Filtering Democracy

It makes me sad to read about the extensive filtering that China does of it's citizen's Internet access (and angry at the corporate collaborators who made it possible such as fascist Microsoft). I happened to read a really interesting article called The Filtered Future: China's bid to divide the internet on Slate, which presents an interesting viewpoint:

Techno-optimists like Kristof nonetheless take it as an article of faith that all of China's controls are destined to fail. They echo the hacker's creed—if a system can be beaten it will, so control of information is impossible. They point out that when chat rooms are closely monitored, people start talking about "cabbages" when they mean "democracy." As one blogger wrote recently, "No democratic movement in the history of mankind has ever stalled just because the word 'democracy' could not be uttered."

I think they are right. If people want freedom, they will necessarily use whatever they have to get it. The Internet is a powerful tool and if the people are forced to talk in terms of "cabbages," they will use online-offline synergy to let others in on the game.

I hope there is a bumper crop of "cabbage" in China very soon.