4 ms·

China is good at things we are really bad at: building up modern infrastructure fast and at reasonable cost, investing in long term projects (payoff in decades

by qaq 7y ago

China is good at things we are really bad at: building up modern infrastructure fast and at reasonable cost, investing in long term projects (payoff in decades so meaningless for election cycle driven politics in other countries).

proc0 7y ago
I doubt China has good infrastructure, which is why they build it so fast. Also it helps to absolute control over your workforce.
- elamje 7y ago
  They have now have 2/3 of the worlds high speed rail despite starting incredibly late in the game, and not having a ton of people that can afford it. Turns out, in a communist government you can cut through red tape incredibly easily to advance your goals for the party/country. This is common for communist govs, and not democracies. When you believe land ownership should be private, and everyone has a super strong opinion about things, it’s hard to advance infrastructure at a speed commensurate with societies needs. Not an argument for communism, just an observation. Likely lacks some nuance, but just do a bit of research on China’s infra, and their heavy investment in that space.
thedudeabides5 7y ago
Also good at giving death penalties for white collar crime. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/china-sentences-ex-chairman-of-troubled-hengfeng-bank-to-death https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/china-sen... Keep up America!
- matthewdgreen 7y ago
  Extreme (death penalty) sentencing for corruption is generally not something you see in regimes that have highly effective regimes of anti-corruption enforcement.
  - solveit 7y ago
    It is however, a highly effective tool for political purges.
- Can_Not 7y ago
  The US has the opposite extreme of this problem, where we get 6 months for the same white collar crime but there's a minimum 5 year sentence if you grow a specific plant to treat your dehibilating asthma symptoms (http://www.hr95.org/pinson.htm http://www.hr95.org/pinson.htm).
  - bransonf 7y ago
    I was going to make a quip about how you would probably fare worse in China, but at least according to Wikipedia, the penalty is 10-15 days [0]. On the other hand, legalization is probably imminent in the US. The same is not true of China. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_China

by qaq 7y ago

proc0 7y ago

I doubt China has good infrastructure, which is why they build it so fast. Also it helps to absolute control over your workforce.

elamje 7y ago
They have now have 2/3 of the worlds high speed rail despite starting incredibly late in the game, and not having a ton of people that can afford it. Turns out, in a communist government you can cut through red tape incredibly easily to advance your goals for the party/country. This is common for communist govs, and not democracies. When you believe land ownership should be private, and everyone has a super strong opinion about things, it’s hard to advance infrastructure at a speed commensurate with societies needs. Not an argument for communism, just an observation. Likely lacks some nuance, but just do a bit of research on China’s infra, and their heavy investment in that space.

thedudeabides5 7y ago

Also good at giving death penalties for white collar crime. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/china-sentences-ex-chairman-of-troubled-hengfeng-bank-to-death https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/china-sen... Keep up America!

matthewdgreen 7y ago
Extreme (death penalty) sentencing for corruption is generally not something you see in regimes that have highly effective regimes of anti-corruption enforcement.
- solveit 7y ago
  It is however, a highly effective tool for political purges.
Can_Not 7y ago
The US has the opposite extreme of this problem, where we get 6 months for the same white collar crime but there's a minimum 5 year sentence if you grow a specific plant to treat your dehibilating asthma symptoms (http://www.hr95.org/pinson.htm http://www.hr95.org/pinson.htm).
- bransonf 7y ago
  I was going to make a quip about how you would probably fare worse in China, but at least according to Wikipedia, the penalty is 10-15 days [0]. On the other hand, legalization is probably imminent in the US. The same is not true of China. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_China