Quote from: serenitys on May 15, 2014, 05:01:39 PM

There's a saying here in the USA, I think it initiated from Oprah or someone along those lines about domestic violence and abused women that goes, "The first time, she's a victim. Every time after that, she's an accomplice." Because she makes a choice to stick around and cling to her bad beliefs and conditioning, and indulge her fears of radical change.

The principle is correct (indulge fear) but the extent is different.

Put aside moral choices, in the case of an abused wife, the advantage of breaking away for freedom outweights the risk of looking for another husband, and freedom is a rational choice. If the man, instead of beating the wife as he wish, decides to beat his wife only when she is disloyal to him, she got less incentive to fight for freedom, at least before she fall in love with another.

Chinese living in mainland China enjoys a considerable degree of freedom, in many aspects more than the west. In general you enjoy the seemingly free life, but you know if you touch the lord's 'red line' you are in trouble. The Chinese can't identify themselves with the people in 1984 or "The brave new world", thanks to the current freedom they enjoy, hence these books are not forbidden.

It seems to every individual that the effort to break free brings in China offer little advantage. One cannot be sure freedom is a necessity or just a hobby.