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Google vs. China — Who's Got the Most To Lose?
Barence writes "Google looks set to pull out of China, but who will suffer most? The search engine or China? At last week's South by Southwest conference, Kaiser Kuo, a former director of digital strategy for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency in China, gave an illuminating talk that examined the history of Google and other Western internet firms in China, their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the likely outcomes of the current stalemate. Kuo explained that Google had earned the respect of the tech-savvy urban elite by protecting users, making censorship clear and by protecting its employees in China. That means Google is walking away from a 35% market share, which contains a far wealthier demographic than local provider Baidu. The Government, meanwhile, which has been very pro-competition, is about to hand a complete monopoly to Baidu, harm its international standing and the development of net technologies in the country. Is it a lose-lose situation?"
With unemployment rising over 10%, I fail to see why I should care about China, the Chinese people, or the government which oppresses China and it's peoples.
I have real issues to deal with, like health care, job security, owning a home, owning a vehicle, etc. It's really bad enough that I have to feel like my country is about to plunge into a 2nd US Civil War every day of the working week... I really just don't care about China anymore. When I bring up the fact they knowingly put lead in our children's toys, smuggle in counterfeit Tylenol and Advil, all while using child and slave labor to manufacture these things, it kinda puts the poop frosting on the shit cake.