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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 o

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.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- simonh 9y ago
  At the time the poster was growing up, starvation wasn't a concern. My wife grew up around the same time, she was born in 1975. There had been a famine a generation before, but that wasn't an issue she had to worry about. What happened a generation before does not invalidate that reported experience and isn't relevant to it. Even now, people in China are not concerned with or at risk of famine. It doesn't matter how many famines there were 50+ years ago, it won't make that untrue unless you can point to a credible reason why Chinese people today should fear famine.

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.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
simonh 9y ago
At the time the poster was growing up, starvation wasn't a concern. My wife grew up around the same time, she was born in 1975. There had been a famine a generation before, but that wasn't an issue she had to worry about. What happened a generation before does not invalidate that reported experience and isn't relevant to it. Even now, people in China are not concerned with or at risk of famine. It doesn't matter how many famines there were 50+ years ago, it won't make that untrue unless you can point to a credible reason why Chinese people today should fear famine.