That's not whataboutism. That's just a comparison as you pointed out. Whataboutism is when you address a critique of your position by saying, "we're not the only ones though"

I can't think of any strawman arguments I've seen recently from leftists

This post is a strawman. It assumes criticisms of China are centred around infrastructure as opposed to other things. Unless OP specifically made this post in response to someone they had (or are having) a discussion with, I see no reason to generalize this as a position all "liberals" take.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 month ago (17 children)

This post is definitely comparison, though, and not whataboutism. Further, it is valid if the point of critiquing something is to imply something else is better when it can be pointed out that they are similar, the same, or the other is worse.

As for this post, it's pretty clear that it's comparing infrastructure in both countries. Claims of "China bad" are ever-shifting, goal posts moving and entire arguments spring up and fall back down, there's no meme that could genuinely address all of them. Use Occam's razor a bit here.

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