Chinese Internet Addiction Boot Camp Prison Break 177
UgLyPuNk writes "A group of inmates at the Huai'an Internet Addiction Treatment Centre decided they'd had enough of the 'monotonous work and intensive training.' Working together, they tied their duty supervisor to his bed and made a run for it. The 14 patients, aged from 15 to 22, hailed a taxi to take them to a nearby town — but were uncovered when the driver took them to the police station instead, suspicious of the identically dressed young men who were unable to pay the fare."
I know China is crowded (Score:5, Interesting)
but shouldn't 14 people in a single cab still be considered somewhat suspicious on it's own?
Punishment? (Score:4, Interesting)
Lat time I read about it was how some "patients" were beaten to death. One wonders what will happen to escapees ...
Age 15-22? (Score:3, Interesting)
What's the age of [whateveritscalled] in China? i.e. Why do over 16/18 (?) year olds need to "escape"? Pressure from the government, or parents, or honour, or something else?
Uh... 22 years old? (Score:4, Interesting)
So, in China, you can pay a private firm to kidnap, lock up and abuse an adult, and if they escape, then the police will return them to the kidnappers?
So, do you just get to pick any adult, and is there a menu for the particular abuse that you want them to be subjected to? The mind boggles at the possibilities.
22, 28, what does the number have to do with it? (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry, but 22 can be a child as can 28, well dependent or child take your choice.
Like any law we have here, it opens doors for new expansion to other laws basing some of their rules on previous. Recently health care laws were changed to designate that adults up to 28 are dependents to their parents if so chosen. How is this different than the story in China? Someone is paying to put these children/adults/dependents into these camps to get them back on the road to a productive life. Reading the article the government seems to support their usage but I cannot tell if they pay the costs.
Your really reading far too much into the story. China already locks up who it wants so your scenario exists in the standard method - government oppression. This story is about parents or guardians voluntarily placing dependents into the care of a business whose job is to correct behavior. We have those in the US too. No need to tin foil hat this.
Re:Uh... 22 years old? (Score:3, Interesting)
video games are an escape from reality (Score:5, Interesting)
and considering the reality of china, where the state treats everyone like a slave, i can understand why so many in china would be addicted to video games. i would be too if i lived in china
there exists in china the lives of the rich in the coastal cities, who are able to afford some degree of freedom
but for the rest of the country, the majority, you have some sort of nightmare where the worst excesses of communist authoritarianism combine with completely unbridled capitalist rapaciousness, to produce a distinctly modern chinese breed of hell on earth for the poor in china. the state has no problem abusing you and propagandizing you, and the corporations have no problem working you like a mule, and will bribe the corrupt state authorities to get away with it
it really is not surprising that some workers are committing suicide in flocks:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-08/foxconn-says-personal-issues-not-wages-led-workers-to-suicide.html [businessweek.com]
modern china is a brutal corporatist authoritarian nightmare, the worst of communism and capitalism, mushed together as a hybrid schizophrenic hell
Re:A Clockwork Orange (Score:3, Interesting)
"von" in German denoted nobility at the time. The Dutch "van" in Beethoven's name did not, however he tricked the Austrian courts during his custody battle for his nephew, Karl, into thinking he was born from nobility and tried the case in a court for noblemen.
He later let it slip that he wasn't nobly born and the case was transferred.
oh really? (Score:3, Interesting)
did Victorian England have legions of party workers censoring every little post on internet forums and tracking those who were too uppity? did Victorian England have absolute authority and control over the media?
the industrial revolution gave birth to communism and capitalism in its modern forms. China has adopted the modern forms of communism and capitalism, and then went through the industrial revolution. Combine that with a throughly Chinese obsession with learned bureaucratic efficiency (it's not hard to understand the derivation of the term "mandarin": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat)) [wikipedia.org], and the absolute power wielded by the grumpy old technocrats in Beijing, and you have the makings of a slave state unlike any that has existed in the history of the world.
China is special, and not in a good way. It takes the worst excesses of Communist and Capitalist philosophies to derive a brutal machine of production. Which is fine if you are rich and live in Shanghai. Not so good if you are a poor slave, which is what the majority of Chinese are becoming. Denied the right to express themselves or speak openly, denied a justice system which has their best interests in mind, and ruled over by alternately corrupt local bosses and ideologues concerned about building a modern colossus, regardless of the human and environmental costs, and you have the life of the modern Chinese slave.
Its not pretty and the machine is growing in power every day. Worry about that. China needs human rights, or soon we won't have human rights.
Re:'monotonous work and intensive training' (Score:3, Interesting)
that's such a brilliant idea that I would be surprised if it hasn't already happened.
Perhaps Jeff Bezos will try to patent that too!
[Nod]
i used to be addicted to civilization 4 (Score:3, Interesting)
the interbalance in the game between military strength, economic strength, strategic resources, domestic tranquility, and scientific research is compelling and "can also be a unique tool for understanding the world" as you say
that being said, i was a fucking addict. its hard to say the same thing about books and magazines. the timesuck represented by the "just one more turn" impulse, and watching the sun rise when you thought it was evening: that's addiction, and its dangerous, and its real
stop making excuses for bad behavior