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>it is just plain bad for all Americans for China to advance its geopolitical ambitions. In Gen Z's eyes, America is bad for Americans. That's what happens whe

>it is just plain bad for all Americans for China to advance its geopolitical ambitions. In Gen Z's eyes, America is bad for Americans. That's what happens when you build a low trust society. America spent decades trying to build up a strong rapport among citizens and they tore it down and sold them out in a single generation. Maybe china will be worse. But the appeals to nationalism simply will not work among our youth. We abandoned them, they will see the village burned to feel its warmth. Already happened in 2024.

kjkjadksj 11mo ago
Recognizing that our tech leaders are attempting to march us into a sort of technological feudalism is not an inherently gen Z take.
newspaper1 11mo ago
I don’t think this is exclusively a Gen Z thing. I’m Gen X and could not agree more with this assessment.
- johnnyanmac 11mo ago
  Yes, this was a good 30 years in the making, so anyone still in a career will feel it. Even some younger boomers would feel the after effects of tbis, especially those who didn't get to own a house. Gen Z is simply unique as the "full immersion" generation. It's uniquely hard to ignore the youth unemployment for kids who are spending more than ever to be educated, or being hard locked out of minimum wage jobs our parents would scare us with because they lack a bachelor's degree.
  - bloppe 11mo ago
    I certainly don't envy young people entering the job market rn. But China's youth unemployment rate is far higher than America's. To come away from this thinking American capitalism is bad and "communism" (which doesn't really exist anymore on a large scale) would be better would be pretty misguided.
    - Ragnarockooo 11mo ago
      CS new grads today have the highest # of interesting potential startups to join than ever before
      - judahmeek 11mo ago
        Not according to... https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcollins/2025/12/15/computer-science-grads-arent-landing-high-paying-jobs-but-dont-trash-those-degrees-yet/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcollins/2025/12/15/compu... or https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291504 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291504 Your statement might be correct, but the dust has yet to settle for us to be able to determine that.
enraged_camel 11mo ago
America did not build a low trust society though. Just the opposite. The issue is that trust was intentionally sabotaged.
- nebula8804 11mo ago
  Does it really matter? The result is the same regardless of how it came about.
xp84 11mo ago
If they think capitalism is bad for Americans, they’d really dislike being part of some failed state version of the country. Again, China isn’t going to come redistribute all the billionaires’ wealth to the poor American zoomers. They don’t give a fk what happens to any Americans. They barely care about their own commoners. They represent the Party’s interests exclusively. Whatever enhances their power. Ideally if they can screw the US billionaires they will, but with the wealth all going to China.
- johnnyanmac 11mo ago
  Replace China with Trump you have the talking points of 2024. Still took a year of rampant incompetence and corruption to convince Gen Z otherwise. China's soft rule will not be as incompetent.
- nebula8804 11mo ago
  Here are the scenarios that are playing out 1. China overtakes the US -> US society directly decines and thats it. (Your scenario) 2. China overtakes the US -> It takes out the elites with everyone else (what Gen-Z likely wants to see) 3. US manages to hold on -> Elites continue their trajectory of snapping everything up leaving the crumbs for everyone else. (The best case scenario pro-US people can hope for right now) 4. US manages to hold on -> They somehow decide to reform and implement v2.0 of New Deal. (The dream of the bernie sanders wing ie. a pipedream at this point) You are really showing your age with your attitude. Put yourself in Gen-Z's shoes. What is realistic at this point? What can even millenials hope for? The best case is that they end up being a transitional generation that helps their kids survive their childhood and grow into a decent adult life. The worse case is managed decline. Either way Gen Y and Gen Z are done for. This amazing American system you defend has ruined these generations long term outlooks and Trump's bumbling has already written their final chapters.
- array_key_first 11mo ago
  The main difference is that at least the CCP is economically competent. Our current republican overlords are also fucking us over and they're economically dumb as rocks.

kjkjadksj 11mo ago

Recognizing that our tech leaders are attempting to march us into a sort of technological feudalism is not an inherently gen Z take.

newspaper1 11mo ago

I don’t think this is exclusively a Gen Z thing. I’m Gen X and could not agree more with this assessment.

johnnyanmac 11mo ago
Yes, this was a good 30 years in the making, so anyone still in a career will feel it. Even some younger boomers would feel the after effects of tbis, especially those who didn't get to own a house. Gen Z is simply unique as the "full immersion" generation. It's uniquely hard to ignore the youth unemployment for kids who are spending more than ever to be educated, or being hard locked out of minimum wage jobs our parents would scare us with because they lack a bachelor's degree.
- bloppe 11mo ago
  I certainly don't envy young people entering the job market rn. But China's youth unemployment rate is far higher than America's. To come away from this thinking American capitalism is bad and "communism" (which doesn't really exist anymore on a large scale) would be better would be pretty misguided.
  - Ragnarockooo 11mo ago
    CS new grads today have the highest # of interesting potential startups to join than ever before
    - judahmeek 11mo ago
      Not according to... https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcollins/2025/12/15/computer-science-grads-arent-landing-high-paying-jobs-but-dont-trash-those-degrees-yet/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcollins/2025/12/15/compu... or https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291504 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291504 Your statement might be correct, but the dust has yet to settle for us to be able to determine that.

enraged_camel 11mo ago

America did not build a low trust society though. Just the opposite. The issue is that trust was intentionally sabotaged.

nebula8804 11mo ago
Does it really matter? The result is the same regardless of how it came about.

xp84 11mo ago

If they think capitalism is bad for Americans, they’d really dislike being part of some failed state version of the country. Again, China isn’t going to come redistribute all the billionaires’ wealth to the poor American zoomers. They don’t give a fk what happens to any Americans. They barely care about their own commoners. They represent the Party’s interests exclusively. Whatever enhances their power. Ideally if they can screw the US billionaires they will, but with the wealth all going to China.

johnnyanmac 11mo ago
Replace China with Trump you have the talking points of 2024. Still took a year of rampant incompetence and corruption to convince Gen Z otherwise. China's soft rule will not be as incompetent.
nebula8804 11mo ago
Here are the scenarios that are playing out 1. China overtakes the US -> US society directly decines and thats it. (Your scenario) 2. China overtakes the US -> It takes out the elites with everyone else (what Gen-Z likely wants to see) 3. US manages to hold on -> Elites continue their trajectory of snapping everything up leaving the crumbs for everyone else. (The best case scenario pro-US people can hope for right now) 4. US manages to hold on -> They somehow decide to reform and implement v2.0 of New Deal. (The dream of the bernie sanders wing ie. a pipedream at this point) You are really showing your age with your attitude. Put yourself in Gen-Z's shoes. What is realistic at this point? What can even millenials hope for? The best case is that they end up being a transitional generation that helps their kids survive their childhood and grow into a decent adult life. The worse case is managed decline. Either way Gen Y and Gen Z are done for. This amazing American system you defend has ruined these generations long term outlooks and Trump's bumbling has already written their final chapters.
array_key_first 11mo ago
The main difference is that at least the CCP is economically competent. Our current republican overlords are also fucking us over and they're economically dumb as rocks.