I mean… I kinda get it, but nowadays it’s starting to get absurd.

(EDIT: This was supposed to be a “blow air out my nose and get on with my life” meme…)

  • frank@sopuli.xyz
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    20 hours ago

    I lived and worked outside Shanghai for a bit, but it was a while ago and probably has changed a good bit. What makes you think their lives are far better off than those in the states?

    Not necessarily disagreeing, but it absolutely was not the case 15 years ago. American life is on a downhill though, zero argument there.

    • Sl00k@programming.dev
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      19 hours ago

      Right now I look at my life in the late 20s in the states and even despite having a well paying tech job, I will have to sacrifice everything in my life in order to have a family or even own a house and those two are exclusive of each other. Although not in deep debt, I’ve definitely had to pay my fair share towards medical and student debt.

      I’m watching critical infrastructure projects that could impact so many people take 30 years to build.

      The amount of homeless we see on the streets is our own governmental failure and the increased crime associated with it. Seeing what I see in US streets really can wear an empathetic person down, it’s a cruel world here.

      Our diet and price to eat healthy in the US is continuously worsening (yes this is a choice to an extent but also a cultural problem that grows over time)

      And even though it’s absolutely recency bias, the deportation of Latinos does not strike confidence in me given my heritage.

      I do think China has changed a lot in the last 15-30 years, and don’t get me wrong I don’t think it’s a perfect life, I understand there’s an infinite amount of competition for well paying jobs, and housing prices are extremely high (albeit not as high relative to ours). But when you show me how China has effectively succeeded at each of these topics compared to our own governmental failures that I experience on the daily, it makes me question my own life here and why people immediately criticize China without nuance.

      • frank@sopuli.xyz
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        6 hours ago

        I do feel for you, I know life in the US has gotten much worse recently and I feel that’s accelerating.

        I’m not so sure life in China is better per se, but it is different.

        I will probably blanket statement this and say life in the EU seems a lot better than in the US now, though with plenty of problems depending on where you go. I say this as someone who left the US for the EU.

      • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        12 hours ago

        The amount of homeless we see on the streets is our own governmental failure and the increased crime associated with it. Seeing what I see in US streets really can wear an empathetic person down, it’s a cruel world here.

        Thats probably fueled by western individualism. In China, families tend to stay together, so if a Chinese person ever faced homelessness, they could always move back to live with parents, who all have a house that’s passed down from their ancestors. Most parents are very accepting with letting their kids live with them, unlike, say, Americans. And in China there isn’t as much of a “Shame Culture” as with the US. Its considered acceptable to live with parents as long as they are trying their best in life.