netcat
Hardcore Member
China is an interesting case. Everyone just sold their farms and moved into a city because it the gov promoted it but now you can only get a degrading service sector job, have much less space and breath dirty air. But you can afford gadgets.China still makes most money from these kind of hybrid free-market activities, raising the average wealth for every citizen
The golden age of capitalism is behind us. In the 80's everyone had a comfortable suburban home but now we all live in small apartments. China, South Korea and many other developing nations leapfrogged into heavy urbanization trying to be modern but now the younger generation have a much lower standard of living, high suicide rates and low birth rates. I can tell you for a fact Korea is not a balanced, optimistic society.
So we're at the tail end of capitalism. It worked great for North America, Europe and Japan but trying to get on board now seems like a poor choice. China - with their iron-grip regime - missed the boat. We are now further from utopia.
Capitalism is about companies competing on quality and cost. But now competition is so fierce if you want to survive you best be a mega-corporation. And children now start studying 8+ hours a day at age 7, effectively sacrificing their youth. For what? There aren't enough jobs so it's all such a waste, nature is gone and you can only afford processed food. But you look good on tiktok.