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Once again I am impressed at China's ability to deal with problems in a forward thinking manner to avoid the deaths of millions.
china once again proving that they arent capitalist to the naysayers. no capitalist would shut down major economic ports like this
capitalism is when you have markets and the more markets you have, the capitalister it is
It's sad that capitalists (and some anti-China marxists) still think this despite the fact that markets have existed in nearly all pre capitalist societies since the advent of agriculture. It's because they want to believe that capitalism is a "natural" outgrowth of markets being freed from the bonds of feudalism rather than a change in the social relations of laborers and property owners. also they just refuse to understand imperialism and capitalist encirclement, and that the transition from capitalism to communism in China is being managed by a ruling socialist party rather than simply being abolished overnight, which would destabilize and jeopardize the future of the entire chinese socialist project.
:very-smart: folks gotta read ellen meiksins "Origin of Capitalism"
I'm still a relatively baby socialist but when I got through Graeber's Debt and read the part where he said that markets and capitalism are actually not only not necessarily found together but are actually completely antithetical (as well as the parts about China historically that ring true to this day), I was like "huh, maybe I am a Dengist"
You claim they care about the future deaths of millions, but won't shutting down the cities produce a surge of poverty as bill collectors impoverish the unemployed who are then jettisoned out of their homes by rapacious landlords?
Oh, wait. Mr. Parenti is tapping me on the shoulder and waving a note.
The Megan McArdle tactic: if you think about it, if you lock down Chinese citizens in their homes, then this might actually decrease the mental and physical health of the people living there, and honestly who can say if the costs are worth that? Every action has far-reaching and unforeseen consequences and who are we to say that... uhhh... saving millions of lives from death and long-term disability... is, uh.... ah, shit.
Unlike you fake patriots, I am more than willing to forgo treats for the health of the best country of the world. :deng-cowboy: :xi-clap:
Go China, best country around currently and a major hope for humanity.
Read something about Shenzhen(?) locking down on the corona :reddit-logo: . I don’t know the first thing about these places but I guess they have electronics industry ties with HK - anyway the way folks were talking about it I got the impression they cared way more about what it could mean for their mining rigs than anything else. It’s pretty cool.
I don’t know the first thing about these places but I guess they have electronics industry ties with HK
HK has historically been the bagman for Shenzhen. The financial capital abutting an industrial center, through which westerners and ex-pats can launder their investment cash without running afoul of the various trade rules and legacy sanctions leveled against Communist China.
As Shenzhen grew and mainlanders spilled over the dividing line into Hong Kong, the financial capital fell more in line with the rest of the country. The tipping point - Carrie Lam's appointment to HK's Chief Executive spot - triggered a wave of reactionary sentiment from western-backed oligarchies, their families, and their cronies that resulted in a year of protest just prior to the outbreak of COVID.
But they've always been functionally joined at the hip.
Funnily enough, the Capitalist economy needs them to. Look at how the supply chain is shitting itself with these limited lockdowns. Imagine if they had the death toll and "labor shortages" the US is experiencing.
And the sheer density of Chinese cities means that transmission is much more likely. Its actually incredible how well its been controlled so far.
Imagine if they had the death toll and “labor shortages” the US is experiencing.
Got bored and punched some numbers. If China had the same amount of its population dead from covid as the US, there would be about 4.1 million dead Chinese people as opposed to about the 8,600 that have actually died
No idea what 4.1 million dead people would do to the Chinese economy though because I don't know anything about the economy of China
You're forgetting long covid. One of the biggest things effecting productive capacity in the west right now is the millions and millions of people that have recovered, but are still weakened and sick compared to how they were before.
I'm not sure. It really depends on how much doing their neo-liberal reforms have gutted their state's capacity to sustain medical intervention on the public.
I think because of their rapid development the Chinese are willing and able to put up with alot more government intervention because of general good-will, and because of that the government has basically created another entire economy dedicated to the COVID prevention. Like factories making masks, and thermometers, people making vaccines and research grants, and people getting paid to stand in the streets and check people and at the front of buildings, and the IT for their tracing, etc. It has been pretty good for the Chinese economy and most of the time, people are living their normal social lives, without disease, and it appears there is a social pressure to maintain that, from within the government, and from the populace. As long as that market remains healthy, which it should unless China runs out of material to produce stuff with, they should be able to sustain it indefinitely. The question is if they have the wherewithall to not cut funding to it if the economy turns south and/or they begin to stall on growth, which idk on that one, they appear to be making mostly good choices so far and I can't read Chinese so I'm speculating after that.
Might be worth considering the Chinese political culture as well. There's a long-rooted belief in a kind-of Mandate From Heaven. Good leaders are blessed with fair weather and good fortune. Bad leaders are plagued by natural disasters and wars and the like.
Keeping pandemic at bay is as much a matter of political necessity as economic necessity. Unlike in the States, when a plague rips through the population, Chinese people start insisting that their leadership needs to GTFO. And given the stakes at play, that would make Beijing a ripe target for US regime-change strategies.
Yes, zero covid is better than lie flat and let's it's infect everyone, especially with Deltacron on the loom. Also, one of the leaders in the province got demoted for letting covid run away, when he should stamp it out.
Good thing we just stopped reporting on new cases or I might feel like I'm in danger.
Like, the UK is rising because of BA2 and potentially with Deltacron, no reason why the US will not follow their dog foot step
My coworkers were scoffing at China for closing down the country again, because obviously :amerikkka: has the right idea
China: shuts down the country and stamps covid out.
USA: Plugs their ears and goes la la la la can't hear you, until they forget that covid exists.
Letting millions of people get sick and/or die will do wonders for the supply chain
I just got a Google notification on my phone for some "trending article". Let me quote it for you guys:
https://news.yahoo.com/covid-finally-spins-control-china-130734740.html
COVID Finally Spins Out of Control in China as New Variant Takes Hold
China appears to be losing the battle to contain COVID-19, but it’s not yet ready to admit defeat.
[1 paragraph later...]
For those in the Americas or Europe, the case numbers reported from China still seem pretty small: Authorities confirmed 1,337 new locally transmitted cases in mainland China on Monday. By contrast, the U.K. is currently seeing more than 200,000 cases a day, according to the main COVID tracker.
Like, do these bastards even try anymore? They are now spelling out in their own articles, "we are using alarmist rhetoric to make China look like it's doing worse than it actually is".
as of now, with their number, seem like there's a lot of asymptomatic, prove that their vaccine works.
(locally diagnosed + asymptomatic infections)
9th, "402+435"
10th, "397+703"
11th, "476+1048"
12th, "1807+1315"
13th, "1337+788"
There's a window for them to stop the circulation and not go down hong kong route where bunch of idiots manage the city, or their neighbor SK
