The conversations are amazing

  • passiveaggressivesonar@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Few things blew my mind even though I’ve been a big fan of Chinese economic and political policy for a while

    They actually really like Soviet Culture, the marching soldiers and flags etc. Soviet rock like Kino and the like is very popular!

    They’re casually Marxist, its not something they have to fight to learn about so socialism is a casual existence for them. I figured the youth would be “too cool or hip” but doesn’t seem to be the case

    They’re very similar as gamers, they really like shooters like battlefield and cs go. I assume their MMOs are different but I’m asking about that

    It truly is a massive cultural exchange the likes of which have never been seen before. I’m trying to find out if they grew up on the same games, Morrowind Deus Ex Thief Ultima Online D&D etc

  • caboose2006@lemm.ee
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    4 hours ago

    Eh, there’s truth and lies on both sides. Coming from someone that lived in china for 4 years and was able to engage with Chinese primary news sources. But basic healthcare in china is faster and cheaper, but then again I went to get a wart removed and they prescribed me acorn paste that accelerated the growth of the wart. So win some lose some.

  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    5 hours ago

    I spent $82 USD on cold, flu and bronchitis treatment last year!

    The fact that this is considered expensive there made me do a choking double take in the same way as learning that an actual mansion in the 70s used to cost like 20 grand.

    • Fishroot [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      5 hours ago

      the median income in China is around 26,800 Yuan (USD 3,855) per month. $82 USD (492yuan) is actually expensive. Since it is median income, you can expect a lot of people are not making that amount especially in the inland regions.

      Comparing it to the States is not the good flex that people think it is.

      • holo@lemmy.wtf
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        5 hours ago

        Median monthly income in China according to most sources I can find is just 1300-1400 USD. Still, 82 USD for that income is not expensive, and that’s for higher end private medical care outside the main healthcare system.

        It’d be like an American paying for medical care with a weeks groceries.

      • COASTER1921
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        5 hours ago

        As a portion of median income it’s still far far better than the out of pocket costs in the US (just like pretty much every other country on earth)

        • moncharleskey@lemmy.zip
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          4 hours ago

          If I went to the doctor for bronchitis, then I would pay about 15 dollars after insurance for the visit and prescriptions. Hospitalization would completely different though, and I think that’s a better comparison to make.

          • holo@lemmy.wtf
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            4 hours ago

            Assuming insurance covers it. And you only have a 60% chance of having it covered.

              • COASTER1921
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                4 hours ago

                This also is under the assumption you’ve met your deductable for the year already which for many HDHP can sometimes be hard.

                • moncharleskey@lemmy.zip
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                  3 hours ago

                  Well, in a situation where you are going to your primary physician and not going to a hospital then you would be responsible for the co-pay for the doctors visit and whatever the prescriptions cost after insurance, so even though it’s the start of the year and I haven’t paid anything towards the deductible, it still would be less than $50. With my plan, my co-pay is $10 and I usually have my prescriptions covered 100%. That’s why I’m saying a hospital visit would be a better comparison because that’s where you really get screwed here. I am in no way defending US healthcare, just being honest about my experiences. Now, if you didn’t have insurance, then a visit like this to the doctor and prescriptions could easily be over $150.

      • Acid_Spectacle [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        2 hours ago

        This is not true, 26,800 RMB per month is Senior Developer in Shenzhen (Shenzhen is China Silicon Valley, But the salary is only half of Google L3. and Daily work 9+ hours, six or seven days a week, plz search 996.ICU).

        Real china mainland are 600 million people who earn less than 1,000 RMB (136.39 USD) per month (year 2020) by Li Keqiang say (former Prime Minister has passed away).

        Trade union? Strike action? No, You’ll go to jail, plz search “Jasic incident”.

        Absolute majority Rednote user is children of the bourgeoisie (Real china is Kuaishou and douyin (But algorithms have created echo chambers that isolate people) or search “whyyoutouzhele” on twitter).

        They don’t even know that 120 is a paid service, or maybe they’re just bragging…

        In Jining (former capital of Shandong) Base fare: 100 RMB for the first 10km, 150 RMB for 10-20km, and an additional 10 RMB for each kilometer over 20,

        There’s a 50 yuan charge for using things like stretchers and oxygen tanks.

        • Fishroot [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          2 hours ago

          your statements are not really contradicting my point and I’m not really disagreeing with them, perhaps you were replying to someone else?

          Trade union? Strike action? No, You’ll go to jail, plz search “Jasic incident”.

          Again, I have never stated anything regarding labour struggle in China, I have never defended the government handling of labour issues on my comment, I had stated in the past that strike are illegal in China and the poor handling of workers dissatisfaction often leads to lynchings at worst. I am also familiar with the Jasic incident, again i don’t think you are responding on my comments regarding median income in China.

          Absolute majority Rednote user is children of the bourgeoisie.

          I have never really disagree with this point, the social media access is inevitably going to be alienated young people in cubicule with some income that allows internet access\phone plan

          They don’t even know that 120 is a paid service, or maybe they’re just bragging…

          Again, I have never mentioned anything about toll fare to pay back road development, since I am aware. Either you are not responding to the right comments or you are enumerating statements as a way to rant or something

          There’s a 50 yuan charge for using things like stretchers and oxygen tanks.

          Healthcare hasn’t really been optimal in recent years. I was back to China two years to see my grandmother one last time. She can’t no longer eat; therefore we had to feed her via nutrient tube. a pack of 500ml was 100-150 rmb (2 packs per day) and sometime we managed to bribe people to skip lines to get them first by paying extra. We also managed to luckily bribe the hospital director so she doesn’t get kicked out of her bed as it is a rule that you have to leave your bed after a 15 days stay. Suffice to say, she was lucky as she had a party member pension, but the care did ate up a portion of it.

          • Acid_Spectacle [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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            2 hours ago

            It’s nothing personal, I just think it’s partly true that. So I added some, including labour issues.

            You mentioned median income, According to Zhongjin data, 95% of the population has a monthly income below 5,000 RMB. I don’t know the source of your data.

              • Acid_Spectacle [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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                1 hour ago

                Thank you. I see its data from SalaryExplorer, but I couldn’t find where SalaryExplorer source.

                Caixin (link, but chinese) did a study last year,

                Low-income households, comprising about 300 million people, will have a per capita disposable income of 8,333 RMB in 2021, or 694 RMB per month.

                while lower-middle-income households will have a per capita disposable income of 18,446 RMB or 1,537 per month.

                High-income households, which make up 20 percent of the population, have a per capita disposable income of 85,836 in 2021, or 7,153 RMB per month.

      • TheLepidopterists [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        4 hours ago

        Per wikipedia (I know, but I don’t think this kind of data is political enough to be subject to the NATOpedia treatment, it’s originally from the census bureau), the median income for workers in the US in 2023 was 40,480 USD. That’s 3373.33.

      • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        5 hours ago

        What about purchasing power or whatever that metric is called?

        Edit: and it is still a flex. Being able to talk to a doctor without taking a loan is pretty good compared to the us

        • Fishroot [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          5 hours ago

          Depends of where you live, in tier 1 Cities (if you want to live for opportunities and make a decent income). You can’t really survive well with a 3,855 per month if you don`t have a paid house from your parents.

          It is difficult for migrant workers who can’t afford a decent living standard unless you live with 4-5 people in a 2 bedrooms rentals.

          In terms of healthcare, you if you don`t live in a big city that benefited from reform and opening up, a severe health issue can be a death sentence.

  • Sagittarii@lemm.ee
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    8 hours ago

    There’s a bunch of Chinese posts asking if the stuff about school shootings, fires, homelessness are exaggerated propaganda only to be told otherwise. It’s both hilarious and sad.

    • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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      6 hours ago

      School shootings is something uniquely american. Even México doesn’t have them and we have a decent amount of narcojuniors (rich sons of drug dealers) that would have plenty access to guns, the only time i remember a school shooting happening it was in a private school in Monterrey like 7 years ago, which is pretty much the most americanized part of México.

    • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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      7 hours ago

      People of the US and China are both unsure of what to believe about the other, because both are so propagandized lol

      • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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        58 minutes ago

        There is definitely more direct censorship of domestic events in China than in the US. For instance, in the US it is widely publicised that the government separates children from adults at the border. Ask Chinese about the Uyghur work camps and they won’t know.

      • DessalinesA
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        7 hours ago

        Who told you that the people of China are propagandized, especially to hate other countries and peoples as much as the US does?

        • COASTER1921
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          5 hours ago

          Their access to news is controlled and for some topics all available news is what we’d call propaganda. Particularly anything about Japan or the Taiwan issue. Most people I know there realize this to an extent but without any other information do still believe the core idea even if skeptical of details.

          But at the same time I’d argue there’s no such thing as a population that’s not propagandized. In the US the big news corporations only will present views favorable to their profitability and continued growth. Sure they disagree with eachother, but it’s still always a pro-business view. State news from Russia is (I’d argue rightly) not available on many US platforms to discourage it’s influence for example.

        • vatlark@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          Woah I never recognized your username in the wild before. Thanks for giving us Lemmy. Huge fan.

          • DessalinesA
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            6 hours ago

            Scroll down, addressed this three times in this thread already.

            • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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              6 hours ago

              You mean how both China, and the US propagandize their citizens? Yeah, I’m fully aware of that already. All states will do it, as a system of control over the working class, in order to continue to exploit them.

              I mean, if controlling the people wasn’t the goal, whats the purpose of the oppression of a state?

  • davelA
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    6 hours ago

    Reporter: [REDACTED]
    Reason: Misinformation

    Truths you find inconvenient are not misinformation, reporter.

  • umbrella
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    7 hours ago

    imagine making social media so bad your own citizens actively procure your biggest rival’s networks.

  • Jo Miran
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    8 hours ago

    Circle jerking about China is as ridiculous as circle jerking about the US. We’ve been here before with US vs USSR, but this time everyone has a megaphone and an IQ that can be measured with a ruler.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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      6 hours ago

      You keep on coping there little buddy. What’s happening is that regular people from both countries are now talking directly to each other, and finding out what life is actually like.

      • ThirdConsul
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        34 minutes ago

        Uhhh, not exactly regular people. From what I’ve seen from the Rednote, at least my feed is wealthy upper-middle or upper class, while the Americans are from low to middle class.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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          3 hours ago

          Lack of will on the part of Americans to engage on Chinese platforms like Xiaohongshu. The looming TikTok ban is what pushed people over the edge.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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              2 hours ago

              TikTok is a Chinese built platform, but it’s built strictly for users outside of China. The Chinese version of TikTok is Douyin. You could’ve googled this yourself in the time it took you to write this comment.

              • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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                44 minutes ago

                Why are hexbears so rude, all I did was ask questions

                disclaimer

                This is a bit. I know you’re not on hexbear and I don’t think you’re rude. I’m just parroting the line a lot of smug libs say upion getting rightly called out for behaving like assholes

                • OprahsedCreature
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                  13 minutes ago

                  At first I downvoted, then I saw username@hexbear, then I laughed and upvoted.

              • gubblebumbum@lemm.ee
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                27 minutes ago

                Why? Tiktok is availabe in multiple countries with completely different language, culture and laws so why not China? Why have a different version of the app specifically for china?

    • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      4 hours ago

      Wow those sure are some thoughts you managed to have. Big boys and girl and gems usually like to talk to each other and listen. You should try it. Use your words. What is your critique of the USSR and why do you perceive “realising we’ve been propagandised about china” as being akin to a circle of people masturbating?

      • ThirdConsul
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        29 minutes ago

        As a Polish person, if you say anything good about USSR without acknowledging it was shit stealing, people murdering, generation destroying piece of shit, I’d like to invite you to talk to some of the old people who remember, read diarys or fucking analysis.

        Do you know they even decimated our fucking cuisine?

        Sorry if you weren’t implying anything positive about USSR, I have short fuse here.

        • OprahsedCreature
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          8 minutes ago

          As a Polish person

          I can lie about my nationality and make shit up too Mr FBI agent.

          Also the idea that old Polish people are a monolith is bloody fantastic.

        • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          20 minutes ago

          I’d love to talk to more old people who overwhelmingly say life was better under the USSR. I’d love to talk to more people who voted to keep the USSR and got couped into a hellish decade of shock doctrine.

          Yeah the ebil gommulist came and killed your food I read it in the NED funded Atlantic article. Christ you, of all people, should possess some level of ability to realize you’ve been lied to. “Oh things weren’t great back then, so that means it’s actually good we have child prostitution a cratering vaccination rate and so much more”. Or are we going to the route of how things got super good because of EU membership? Ah yeah that shit is going great. But yeah the USSR wasn’t perfect, so let’s just gargle all the propaganda we can get and whenever we hear anything positive then it’s either just regular old person nostalgia or an uninformed westerner or whichever other excuse you can pull out of your ass so you can continue brain-deadedly glorifiyng western Europe. Nevermind the fact France still dictates the financial policy of several African countries, which is just the tip of a very very very large iceberg.

          Sorry I just get annoyed when people talk out of their ass and think “I come from an eastblock country” means anything, as if we aren’t amongst those who have been stepped on by the American boot most of all.
          Shame on you.

          • ThirdConsul
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            9 minutes ago

            What’s your point? The west is shit? Not arguing here.

            USSR good? Any old Polish people saying that? I’d love to meet them and check if they weren’t high positioned in the Party at that time.

    • rando895@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 hours ago

      I mean isn’t this more "circle jerking " about dismantling state propaganda? Interacting with those you were told are your enemy?

      Besides, people should always celebrate the positives, and look towards them as something that is possible in their country too.

      And as an fyi: when we were here before, the workers revolution in Russia was new. The achievements were so profound that workers in North America began demanding similar concessions from our governments. There was a real threat of overthrowing the existing power structures. And what happened? Weekends, literacy, healthcare, just generally improved living conditions. To dismiss cultural exchange as circle jerking is to ignore history and the power that comes with knowing things are better elsewhere, and that you can have that too.

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]@hexbear.net
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      7 hours ago

      If what you’re trying to get at is that whereas it is very important to unlearn the lies and exaggerations one was told about a country, that people also need to avoid replacing these lies with an overly simplistic and uncritical understanding of that same country, and that the current social media landscape makes it very difficult for many people to have the necessary nuance to avoid this pitfall… Then I would agree with you, but I’d also tell you that mentioning the eugenicists’ favorite way of measuring “intelligence” is a very bad way of phrasing this idea, and that your standards of what counts as “circle-jerking” about a country are probably not nearly as inviting of nuance as you’d think.

      • Jo Miran
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        6 hours ago

        …mentioning the eugenicists’ favorite way of measuring “intelligence” is a very bad way of phrasing this idea…

        100% agree. The IQ thing is a tired and lazy joke. I need to work on a replacement for that old jab.

  • theneverfox@pawb.social
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    9 hours ago

    If banning tik tok ends up galvanizing demand for healthcare reform I’m going to laugh my ass off

    • Cowbee [he/they]
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      8 hours ago

      Good comrades like Lady Izdihar are taking off in a big way, might help radicalize a lot of people towards Marxism even.

      • AlsephinaOP
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        7 hours ago

        Rednote’s algorithm seems very receptive to communist content, at least compared to what I’m used to. Hope it stays that way.