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American poverty sounds so different from Chinese poverty. I grew up during the tail years of communism and everybody was dirt poor. The interesting thing is,

American poverty sounds so different from Chinese poverty. I grew up during the tail years of communism and everybody was dirt poor. The interesting thing is, nobody was financially stressed, starvation and homelessness was not a thing. I ended up developing an abundance mentality and terrible money management skills. Looking even further back, my parents experienced the height of policy stupidity and barely survived the great famine which killed millions. It scarred them for life, but also pushed them to make more money and live frugally even after achieving financial security.

deleted 9y ago
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suj1th 9y ago
I can relate to this. I grew up in India when India was a closed economy, with anything (commodities or services) either too expensive or limited by license raj. My father, being a lowly government official, did have a steady but meagre income. Groceries and mortgage were always on his mind. But, he also had his habit of never borrowing, in spite of dire need. Never kept a credit card either (to this day). I have learnt that brand of frugality from him.
nichtich 9y ago
By the time you are born it's already getting better. Yes it's dirt poor compared to now but is already on the trend of improving. So the stress level would be very different than the "suddenly become poor" people. Another point is back in those days the majority of population are poor, which means the social structure are build around poor people. Food, cloths, education, haircut, all of them targeted poor people. You don't need to live in the corner of the city and go great length to find products suited for you.
fastball 9y ago
"Chinese poverty is different from American poverty because we weren't worried about starving." Mentions a mass starvation event in China only a generation before which probably killed the equivalent of 10% of the US population at the time. You might want to think about that a bit more.
- bildung 9y ago
  Famines were sadly very common in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines_in_China People often comment on the 1958 famine as some singular event, but it actually was the 6th and last in the 20th century.
  - fastball 9y ago
    I can't tell if you're agreeing with me? Because yes, I'm aware of that. That is why I am so confused by OP seeming to say "in China we don't have to worry about starvation even when we're poor". It's just so far from true I don't understand why they are getting upvoted (and me downvoted).
    - noselasd 9y ago
      Probably the commenter was born after 1962.
      - fastball 9y ago
        Seems like it. Doesn't really matter though. The most recent UNICEF data[1] puts malnutrition to the point of stunting at 8.1% in China. In the US it was 2.1%. 1. https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/ https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/
    - fencepost 9y ago
      My take would be that they weren't starving because they were poor, they were starving because there was no food to be had. Starvation in a famine is different from starvation in a land of plenty where you simply can't afford food.
      - fastball 9y ago
        If there was no food, the entire population of China would've died. In the case of a famine, it's still the haves and the have-nots.
hellofunk 9y ago
> I grew up during the tail years of communism I'm a bit confused; is China not still communist?
- krisdol 9y ago
  I’m not sure how it would be considered communist today. It’s ruled by a “communist” party but its economic system is nowhere near communist.
  - jacobush 9y ago
    If it's possible to instantiate that superclass "FascistEconomy", China is an example of a fascist economy if I ever saw one.
  - geezerjay 9y ago
    That's the true sign of a communist regime: after the revolution stagnates, the communist pary elites start to take personal control over the state-controlled industries while keeping the populace under theit heel.
- cryptokush 9y ago
  state capitalism

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suj1th 9y ago

I can relate to this. I grew up in India when India was a closed economy, with anything (commodities or services) either too expensive or limited by license raj. My father, being a lowly government official, did have a steady but meagre income. Groceries and mortgage were always on his mind. But, he also had his habit of never borrowing, in spite of dire need. Never kept a credit card either (to this day). I have learnt that brand of frugality from him.

nichtich 9y ago

By the time you are born it's already getting better. Yes it's dirt poor compared to now but is already on the trend of improving. So the stress level would be very different than the "suddenly become poor" people. Another point is back in those days the majority of population are poor, which means the social structure are build around poor people. Food, cloths, education, haircut, all of them targeted poor people. You don't need to live in the corner of the city and go great length to find products suited for you.

fastball 9y ago

"Chinese poverty is different from American poverty because we weren't worried about starving." Mentions a mass starvation event in China only a generation before which probably killed the equivalent of 10% of the US population at the time. You might want to think about that a bit more.

bildung 9y ago
Famines were sadly very common in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines_in_China People often comment on the 1958 famine as some singular event, but it actually was the 6th and last in the 20th century.
- fastball 9y ago
  I can't tell if you're agreeing with me? Because yes, I'm aware of that. That is why I am so confused by OP seeming to say "in China we don't have to worry about starvation even when we're poor". It's just so far from true I don't understand why they are getting upvoted (and me downvoted).
  - noselasd 9y ago
    Probably the commenter was born after 1962.
    - fastball 9y ago
      Seems like it. Doesn't really matter though. The most recent UNICEF data[1] puts malnutrition to the point of stunting at 8.1% in China. In the US it was 2.1%. 1. https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/ https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/
  - fencepost 9y ago
    My take would be that they weren't starving because they were poor, they were starving because there was no food to be had. Starvation in a famine is different from starvation in a land of plenty where you simply can't afford food.
    - fastball 9y ago
      If there was no food, the entire population of China would've died. In the case of a famine, it's still the haves and the have-nots.

hellofunk 9y ago

> I grew up during the tail years of communism I'm a bit confused; is China not still communist?

krisdol 9y ago
I’m not sure how it would be considered communist today. It’s ruled by a “communist” party but its economic system is nowhere near communist.
- jacobush 9y ago
  If it's possible to instantiate that superclass "FascistEconomy", China is an example of a fascist economy if I ever saw one.
- geezerjay 9y ago
  That's the true sign of a communist regime: after the revolution stagnates, the communist pary elites start to take personal control over the state-controlled industries while keeping the populace under theit heel.
cryptokush 9y ago
state capitalism