https://www.businessinsider.com/decline-china-international-students-economy-universities-trump-biden-immigration-covid-2022-8

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    We all enjoy the Xi-as-Savior meme shit while kinda tacitly understanding that they've still got a long way to go. But it always gets me to see someone say "Oh no! A Chinese person wearing a designer jeans brand! Communism has failed!"

    Like, wtf does "appearance of the guy you passed in the parking garage last week" have to do with "nation of 1.4B people implementing its next five year plan"? I'll never understand.

    • HodgePodge [love/loves]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      no you see, every person should perfectly match my expectations for a maoist guerrilla in the 1950’s

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Blame :deng-cowboy:

        That said, being a billionaire in China is a dangerous game.

        https://www.forbes.com/sites/raykwong/2011/07/25/friends-dont-let-friends-become-chinese-billionaires/?sh=1d06bdcc2dda

        a Chinese billionaire dies every 40 days...unnatural deaths have taken the lives of 72 mainland billionaires over the past 8 years...15 were murdered, 17 committed suicide, 7 died from accidents and 19 from illness. 14 were executed. (Welcome to China.)

        And while I agree the excesses of the economic elite continue to echo the vulgar displays of western peers, I can't help notice that guys like Jack Ma have chilled out significantly after a couple months in police custody.

        If you're going to have billionaires, this is the way to do it.

        • MikeTysonMaoTattoo [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Yeah thats nice i guess, and i can understand growing pains i just dont want shitheads to ruin good things

          • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I don't know too many national parties more committed to weeding out shitheads than the CCP.

              • s0ykaf [he/him]
                ·
                2 years ago

                has a significant language barrier

                this is the worst part tbh

                i think china has a ton to teach the third world (both about what to do and what not to do), but i don't think i'm gonna get enough good, reliable info without knowing the language and having access to their publications

                for instance, i really wanted to know details about how they've been dealing with the construction/housing sector, which seems to have already reached that level where private companies do more harm than good; this should be the point where nationalization starts if you're really looking into doing a transition

      • HauntedBySpectacle [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        shitty materialistic handbags

        aesthetic distate for bougie items is pointless and counterproductive, and a fucking hilarious reason to say they're not socialist. Eastern Europe was once socialist and they did not have those consumer goods and luxuries that you find so unenlightened and unpure. that was closer to your ideal, I guess. So what happened, why is the socialism gone? I don't want to overstate this, cause there are many reasons why they fell, but come on. we all know what a lot of them wanted.

        consider that most people are not perfectly pure, ultracommunist ascetics with no desire for ""decadent"" consumption. that will not change overnight, maybe ever to some extent, and that reality must be accommodated. luxuries that offend your utopian tastes are a very worthwhile price to pay for a stable, comfortable socialism.

        the billionaires criticism I understand more, I used to agree. read some theory. read Deng himself if that's not enough

          • HauntedBySpectacle [he/him, comrade/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 years ago

            fair enough, but there's a billion and a half of them. whoever you met is just a few anecdotal drops in a sea of humanity. 1/6th of it.

            also, even if there were no Gucci pants, there would still be greedy, destructive people. Boris Yeltsin was born and raised in the USSR his whole life and look what he did.

            • MikeTysonMaoTattoo [he/him]
              ·
              edit-2
              2 years ago

              Yeah i agree and also i obviously met a select group of people that were studying in america in a major that attracts fail children, obviously there are based chinese people out there who may even wear gucci flipflop