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My brother in law lived there for years and claims that the general sense is that if the leadership can't maintain at least 5-10% GDP growth forever they will l

by api 11y ago

My brother in law lived there for years and claims that the general sense is that if the leadership can't maintain at least 5-10% GDP growth forever they will lose favor. People there are very unsatisfied with the government but they're also afraid of revolution. Paranoia seems a good description of the government's mentality.

jsprogrammer 11y ago
Are exponential functions taught in China?
- ommunist 11y ago
  Comparing to what is taught in the US schools, exponentially more often.
Mikeb85 11y ago
> People there are very unsatisfied with the government but they're also afraid of revolution. Sounds like the west. Yet we're too fat, lazy and complacent to do anything. Bernie and Trump are achieving some success because of this, but in the end Hillary will win (possibly through some sort of shenanigans), continue towards Obama and the establishment's police state, and once again the people will lose. It's funny how people talk about dissatisfaction in non-western countries, without realized that people are very dissatisfied in the west...
- Cerium 11y ago
  People may be dissatisfied with the government in the west, but the context is different. People in China have fresh memories of shortage and hardship. My wife is 26 years old and remembers a childhood where meat could only be bought once a week. The people do not want to loose the prosperity of the last ten years.
  - Mikeb85 11y ago
    Again, not much different than here. Meat prices have skyrocketed in Canada, as have produce prices, and the prices of everything else. We're in a recession. There's hardly any employment opportunity for recent grads. Almost all my family has gone to the US. On the plus side, my 1.5 hour commute (each way) is now 25 minutes.
    - akavi 11y ago
      To think the two are comparable requires a complete lack of perspective. The scale and degree of poverty in China now, let alone 20 years ago, are just a tad bit worse than trouble finding jobs and long commute.
      - Mikeb85 11y ago
        The point is perspective. Yes, a country that started further behind in development is objectively 'worse' than a developed country. But China today is objectively better than 20 years ago and will likely continue development. Meanwhile western countries aren't a panacea. My wife comes from a 3rd world country where people immigrate to China from. A country that constantly sees its population decline from the exodus, where you can drive through entire abandoned neighborhoods. A country that's behind China on basically every metric you can think of, and where the only development that happens is paid for by China, who constantly forgives their debts. There's always going to be someone that's better off, and worse off than you. The point isn't to shit on anyone or say China's great, but only to say that different countries have different levels of development, and the 'grass is always greener' mentality leads nowhere good. In 2000 everyone said China wouldn't continue its growth for various reasons, but it did. Today we're saying the same thing, with no recollection of past failed predictions of doom. China is too big, too educated and too dynamic to stop developing. Yes quality of life isn't that of Canada or the US, but that doesn't mean they're not on a good path. Just because X country is poorer today than Y country doesn't make X a shitty place.
- ktRolster 11y ago
  Assume there were a revolution in the US. What are the chances (after years of bloodshed) that we'd end up with something better? Who exactly, among the politicians and leaders, or anyone else for that matter, would you be willing to follow into battle? A revolution has a huge cost, it's not just a matter of fear.
  - Mikeb85 11y ago
    You can ask that in any number of countries. Yet the US and Americans try convincing Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Russia, China, etc..., that they'd be better off overthrowing their leaders. As for the US, they just need to 'open up' their political system. Maybe some sort of proportional representation to break the 2 party system. Eliminate lobbying, which is really just institutionalized bribery. As it stands right now the US has 2 parties which are bought by the same corporate interests, the largest police state and prison system in the world, unrest and protests fairly often, in multiple cities, and so on. For the record, I'm not advocating armed revolution, that usually ends up rather poorly. However the US needs to stay out of China's business, and let them sort it out, gradually, the way they do. The decision to ban foreign media isn't some sort of nefarious response to unrest, but rather a direct response to increased anti-China propaganda coming from the west. Yet all throughout this thread there's tons of posts shitting on China for all sorts of reasons, when much of this can be seen through the lens of history and common sense.

by api 11y ago

jsprogrammer 11y ago

Are exponential functions taught in China?

ommunist 11y ago
Comparing to what is taught in the US schools, exponentially more often.

Mikeb85 11y ago

> People there are very unsatisfied with the government but they're also afraid of revolution. Sounds like the west. Yet we're too fat, lazy and complacent to do anything. Bernie and Trump are achieving some success because of this, but in the end Hillary will win (possibly through some sort of shenanigans), continue towards Obama and the establishment's police state, and once again the people will lose. It's funny how people talk about dissatisfaction in non-western countries, without realized that people are very dissatisfied in the west...

Cerium 11y ago
People may be dissatisfied with the government in the west, but the context is different. People in China have fresh memories of shortage and hardship. My wife is 26 years old and remembers a childhood where meat could only be bought once a week. The people do not want to loose the prosperity of the last ten years.
- Mikeb85 11y ago
  Again, not much different than here. Meat prices have skyrocketed in Canada, as have produce prices, and the prices of everything else. We're in a recession. There's hardly any employment opportunity for recent grads. Almost all my family has gone to the US. On the plus side, my 1.5 hour commute (each way) is now 25 minutes.
  - akavi 11y ago
    To think the two are comparable requires a complete lack of perspective. The scale and degree of poverty in China now, let alone 20 years ago, are just a tad bit worse than trouble finding jobs and long commute.
    - Mikeb85 11y ago
      The point is perspective. Yes, a country that started further behind in development is objectively 'worse' than a developed country. But China today is objectively better than 20 years ago and will likely continue development. Meanwhile western countries aren't a panacea. My wife comes from a 3rd world country where people immigrate to China from. A country that constantly sees its population decline from the exodus, where you can drive through entire abandoned neighborhoods. A country that's behind China on basically every metric you can think of, and where the only development that happens is paid for by China, who constantly forgives their debts. There's always going to be someone that's better off, and worse off than you. The point isn't to shit on anyone or say China's great, but only to say that different countries have different levels of development, and the 'grass is always greener' mentality leads nowhere good. In 2000 everyone said China wouldn't continue its growth for various reasons, but it did. Today we're saying the same thing, with no recollection of past failed predictions of doom. China is too big, too educated and too dynamic to stop developing. Yes quality of life isn't that of Canada or the US, but that doesn't mean they're not on a good path. Just because X country is poorer today than Y country doesn't make X a shitty place.
ktRolster 11y ago
Assume there were a revolution in the US. What are the chances (after years of bloodshed) that we'd end up with something better? Who exactly, among the politicians and leaders, or anyone else for that matter, would you be willing to follow into battle? A revolution has a huge cost, it's not just a matter of fear.
- Mikeb85 11y ago
  You can ask that in any number of countries. Yet the US and Americans try convincing Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Russia, China, etc..., that they'd be better off overthrowing their leaders. As for the US, they just need to 'open up' their political system. Maybe some sort of proportional representation to break the 2 party system. Eliminate lobbying, which is really just institutionalized bribery. As it stands right now the US has 2 parties which are bought by the same corporate interests, the largest police state and prison system in the world, unrest and protests fairly often, in multiple cities, and so on. For the record, I'm not advocating armed revolution, that usually ends up rather poorly. However the US needs to stay out of China's business, and let them sort it out, gradually, the way they do. The decision to ban foreign media isn't some sort of nefarious response to unrest, but rather a direct response to increased anti-China propaganda coming from the west. Yet all throughout this thread there's tons of posts shitting on China for all sorts of reasons, when much of this can be seen through the lens of history and common sense.