This is a partial rewrite of something I wrote quite a while ago while reading about so-called re-education camps in China. An estimated million-plus people are thought to be incarcerated in these places, which in every sense appear to be the equivalent of concentration camps.

Based on the testimony of survivors, prisoners are routinely tortured, beaten, deprived of food and sleep, degraded, and made to sing songs in praise of the government. Isolated from their families, they must also allegedly submit to regular medical exams for which they do not receive the results. The sinister significance of these procedures is not lost on their recipients: they are tormented by the prospect of ending up in an organ harvesting centre.

The majority of people who are imprisoned appear to be there for no reason other than that they belong to an undesirable minority group (side note: this is our largest trading partner).

In re-reading my original blog I was struck by how stressed and unhappy I was at the time by a couple of things going on in my professional life. Then I was reminded by how so much in life depends on context and perspective.

The following thoughts occurred to me then, and most of them remain true:

• I am not cruelly deprived of my liberty.
• Apart from a mild hamstring injury, my health is excellent. I also have access to a world-class medical system.
• At the time of writing I earned a decent wage. My income has fallen since, but I remain free of debt and a mortgage.
• Pre-COVID-19 I had regular contact with friends. I could also happily talk to my immediate family, all of whom are still alive. The consequence of social isolation has, of course, meant no face-to-face socialising, but I nonetheless remain close to many people that I can talk to on the phone and online.
• There is no immediate threat to my safety and there is no danger to my health.
• I am mobile and have a car that is in relatively good condition.
• My living situation is excellent . Although the place I live in has some minor problem, I am located in a desirable suburb and I am anything but physically isolated.

The forced deprivation described previously is not unique to China’s Uyghur minority. Comparable persecution occurs in Syria, Chechnya, North Korea, Iran… It has occurred historically, in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, South Africa, the United States… And regardless of your position on immigration, a comparable injustice also occurs to many desperate refugees and asylum seekers in detention centres in places like Nauru Island. They’re not living with the threat of gas chambers or of organ harvesting, but many of them remain unjustly deprived of their liberty.

It’s facts like these that can help us re-asses our own situation.

There are things that I experience every day that I take for granted which to someone, locked in a compound for years, would consider a source of delight.

What if it happened to you?

Suppose I was a prisoner, deprived of basic freedoms, isolated, alone, degraded, in control of so little, and forced to live in an Orwellian nightmare.

If I was then offered the opportunity to switch places with my unhappy, stressed-about-work self from when I wrote this – with my regular salary, my daily takeaway latte and morning exercise routine and comfy chair in my office job, as well as my excellent health, short work commute, mobility and liberty – I would probably complain about very little.