I was there and almost got lynched! (Patreon)

Good afternoon one and all! Friday is here and it couldn't have come sooner!

My love for China and my life in China has, in the past allowed me to selfishly overlook or even purposefully disregard things that happened around me, I specifically remember how insane things got during the 2012 anti-japanese riots, I was out there on the streets, I witnessed angry mobs smashing private cars (toyotas, nissans or any Japanese brand), I watched the police purposefully drive one of their old Honda CRV patrol cars into the middle of a large controlled mob, get out of the car, stand back and then let the crowd go and cheer them on as they overturned and destroyed the car. Although I filmed some of the nonsense that was going on, I was either stopped by police but more accurately did not carry my camera with me to stop the crowds turning on me and also I didn't want to film any of this political unrest or bad behaviour, in 2012 I was afraid that by talking about or showing any of this sort of thing on YouTube would be a one way ticket to detention or deportation, I was afraid that I would make my Chinese friends look bad if I showed some of the chaos around me and the mindless actions of their fellow citizens. I was after all still getting on my feet and probably only had around 5000 subscribers and what little appeal my channel had, I felt I had no place talking about politics that didn't concern me.

Things have changed. A long time ago I remember a comment that a subscriber had left on one of my videos, he said: "you can ignore politics, but politics will not ignore you" 

How right he was! As my channel grew and the more notoriety I gained in China things changed. At first it was very positive, I received a lot of positive feedback and praise from the Chinese community as they loved to see the perspective of an outsider, especially an outsider who was enjoying his life and loving China, this praise however was very shallow and led to nothing in the way of real growth or opportunity and to be honest made me feel like someone's pet being looked at for amusement just as a pet owner fawns over a puppy and its cute antics, but when that puppy grows up and chews on your furniture, you might not like it as much anymore.... And that's what happened with me.   

I am an honest man, it is something that I credit to my upbringing, I can't purposefully lie, it bugs me, if I lie I will hate myself and can't live with myself, this has in the past caused me endless problems as very often people do not want to see or hear the truth, I will of course not go out of my way to hurt anyone's feelings so avoiding certain topics and discussions is a good way out of a sticky situation for me.

I want to talk about the video I released today, the one about China needing an enemy. This is the first time I've really felt comfortable enough to talk about this in earnest, and at no small risk to myself and family, I am glad that I took the risk to recant the experiences I've had but my risk has been rewarded with YouTube ensuring that I do not make a single penny out of this video. I'm not in this game to make money (even though YouTube is my living) so the video will remain up regardless as I think it's an important insight into modern China.

I also have a great internal battle going on with myself. I have a great love, admiration and compassion for China but an ever growing resentment towards what's happening there politically and a massive disappointment with how friends I've made along the way have either turned on me or blindly followed the government's instructions to shun foreigners. I am however given hope by the friends and acquaintances I've met who not only agree with what I say but also share the same grievances and want China to change in a positive way just the same as I do. 

To make things clear, I do not wish any ill on China, but I do wish ill on the awful government practices and policies. I do hope that positive change happens in my lifetime!

Cheerful thoughts for your Friday beer! ;)

Now for your weekly ADVChina early release! This week we're back in Vietnam talking about how living with censored internet affects your life way more than you may imagine: 

https://youtu.be/6lM_vvmTB_4

Hope you enjoy it and also hope you managed to catch our second Live show yesterday! 

https://youtu.be/5jcCIUeY7lw

Love you all and can't wait to see you in the next video!

- Stay Awesome!

SerpentZA