Google Crawls Into China
Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel at Google, has posted a defense of the compromises his company made to do business in China. While I would prefer to see Google stand by its avowed principles rather than kneel before tyrants, the company's decision is the only realistic option under the rules of capitalism.
Those rules are the problem. And it falls to the U.S. government to change them. If the government can negotiate free trade with foreign nations, it should also be able to negotiate free expression with them as well. It's often said we export our culture and values through Hollywood. That being the case, the U.S. should insist that our trading partners accept our rights as well as our goods. Democracy ought to be one of our major exports.
