This was a reply to another thread, but I have decided to make it a new thread to see what others think. I concur. Peter Schiff has said that one major advantage of China is that China is not a democracy. There is no historic correlation between democracy and economic well being, nor is democracy a necessary and sufficient condition for economic success. In my opinion, we in the US are under an invisible or indirect slavery, not much different from the colonial times. Taxation: The ultimate slave master is the IRS, which owns 40% of my hard labor. Everybody in the US is an economic slave. Who owns property also owns the labor of renters through indirect slavery. Mortages (Latin: mort- death; gage- grip) make banks the owners of the labors of mortgagees. How much taxes do ordinary Chinese pay? Read the recent "Economist." What good is the freedom of speech, freedom of this and that crap, when you can't even keep what you make? For me, I strongly believe economic freedom, rather than economic slavery, is a higher ranking card than freedom of babbling. Democracy and freedom in the West is really just a sham; it is a disguise and diversion to prevent us from asking for real economic freedom. To me, the most practical freedom of speech is Internet porn, which is not officially allowed in China. Who in a truly free society would need religion? Congratulations to China for freeing more than a billion of humanity from the shackles of religion! Have you ever thought that our labor (and the bailout) that we surrender to the IRS by force actually goes to the FED or Treasury, and through debt, to the international bankers and the world's ultra-rich who own nations by instrument of debt? Welcome to the New World Order. Please read "Creature from Jekyl Island" and the "Dollar Crisis." Even if you think it is conspiracy theory, I still choose to believe it.
good post couldn't have said it better myself not to forget two points regarding freedom of speech in america and the west in general; 1) stupid people usually talk alot, freedom of speech ends up giving voice and attention, and so power and authority to these idiots and morons more than anyone else feminism is one example of this, all the constant disrespect towards males and demonization of men, for the ultimate goal of fucking men in the butt, is just astonishing 2) the media constantly pushes people to openly state what they want and think, while in reality the gov and it's like use everything you say or have said, against you. When you think about it, it really seems like a malevolent plan, so they can get people to speak their minds, making it easy for them to sort people, and identify those who are against the system, set them up, and imprison them before they cause any trouble.
Every political system has some form of exploitation, or else what's the benefit of being on top? The US has high taxes, which go to special interest groups, etc But in China you have a government that's hostile to you and beats you and forces you to work 80 hours a week in shitty conditions. That translates to higher profits for the state company you work for, which directly benefits the politicians on top. The methods are different, the end results are the same. Why is China so strong? Well for one you can't fight cheap labor, China also has established alliances with everyone, corporate America loves China, Wall Street loves China, those short-term mutually beneficial relationships have strengthened it while weakened the overall US economy. Finally the US is concerned with keeping its wealth, while China is interested in making it. I guess it's no coincidence then that the US has the most advanced financial system while China has been great at using partnerships, protectionism, knowledge transfer etc to build up its real economy.
One disadvantage of China for their citizens is if they go around talking like Peter Schiff they won't stay free, or alive, very long. Would probably be the same for your rant as well. BTW, calling it "slavery" fails for the simple reason that you're not forced to work for the man or take a mortgage. There are always options if you want it bad enough. Which, for all its warts, is pretty much why everyone else who doesn't live here wants to.
to be fair, the white collar chinese office workers are taxed about the same rate as the US. Someone making 100k yuan a year (ok pay in china), is taxed around ~20+% just like a us worker who makes 100k usd a year. The lower income brack in china pays very little to no tax, mostly blue collar city workers or rural farmers. But The biggest difference to me is the real estate cost of ownership. An apt around ny/nj that cost around 700k, you are expected to pay at least $700 a month in taxes plust $500 in condo fees (mostly for bullshit like insurance,lawyers). In china a similar apt in shanghai that also cost close to 700k usd, you pay maybe $10 a month in taxes. and $30 in condo fee. So basically there is no ownership cost other than the purchase price, that is a significant difference. The chinese government is so full of money right now they dont know how to spend it, so they have no need to tax the citizen and create unrest/complaints for itself. I sometime wonder why i live in the us, sure the pay is good but the amount of tax i pay (income, social security, real estate, etc..), it really kills the living standard. I could make half the pay, and live a much better life elsewhere.
This is for the conspiracy nuts although there is some truth in it. Neocons' unite! One day you'll destroy society or enslave it with more bullshit but not yet. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c3defm8SQ9o&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c3defm8SQ9o&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Not true that everyone else wants to live here. No one from Western Europe wants to live here, even Canadians dont want to live here.
Nobody wants to live here except poor people from third world countries. Europeans aren't clamoring to immigrate to the US.