Despite the US’s economic success, income inequality remains breathtaking. But this is no glitch – it’s the system
The Chinese did rather well in the age of globalization. In 1990, 943 million people there lived on less than $3 a day measured in 2021 dollars – 83% of the population, according to the World Bank. By 2019, the number was brought down to zero. Unfortunately, the United States was not as successful. More than 4 million Americans – 1.25% of the population – must make ends meet with less than $3 a day, more than three times as many as 35 years ago.
The data is not super consistent with the narrative of the US’s inexorable success. Sure, American productivity has zoomed ahead of that of its European peers. Only a handful of countries manage to produce more stuff per hour of work. And artificial intelligence now promises to put the United States that much further ahead.
This is not to congratulate China for its authoritarian government, for its repression of minorities or for the iron fist it deploys against any form of dissent. But it merits pondering how this undemocratic government could successfully slash its poverty rate when the richest and oldest democracy in the world wouldn’t.
It seems someone is not watching YouTube documentaries where people visit country side to see people are living worse than poverty conditions and eating rats, bugs and whatever they can find, they literally live without any infrastructure or modern amenities, healthcare etc… While Chinese government is actively censoring such videos, news any and all information about it, so much so that they went and arrested poor villagers sharing videos of their villages.
I’m all for helping people and development, but you’re literally spewing bullshit about things you don’t know. Especially when the Chinese government is infamous when it’s come to faking their data and information.
I’d like to hear your views about how much they helped the Uighurs as well.
It’s dangerous to censor, certainly…but it’s also dangerous to base your opinion on YouTube videos that surely have their own agenda and lack of breadth.
China is neither the poverty void this article presents, nor is it the hellhole you’re suggesting it is. It’s also a fact that China raised the vast majority out of its citizens out of poverty…and used that boom to make it sustainable.
It seems you’re putting words in my mouth that I didn’t say. I didn’t say it’s a hellhole nor it’s a bad place to live. I merely pointed out the BS in this article and what else is going on. I don’t see it as a objective and homogenously spread thing and I definitely don’t share your optimistic approach about the sustainability where the government basically choosing who has the right to be elevated with its so social credit system. When people from said poor countryside and so called outcasts like Uighurs are not allowed to freely move to the cities and aren’t allowed to have the other basic opportunities like education, healthcare etc… This so called miracle elevation from the poor status loose it’s allure in my eyes. If you would like to believe it’s a good thing then you’re cherry picking and can’t even see it.
Your last comment was talking about people eating rats and bug and living without healthcare…if that doesn’t describe a hellhole, I don’t know what does.
But in this comment you’ve changed gears and everything seems reasonable…and I’m on board.
Pointing out the realities doesn’t mean I see China as hellhole. If you see it as such it’s your own view. So, don’t reflect it on me.
I’m pointing out the fact that government doesn’t provide equal opportunities and they use heavy censorship on such realities.
When you chose who gets to have the opportunities and who doesn’t, it’s not a miracle! Any authoritarian government can do that and they do it to an extent.
This is article is just a puff piece without real information in my eyes and I stated that. Rest is up to you.
Non thing to disagree with here….reasonable and I agree.
It says they brought millions out of poverty, didn’t say they eliminated it entirely. Every day in America we’re intentionally and purposely driving more and more people into destitute living situations, declaring they very existence as illegal and punishable by law, and literally locking them in cages to die as a direct and act of cruelty, I’d argue there is room for comparison when you’re looking at two hyper authoritarian countries side by side. I’m not a fan of china, their government is also committing unacceptable and irredeemable acts of cruelty, but they at least have done things that actually improved the lives of some Chinese citizens, our government in America is dead set on destroying at least half of us and our ability to get by, they’re not interested in improving anything for American citizens, they literally want to ruin peoples lives on the level of entire demographics without concern for anything other than enacting expensive cruelty.
I didn’t ask them to eliminate anything in it’s entirety did I? You can’t even understand what’s been written and come here tell me how I’m wrong to say what’s what… I’m not even American, I don’t care what’s going on in America and you giving what’s america doing wrong as a counter argument to what I said is clear you’re either a Chinese troll or an ignorant person who thinks they know what they are talking about.
What China is doing is to choose who they will elevate and will give this chance by using the social credit system. Those countryside Chinese people can’t freely move to the cities because they are not allowed, they don’t have the opportunities like those elevated. Yeah they elevated millions while literally discarding the hundreds of millions. Not to mention the lives they ruined like Uighurs and the people they called outcasts etc… So, if you think it’s such a miracle you’re nothing but a naive gullible person.