• Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
    3518·
    19 hours ago

    Look, the US is fucked up and an evil country, everyone can agree on that

    But why in the everlasting hell do you all act as if China is a savior, as if China can do no wrong?

    China is the fucking same plus worse

    Same goes for Russia

    All those three are evil empires that should be ALL dismantled into loads of smaller countries

    It doesn’t matter what the country pretends to want to be, as soon as it gets too powerful you always end up with some asshole dictator, whether they’re called Putin (need a good nickname for him, getting tired of having to write that name every time), Cheeto, or pooh Bear. These so called leaders should all hang for the crimes they’ve committed

    So with that said, why the China worship, why the pretence they China can do no wrong? This is literally “US propaganda baaaad, China propaganda goooood”

    • orc_princess@lemmy.ml
      175·
      18 hours ago

      This is what happens when instead of material analysis you default to mainstream media to be honest about its geopolitical enemies.

      No one is saying we’ll like it if China does bad shit in other countries, but they haven’t invaded anywhere in decades even when provoked. Meanwhile the US bombs a few countries a year, and launches a full on invasion every few years, not to mention the unilateral illegal sanctions they impose which kill over half a million people every year. When China does nearly a tiny fraction of that we can talk. In the meantime you’re just repeating western propaganda. China develops our countries, the US coups or invades them.

    • Darkness343@lemmy.world
      93·
      19 hours ago

      Their first emperor is a fucking dragon.

      Your first president is an ungrateful British colonist.

    • Surp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      510·
      18 hours ago

      China gets mad praise on Lemmy as long as you say US bad in the same sentence

  • switcheroo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    40·
    2 days ago

    Hence why some of the US simply CAN’T protest. If they miss a single pay check-- or get fired for missing work-- they’re fucked. Insurance is also tired to work.

  • mr_might44@lemmy.world
    73·
    2 days ago

    If one paycheck is all that stands between half of the people and homelessness, can it really be called the “middle” class?

    • Ummdustry@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      1 day ago

      I mean, the “middle class” doesn’t usually refer to the poorest 50%. The Lower class has always been the majority, Middle a large minority, and Upper a vanishing minority.

    • Meron35@lemmy.world
      31·
      23 hours ago

      It’s better to think of working, middle, and upper class in terms of how much of their income derives from labour vs capital.

      Working class = majority of income from working.

      Upper class = majority of income from owning capital, i.e. can afford not to work at all.

      Middle = somewhat evenly split.

      Traditionally working class was associated with “lower” jobs such as labourers, and those working cushy office jobs usually earnt a high enough income to accumulate enough capital to become middle or upper class.

      This is more aligned with the British definition, where their “middle class” is more equivalent to the US “upper middle class.” Make no mistake though, with many jobs not paying enough to accumulate capital, professionals such as teachers, accountants, and nurses would firmly be considered working class, because they you know, need to work.

    • meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      481·
      2 days ago

      There was an article with a pretty compelling argument a while ago that basically said the true poverty line in the US is over 100.000$/year family income (when you look at what that number was originally supposed to measure). Below that you’re getting fucked left and right.

      Every dollar a family earns between 40k and 100k makes them poorer, because it triggers benefit losses (like health care & child care) that exceed income gains.

      So what the US reports as “the middle class” are actually the working poor

      • Weydemeyer@lemmy.ml
        14·
        2 days ago

        I was reading Michael Roberts’ blog the other day, and he pointed out something similar. The official calculations for inflation significantly understate it for various reasons. However, if you look at actual labor hours needed to cover the essentials of life, and you use the median income amount from 1950 (for the US), then that number comes out about $102k per year. Said another way, for a standard of living based on real life, to have the standard of the median American in 1950, you would need to earn over $100k today. But if you take that 1950 median income and just adjust it for official inflation, you only get to like $42k.

    • Pherenike@lemmy.ml
      28·
      2 days ago

      So I learned it this way:

      Upper Class - can live a luxurious life without working at all, and even have domestic employees etc.

      Middle Class - can live comfortably but only if they work

      Lower class - cannot live comfortably even if they work, and can very easily end up homeless (no social safety net)

      The dude who taught me this was my Sociology of Work teacher over twenty years ago.

    • DreamButt@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      Yeah cuz the lower class don’t get paid at all. Homelessness is rampant all over the states

  • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
    358·
    2 days ago

    Fuck it. Chips on the table, china taking over america would be a net positive at this point. I’ve never bought into the “country bad because ideology different” bullshit we’re fed here in the us. As I can see from here, just about any other large nation assuming control would bring me everything I ask my government for as a default.

    • Aljernon@lemmy.today
      1510·
      1 day ago

      Trading late stage capitalism for mid stage capitalism and a pre-existing merger of state and corporate power doesn’t sound like a permanent fix. Also, deposing a strongman in favor a system that has reestablished it’s leadership as a strongman is not an improvement.

      • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
        32·
        17 hours ago

        I think you underestimate the term “improvement”. Lossing two fingers instead of three is an improvement. 8inches from the ledge is better than 4inches from the ledge even if either measure isn’t even one whole step. If in never going to see best then I’ll take any better I can get.

        • autriyo@feddit.org
          1·
          4 hours ago

          Yeah but any invasion probably pushes half of the country over the edge before the war would be over.

          I wouldn’t wanna risk death and destruction for a mere potential 4" further from the edge.

        • Aljernon@lemmy.today
          13·
          14 hours ago

          A permanently better world is possible so why settle for a temporary better situation with little hope for further improvement? Why insist people have to lose fingers when no one losing fingers is achievable and not at all far fetched?

          • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
            21·
            11 hours ago

            That’s like insinuating that I refuse to lose weight because I can’t lose 60lbs today. I’m literally saying I will take any movement what so ever if it means movement.

            • Aljernon@lemmy.today
              1·
              3 hours ago

              It’s more like offering someone a weight loss pill that will work for a couple months and then make you gain more weight than you started with.

  • PetteriPano@lemmy.world
    35·
    2 days ago

    I’m not in/from the US. I haven’t been one paycheck away from homelessness since I was a student.

    Enough savings to last half a year without income has always been a rule of thumb.