people. How can this be countered?
Cuba can be easily countered if you look at their recent policies. Somehow libs get convinced when they see that a vast majority of Cuban people voted in favor of something like LGBTQ+ rights. Can’t be brainwashed if you are progressive, right?
For the rest, I don’t bother too much. I just tell people it’s stupid to think more than a billion people can get brainwashed so easily, especially if you look at how chaotic the west can get. This might be an easy way out, but recently I can’t be bothered too much.
Westerners cannot imagine believing their government properly represents them because theirs never have. Similarly, since our news media skews so heavily destructive or negative, constructive and positive news pieces coming out of the DPRK and China look like naivete and lies to the jaded westerner.
There can be no good state, for our state is bad. There can be no good news, for our news is bad. There can be no peaceful state, as our state vies for war. There can be no freedom from poverty, as we are all poor. There can be no anti-imperialism, as our state is imperialist. Every country must be comitting genocide, as our state is. On and on and on, compounded and compounded. It’s depressing to say the least, to have so little hope in humanity so as to believe homo amerikanus and homo europaeus are the measuring block for nation-building worldwide, when human beings (and their states!) around the world are demanding a rupture from status quo suffering.
I often use Cuba as the starting point and the litmus test. The absurdity of Havana Syndrome, the human rights violations in Guantanamo, the indefensibility of the Batista regime, the popularity of Cubans in Africa (esp the Mandela ♥ Castro arc), the work of Cuban doctors all over the world, their laws and legislation, and how unanimous the world is against the US blockade of Cuba.
If they acknowledge the truth about Cuba, then they implicitly acknowledge the US aggression; The US lies carried by Western Media; the US cruelty in its blockade. And if they acknowledge that the US are behaving unjustly against Cuba, and Cuba counts the other AES states as friends and allies? That’s the thread to pull.
The trick is knowing when to stop pulling and trust that the lib/fence-sitter you’re talking to will start pulling of their own volition, because as much as everyone will insist “I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong,” that aphorism is bullshit. Especially when they were probably adamant and likely condescending about their initial position. People will admit they’re wrong to themselves, but are far too prideful to admit it to someone they’re arguing with. Especially if they’re from a liberal individualist culture. Especially if it’s about politics. And especially if they enjoy white privilege.
And I also say Cuba is a ‘litmus test’ because if they dismiss the mountians of evidence about Cuba, if they dismiss the work of Cuba’s doctors, if they dismiss the fact that the entire Global South adores Cuba? Fuck’em. Your time and breath are too precious to waste on lost causes. The only hope for them is that their internalized and normalized racist arrogance gets ripped out of them when The West collapses under the weight of its own hubris, and they hopefully survive the process and find a way to heal.