Orwell's 1984=China's 2008: The Golden Shield Project and the "Great Firewall of China"

Thanks to this article in Rolling Stone (of all places) I learned a little about what China is up to these days in preparation for the Olympics and beyond. If you've ever read the book 1984, you know who Big Brother is. But even if you haven't, you probably have a general pop-culture concept of it due to mind numbing programming reality TV. It basically means that everything we're doing is being watched. In China, this is fast becoming reality.

For the big picture read the article, for the short story, pay attention.

Thanks to a "special economic zone," the Chinese government is experiencing the best benefits of capitalism without losing their communist grip on every living being in their borders. They basically turned a muddy farm town into a city of over 12 million people in the span of thirty years, and have set up the hot-spot for CCTV and facial recognition experimentation. They have used this technology to spin the March Tibet riots in their favor within their own nation, and are planning on using it to monitor even rural areas.

I don't want to be painted as a whistle-blower, or a liberal, or an armchair politician, or a conspiracy theorist, or an alarmist, or even an activist for that matter. I just want people around me who may not already know what is happening in the world see a little bit outside the borders of our country. We need to realize that we have the sweet life here, and we need to really work to remember that, as well as to help others far away realize it as well.

We all know that sanctions and laws and treaties and cease-fires and alliances and peace talks really do very little in the long run. What we need to do is have a heart soft enough to realize these aren't just articles that we can read while having our Starbucks Grande Macchiatto and then go back to our nine-to-five. We need to think outwardly...first to those around us everyday, then those around us in our region, then even farther than that...who knows how far God wants us to look as individuals. Maybe that may not stretch farther than the city you're in, but it may spread to China, where people fight for so much and may not realize they have One who fights for them.

America is amazing. Let's keep it that way by not supporting this crud. If you want to spread the word, do that. If you want to not buy anything made in China, definitely do that. But most importantly...realize that the faces and names are souls...souls that need a Savior, just like I do, everyday.

I leave with this verse, on how our perspective should reflect toward the world:

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 1:7-8, ESV (emphasis mine)

Joshua