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As a Chinese, I can say that the situation is worse than it in the article. My brother is a student who lives in a flat and has not eaten for two days and no on

As a Chinese, I can say that the situation is worse than it in the article. My brother is a student who lives in a flat and has not eaten for two days and no one has brought basic substances. He can't leave the flat, he turns to his tutor but his tutor is also forced to stay at home (eating instant noodles every day). We are worried about him but there is nothing we can do, if we criticise the government on chinese Twitter we will be arrested by the police. ಥ_ಥ

FerociousTimes 5y ago
The only hope for your brother is if there's a black market for food staples and basic commodities taken shape in Shanghai already and there's an informal network of couriers to deliver food behind all the barriers
Drblessing 5y ago
That's deplorable, I hope everything works out all right.
baka367 5y ago
me and my wife (we live in Suzhou) actually talked that if this happens to our city, it might actually become worth to "cause trouble" and get arrested, hoping that there would be some food given in the police station. Its ridiculous how dystopian such conversations have become recently...
kurthr 5y ago
Yes, and anyone without a Shanghai hukou (identity card) is not even allowed to get government food. That is a LOT of people in the Shanghai region. I wish the best for everyone stuck there.
danuker 5y ago
Terrifying. Is there no private food delivery?
- user_named 5y ago
  No they shut down all deliveries of food and food stuff like a week before the lockdown. You could still get some during that time, but I have many orders that never shipped. After lockdown started, all deliveries stopped.
sJ646U9k6c6gME9 5y ago
kkfx 5y ago
There are two kind of issue there: - have no "buffer", meaning living in houses where you can't store food in quantity sufficient for a certain, not little, period of time, in some countries there are even official recommendations like Swiss who recommend one week of food and three days of water (I think, not sure about exact data); - live in a not-united population that can arise effectively, no government, no power can stop an angry population, they can only try to avoid communications, create confusion and divert anger towards against false/others target. The first issue might be sorted out if economical conditions allow citizens to live in large-enough homes with room for freezers etc to guarantee even a month of autonomy. The second unfortunately is a tricky business that can change in decades, no less...
- robonerd 5y ago
  > no power can stop an angry population The longer you wait, the hungrier you get. The hungrier you get, the weaker you are. Best for the people of Shanghai if they start rioting now than a week from now, when it may be too late.
  - kkfx 5y ago
    of course, but the hungrier you get the less you have to loose so you act with far more fierce effort accepting more and more extreme consequences. Honestly food issues will be spread all around the world in the near future: we are too much for the food quantity we can produce, it's just a matter of time. Probably the key most élites count on are a divided population between a mass of young kept a bit nourished and well indoctrinated just to live for work, a small extent of "new feudal class" to keep the system app and other poor to starve. When (not if, IMO) we will be there it will be too late to change the course but I do not know how much late is already...
    - robonerd 5y ago
      > of course, but the hungrier you get the less you have to loose so you act with far more fierce effort accepting more and more extreme consequences. Definitely true. I just hope people aren't so tolerant of hardship that they miss their window of opportunity. With respect to food shortages in the rest of the world, I'm not too concerned. Many items are missing from grocery stores in my corner of the world, but basic sustenance doesn't seem threatened. Maybe I can't find chicken one week, or cheese the next, but there is still plenty of beans and bread around to keep stomachs full and I don't anticipate that changing. In Shanghai, the food shortages seem to be to be the direct consequence of the government locking down the city and disrupting supply chains. It's not a food production problem, it's a lockdown/logistics problem. If the rest of the world doesn't follow suite with this sort of zero-covid insanity, then I think we'll be fine.
jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago
Whether this is deliberate or accidental on the govts part, I feel this situation is a forced social experiment that was planned by the leaders. I hope your brother finds a way through this situation.
netsharc 5y ago
Genuine question: but if the police arrest him and take him to jail, do they feed him there?

FerociousTimes 5y ago

The only hope for your brother is if there's a black market for food staples and basic commodities taken shape in Shanghai already and there's an informal network of couriers to deliver food behind all the barriers

Drblessing 5y ago

That's deplorable, I hope everything works out all right.

baka367 5y ago

me and my wife (we live in Suzhou) actually talked that if this happens to our city, it might actually become worth to "cause trouble" and get arrested, hoping that there would be some food given in the police station. Its ridiculous how dystopian such conversations have become recently...

kurthr 5y ago

Yes, and anyone without a Shanghai hukou (identity card) is not even allowed to get government food. That is a LOT of people in the Shanghai region. I wish the best for everyone stuck there.

danuker 5y ago

Terrifying. Is there no private food delivery?

user_named 5y ago
No they shut down all deliveries of food and food stuff like a week before the lockdown. You could still get some during that time, but I have many orders that never shipped. After lockdown started, all deliveries stopped.

sJ646U9k6c6gME9 5y ago

kkfx 5y ago

There are two kind of issue there: - have no "buffer", meaning living in houses where you can't store food in quantity sufficient for a certain, not little, period of time, in some countries there are even official recommendations like Swiss who recommend one week of food and three days of water (I think, not sure about exact data); - live in a not-united population that can arise effectively, no government, no power can stop an angry population, they can only try to avoid communications, create confusion and divert anger towards against false/others target. The first issue might be sorted out if economical conditions allow citizens to live in large-enough homes with room for freezers etc to guarantee even a month of autonomy. The second unfortunately is a tricky business that can change in decades, no less...

robonerd 5y ago
> no power can stop an angry population The longer you wait, the hungrier you get. The hungrier you get, the weaker you are. Best for the people of Shanghai if they start rioting now than a week from now, when it may be too late.
- kkfx 5y ago
  of course, but the hungrier you get the less you have to loose so you act with far more fierce effort accepting more and more extreme consequences. Honestly food issues will be spread all around the world in the near future: we are too much for the food quantity we can produce, it's just a matter of time. Probably the key most élites count on are a divided population between a mass of young kept a bit nourished and well indoctrinated just to live for work, a small extent of "new feudal class" to keep the system app and other poor to starve. When (not if, IMO) we will be there it will be too late to change the course but I do not know how much late is already...
  - robonerd 5y ago
    > of course, but the hungrier you get the less you have to loose so you act with far more fierce effort accepting more and more extreme consequences. Definitely true. I just hope people aren't so tolerant of hardship that they miss their window of opportunity. With respect to food shortages in the rest of the world, I'm not too concerned. Many items are missing from grocery stores in my corner of the world, but basic sustenance doesn't seem threatened. Maybe I can't find chicken one week, or cheese the next, but there is still plenty of beans and bread around to keep stomachs full and I don't anticipate that changing. In Shanghai, the food shortages seem to be to be the direct consequence of the government locking down the city and disrupting supply chains. It's not a food production problem, it's a lockdown/logistics problem. If the rest of the world doesn't follow suite with this sort of zero-covid insanity, then I think we'll be fine.

jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago

Whether this is deliberate or accidental on the govts part, I feel this situation is a forced social experiment that was planned by the leaders. I hope your brother finds a way through this situation.

netsharc 5y ago

Genuine question: but if the police arrest him and take him to jail, do they feed him there?