Don't worry, these floods are completely unprecedented so the CCP cannot be blamed for not being ready and the floods were not exacerbated by poorly made infrastructure There is the argument that totalitarian governments respond better to disasters than democracies, but this has never been the case in mainland China.
When a disaster occours, the only thing that totalitarian governments are more able to do than democracies, is to hide / minimize the fact.
COVID is the perfect example, China claims it dealt with the virus pretty easily, but you can bet your bottom pound that's only because they've hidden the true extent of the casualties they have suffered as a result of it.
Interesting fact. Here is a recent example where they failed to hide a disaster and it was a man made disaster.
Elon Musk said something stupid about the CCP. Mind boggling stupid. I was on the fence about Musk before, now I think he is either a moron who is an idiot savant about self promotion or he is a brilliantly intelligent evil man with a skilled PR team. Then he said something else pretty stupid. 1) Taiwan should unify with mainland China, the CCP will certainly give them a decent amount of autonomy. 2) The United States needs a program like WeChat. There are no hidden downsides if everything you buy, every one you associate with, everything you say, everywhere you go, and everything you do is monitored by a poorly regulated ueber program. Any street cred Elon Musk gets as a supposed proponent of free speech is gone now in my opinion.
This is chilling. In theory the one advantage of living in a surveillance state should be that missing people can be found quickly. I'll let the video speak for itself.
I cannot find a single video with a succinct summary because events are still unfolding. I am perfectly aware, that no one on Lustria-Online dislikes the CCP as much as I, but we are in the middle of something historic. Right now, protests are erupting different regions of China of a size and scope not seen since the Tiananmen Protest of 1989. The White Paper Revolution. It's worth looking up some videos or articles if you are even mildly interesting in China Watching. Summing it as best as I can. The draconian restrictions to "stop the spread of Covid" have been causing economic hardship and constant grumblings for a very long time. Recently, a fire in an apartment building claimed several lives. Because of the Covid restrictions, it was moderately harder for the residents to get out. It was extremely difficult for the fire fighters to get in to help. There were barricades and fences and cars that have not moved so long they have dead batteries and the fire fighter response time was hours after the fire broke out and limited to boot. Also, the apartment was officially classified as a "low risk area" but it still locked down harshly. It is very obvious, even to generally patriotic Han Chinese that the government is severely understating the death toll. Local officials have blamed the few deaths they admitted to on the incompetence of the victims in getting away from the fire. This isn't the first time that Covid restrictions directly led to people dying, but this was a flashpoint event. The Chinese people are already really fed up with the Covid restrictions and there is a rarely seen boldness in the protests around the country and greater national unity and empathy among the masses than normally seen. It is called the White Paper Revolution because a lot of protesters are simply holding up blank pieces of paper or paper with abstract very vague and symbolic writing. Why? Because specific anti-government slogans are not allowed, but there is no law against holding up blank paper. When the paper is taken away, people still hold up their hands. This is difficult for the CCP to oppress but they are certainly turning up their oppression apparatus. I don't know if this is a giant turning point or anything (I don't think this means the CCP is about to collapse or reform), but this is one of the biggest changes in the status quo in China in quite some time. Also, Jiang Zemen just died, Xi Jinping's predecessor and one of his long-time rivals. It's not that revolutionary for a 96 year old man to die, but the timing is sort of symbolic given everything happening now. Maybe, just maybe, the current chaos will cause Xi Jinping to fall from power but it really doesn't matter. Jiang Zemen was a murderous dictator and he was replaced by another murderous dictator. If Xi Jinping falls, he will be replaced by someone equally bad. BUT if a series of party chairmen get ousted relatively quickly, over and over, this might weaken the ability of the CCP to do evil things. My prediction is that China is going to look more and more like a bigger North Korea in the next ten years. They are making the country less welcoming to foreigners and more foreign companies are looking into pulling their factories and investments out of China. The CCP is stepping up their efforts to prevent locals from getting VPNs. I think China is going to get more insular, more oppressive, and more poor, but less able to oppress or interfere with people outside of China. Not exactly a good thing, I feel bad for the Chinese people.
I've seen news of the protests. Lack of vaccinations for the elderly is also a catalyst, because it sends a big message about how little the government cares about the weak and vulnerable, which are the demographics in need of the most governmental protection. The people of China seem to be waking up to the reality of their so-called 'People's Republic' and taking action at last, though as to whether this can topple the regime remains to be seen. It seems that China will follow the footsteps of the Soviets in that regard, as it has always followed their lead in the past. And it's interesting to notice how short-sighted they are being, because the rise of China as an industrialised nation in the first place was all brought about by the West outsourcing manufacture there and giving it a free Industrial Revolution, and as an industrialised nation today it is still being sustained by this Western industry. Very much like the countries in Africa and southern Asia that are failing miserably to govern themselves after gaining independence from the British Empire, being hosts of another country's industry is not the same as being a master of your own industry, because if that country decides to pull out, they'll take all the tech and knowhow with them, meaning you won't be able to pick up where they left off, certainly not immediately anyway. The less welcoming China becomes to foreigners and the more it repels Western companies, then the more it will shoot itself in the foot until it won't be able to stand at all. All of these things, combined with their ageing population and one-child policy, mean that China may well stumble and fall before it can attempt to achieve global superpower status as America and formerly Britain had, which can only be a good thing for the world - the British Empire and the US brought both good and bad things to the world during their tenure as superpowers, but as an oppressive Communist state, China would only bring bad things. There is no question that sadly it'll be the Chinese people that suffer for the mistakes and cruelty of their government, but if it means that the regime turns its attention away from disrupting the rest of the world, then it'll be a matter of sacrificing a comparative few to save a comparative many (and avoid a Third World War).
I believe the CCP doesn't see this as a bug, they see it as a feature. I believe the party leaders on the mid levels and upper levels would be secretly relieved if a lot of their old people died off. The CCP views human life in terms of "what can this person do for me" and "what can this person cost me" and from a technocratic sociopath view, old poor people are pure liabilities. Of course this goes against traditional Chinese culture which venerates the elderly greatly. The CCP undermines traditional Chinese culture at every opportunity only keeping the few aspects they find helpful.
Not to mention that is poses a particularly great risk to a country whose population is one of the most rapidly ageing. Allowing all their elderly to die off like this would cause their currently mighty population to plummet. But then, not just Communist China but a lot of societies throughout history have underestimated the value of the elderly as those who can pass on everything they have learned to the succeeding generations. If all human societies had cared more for their elderly and treated them as people rather than liabilities, then chances are we'd all be much wiser.
Been watching the protests and the fact that Jiang Zemin just died. Sad what is happening over there right now (with the protests).
This will be my first Christmas without either of my parents and I miss them greatly. That said, while I loved my parents, but I am not a huge fan of baby boomers in general. I feel like the political and business leaders of my parents generations have done a huge variety of short-sighted and selfish things that they have left for future generations to fix. The baby boomers were the first generation in American history to rebel against their parents en masse and their parents were the Greatest Generations yet they flushed their parents' collective wisdom down the toilet. They were all squares man! Trust no one over 30 man!
This occurred in the 1970s and had more deaths than Chernobyl but I only heard of it today. Take what lessons of it as you will.
ADVChina is always interesting. They don't talk about current events so much as they talk about daily Chinese life. This video is interesting but frustrating. The rich upper class of China is complicit with many evil acts. I always say, if you are going to sell your soul, make sure you get a good price for it. The CCP officials and their cronies live a lower quality of life than me, and I'm on the low end of middle class. Always remember, it is better to serve in Heaven than to rule in Hell. That's what the CCP's elite are essentially doing.