> They directly see how surveillance has reduced child trafficking, theft, and other such hard to trace crimes.
I doubt China has really reduced those crimes that much. It's very hard for an individual to gauge that when all media sources you have are government controlled propaganda. Most people are not directly affected by things like human trafficking. So how do they know it's been reduced other than those propaganda sources?
I'm pretty sure the only thing they really care about in terms of surveillance is organised political opposition.
A lot of fraud and scams come from China, I think it's safe to say that they don't care, at least when it affects people in other countries.
> I doubt China has really reduced those crimes that much.
I have no idea. But the point I was trying to make is that people believe that the crime has been reduced. This is probably a more important metric when it comes to determining why people would or would not trust a government. It is important to realize that peoples' perspectives are often not rooted in reality. I bring this up because people responding to me are not operating under the assumption that this is possible. Is this not understood? Do I need to provide evidence? I can. But it seems you do understand since your next sentence is talking about propaganda. So I'm a bit confused at how to respond to your comment. I don't know if you're agreeing, disagreeing (this is what it sounds like), or just adding more information. As to propaganda, I'm not sure the average person is acutely aware of it, since this is the literal purpose. I mean it is easier to see on the outside (propaganda of another country vs propaganda from your own country) and I think we often pretend propaganda is more "Uncle Sam needs you" vs "What's your carbon footprint?"[0] Because propaganda is aimed at specific people it is generally unnoticed when you are the actual target.
[0] This isn't anti-climate change rhetoric, this is a campaign started by BP to shift fault from corporations to individuals.
I agree that the average Chinese person would think that their government is doing a good thing. After all their views are controlled by that very government.
However I disagree that this is a good reason for surveillance. Because I don't think it actually improves quality of life. Also, I really abhor the Chinese confucian values of "society first". I really value our freedom and individuality.
Luckily it seems the corona crisis seems to be lifting that veil of propaganda a bit. I hear a lot of Chinese are really getting sick of the heavy-handed manner in which it is controlled. I can only hope that they will revolt, however I doubt it will be successful because the surveillance machine is primed to detect early outbursts of revolution and nip it in the bud. Kinda ironic since the current regime in China ascended to power through revolution.
I doubt China has really reduced those crimes that much. It's very hard for an individual to gauge that when all media sources you have are government controlled propaganda. Most people are not directly affected by things like human trafficking. So how do they know it's been reduced other than those propaganda sources?
I'm pretty sure the only thing they really care about in terms of surveillance is organised political opposition.
A lot of fraud and scams come from China, I think it's safe to say that they don't care, at least when it affects people in other countries.