r/interestingasfuck • u/Red_Lotus_Alchemist • 2d ago

/r/all A Chinese earthquake rescue team deployed drones to light up the night and aid search and rescue operations after the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar.

62.9k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

966

u/jrm70210 2d ago

My cousin, a US Marine, just came back from vacation in China and told me that they're "100 years ahead of us."

This is what happens when you reinforce intelligence over ignorance.

126

u/Fitz911 2d ago

And now think about that they were a hundred years behind just a few decades ago.

45

u/iRonin 2d ago

The reality is that China has spent only a very very small portion of its history being anything less than one of (if not THE) most advanced nations on the planet.

Take a look at Admiral Zheng He’s flagship vs Christopher Columbus’ “Santa Maria”, both from around the same period. The key difference was culture- unlike Western colonial and imperial tendencies, the Chinese eschewed projecting power internationally. The Dragon Throne was the Dragon Throne. Nations could submit tribute to be recognized but were never colonized and rarely traded with. In fact merchants that left China were provided no protections from the empire, for what need did China have of foreign goods? They were (they believed) inferior.

This was a major driving factor in the Opium Wars. Britain wanted to trade for tea, but China wanted nothing from Britain, so the Brits began importing opium (to the ports in the South, the only place they were granted access, far away from the Throne).

4

u/classygorilla 2d ago

I agree but also disagree. I think China's economy is extremely interesting, as it is an open and free economy while the government is a closed dictatorship.

They were very much behind for many years in recent history thanks to Mao. When I lived there (90s-00s) they had a huge poverty problem. Only people in cities had power, water, toilet, phone, as well as very low literacy rates.

Honestly the only reason they are considered advanced right now is because of countries like US, Germany, UK - which brought manufacturing there as it is cheap, they had infrastructure to support, and they were very eager to trade and do business.

Now of course the Chinese know how to make things, they know how to run the plants, they have the materials, they have the industrial infrastructure built up. They are in a very good position but still heavily rely on a lower class to do this work.

I will say finally that when I was there I always felt safe, this is something they do well. They will also not hesitate to use corporal punishment if you do not abide.

•

u/erosannin66 2h ago

I think they know that china was in a bad place they are just saying that this isn't china rising more like reclaiming their old position

-14

u/Kloubek 2d ago

The power of industrial espionage.

28

u/Cutensleepy 2d ago

Yes because a billion people who all hyperfixate on education could never match the US without stealing /s

24

u/Ihatememorising 2d ago edited 18h ago

People forget that America was bootlegging every UK brand under the sun after independence. The Germans, Koreans and Japanese were doing the same thing after ww2 too, early anime were basically bootleg Disney.

Go to any developing country and we will still see a ton of bootlegs of successful franchises.

Even then you still need to be smart af to replicate or reverse engineer shit.

US need to prioritise education and stop lowering standards for any reason.

-5

u/Kloubek 2d ago

Chinese "investors" were caught in my country stealing when they were discusing invesment..

4

u/Cutensleepy 2d ago

Oh I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but like this rhetoric that the west somehow has some magic that China doesn't is why we're losing the race.

-3

u/Kloubek 2d ago

OH no i am not saying west have some magic i am saying when u dont have spend money on development and Just steal the technology u can ask for less money for a products that helps to catch up.

15

u/Konsticraft 2d ago

Now imagine how far we could be, if we collaborated instead of only competing in the name of profit.

4

u/Napoleons_Peen 2d ago

No competition at this point. The US is more concerned with stealing as much as it can from its own people.

246

u/bion93 2d ago edited 2d ago

I have been in China last summer. I thought that China appears to my eyes just like the US appeared to my father in the ‘80-‘90s. Simply the future, amazing technology and social development. He was in the US very often at that time because he worked in the (small) Italian equivalent of NASA, so there were many shared job with NASA. He have always come back with stuffs that here in italy did not exist and it was always a WOW for me as a kid. Like the first mobile phone he bought in the US (here it was useless, there wasn’t a line still lol). Now, I have been in the same year in NYC and Shanghai. I don’t mean that NYC is a representation of the whole US, it’s just a city in a huge country. But I saw a decadent empire, a lot of social degradation (homeless, drugs, dirty, crazy traffic) versus the future: lights, cars showrooms, drone lights shows, absolute safety at every hour and efficiency.

It’s crazy that everyone marks chiana as a dictatorship and almost as a third world country. Yes, it’s not an example of democracy, but many people think that China is like Iran or North Korea. No way. People are happy there. Maybe our Eurocentric point of view of the history of the world makes us think that ours is the only possible form of government. It’s not. Is it the best? Maybe, but only future generations can tell. We should leave our idea that all world must be like the west!

EDIT: I can’t answer to every single comment, but I want to make clear that I’m not saying that China is perfect or everyone is happy there. I’m not saying that. I said that it’s different from our propaganda. People are free more than we think and regime is less oppressive than 30 years ago. For example the VPN ban is not strictly enforced and people can easily have instagram or google, but they simply don’t need our internet because they have better alternatives.

Also about the genocide of Uyghur: I don’t think that some genocides are better than others. A genocide is wrong, always. It’s a crime. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone“ I would say. It’s better if we stop our crimes (see Palestine and the countless wars the western world caused in the last century) before talking about others with our superiority judgment. I am sure that also the smallest European country dropped more bombs than China in the last 100 years.

109

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/NitroLada 2d ago

I'm sure there's lots of unhappy people there but overall seems they're much more content than people in Canada/US are. I recently was speaking with a few Chinese visa students and they all had no desire to remain and when I asked why, they all said it's so much better in China in terms of lifestyle from things to do, safety, public transportation and so much more advanced. I was a bit shocked as i thought they would like it here especially as they've been here since HS and speak English and adapted more or less

10

u/datdailo 2d ago

The human cost came during the industrialization and the great Chinese famine.

Happiness is subjective but it is undoubtedly better than it was in the past 100 years. Maybe the past few years have been bad, since COVID, and the economic turmoil it left behind. But I don't anticipate my next 4 years to be joyful either with a neighbor that elected a deranged criminal and con artist who wants to annex us. An upcoming election that'll be deeply polarizing isn't what I would call happiness either. There's no such thing as a perfect system or government because perfect is subjective too. They just excel in different areas and you make do.

99

u/WorldwearyMan 2d ago

I’ve travelled a lot over the last 35 years and when in China was amazed and surprised by how content/happy most people seemed to be compared to most countries I’ve visited. Just my impression. Side note, Russian people in the early ‘90s seemed the most unhappy

3

u/Cheesefactory8669 2d ago

I don't think we're seeing the same people, from what I can see a lot of them work a 9 hour job 6 days a week they ain't that happy

9

u/BigEarl139 2d ago

Lmao have you ever been to China?

Your only experience is internet propaganda from non-Chinese individuals. These guys are giving first hand experience on the ground and y’all still refuse to believe it.

4

u/Beat_the_Deadites 2d ago

Happiness is relative though. If you've gone from working 60 or 70 hours a week to 54, you're going to be thrilled. If you've gone from working 40 hours a week to 54, you're going to be pissed and exhausted.

China has built up so much so fast, they leapfrogged a lot of the West. They look and feel powerful, which feels great. That also involved bulldozing a lot of history and displacing a lot of poorer people, things that aren't easily done in democracies. Individual human rights will keep western cities looking basically the same until there's enough blight that people not only accept change, but demand it.

By the time that happens, China's shine will have worn off, and maybe India or Nigeria or Indonesia will be the hot new thing. The cycles are long.

-18

u/Tomas2891 2d ago

This is the country that had suicide nets in their Foxconn plant. They are overworked

30

u/SolidCake 2d ago

Lmao youre referring to foxconn in taiwan

16

u/lxlxnde 2d ago

That was coming up on 15 years ago, and wages have since more than doubled over there. I encourage you to find an up to date argument.

4

u/Darkmayday 2d ago

Foxconn is taiwan. This is how clueless Redditors are about China lmao. And yet you keep running your mouth

-2

u/Tomas2891 2d ago

It was in Longhua Shenzhen. Keep lying to yourself though if it makes your CCP happy.

5

u/Darkmayday 2d ago edited 2d ago

And there are suicide nets on the golden gate bridge. Is everyone in san fran depressed? This is your brain on US red scare propaganda

4

u/EducationalNinja3550 2d ago

Less suicides per capita than the US, but the americans don’t put up suicide nets

-17

u/Kellowip 2d ago

Yeah, I'm sure the Uighurs are very happy in their concentration camps

9

u/heart-aroni 2d ago edited 2d ago

Have you ever seen videos from Xinjiang?

0

u/Kellowip 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes i have https://youtu.be/4jbfLb7gS84?si=VEQkqMqlcUtS4xS5

Is a random YouTuber really the source that will form your opinion? Do you think they'll let these kind of travellers even close to any of the relevant camps? I don't doubt anything in the video, I'm sure Kashgar is nice and i would love to go there. But if you are watching any of the videos reporting on the camps one thing you will always see is people being followed by undercover agents and ultimately escorted off

3

u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

You should go overthere now and report on what you see:

https://www.kayak.com/flights/NYC-URC/2025-05-01?ucs=19m6tl0

Flights from NYC to there, nobody is stopping you.

10

u/medlzk 2d ago

Educate yourself https://uwidata.com/16190-10-imperialist-lies-about-chinas-uyghur-population-and-the-truth/

-1

u/CelestialFury 2d ago

Do you have an actual source? This Turkey registered website is extremely biased.

5

u/medlzk 2d ago

Not the point, read the thing and follow the rabbit yourself. The Guardian or NYT are just as biased, if not more. Realize the occidental internet being full of occidental sources is de facto full of occidental propaganda. Xinjiang situation isn't perfectly clear and CCP isn't full of saints, but there is nuance out there that needs to be brought up.

1

u/Kellowip 1d ago

Ok, here's Al Jazeera reporting on it: https://youtu.be/z9aLNxcokOE?si=U5WbsEKDd_jHKBwn

-1

u/CelestialFury 1d ago

Not the point,

lmao okay then

0

u/Kellowip 1d ago

Lol, you are citing a Russian disinformation campaign by the man Prigozhin (of Wagner group fame) out of all people

"In 2020, media influence organization Project Lakhta, owned by Prigozhin, developed a new website, United World International (UWI)."

"United World International is an online news site which promotes pro-Russian disinformation. " https://sanctions.lursoft.lv/person/united-world-international/uk-15438

1

u/Alternative-Mix7288 2d ago

How about the people the U.S. are currently putting in their concentration camps? I bet China's are far more humane, and not proper torture camps.

1

u/Kellowip 1d ago

Two wrongs don't make a right

0

u/Darkmayday 2d ago

Reeducation camps to fix radical Islam are better than the indiscriminate bombing and killing that US and Isreal love.

0

u/Kellowip 1d ago

Two wrongs don't make a right

1

u/Darkmayday 1d ago

Not wrong to curb extremist Islam through education. How else would you stop Islamic terrorist attacks? Through bombing them?

1

u/Kellowip 1d ago

I doubt your assumption that the people imprisoned in those camps are extremist.

Also "education" is not what is happening in these types of camps.

1

u/Darkmayday 1d ago

Then you clearly dont know about the terrorist attacks and rioting in Xinjiang. Do yourself a favour and get educated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_China

→ More replies (0)

72

u/toteslegoat 2d ago

No, a vast majority of Chinese citizens are actually pretty happy and proud of the ccp.

There’s a reason why the ccp is able to become so powerful, it’s cause they actually brought results for their citizens and moved China into contender for world number 1. Contender might need to be dropped soon.

68

u/callisstaa 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah I've been living in China for a few years and people here are happy. It turns out that the freedoms people really care about are the freedom to walk around at night in safety, the freedom to go for a meal without being shaken down at every opportunity and the freedom to work a menial job and buy a house in their 30s.

China has 50,000 kilometres of high speed rail that it operates at a loss yet continues to expand because infrastructure is something that people actually want, more than the freedom to burn cars or talk shit about Trump to literally no avail.

The only thing I missed initially was smoking weed but it's a small sacrifice to live in a society that feels just like the West felt prior to 9/11.

The other major difference IMO is that the average Chinese has respect for the Western world and wants to see us prosper whereas Americans have to think that 1.4 billion people on the other side of the world are suffering just to have something to smile about.

11

u/Alternative-Mix7288 2d ago

Buddy I value my freedom to talk shit about Trump, so don't underestimate that. However, we have lost that freedom here in the U.S. You can be denied entry and put into a concentration camp if they find these things on your phone at the airport. Elon Musk even said they'd be going after people pushing "propaganda". Our country is cooked, and at least China is living in the future.. but "China Bad" I'm sure.

6

u/Icyrow 2d ago

Buddy I value my freedom to talk shit about Trump, so don't underestimate that.

as i cba re-writing the comment here just read this first i wrote it at the end though looking back over my comment: i get that i'm agreeing with you on a lot of points, just sorta adding ot your comment, not intending to say you're wrong, though in looking over my comment it sounds pretty aggressive, just know that i think we think the same thing and it's not intended.

americans say this, but while i'd say you have more than china in this regard, it is not absolute. like we're literally dealing with people getting their facebooks scrubbed to say if they said anything bad in deportations and if you want to test it, write out a comment detailing (doesn't have to be a lot) how you would end someone at the top of the country, like, look at where they will be in a few weeks and write something out, see what happens.

no country has absolute freedom, at some point it's freedom to do over the freedom to be safe, i.e, your freedom to drive a car that we know is more dangerous to those around you, the freedom to shout "fire" in a movie theatre, freedom to detail a dumb ass plan to do something very dumb.

like shouldn't your kids be free to go to school without being shot?

3

u/Alternative-Mix7288 2d ago

Yes, I think we agree mostly. I'm reminded of Ben Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

I believe the key word here being "essential". I'm not an anarchist and value liberty over freedom. Yes, we 100% should be responsible for protecting our kids at school. This is where liberty trumps freedom. Children should have the liberty to go to school and not be affected by others' freedom to own overpowered and unnecessary weapons. Free speech is an essential liberty imo and one of the things I would criticize China the most. However, I do understand that the U.S. has been fed massive amounts of propaganda and they likely have more freedom than we perceive here. Unfortunately we've given up freedoms here in this country without receiving any of the safeties or other benefits China has received in exchange.

1

u/OutrageousFocus9008 2d ago

Aint nobody buying a house in a major city on a menial job in China lol...

1

u/TDaltonC 2d ago

The CCPs power came well before the delivered improvement, not after.

1

u/toteslegoat 1d ago

Yea but I’m speaking to the fact that they’re mostly uncontested and citizens aren’t complaining about them strictly cause there’s results. If their corruption was at a point where it was holding science, tech, economics back; im sure it’d look different there when it comes to civil unrest.

Ppl are majority/mostly content w how things are. Ppls are happy 🤷‍♂️

1

u/TDaltonC 1d ago

The Tiananmen Square protest were not about a lack of results (often called "output legitimacy"). It was a lack of process legitimacy and input legitimacy.

I think it's disingenuous to say that the lack of people volunteering to become tank tread lubricant indicates that the CCP is "uncontested."

-12

u/ArkitekZero 2d ago

How many points did you add to your social credit score with that one?

19

u/heart-aroni 2d ago

How many points did you add to your social credit score with that one?

"social credit system/scores" isn't real and is propaganda. Ask any Chinese person from China and they wouldn't know what you're talking about.

People's understanding of what China is and what it actually is so skewed with propaganda. That's why you get such starkly different narratives of "poor, cllapsing, backwards totalitarian hell" vs "advanced society with roaring economy and industry producing leading edge technology" floating around at the same time.

5

u/callisstaa 2d ago edited 2d ago

The big recent one was when Trump threatened to ban TikTok so US 'TikTok refugees' went over to Rednote instead and saw young, fashionable middle class Chinese girls sharing their lives online. The Chinese users welcomed the Americans with open arm seeing it as a great opportunity for a cultural exchange without censorship. The Americans responded in kind and had their minds blown by how different China was through the eyes of actual happy Chinese people rather than the grim Communist hellscape that the western media promoted. Duolingo said that people studying Mandarin on their app increased 200% at the time.

It's probably one of the most wholesome things that has happened on the internet in a while.

-3

u/taco_blasted_ 2d ago

Lmao this thread is full of Chinese bots.

-1

u/ArkitekZero 2d ago

Sounds like something someone who doesn't want to lose points for wrongthink would say.

12

u/Aemort 2d ago

I don't know, what's your credit score? Yanno, the mostly arbitrary number in the USA that decides whether or not you're allowed to get nice housing or a new car.

-2

u/ArkitekZero 2d ago

It's good, of course, because the rules are well-defined, and I can't lose points for things my uncle said that the ruling party doesn't like.

2

u/toteslegoat 1d ago

If we are talking bout credit score here i can assure you it’s prob better than yours lmfao. Pretty hard to own real estate in nyc otherwise.

4

u/Spartancfos 2d ago

Is the US different?

2

u/Playful-Insect5650 2d ago

"I read it online, trust me guys.'

-2

u/apstevenso2 2d ago

Thank you. People really get blinded by the sugar rush of all the pretty lights on the buildings and other technological "candy" but people really don't get the depth of what life is like for a lot of people here.

17

u/SolidCake 2d ago

yeah such horrors like 220% wage increase for everyone in 10 years

1

u/apstevenso2 2d ago

Yes, a two hundred twenty percent wage increase is great but if you make only a thousand dollars a month, maybe only have one day off per week and your rent cost three hundred dollars a month you are still not in a very different situation 🤷‍♂️

3

u/StepAwayFromTheDuck 2d ago

So tell us. What is life like there that makes it awful?

Because if I look at the US, the majority of people is ALSO not doing too well, having to work 2 jobs to be able to pay rent, being scared of ever falling seriously ill because you have no or bad health insurance, seeing a small minority walk away with all the wealth— and on top of that the current administration arguably making everything worse for middle and working class. Is that still better than the average Chinese citizen?

-2

u/apstevenso2 2d ago

At the end of the day all those problems are the fault of American people for being too pacified and not being in touch with what's happening with their own politics, however, in a very different way American people are the only people who have the ability to make the changes necessary to make themselves, and as far as I'm concerned that will always be better than any material satisfaction that the Chinese government will give Chinese people. If tomorrow Chinese administration started to make policies that benefited the higher ranking members of the party, there would be nothing that Chinese people could do about it

2

u/taco_blasted_ 2d ago

What people don't understand is that the CCP will do whatever it has to do in order to keep their power.

Even If that means reversing anything that has made people happy.

1

u/SirComesAl0t 2d ago

If tomorrow Chinese administration started to make policies that benefited the higher ranking members of the party, there would be nothing that Chinese people could do about it

The funny thing is that the CCP knows how to benefit higher ranking party members while keeping everyday citizens happy at the same time. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

1

u/StepAwayFromTheDuck 1d ago

You didn’t really answer my question: how is life different/ worse for the average Chinese person that the average US person?

If tomorrow Chinese administration started to make policies that benefited the higher ranking members of the party, there would be nothing that Chinese people could do about it

This is pretty literally what’s happening in the US now though, where the select few get tax cuts and the average person gets less and less

1

u/Geodude532 2d ago

Lots of people ignoring the COVID lockups in China. If even a third of what came out was true...

1

u/Psychological_Fly627 1d ago

Happiness is different for everyone, for people who grew up in China in 60s and 70s, they went through very hard times, so now they are very happy with having food on the table, roof over their head and time to play with grandkids.

1

u/PandaCheese2016 1d ago

It's tough to accurately gauge happiness at a global scale, but this source shows that it's been going up in China and going down in the US as of late.

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/China/happiness/

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/USA/happiness/

0

u/Salohacin 2d ago

Are you happy?

Can't complain. No really, I'm not allowed to complain.

0

u/SitInCorner_Yo2 2d ago

Yeah, if they can read Chinese they might have a better idea on how complex things are, but they might eat up all the feel good propaganda too.

9

u/cmaj7chord 2d ago

You are not wrong but it's also not the happy place you paint it to be: Young people struggle to find jobs because the economy is slowing down, which leads to a LOT of uncertanties among them and they still have certain disparities between rural and city area. Also, there are a lot of people working in a very low-wage sector, while silmutanously not having a lot of working rights. My mom is from a "small" city in China (around 500K citizens) and there are HUGE differences compared to Shenzhen, Shanghai or Beijing when it comes to income, quality of life, infrastructure etc.

And by the way: The CCP claims to be a developing country themselves, it's not "western propaganda", it's part of the CCP's political strategy to keep any kind of opposition down.

2

u/IamFanboy 2d ago

I think fundamentally both of your experiences are true and valid but when looking at it from a macro lens instead of micro, overall China has done well for its people. Yes there are definitely issues but most of them aren't isolated to China only.

For the youth, this is the same problem faced by all highly developed Asian countries, look at Korea Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore. They are all facing the same issues.

For the gap between rural and cities, that exists in every country that has them. It's only natural to work on things that benefit the majority rather than minority.

There are definitely major issues with China especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, the major scam cities and towns that the Chinese operate in SEA countries surrounding them.

But overall if you were to ask a Chinese citizen if they are satisfied with the country's development over the last 50 years you will be hard pressed to find someone who thinks it wasn't enough. Yes there are some people and ethnic groups who will be left behind (no im not talking about the muslims in Xinjiang thats a different topic) during the rapid development of the country and major issues like housing and Evergreen crisis but it is a mistake to think that China isn't doing right for it's people most of the time.

3

u/Not_a_real_ghost 2d ago

Being a "developing country" is very different to when people's perception of the country is like Iran or NK.

12

u/Eldiablo2471 2d ago

It's because of the constant propaganda that runs on tv. Western countries know they are losing many races to China so best they can do is play dirty and try to convince people China Bad, USA and Europe Good. China is not far away from becoming the top Superpower in the world. They have strong military, amazing Innovations and most important, they provide the whole world with many important things like raw materials and technology. Where do you people think your Gucci clothes and iPhones come from. Or the raw materials for EV cars. Or steel. I hope the world will finally wake up and start seeing China as an ally so that the world becomes a better place for everybody.

4

u/digita1catt 2d ago

People only 'mark' it as a dictatorship because it is one. Call a duck a duck, you know?

4

u/RepeatRepeatR- 2d ago

I think there's a separate issue with regards to self-determination, independent from the results-oriented thinking you espouse here. Fundamentally, the question boils down to: do people have a right to have a say in their government? Essentially, the CCP/CPC argument is that true democracy is when you're able to provide for people, regardless of their approval (which hopefully follows), whereas the western argument is that democracy is when people have a say, and hopefully providing for them follows. (Google "Whole-process people's democracy" for more on this.)

My main thought is that you really only know if the populace approves or is being provided for if they have freedom of speech and political expression

1

u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

"you really only know if the populace approves or is being provided for if they have freedom of speech and political expression"

Maybe, but people in China can just buy a plane ticket out to visit a place where they can voice their opinions if they wanted. What happens instead is that they buy a ticket to vacation in NYC, SF, LA etc. and see streets and streets of homeless drug addicts and fly back home never wanting to return.

1

u/UndeadBBQ 2d ago

It’s crazy that everyone marks chiana as a dictatorship

I mean... they are. A prosperous dictatorship, but a dictatorship nonetheless. People are happy as long as they do what they're told.

Who needs car showrooms and drone shows, if "being wrong" means you're systematically driven to the outsides of society and eventually incarcerated?

-1

u/googleduck 2d ago

Lmao oh this redditors says people are happy there. I have worked with plenty of people from China, very few have anything good to say about it. There is a reason many of their best and brightest come to school in the West and stay there to work. China is just phenomenal at keeping all of its issues outside the eye of foreigners so people like you will spread their propaganda for free.

10

u/photosendtrain 2d ago

very few have anything good to say about it

lmao cap of the century

have you been to China?

1

u/bion93 2d ago

I think that many things are changing fast. New generations are different from old migrants. Now the regime is way less oppressive. It’s what I was saying: you see China like North Korea. It was once. The world runs fast. Stay updated and open your eyes.

1

u/googleduck 1d ago

Dude these people are new immigrants, they are tech workers that immigrated in the last 5 uears. China was literally nailing people's doors shut during COVID. It has a social credit system where if you say things the regime does not like you cannot get a good job, go to a good school. Children are literally legally limited to a couple of hours of video games per week. Did you see what happened to Hong Kong just a few years back? It's pretty clear you are just a propagandist or a bot though at this point so I won't bother responding after this.

1

u/bion93 1d ago

It’s amazing on the internet, if you don’t like what others say, others are bot or paid or corrupted. This the whole point of my comment: we have a one way view of this world, where the western world is the only right form of existence. I’m happy that you live in this comfort zone. If I can give you an advice, travel.

1

u/TwoplyWatson 2d ago

"People are happy there." Yea that explains all the chinese immigrating to us and canada.

-1

u/Pianopatte 2d ago edited 2d ago

Tell that to the Uyghurs.

edit: Say something! Downvoting is for cowards!

1

u/bion93 2d ago

Uhm, so what about Palestine and the super democrat president Biden? Or Afghanistan? Or wherever western civilisation exported democracy in its history. I don’t think that a genocide could be justified, but also I think that there are not some genocides better than others. I also think that China funded way less wars than US or France or UK or the best part of the world.

1

u/Pianopatte 1d ago

Whataboutism. We are talking about China. Why mention all those other countries? Hell, the place I am from tried to perfect genocide. But that doesnt matter right now. This comment thread is about China and what a great place it is to live in. Sadly thats not the case for everyone. By far. Ask the many many different ethnic groups living there.

1

u/bion93 1d ago

Ok, my comment was whataboutism but your comment is a perfect and not biased analysis: “because someone does not live good, on the average all people don’t live good”. Message received, thanks for your clarification.

In the meantime my “whataboutist” mind is thinking about our ghettos. In Paris, in Milan, in Baltimora.

It’s fantastic living in the self celebrating western bubble. Sooner or later, the reality will smack in the face all people like you.

Europe is already counting less than zero in the world politics from at least 15-20 years. Now we are looking at the fall of American empire everyday piece by piece. Oh yeah, at least China is still a developing country run by barbarian dictators. Keep believing this rhetoric!

1

u/Pianopatte 1d ago

Dont even know what to say to you. First of all your text comprehension sucks. Nowhere did I make a statement about "average" living standards. I was talking about the very well documented suppresion of ethnic minorities in China.

Secondly, you sound like a puppet. I hope the pay is good, cause patriotism sure aint worth it.

1

u/bion93 1d ago

I’m a physician in Italy, the pay is not as good as other European countries sadly :( but I can’t complain, I’m on the average. Surely I’m not a suppressed minority like Native Americans, so I’m averagely happy. Thanks for your interest in my life! Love u 🥰

1

u/Pianopatte 1d ago

You are an italian dude simping for China? Really?

1

u/bion93 1d ago

I’m not simping for China, I’m very worried about the power of china geopolitically, because they are so different from us, but they are becoming more and more powerful and influencing. This could change our life in the future. I’m only looking at the reality that China is not that third world dictatorship like many western people think. They have a huge technological advantage on everyone, included the US. It’s a developed country with more freedom than we think, but still very different from our libertarianism and lifestyle, which is worrying because they will eat us very soon. Anyway Chinese are really nice and welcoming people. I have already said that: TRAVEL. The world is not black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. There are many shadows of grey.

17

u/broniesnstuff 2d ago

I fell down the Chinese social media hole and was astounded at everything I was seeing.

"Oh you fell for the propaganda huh??"

It's hard to express to people that what was so shocking was people just living their damned lives. And the cars. My God I want a Chinese EV.

46

u/Jazzlike_Leading5446 2d ago

Do you think they are also trying to close their department of education over there?

-2

u/somersault_dolphin 2d ago

Why would they do that when they already have control over it? You can teeach people the knowledge to do productive works while also indoctrinating them on propaganda and values the party wants.

8

u/photosendtrain 2d ago

And then the Indians and the Pilgrims had a nice lil dinner =)

16

u/Christhebobson 2d ago edited 2d ago

Just wondering what does them being a us marine have to do with it? As a veteran, I don't see the need to mention it.

10

u/photosendtrain 2d ago

Right lol. Like okay, your cousin eats crayons, what is your point?

8

u/heart-aroni 2d ago

It's to establish that if this person had any bias, it would be towards his own country the US (which he patriotically chose to serve) and not towards it's perceived rival China.

4

u/tekanet 2d ago

It’s a common logical fallacy, “appeal to authority”

1

u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

Honestly, any idiot who thinks mehreens mean anything is an idiot I wouldn't trust.

1

u/jrm70210 1d ago

Most US service men and women are overly pro-America, so for him to say anything positive about China I tend to believe him.

1

u/CelestialFury 2d ago

If anything, it makes the story less credible. The US military does not generally greenlight military members to vacation in China or Russia and going to either place can negatively impact their security clearance (which is why they tend to not allow them to go there).

0

u/ZealousidealEntry870 2d ago

Bingo. Can’t speak to current day but when I was in vaca to China was not getting approved. That person is more than likely lying.

74

u/7Hobbes 2d ago

Spent more lives and money in endless war I'd say

19

u/ChiemseeViking 2d ago

You know that most of the money that is „going“ into Ukraine is spend in the US, right? The ammunition that is send into Ukraine are old stockpiles. And every explosiv has an expectation date. So they are eight used (send them to Ukraine) or have to be disposed of in an expensive process. And the the stockpiles need new ammunitions. And who is producing those? Yes, Americans. So more jobs for Americans.

And on the other hand China is looking at this and takes notes. If we abandon Ukraine, a country Europa has a easy, direct logic links in form of rail and road, will we even bother with helping Taiwan, a country half an ocean away?

And China intends to take Taiwan. And yes, that’ll be bad for us because Taiwan is a important producer of electronic cips, essential in all our electronic devices.

2

u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago

One difference is that US conservatives have decided they don't care about Russia any more but that China is the big enemy to be feared, so they'll care a lot more about Taiwan than they will Ukraine.

-4

u/7Hobbes 2d ago

I said lives first for a reason.

5

u/ChiemseeViking 2d ago

Who‘s live? American? Or is it Ukraines lifes on the line because they are fighting to preserve their freedom from the Moscow dictatorship? If we abandon Ukraine, they will keep fighting, but will die in great numbers.

1

u/TwoplyWatson 2d ago

pro chinese argument seems stuck on iraq/afghan.

1

u/Napoleons_Peen 2d ago

They’re already dying in great numbers when you have to kidnap children and drunks off the street to fight and the average Ukrainian soldier age is now in mid-40s. They’re dying so Blackrock can buy more of their resources.

2

u/ChiemseeViking 2d ago

The average age of Ukrainian soldiers is higher than you would normally expect, because the current conscription age is set higher on purpose. They do this in order to protect the younger generations, that didn’t jet had kids.

0

u/Napoleons_Peen 2d ago

Hooray more money to the military industrial complex! This outdated bull shit that “war good for economy” is such fucking nonsense. Y’all are clinging to a WWII era philosophy that hasn’t been an actual thing since WWII. War helps the rich get richer, that’s it. If we stopped supplying Ukraine, it wouldn’t even be a blip on the economic radar.

1

u/ChiemseeViking 2d ago

Well, I would like to live in a wold without conflict and wars. But we don’t! And those without swords can still die upon them.

There is no pace without weapons. There are always those without scruples who will try to subdue others. Look at country, that are neutral. Neutrality means you have no enemy per say, but it also means you have no allies to help you. So countries like Switzerland, Sweden and Finnland are armed to the teeth.

And don’t forget, Ukraine had nukes, which it gave up in return for security guarantees. And look where they are now.

So call it a necessary evil, but, sadly, we will always need weapons that pose a sufficient threat.

22

u/astridroze 2d ago

Yep traveling to Asia really opens up our eyes to how advanced they are, especially in China. They getting food deliveries in drones and everything is so convenient/ fast it's insane.

9

u/Drive_shaft 2d ago

Chongqing looks like a city from a sci-fi movie.

2

u/lemfaoo 2d ago

A US marine thinking something is ahead of its time is like showing a monkey sleight of hand.

2

u/MeanForest 2d ago

'MURICA :D

2

u/Gustomaximus 2d ago

Didn't Clarkson say similar: https://youtu.be/4-XDxCb92X4?si=wE98yRBIPpf9XH9l

Also Bald and Bankrupt when he went

Media is not paying attention how much Western quality of life is falling vs other countries improving.

2

u/CourtWaste 2d ago

Every year they are going 50 years ahead of the rest

2

u/beeeel 2d ago

This is what happens when you reinforce intelligence over ignorance.

It's also what you can achieve if you force modernisation at the cost of millions of lives and livelihoods. If you're willing to forego human rights in the name of progress, my god you can go far!

Not saying that we in the west couldn't be decades ahead of where we are now if we had just kept on fighting to have it better for everyone instead of getting comfortable with what we have for ourselves.

3

u/escape_fantasist 2d ago

Meanwhile we have flat earthers and anti vaxxers claiming climate change is a hoax 🥺

1

u/TwoplyWatson 2d ago

See how quickly that progress stops if they ever lose their "developing nation" status.

1

u/man-vs-spider 2d ago

I would agree that they are implementing a lot more technology into day-to-day life than the US.

There may be an anti-intellectual aspect, but I would attribute much of this to the fact that their infrastructure has been developed a lot more recently.

Somewhere like the US already has infrastructure for most of its requirements, even though it’s old. That makes it difficult to convince people to build expensive brand new infrastructure.

China on the other hand, has built so much just in the last 20 years. I expect that as they wind down, this will be their infrastructure for the foreseeable future

1

u/SitInCorner_Yo2 2d ago

And not needing to negotiate with public before you take drastic measures or convince corporation to work with government make a lot of difference , especially in efficiency terms .

It’s a balance society needs to work on, in this case US and China are pretty much on the opposite side of a lot of things ,depending on the state, they can be eerily similar on some issues but the pros and cons are more complex than that.

For example if you don’t like your hometown you can uproot your family to a city, you can buy houses and send your kids to school in the city, but in Household registration system you can become second class citizens if you’re not in your registered place, this limits the possibility of slums like location being formed in major city because laborer still has to send their kids to school in their registered place,your life in city is temporary.

Did this prevent problems for big cities? Yes.

Did this limit countryside citizens access to opportunities city folks have? Also yes, but First-tier City are all people focused on anyway, that can wait another decade .

1

u/loyola-atherton 2d ago

Happens when one country is run by socialites-turned-politicians and the other country is run by engineers-turned-politicians.

1

u/Hypohamish 1d ago

What did them being a US marine have to do with this?

2

u/jrm70210 1d ago

Typically, US members of the Armed Forces are very pro-America/anti-China

2

u/Eonir 2d ago

They aren't.

I brought them some fruit jam from Germany and they were shocked that's how blueberries and blackberries taste like. Their local equivalent contains only 5% fruit.

They presented me with what they thought was an authentic famous wine from France, with spelling errors on the label.

Yes you can pay with a QR code on the parking garage. I don't think that's 100 years in the future.

I'm seeing multiple subreddits being flooded with comments about China being the amazing future utopia. I'm not sure if these people just came out of hiding or it's all bots. Anyone who has been in China or SEA for prolonged periods would know it's just a country like most others.

4

u/rainbowyuc 2d ago

I understand the sentiment, but your best supporting example is bad fruit jam and unbranded wine?

There are 2 areas that China is 100% leaps and bounds ahead of the US. Cashless payment and public transport infrastructure. Those 2 things alone make a huge difference in living standard.

1

u/OutsideMenu6973 2d ago

He has a point in that US agriculture is immensely productive for difference nuanced reasons. That’s something to be proud of

0

u/Rrdro 2d ago

More ahead than who? US? By that metric Europe is also 100 years ahead of US yet you ignore that banking in US, Europe & China is completely different. Public transport in US is garbage because of motorcar lobbying but China is not doing something groundbreaking there.

1

u/rainbowyuc 2d ago

More ahead than who? US?

Yes, I believe if you read my short comment again, you will see "leaps and bounds ahead of the US".

-3

u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago edited 2d ago

I thought the quantity of "Whoah guys, China is actually really cool and the people love the CCP" comments was a little suspicious.

China has done a lot of surface level high-tech integration, but drowning your cities in LEDs and QR codes doesn't fix a rotten core.

EDIT: This is getting downvotes so I should clarify that A) I mean things like zero press freedom or freedom of speech at all, an authoritarian government that allows no dissent or elections, extremely low quality of life in most areas outside major cities, genocide and despotic suppression of the Uighur minority, and B) The US is following a horrible dehumanising path and that can be true at the same time. This isn't about US vs China. The rest of the world exists.

3

u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

I don't know what "rotten core" they have, but I live in SF which is the supposedly the richest city, in the richest sub-national entity, in the richest country and yet there is a shantytown 15 minutes from me without traffic.

Meanwhile, women travelers report from there that women can walk alone at night in every part and feel safe.

1

u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago

It's odd that both replies have amounted to "Actually the US is a nightmare" and I'm here to tell you that both can be true.

1

u/TrumpDesWillens 2d ago

It's hard to take anyone seriously who says somewhere else is bad when i see how bad it is at home.

1

u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago

I'm from Europe so the state of America is kind of irrelevant to me when discussing China's problems.

1

u/TrumpDesWillens 1d ago

That's ok, just don't trust the US govt. propaganda, just like anyone shouldn't trust the Chinese govt. propaganda.

1

u/Odd_Round6270 2d ago

Some surface level high tech integration would be nice in my hometown tbh, they don't even have an ounce of rail and have just introduced qr codes in the last couple years...the nimbyism of politics in said city has meant everyone else suffers but the wealthy.

So not sure which one is more rotten per your suggestion as the government is meant to be for the people and by the people.

1

u/CelestialFury 2d ago

a US Marine, just came back from vacation in China

They allowed your cousin to go to China? Is he a Chinese-American? Anything involving China or Russia can really mess up a security clearance so I'm shocked they'd allow it.

-130

u/GoldmanApex 2d ago

This is what happens when you don’t have to deal with CRT, pronounces and 5000 genders.

96

u/oneELECTRIC 2d ago

pronounces 

Say less lmao

73

u/Helarina1 2d ago

Yes, that is what's stopping us. The pronouns.

11

u/Otherwise-Mail-4654 2d ago

They actually wrote pronounces! So there is that

3

u/Helarina1 2d ago

Good point, those do involve a bit more of an obstacle. Hmm...

8

u/Slightly-Adrift 2d ago

It’s definitely the side with pronouns and not the side shutting down the the DOE, you’re totally right 🙄

67

u/badmonbuddha 2d ago

Imagine if Americans put all of the energy they use hating minorities into studying math and science

11

u/nonpuissant 2d ago

Let's be real, China is pretty harsh with hating minorities too. Just ask the Uyghurs. 

They just also put a lot of energy and resources into STEM.

8

u/badmonbuddha 2d ago

I agree but China is an autocratic state whereas the US brought this upon itself. We can’t even use the excuse of government censorship to excuse radicalization and anti-intellectualism. Southern strategy has exploited voter’s insecurities and prejudices for decades.

I can empathize with the average American’s struggles with financial insecurity and lack of social mobility. But instead of having real conversations over labor rights and social services, we get bogged down with “marxism” or other culture war boogeymen. For all their state propaganda, at least the Chinese understand the only way to compete in an increasingly globalized world is education. To be the richest country in the world and still have its citizens fail to comprehend climate change and mRNA vaccines is laughable but also by design.

1

u/nonpuissant 2d ago

Yeah fully agreed. There's no good excuse for the path America has gone down. It's honestly embarrassing.

19

u/ceasback 2d ago

you sir, are the clown of the century 🤡

12

u/ArtisticRiskNew1212 2d ago

HAHAHAH apparently you’re what happens when you don’t have to deal with things like “education” and “spelling”

6

u/ebagdrofk 2d ago

I… I just can’t.

1

u/Ark_angel_michael 2d ago

Bad china bot!

-1

u/Kingkai9335 2d ago

They put a flood light on a drone like come on let's not act like this is the pinnacle of human advancement. Operation "Shady Rat" will give you all the insight you need. This technology is mostly stolen from 1st world democratic nations then redesigned

4

u/Lil__May 2d ago

the US sent 3 people for their aid team.