Giving in to the Great Firewall

This site has been run on and off since the fall of 2006, today it is basically dead. It was murdered by the Great Firewall of China, which has blocked blogspot continuously since early June. The crime committed? Originally locating this blog on blogspot.

I've been critical of the government from time to time on this blog, but I've always kept an open, rational mind and tried to see things from the government's point of view. I've never been negative to be negative and I've never attempted to score cheap points by taking the easy way out. I love China, it's my home, and I want to see her get even stronger.

At the same time, I feel beaten down by the government. I can no longer access sites like facebook, blogspot, or twitter. I know how to access a proxy and can get around these bans, but the hassle of it all has made visiting sites that were once part of my daily routine, now they are sporadic at best.

I'm not an enemy of the state, I don't intend on writing things to embarass it, but due to the government's blanket ban, I've fallen victim to it. I get asked at times why the government tries to block information, knowing that things like proxies and VPNs are readily available to get around them.

The answer, because the Great Firewall works. Most, like me, will start to fight at first, but as a site block goes from days to months, we slowly lose the resolve and only the most vigilant continue bothering. I want this site to continue, but the writers outside the Firewall have given up because the number of readers dropped severely after the block, at the same time, writers inside the Wall can no longer write on the site, so everyone just gives up.

If this is the death of this site, then so be it, we'll see if I can continue the good fight. But, if indeed this is the end, for all you "out there", please remember us buried inside the Great Firewall.