I agree, but this just shows that the best a demsoc can do is mostly meaningless gestures from a place of little geopolitical control. The 'wake up call to violence' part is the major factor for why there is little reason to act like a Third World MLM, even if you subscribe to their theories of change. There is no wake up call only materialist struggle. Currently there is no material incentive to revolt. However, this distinction arguably makes me a Dengist, but I don't think MLM directly contradicts social development theory. Idk, mostly I just think how China has been handling things is smart, if kinda near-sighted, but you have to be doing that if you want to take advantage of U.S. markets. You have to sacrifice the long term for the short term because otherwise you get crushed. Very stupid system, but it's way better to have more industry than less when the resources begin to dry up. When those conflicts happen, and the system of control is more focused on real (as opposed to our usual imagined) external enemies, that is when shit will probably get real for both the U.S. and China, and then we will see what the better strategy is, neglecting your population so they don't even realize they've abandoned you, or making people love your government so much through material improvements that they will perform it's functions voluntarily. I have no idea who will win this.

And before you ask, no I am not an accelerationist, I don't want this outcome. I just see it as a historical inevitability, and I just don't see a point in wasting precious resources fighting it. Learning to garden, as ineffectual as it may be large scale (though many other, more rural countries supplement their caloric intake with home gardens, city people are better off just using the centrally planned grocery-corner store setup), is probably a better use of your time and money than contributing to a U.S. demsoc who will never have a pinky on the tiller of power. Unless it's for like mayor or city council, they can be useful there.