Comment by ahmeneeroe-v2
25 days ago
>China has a much high pain tolerance than US citizens at least
Can you give some examples of why you think this? I really can't imagine how this would be true.
Best examples would be in last 25 years when they've had mass affluence.
China was able to sustain some pretty strict zero-COVID policies much longer - all the way to late 2022.
Pain tolerance might be the wrong term. Pain tolerance implies speaks to something intrinsic about a population, while really what we're looking at is how much discomfort a population can endure before it really agitates for policy/political change, and so it's much about how a population feels, as the tools available to the government to control, manage, deflect and address the pain/discomfort.
Thanks for the response, agreed on the definition of "pain tolerance."
I do think that the US population is able to bear incredible levels of pain if it's packaged a certain way. Examples:
-20 year Global War on Terror which cost $6T+
-Healthcare costs which far outstrip other western nations, mostly paid for out of pocket, and which increase every year
-Opioid Crisis which killed more people than all our 20th century wars combined
-Lack of workplace protections, time off, etc which our peer nations enjoy
The Chinese have not dealt with any of these things, so yeah, they have more available capacity to manage new social disruptions. That said, Americans love war, so we could probably add another war without disrupting things too badly.
Chinese employees get less time off and many of them got less workplace protection.
The availability to good healthcare for many conditions in China is quite subpar compared to the US. They don't have many physicians. Their healthcare outcomes in most things are worse than those for Americans. Good example is their lung cancer morality rates.
Of course both these things are expected for a much poorer country.
"20 year Global War on Terror which cost $6T+"
This was enabled by the US population not even feeling any of the effects of the war: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/were-at-war-americas-at-the-mal...
"Healthcare costs which far outstrip other western nations, mostly paid for out of pocket, and which increase every year"
This is a reason Trump was elected. I already mentioned this in costs. Imagine what will happen if China takes Taiwan, inflation WILL creep into this with increased medicine costs (many pmade in China) and throughout the stack.
"Opioid Crisis which killed more people than all our 20th century wars combined"
Regional pain does not equal national pain. Ask West/East coasters and they dont know this problem as deeply as the deindustrialized Trump voting rustbelt.
"Lack of workplace protections, time off, etc which our peer nations enjoy"
Why do you think AI is being pushed so hard. This is a coming pain that I hope will finally push the US into a true leftist position.
"The Chinese have not dealt with any of these things, so yeah, they have more available capacity to manage new social disruptions. That said, Americans love war, so we could probably add another war without disrupting things too badly."
Do you have any evidence to support this assertion? Do you live in the US?
> Lack of workplace protections, time off, etc which our peer nations enjoy
Do you really think the Chinese have not dealt with bad workplace conditions? The US population may be jealous of some of their neighbors but they have significantly better working conditions than most Chinese.
From 996 from Alibaba to the swaths of cheap, manual labor used for outsourcing by, among others, the US.
Yeah, I agree there is some manipulation of the narrative in the use of pain tolerance to describe China's citizenry. It is in the CCP's interest to convince their population that pain tolerance is a virtue, rather than allow an alternative narrative that China's citizens must suffer the decisions of the autocrats because they have no ability to influence change.
No need for historical stuff, look at China today like right now.
The high population with oversupply of STEP means everything is more cutthroat there. They have 25% youth unemployment. 996 produces lots of problems but also higher pain threshold. When a new idea comes along they move at lightning speed.
Oversupply of companies in every industry. For example: China mandated companies start producing EVs. Next thing you know there are 100+ car companies in China. All creating jobs that local areas depends on. Now the EV incentives are gone and it has led to extreme price war and everyone fighting for survival in the jungle. What do you think those surviving companies will be like once the weak have been killed off? Imagine them coming after American companies who are fat and bloated and may not know whats coming for them (the employees certainly don't).
This ability to push harder than anyone else is already paying dividends. In 2024, China added 429 GW of new power capacity, more than one-third of the entire US grid. Thats many more factories producing weapons, data centers crunching AI, and lower energy costs enabling more new opportunities.
Now take these people and put them on a war footing? They will out manufacture, out speed and with the amount of STEM they have possibly out wit the US.