NaibofTabr

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Uyghurs in China are being rounded up and forced into labor camps

I think this set of photos of one of the camps in Xinjiang is particularly illustrative:

This isn’t some short-term persecution for the sake of political influence, it’s not the whim of a few local officials, and it’s not just basic racism. This is a systemic problem, not just with the government but with Chinese culture broadly. Uyghurs are seen as inferior, and therefore it is acceptable to use them as labor or worse. What’s being done to these people is akin to the African slave trade of the 1800s, it’s just being done mostly within China’s borders. It is exploitation at an industrial scale plotted by the highest levels of political power and executed ruthlessly.

To change this would require forcing large portions of the Chinese population to see the Uyghurs as equals, as fellow humans with a right to self-determination, and then act on that conviction to change the government.

With China being a nuclear country, military intervention is out of the question.

Yeah, pretty much. Even a non-nuclear conflict at any level that would affect regime change would be devastating.

So the only option left is political

Even if the entirety of the UN got together and unanimously condemned the PRC for the treatment of Uyghurs, I doubt they would care. China is about as likely to change domestic policy based on external political pressure as they are to collectively tap-dance to the moon.

and economical pressure and sanctions.

Effective economic pressure requires a position of economic superiority. China is the second largest economy in the world, which means they are inextricably intertwined with the largest economy (the US) and so nobody has that position.

Long term, I believe we can get our balls out of their death grip, and then sanction them properly.

I doubt it. The situation is not just a death grip… China is the second largest economy in the world. In order to effectively sanction another nation you have to be in a position of economic superiority, such that you can affect the trading decisions of other nations. Even if western nations could extricate their manufacturing needs from China, they would still be dependent on raw materials trade. There just isn’t a way to cut trading ties with China, short of a broad collapse of international trade… and then, well, a lot of people die.

If there are still any Uyghurs left by then…

This is the part that feels so wrong. Choosing to not do anything about this terrible thing that we know is happening seems self-interested. I feel that at some point in the future the descendants of the Uyghurs will look at the world and ask, “Why didn’t you do anything to help us?”, and what could be our answer then?

But… doing something in practice would mean so many deaths, and so much suffering before the conflict was resolved, and more suffering after while trying to pick up the pieces.

I disagree… beyond just saying shit, the actual biggest problem is that no one (west, east, whatever) can do shit because that would basically require direct military intervention… which would probably have a much higher human cost.

At what point is the cost of negligence too high? At what point is it ethically valid to commit the lives of troops from your country to change the behavior of a government of another country within its own borders?

Historically, the answer is never. No country will commit its own military in this way without an initial military provocation, except when using the human rights abuses as a pretext for territorial acquisition.

It’s still important to talk about the truth of these atrocities, to not let their perpetrators pretend they’re not happening. But… the reality of this will not change without regime change in the PRC.

This is basically eBay.

What if there are other things wired to those switches?

I tend to agree with this line of thinking. If you’re trying to hire an effective problem solver, well the first step to solving any problem is understanding the problem - the whole problem - and often more importantly the context in which the problem exists.

And while my first reaction is to be frustrated with the person asking for a solution to such a vague problem… in the real world problems are rarely clearly stated, and frequently misstated. Investigating the apparent conditions of the problem is always necessary, and generally the fastest path to resolution.

Based on the provided information, there are some switches of unspecified type in one room and a light bulb of unspecified type in another room. There is no power source, nor do we know if there is even wiring between the switches and the bulb. For all we know, the switches and the bulb are still in their product packaging waiting to be installed by an electrician.

The bulb is not controlled by any of the switches in any meaningful manner.

Also, per the problem specification, I am allowed to visit the room with the light bulb only once. I am not allowed to visit the room with the switches, or operate the switches.

The comment in the original image is the most rational possible answer to such an exercise. Poorly stated problems are a waste of time.

*Edit: You know what, scratch all that, none of it really matters.

I’m not messing with an unknown electrical circuit without seeing the circuit diagram and verifying any relevant lockout/tagout. People die from that shit.

This assumes several things to be true, which might not be true:

• power is available/the upstream circuit is on (always a bad assumption to make)
• the bulb is an incandescent type that will generate an appreciable amount of heat in a short amount of time
• the bulb was in the off state before you changed the position of any switches, and has been off long enough to be cold
• the bulb is connected to any of the switches
• the bulb is connected to only one of the switches (parallel circuits are a thing, as are multi-switch lighting circuits)

If any of the above is not true, the conclusion is invalid.

I understand that starting your own business is hard

It’s worse than that, starting your own business is sales.

Are you working in some niche field where you have a good idea of who your customer base is already? Do you know 5 people right now who would buy your product today? Why would they buy from you vs. an established software company that also has a customer support team? Do you look forward to working with these customers to integrate your software into their existing workflow? Do you look forward to auditing your software for cybersecurity compliance?

You need to be able to answer these questions. It doesn’t matter how good a programmer you are or how complex your software product is, what matters is what makes buying from your company better than another.

holy

If that sticker is blue, only the laws of physics can judge me.

xkcd #150

Yes, you are the very bravest of armchair warriors. Congratulations on the virtue signaling.

An important question when you’re trying to implement IPoAC.

And so did Rimworld, and there’s room for more.

Also “two can keep a secret, if one is dead.”

…and nothing of value was lost.

“When?”

“Later.”