America's corporate cooption in China's oppressive activities is shameful. Political philosopher Charles de Montesquieu said that "The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy." With China, , we're seeing this play out in real-time. China's control and censoring of its own citizens is disturbing, but predictable. But the number of American corporations and media willing to censor themselves is what's really stunning

With access to 1.4 billion consumers at stake, corporations like Nike and the NBA, and most Hollywood studios have bowed to China's demands, apologizin profusely for any perceived offense. Ahead of the Olympics, house speaker Nancy Pelosi warned athletes not to speak up against human rights abuses while in China.

Clearly, those with the most money to lose are wiling to stay silent on human rights abuses. human dignity

Which makes China's evils not just a "them" problem. It's an "us" problem, too. Freedom of speech is only as good as what it is used for.

Let's hope we start using it for something better: speaking the truth.