Before I came to China I never understood how the word "freedom" could be perceived in so many different ways. Have you had any experience which really opened up your eyes to this fact?

In Chinese education, freedom and responsibility are put together, and the two are inseparable.

I am just glad that at least one person (even just one) see China the way I see and respect our value and culture in this world. Thank you so much!

This has to be one of the best video by Olly. You look calm and collected. Your argument has been sound, without being intimidating. Well done.

Well at the last count the Chinese people were most numerous tourists, travelling all over the world and all return home. If the western media were to be believed then there would be hundreds of thousands seeking political asylum, but no, all we see is happy people returning home after their holiday.❤️🇨🇳

Freedom is relative, it's not absolute. You cannot use your freedom to infringe upon another person's freedom, or use your freedom for harm. In other words, you have consider how your freedom will impact another person's life. If you live with other people, you have to sacrifice some freedom for the sake of society. If you want total freedom, you have to go live out in the nowhere. You cannot just go shot somebody if you feel like it. If you cannot just insult somebody if you feel like it. There are limits to your freedom if you live in a society, you have use it responsibly. There is a cost associated with irresponsible behaviours. So freedom is not completely free if you live in a society in the sense you can do whatever because if that's the case, then there is no control what kind of behaviours are accepted and it can be used to hurt other people. You need to put limits to what you can do. Imagine if we live in a society where people can just do whatever they want. Then everybody what be fighting with each other whenever they are frustrated. Please use freedom for the goodness of this world, not for evil. Not like the USA, chanting freedom but dropping bombs on other people.

Well said, thank you for sharing and explaining this important cultural and philosophical differences, I agreed 100%. Also, I wish your dad a speedy recovery, and keep your videos coming. ❤️from 🇨🇦, cheers.

作为一个中国人，我们理解的自由是积极的，具体的，而非抽象的，消极的。对我们来说，自由意味着免于饥饿，自由意味着免于被威胁，自由意味着安全，自由意味着自由的生活。 我们并不把散布仇恨和恶意的言论看成自由，也不把个人拥有枪支看成自由--相反，我们认为这是对其他人的安全的一种潜在威胁，它妨碍了其他人免于恐惧的自由。我们也不把攻击政府和分裂社会看成一种自由，与此相反，我们有人大会议的提案制度，对于如何更好的运行社会形成讨论，最后产生可以执行的方案和政策。 怎样的自由才是好的自由？也许在网络空间里会一直争论下去，谁也说服不了对方。但若你有机会生活在其中，你将会对这种非常具体的自由有更加真切的感受。

You've grown so much over the past 2 years Oli!!!!1

If you believe China is a peaceful and progressive nation, raise your hand 🙋✋🔥

It is amazing to see such mature viewpoints from a man at such young age.

Great explanation of freedom. Lots of us forget one word that follow freedom, that word is "responsibility"

I don't think Assange is free, he is actually in jail for publishing the truth.

Well shared of thought. If I could add on then I would like to share the word 'Respect'. We often hear people say please respect my freedom of this and that... But, I personally feel that many people has forgotten the word 'Respect'. Like you have shared, people expects freedom without restrain or boundry but never thought is that feasible. If everyone also has freedom without restrain and boundry, I wonder how choatic the world can be. The world is still not chaotic is not because all of us knowing how to respect but because governed by laws and regulation. A true freedom can only be achieved when everyone start respecting others and accepting deversity even without laws and regulations.

Your analysis and elaboration of the essence of freedom are superb in terms of perspectives from different angles. What a change that I can see in you in the past two years, Oli! I have been enjoying your videos more and more. By the way, best wishes to your dad for his health!

Hi Oli thanks for your great videos, wish and pray for the quick recovery of your dad . Julian Assange is the person who can explain what western style freedom means

East is East and West is West, never the Twain shall meet......each to its own devices. Nations should mind their own businesses and stop interfering in other nations affairs. If you don't want others to dictate to you then don't do it to others. Good topic Ollie 👍

Well said, every word spoken defined the difference in perception between the West and China’s definition of the word Freedom.

Thank you for bringing out the security camera topic. As a Chinese living in Canada, I really wish there are more security cameras is Canada. I wouldnt let my mom walk dog after sunset. And when I go out when its dark I always worry and be vigilant of the surrounding even though I live in a fairly ok community. I always hear and see people criticize China for having too many cameras that the government can spy its citizens and track everyone, and if they were to live in a society like that they would feel a part of their freedom is taken. Every time I hear someone say that I always get a big WTF in my mind. Like WTF makes you so important and interesting that the government wants to send time and recourse to watch you 24/7? What even makes you think you deserve the attention? Why would any government wants to spend so much recourses to watch its 1.4 billion citizens go about their average day, day after day? For what?

Having lived in UK for over 20 years and now stay in China, I think there is a profound difference in understanding freedom. Chinese people think it is important to repect other people's interests while have their own freedom. It is very similar to Japaness concept that you should not bring troubles to others. For example, in terms of wearing masks, Western freedom emphasis on that it is my own right not to wearing them. However, Chinese people think you should wear them as by not doing so, you may spread the virus to others and you should not have the right doing so. Which one is better depends on your social background but judging from the Covid-19 results, I think the Chinese way is more reasonable. Chinese people also think a lot of political correctness practices are ridiculous.

Oil的观点非常接地气且客观，在两年的时间里能有这样的见解，非常难得👍👍👍

You spoke the truth. I am a Chinese Singaporean. l witnessed my country (Singapore) evolved from a very poor disunited place into one of the better countries in the world. Yes, l valued freedom... freedom to enjoy security, a home, future development, good public facilities, stable income, good quality of life these are real freedom. Always debating and arguing between political parties and party supporters - the hallmark of Western freedom and democracy is not what l like my country to have.

Westerners mostly seek Freedom from the outside (desires). Easterners attain Freedom from the inside (inner peace). When the mind is not in peace, you will never see beauty in the world.

Because you are a foreigner, you get different treatment. You can watch Twitter and oil pipes. Ordinary people in China can't do that. If you are ordinary people in China, you won't think that Chinese people have enough freedom!i am a Chinese,i know!

freedom is most important/prioritized thing for people who does NOT really have it...

I totally agree with you about China and I love the country and its people

我是中国人，我拥有着我想要以及我需要的自由，只要你不犯罪，那么你就可以在中国过上你想要的生活，当然前提是你要为之奋斗。 在中国，犯罪的判定和很多国家的定义差不多一样的，例如杀人放火非礼强奸抢劫偷盗等等，只要你做一个合法的公民（人），那么你就可以随意支配你的人生，例如凌晨5点在山顶看日出，早上在户外进行锻炼跑步，中午在餐厅公园商场吃午餐，下午在阳台或者咖啡厅喝咖啡，傍晚漫步在海边看夕阳，晚上外出喝啤酒、唱歌跳舞、聚会直至凌晨，最重要的是，在一天之中我们不用为我们的人生安全感到担心。 这个视频做的非常好，在中国，并不会在你的私人领域安装摄像头，公众场合是有摄像头，如马路上的摄像头用来拍摄车辆违章，商场内的摄像头是商场老板安装的，我们也可以在自己家门口安装摄像头，并不会被国家监控。 非常谢谢你为我们所做的澄清

When I visited China, no one seemed troubled or under pressure, all happy little puddings actually.

There's a huge gap between RESPONSIBLE freedom from SENSELESS freedom.

FREEDOM? Ask Meng Wanzhou what she thinks of freedom in the West 😂 Freedom to get kidnapped 💥

Me, Chinese, When talking about the world"freedom", there is only one voice coming out from my head :TATAKE! TATAKE!🤣🤣who can get me?

I like your ideas Barrett! Thank you for bringing this amazing content!

Many people don't know that Chinese socialism is more like the Singapore, not the Soviet Union or North Korea. This is also due to the uniqueness of Chinese history and Chinese culture. Of course, China used to be more like the Soviet model, and at the same time it made many mistakes and disasters. But you need to know that China from an ancient society, the end of the Qing Dynasty, from a history of humiliation to colonization, to the 21st century, only more than a hundred years. China has tried many methods, a lot of wrong roads and a lot of lessons learned, even before 1949 also. And now, finally found the correct modern economic route.

Hi Barret, thanks your great work that may wake some people to open eye to see the whole world rather than just western.

Appreciate so much your video with English Chinese subtitles, your topics on Freedom are truly well spoken and the many examples you brought out are really good.. Thanks 👍 handsome man, Keep it up

I’d never thought the relationship among the goverment vs. the monopolies vs. the citizens as a whole. Very good point to demonstrate the diversity of freedom.

第一，关于投诉政府/企业（特别是国企，私企还可能和稀泥，国企就很守规矩），现在有非常高效的途径，可以打市长热线，可以向主管部门投诉。一般都会有反馈，处理到你满意为止 第二，关于选举……刚才社区刚打电话叫我去投票选人大代表……

Opening our minds to learn from all our experiences makes us wiser. You are becoming a wise international citizen for real. Hope more people can be enlightned with your videos about China.

I traveled to the states for 5 months during the highest peak of Covid back in january 2020. I planned to stay a bit longer as international travel was very risky so i pay$450 for my tourist visa extension. I got rejected and forced to leave the country. I left the country and traveled to China and stayed in China from june 2020 to august 2021. China allowed me to extend my visa without problem. So, where is the freedom, where is the human rights America continuously boast about.

I am a mainland Chinese writer. Actually, in china, you don't have right to speak out your voice. Human beings only repeat history, all the darkness is covered by beautiful appearance

說的很好 每個國家國情不同 要尊重對方的文化 人民過的好才是最重要的

Freedom is what is left after all laws and rules are applied! Freedom, Arrrggghhh!

Well said Oli. Generally speaking, the Chinese are collectivist, while the Westerners tend to be individualistic. In today's globalized society, it is important to have an open mind to accept diverse cultures and values.

真棒的分析，如果在中国你不做犯罪的事情，你就是最自由的

Good for you that you are wise at your young age. I am sure you will be successful in life.

Australian government is in the process to make it law to be unable to criticize leaders on social media , what they mean is protecting America leaders and if they are lucky Aussie leaders too!

作为一个中国人，我很感激能看到如此公正客观的评价。我说说一个本土大陆人对freedom的看法。 在一些方面，我们看似放弃一部分freedom，比如私人信息，刷脸还有指纹，是因为一种顾全大局的信任，为了能统一管理并方便尽可能多的大多数人。任何事都是有利有弊，如果这些私人信息能不被滥用而是科学统一妥善管理，那么看似没有freedom实际是不留下任何让黑暗滋生的死角。这是为什么到处是监控，女孩子能夜晚独自安然在大路上，支付宝的使用率超过现金的原因。 当然，西方对个人权利的高度重视也令人起敬，毕竟，每个人的自由，权利得到充分重视，人性的充分解放，这个国家，这个世界，才会越来越好。 I hope everybody all over the word can understand each other.we can communicate peacefully l am not good at English.thank you.

wow, for 2 years, now you are way more mature than any kids in UK.

我们中国公民有好几条投诉政府不作为或执政失误的途径啊。且都非常高效率的。希望作者您多了解下。

The best summary you've given, "the social justice war". This is a really ironic term when someone pushes "freedom" idealogy to others. Yes, if Chinese social media were popular among US, I would believe Trump would choose Chinese social media at a time for publishing his national assertions. :-) Now he his constructing his own.

In my opinion: the freedom to eat is absolutely the foundational freedom. Without it, any other freedom is completely valueless. That China has removed the fear of not finding the next meal for oneself or one's family, is a powerful argument in favour of the idea that China is, in fact, freer than any other major country. Without a home to call your own, you are not free, in many western countries, to get a job or a bank account or a pension and many people are, in fact, homeless. So how are they "free"? They are free to vote? You sure of that?

You have described the subject of freedom in both countries exactly 100% right,and you are very articulate.I love your video.❤️❤️❤️

The concept of freedom is different between the West and the East. The West consider freedom as individual freedom or rights, whereas in the east, freedom is a collective freedom or rights. In the east, we dont have the right to bear arms because it might cause danger to the society. But in the west individual has the right be own guns to defend themself.

for me, i wish my gov have camera at every single street. if im not a bad guy, i dont know y i should afraid of the security camera? gov spy on every single citizen?? what for?? lmao

Excellent work Barrett! I would recommend my friends in the UK to watch it. Can you also talk about human rights, another commonly critique from the West, in another video please?

Thank you for sharing your perspectives on this topic, Oli. Really enjoyed watching this video. I immigrated to the US at a very young age but growing up in a Chinese household, I completely agree with your take on this topic. In the US, people (some not all) can be very judgemental and narrow minded especially those who grew up or live in rural areas. They grew up with the mindset that the US is the biggest powerhouse in the world. The US government wants other developing countries such as China, need to listen and follow the Western methods of doing things. This is so wrong. What you said about some people being ignorant and naive are so true. It amazes me how some people can be like that. You hit the home run about the West doesn't need to interfere with China or vice versa (I don't recall the exact wording you used), every country has their own methods of governing their own society. Lastly, social media in the West is awful, and they do an excellent job on brain washing individuals who have never visited other countries. So many people around me always commented saying "China is communist, they do this and that. I saw it on xxxx news." Not just China, but other countries in Asia, Africa, or South America. They've never been there and they don't know what people are like there. The "news" only provider their biased opinions through their channel, it's never neutral. To truly understand one's culture, we should all visit the country and learn/observe from those who live there. Thank you for sharing, always good to watch your videos. Stay healthy and safe!

Thumbnail is hilarious! Great topic btw, freedom and democracy are center in western values, but our understanding of those ideas is limited by our history. Glad that you both are working to bridge the gap

Freedom is as free as air in any countries including in China, as long as you don't break the law.

im a chinese middle school student and I actually want to say that there are someone telling the truth. u told the right thing. I live in a small city of china and i enjoy a safe place. We have enough police officers and we are protected in security. im really pround of being a chinese. In our politic lessons, freedom and respnsibility are inseparable. so u have some limits to enjoy your freedom in china. so some people judge china easily through these limits. Hope more people in western countries understand china better through these videos.

真的是个很好的KZfaqr，非常感谢你能在KZfaq上为我们发声，千言万语汇聚成一句话，感谢

Damn I’m early to the party, love the videos mate

喜欢你客观的态度。千万不要刻意亲华，更不要反华，仅仅说出你的观点就行。让西方人更了解东方，让东方人更理解西方

When I was in China, I heard people talked shit about the government all the time. Some teachers like to talk about that too. None of them were detained or fined. I have even seen little posters talking shit about a particular government officer. Not really a problem. The government has bigger problem to worry about. It would be more of a problem if someone/organization is doing it in an organized way though.

Ollie, my god... this is the best video you have made (and I have been watching the Barrett's videos since your dad provided the daily situation of COVID in China). In your early days in China, you impressed me as an ordinary young man from UK (I have lived in UK since 1967 and am well versed with the Saturday night drinking mob to the University young lads). This video showed how matured, intelligent and developed person you have become. Your presentation has improved with each video. Indeed, in this video not only is a single word not superfluous, every single word is vital. Your dad must be so proud with how much you developed since arriving in China. Once again, my hat off to you!

the reason why our Chinese are willing to give up some privacy is that we trust our security system.

Thanks great wisdom and these are the kind of video I enjoy. I'm a British born Chinese and even I ask the question about China because the information I got was always stereo type but thanks to shows like yours I can think for myself .👍

Amazing video

One of your best videos 👍. Keep up the great work!

Thank you. I hope more foreign friends will come to China to have a look, meet Chinese friends, and experience the real China for themselves, instead of being cheated by the media, because we all know there are political reasons.

The prerequisite for freedom is to have a harmonious, stable and safe country. There is no point in freedom without these empty talks. If a country tells a dilapidated country that you must have freedom and human rights, otherwise it will send troops to intervene and let you have human rights and freedom. As a result, the people suffering from the perennial war have been miserable. Those countries that wield the human rights stick are doing human rights violations in other countries, messing up other countries and then leaving and leaving behind a lot of mess. Is this the human rights and freedom that the West believes in?

As a Chinese now live in Germany, I have to say that there are not so much difference between western countries and China. Citizens both have the freedom to criticize the capitalists and capitalism. The only difference is that in western countries capitalists made up the government. With China’s reform and opening up, ideological constraints have become less obvious, and the Chinese government will never give power to capital. So the only way is to build government credibility, in other words Chinese government is not only a institution but a kind of belief as well. I think that's why Chinese government has so much power.

When I heard people saying wearing mask violate their freedom, how small your freedom is.

Freedom to USA is the right to arms and lies or say whatever they want.

很棒的一集！

good speech！

感谢你对中国的认可！很开心大家能用越来越客观的眼光看待中国🇨🇳。

Good reflection, Oli 👍. I hope more people will do the same - stop and reflect on their internalized beliefs, values, perceptions etc, ask ourselves questions, look up information- history, facts…… Just don’t jump to conclusions too easily, especially when it involves hatred or aggression towards others.

作为一名中国人很荣幸能看到这个视频,也很开心国际友人可以通过这种方式更加的了解现在的中国而不是进行一昧的批判。

In China, at least from junior high school, students are taught "rights and obligations are united" in class. So, for example, you have the right of speaking freely, but meanwhile, you should fulfill obligations of respecting others' rights and not damaging benefits of the country. I think it's reasonable, because without fulfilling obligations, like respecting others' rights, it's selfishness but not freedom; and without fulfilling rights, it's the negation of human rights (in which western countries criticizing Chinese government fiercely). Simply, if you respect the country and others, then you can live freely and happily in China.

Emm……I agree with you. Freedom is a very broad term,and as you know,many people can consider what freedom is from different perspective.There is no absolute standard for it.

The West’s “civilising” quest is honestly nothing greatly different to colonialism

about the safety, i think the big difference between China with some other country is that, “why China doesn't have so much crime” VS “why other country need/want to do crime”. China is one of the most not aggressive country. China just want to live peacefully. if you like me, ok let us happy together, if not, ok i won't bother you again. No offense speaking, for now most developed countries have the history of colony and plunder. even old China give values to other small country to show the strong and power, but not with war or plunder

thank you Barrett

Good work done Magnificent young man.

You really explained how "freedom" is in different countries quite thoroughly. I can use your video now as a reference to tell people about China's freedom. You are wise beyond your age.

For Asians in general Collectivism is far more important than individualism.

Twitter will not bring you in jail for violating their own terms. Neither the ability to make you physically disappear, at least by law.

A Chinese student went to US to attend a summer camp. He did not like US because it was lack of freedom - too many restrictions in US. It is understandable, as there are many rules and regulations to follow in the western countries!

中国的历史教会我们，如果统治阶级没办法得到民心，那就要去暴力推翻，所以从某种意义上来说，中国的执政党是靠人民暴力选出来的，如果一个国家的执政党不得民心，那么国家的法律根本就得不到国家暴力机关的执行，就像是警察，军队等。因为说白了警察军人脱下那件制服也只是个普通的民众而已。当我们发现问题，我们可以通过网络和媒体表达自己的诉求。如果你愿意花一点时间去翻翻看微博等平台的一些人的言论，你会发现其实言论还是挺自由的。当问题没办法通过政府的变革而解决而这些问题已经严重的影响到大多数人的时候，那就还是老祖宗教的那一套，使用暴力革命推翻政权，再建立一个新的政权。

You are a very wise young man

Thank you very much for making this video. What a fair and deep insight! Totally agreed with you! You truly are an international citizen. Hope everyone in this world can be like you.

Oh Shenzhen , can I buy you a coffee when I visits Shenzhen next time ?:)

I love all your videos!!!! I can tell that you’ve put a lot of thought into making all your videos so authentic and rich. Just an idea here, have you thought about changing the titles of your videos into something more positive too? Because I know your point is actually very positive, but the title sounds precisely the opposite :D.

Free Julian Assange’s Freedom of speech lol

So happy I discovered your unique perspective and wise observations. Thank you for being you!

🥰🥰🥰🙏🙏🙏This is the first time I got to see your video . One of the best and meaningful videos I have seen lately . You indeed opened my eyes to see things i couldn’t see . Thanks so much for sharing . Well said and done

We believe that everyone should have the same freedom, the rich and the poor, the leaders and the general staff, the good and the bad person. If we have to make some trade-offs, we tend to reduce the freedom of those who do bad things, and in China, we can criticize the government if they make bad decisions or policies, but we can't destroy the government because it undermines the freedom of others. We prefer more equality than freedom.

You are wrong to say that Chinese cannot criticize the government in public and online. We can, and often do. Go to a small street corner in any city and you'll see a bunch of old people sitting around chatting about the communist Party's latest policies, or talk to taxi drivers, especially in Beijing, and they'll tell you everything the government is doing. Online, especially on Weibo, there was more criticism. The only problem is, you don't understand our language ,so you have no idea these things exist. This is also the problem of most westerners, who cannot understand China deeply.

Freedom exists as long as you are following the party, if not, you will have nothing.

China is love ♥️🇨🇳