I already know brainwashing is the CIA taking a scary sounding word that just means to think scientifically and making it a boogeyman (all the while the US Gov was imprisoning and dosing people with LSD for months on end to effectively brainwash them). I'm assuming what's true for the gulag system was true for the Laogai, but some sources would be nice.
Here I am, a foolish westerner, who had no idea Lake Laogai got its name from real world reeducation camps.
I know Bryke are big libs with their creation. Still love their flawed franchise. Even Korra. Actually especially Korra. But I kinda want to go through the shows and books (not the comic books because they’re hopeless) with a fine toothed comb to see what other red scare references there are.
One of the big fearmongering attempts about China in the 90s, they tried to make "Laogai" into the new "Gulag" but it didn't stick, so only the libbest of libs were still making reference to them.