Just sick...

...is the only way to describe this article from TCS Daily concerning Google's capitulation to China's anti-democratic internet regulation. First the author, James V. DeLong, cites favorably this assessment by George Mason University economist Thomas Hazlett:

"The terms of the agreement struck will push modern communications yet further in a basically authoritarian society. That triggers an underlying dynamic that ultimately, will undermine restrictions, allowing civil liberties -- not Chinese government censors -- to triumph."

So, undermining human rights will only strengthen the cause of human rights activists in the future? I guess slaveowners and racists did the right thing after all, since they gave blacks a visible enemy to fight against in the end.

Next, DeLong argues against China "aping" Western-style freedom of speech because, as you may not have heard, "democracy in the West is in serious jeopardy." What sort of jeopardy, you might ask? It turns out that the government and the citizens are no longer listening to the market: "The rule of law may have to start at the top and then extend downward, and be followed by a broad voting franchise only after the basics of industrial development are firmly in place." Now, I agree that pure democracy needs to be buttressed by civil society, non-governmental organizations, etc, but DeLong would constantly have us believe in his argument that industrial capitalism is the true cornerstone of freedom, or at least the true cornerstone of the sort of society he wants, call it free or not.

(Side note--we also get this gem: "[The U.S.] is now turning on even such innocuous industries as Wal-Mart, for heaven's sake!" Heh...)

In sum, DeLong paints a picture of America as a plebiscite in which all decisions are decided by the mob, when in fact he might rejoice at Supreme Court rulings, executive power, entrenched interests, secret lobbyist dealings, et al. But he also wants to disparage these facts, since they lead to stagntion and not enough competition. He bemoans the rise of the internet and independent news sources as a sign of "demagoguery" when in fact they represent just the sort of choice and competition he espouses. Oh, but they don't make any money, I forgot. In other words, the only form of authority good enough for DeLong in his confusing and confused assessment is unfettered corporate capitalism.

Let me quote at length the final paragraphs of this piece, which I believe speak for themselves. This is not merely a cautionary tale of gradual, piecemeal social engineering, but an actual robust defense of corporations aiding and abetting authoritarianism:

"And given this Chinese view, what should Google do? Google should do what Google does, which is search engines. Google is not a Chinese leader, and it is not the role or duty of Google to tell China how to rule itself, or to tell the Chinese leader dedicated to the betterment of the people how to act, even when what the Chinese government does goes against the grain of American views of free speech.

In the end, search engines, even truncated ones, will contribute to the economic and political development of China, as Hazlett noted. The working out of this story will be one of the great tales of human history, for tragedy or triumph, depending on how it goes.

So Google should happily contribute to this effort, doing what it does, and avoiding the hubris of thinking it is responsible for China, or that it knows the answers. In this situation, good and evil are not self-evident categories."