China formally eases one-child policy (and ends labor camps)

[slimvictor]

(...)

The decision to close the labour camps puts an end to a controversial punishment system long criticised for its human rights abuses.

State media said the development of China's legal system had made the camps "superfluous" and signalled the end of their "historic mission".

Chinese leaders had previously said they wanted to reform the system.

The network, which was created in the 1950s based on the Soviet Gulag, allowed the Chinese police to send anyone to prison for up to four years without a trial.

A labour camp sentence was almost impossible to appeal.

China had 260 labour camps holding 160,000 inmates at the start of this year, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Watch.

Correspondents say most of the detainees were arrested for drug offences - either selling or buying small quantities of illegal narcotics.

Some of the labour camps are expected to be transformed into drug rehabilitation centres.

cont at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25533339

 

[opi8]

Baby steps I suppose.

 

[_DankOpiAmp_]

Didn't a few senior police officers own the camps and profit from the slave labour? On documentaries they show Chinese citizens going to rehab but you always hear about on the the spot urine tests followed by labour camps.

 

[Madhatter4]

There are already 1.351 billion people living in China!!!! Now they are giving them the green light to reproduce like rabbits again? Disgusting......

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

We'll see how this all goes but labor camps sound cruel and inhumane.

Seems as tho chinas selective breeding will really screw them over in the long wrong. Talk about a bad guy to gal ratio.

 

[slimvictor]

The article says that they may turn the labor camps into drug rehabilitation camps.
If I know anything about China, these drug rehab camps will be nearly the same thing as the labor camps were. They will use painful torture in order to get their captive audience to submit.

 

[slimvictor]

There are already 1.351 billion people living in China!!!! Now they are giving them the green light to reproduce like rabbits again? Disgusting......

I can't understand where you are coming from.
Don't see anything disgusting. Freedom of reproduction seems pretty essential to me.

I know that racists often use the metaphor of people being like rabbits to describe the reproduction of other races. (Describing humans as non-human animals is an old trick to devalue the lives of said humans.)
Not saying that you are racist, or that you intended to do this.

Lots of people in China - that is precisely why they are the world's number 2 economy despite their generally sorry living conditions and lack of infrastructure.
So, what is (morally) wrong with giving their people freedom to reproduce, and make more people?
(Ignoring the fact that other countries are in competition with China, and that they will likely become stronger because of this - just talking about morality.)

 

[Captain.Heroin]

^ overpopulation is a real issue though. I personally think the world is more important than I am.

 

[slimvictor]

^ overpopulation is only an issue because of the corrupt system.
If the system were fair and cared about all individuals, there would be enough food and space for everyone.
If all children were provided good educations and good food and medical care, they could all contribute to alleviating suffering and ending world-scale problems.
More minds, more creativity, more hope.
So the choice between the world and one's self is actually an illusion.
This is potentially a win-win situation, made into a lose-lose one by the evil system.

 

[pofacedhoe]

if i know china they say the labour camps have ended but it will just be words. they dont care about their people not one little bit

 

[slimvictor]

^ I agree.

 

[-Guido-]

^ overpopulation is a real issue though. I personally think the world is more important than I am.

Over population is bullshit.

According to the U.N. Population Database, the world's population in 2013 will be 6,908,688,000. The landmass of Texas is 268,820 sq mi (7,494,271,488,000 sq ft).

So, divide 7,494,271,488,000 sq ft by 6,908,688,000 people, and you get 1084.76 sq ft/person. That's approximately a 33' x 33' plot of land for every person on the planet, enough space for a town house.

You could fit everyone in the world right now in the State of Texas.

 

[shimazu]

yeah except people need to eat, drink, shit, bathe(?) all that good stuff too

 

[slimvictor]

You could fit everyone in the world right now in the State of Texas.

laughed my ass off

Trying to imagine what the fuck we would all do on our 33' by 33' plots.

But you're right - overpopulation is a created problem, not a "natural" one.
If we lived with more balance, 7 billion humans would not be overpopulation.
We could eat drink shit bathe etc. without a problem. (reply to shimazu)