Foolish and Backward Nation (2012) | Hacker News Reader

Foolish and Backward Nation (2012)

theatlantic.com

46 pointsTomte12 comments

It was good except the game part being only partly true. We have tons of hunters in this country, esp in rural areas. They bag and eat deer all the time out here. I love me some deer sausage, too.

Bribe joke is off a bit, too, given how much our laws and policies are driven by campaign contributions. America is strong on bribery. They just restrict it in ways that make sure the "right" people get the bribes. ;)

I found it a good read, too.

Hey, it's not bribery when you have a legal setup for it. It's 'lobbying', 'post public office career options', 'match making fees', 'incentives for key stakeholders'. Wouldn't want to get in trouble in the vilage now, would we ? :)

Would have been more impressive if The Atlantic had simply printed it without the spoiler comment.

"44,000 retweets"

What the hell was this ever written about? 44k retweets in China? How many posts get 44k retweets every 60 seconds in China? I'd guess it's in the double digits.

Twitter is blocked in China.

e: my bad, TFA also uses these exact words.

Yes it is. He means the Chinese 'equivalent' which is called Weibo.

This is unfair. We have to read the translation that went viral in China to know if they misinterpreted it or not. Perhaps they understand fully that it is sarcastic, and by sharing it they are supporting the original ideas. Otherwise the translation was written in such a way that the sarcasm was easily lost.

Imagine the reverse happening from a Chinese source.

Chinese citizens veil government criticism using innuendo ranging from obvious to subtle as a means to avoid censorship etc. Westerners often miss this subtext. The innuendo in TFA is so blunt that the translation is believable.

It's not an ad litteram translation, but we will still obviously lose some of the more subtle linguistics.

the main point comes across obviously and nicely, and is about as subtle as A Modest Proposal.

Would you like to come up and see my etchings ? Better still, stay here and I'll bring them down. :)

Unfair? Who misinterpreted it? What went viral wasn't a translation, it was the Chinese original. I'm having trouble understanding your point, this may be why you are being downvoted.

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