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I like to think of the circumstances in China more as the ultimate result of a libertarian society achieved through different means, regulations and all manners of control exist but they only exist to restrict those without wealth if you have wealth then your effectively above the law. China isn't Somalia, but is Somalia has some warlord who could unite the country and industrialize...it probably wouldn't look that different.
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# ? May 24, 2013 06:34 |
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# ? May 21, 2024 14:55 |
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This one's just especially hilarious because of the big neon sign "TROPICANA CLUB WELCOMES CORRUPT CADRE AND WHORES" Like how stupid do you need to be?
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# ? May 24, 2013 06:48 |
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Ardennes posted:I like to think of the circumstances in China more as the ultimate result of a libertarian society achieved through different means, regulations and all manners of control exist but they only exist to restrict those without wealth if you have wealth then your effectively above the law. China isn't Somalia, but is Somalia has some warlord who could unite the country and industrialize...it probably wouldn't look that different. Yeah. Big companies and powerful and/or rich elites can gently caress over whomever they want. They don't have to follow any rules. That's a fact. If it's oficially called communism or capitalism or a monarchy or a democracy or whatever doesn't matter.
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# ? May 24, 2013 06:56 |
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Really, this is called a Huge Wealth Disparity and governments tend not to be it so much as they are taken over by it. China's current dilemma (and the U.S. and the Euro area's problems) are not at all caused by their government systems as they are by entrenched elites with access to enormous power through wealth. Stamping out exactly this is a big deal in establishing government power in rule of law, and you see it over and over again throughout history. Some examples: Rome -- The Roman Republic collapsed because of the increasingly huge gap between wealthy landowners and the rest, and the republic suffered more and more frequent crises as the rest tried to vote in someone who would give them a slice and those people kept getting loving murdered by the Senate until they finally learned to bring the loving army to the election, and then everyone realized the elections were unnecessary now that the army determined who won. The Imperial reforms that castrated the Senate also divided the wealth more equitably for the ~200 good years of Imperial rule. The French Monarchy -- The good days of the French Monarchy was again when the King had the aristocrats by the balls, the collapse came when the aristocrats managed to use financial judo to get the crown to give back a ton of their ancient rights and in response the peasants killed everyone. The U.S. -- It's no coincidence that the biggest expansion of government's role in the economy and the most draconian controls on organized wealth coincided with the biggest boom time in U.S. history. There are more but I have to go teach an economics class. Governments as institutions aren't so much culpable in the current problem of wealth as they are victims, although the people in government who are part of the problem probably don't see it that way. tl;dr You're talking about state capture, not normal state behavior.
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# ? May 24, 2013 07:13 |
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The poor have at times complained about being ruled poorly, The rich have always complained about being ruled at all.
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# ? May 24, 2013 07:36 |
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Sorry to go back to food talk. I post enough in this thread as is For the record, American food rules, even when my Italian clients trash talk American Pizza, or French clients bitch about bad bread, or Mexican clients bitch about Tex-Mex. Instead of writing a wall or words proclaiming how much I love USA food and culture, or chastising sheltered guys who don't explore their surroundings, let me present you with this photo: This is what I had to pack for my co-workers in my coming business trip to Stuttgart, Venice and Berlin: The kettle is more for making tea when we host the expo These guys grew up in Hong Kong, a relatively diverse and metropolitan city in Far East Asia. There's easy access to different cuisine and lots of import exists. It's not that they don't touch non Chinese, but they just prefer eating instant noodles. But to their defense, it's not just a "Chinese thing". Food is a very personal and particular subject. When I went to Beijing for goon meets and hanging out. I ended up eating Mexican, Italian, and Subway and neglecting northern regional cuisine. Sometimes expats here in China have major cravings for fast food and one of the conversational ice breaker is "Well a new Burger King opened up". But yes, there is a stark difference between not trying new things at all and be isolated and longing for something. I myself am guilty of taking a 2 hour train for some drat good pulled pork sandwiches/chicken fried steak/chicken and waffles. Or flying to Shanghai to taunt Bloodnose with pictures of Krispy Kreme/Karl's Junior.
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# ? May 24, 2013 09:20 |
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This speaks for itself:SCMP posted:'I was here' Chinese carving on ancient Egyptian wall is decried on Weibo It's even worse than it sounds, it's right on a heiroglyphic panel. http://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1246598/i-was-here-chinese-carving-ancient-egyptian-wall-decried-weibo
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# ? May 26, 2013 13:26 |
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Arglebargle III posted:This speaks for itself: From the Ulm Cathedral in Germany. Graffiti and vandalism certainly aren't something that only Chinese people do but at least people seem thoroughly shamed by it. Still, it's interesting in that they do seem to care more about their reputation abroad than certain other major nations I could mention, but I can't imagine them ever kicking anyone back home for being a huge jerk, even for poo poo like this.
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# ? May 26, 2013 13:44 |
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I'm glad the article specifies that they're modern Chinese characters, otherwise I've got an idea about who REALLY built the pyramids!
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# ? May 26, 2013 18:15 |
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Bloodnose posted:I'm glad the article specifies that they're modern Chinese characters, otherwise I've got an idea about who REALLY built the pyramids! The Chinese were ancient alien astronauts, Qin Shi Huang's tomb is their current base
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# ? May 26, 2013 19:04 |
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WarpedNaba posted:So what happens when it's evident to both populations that they're going to starve? Aside from the riots, anarchy and so forth - How will the governments increase their food sources? War. I don't see it ending any other way because there are just too many people and not enough resources. Thus they will have to find some way to get them one way or another.
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# ? May 26, 2013 23:14 |
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Arglebargle III posted:Eat the poor. Air pollution on that scale will take literally decades to fix and coat upwards of a trillion dollars or more to do it. The type of air pollution control system we use in the US are not cheap and can cost hundreds of millions for a single coal power plant. They will also be retrofitting these plants with proper pollution control systems (SCRs, ESPs, scrubbers, flares, incinerators, etc.) which can be a nightmare to do. Before any of this can happen, China has to fix their corruption issues though. Otherwise you will have situations where scrubbers are installed without any medium or SCRs without ammonia injection. It would be hilariously awful if the corruption isn't fixed.
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# ? May 26, 2013 23:22 |
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A 26-year-old financial analyst defied Hong Kong culture to live his dream... as a bus driver. SCMP posted:Gary Leung Ling-yin, 26, decided to switch careers after realising money and luxury no longer represented a fulfilled life. But it turns out he's just a rich kid who probably couldn't handle the pressure and hours of banking. Or maybe he could, since he could handle the pressure of acing exams. I dunno. SCMP posted:Some said he came from a privileged background, which allowed him the luxury of doing what he wanted. But Leung said: "We [this generation] are very privileged - most of us have never gone hungry or run out of money for food. Having enough materially has made us more aware of what materialism cannot fulfil in our lives. I think consumerism and materialism in Hong Kong is changing. I'm happy that this has started discussion and dialogue." And then there's this story, which I don't even know what to say about : SCMP posted:“Most Chinese people think that Americans are honest, reliable, and righteous. But once you live in the country for a while, you may discover the descriptions above are a bit misleading, ” explained its editor.
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# ? May 27, 2013 08:54 |
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Holy Christ. Compensation jokes be abounding, methinks.
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# ? May 27, 2013 09:02 |
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People in glass houses shouldn't Actually I am not sure this analogy can be Sinified. For those who haven't bothered to Google: [edit] Please tell me that "People's Daily" is now going to be an innuendo for morning wood.
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# ? May 27, 2013 14:34 |
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SCMP posted:“Their [UA] manner is worst when dealing with Chinese passengers, who are usually timid and reticent outside of China,” concludes the Daily, citing “research” done by its online reporters. What the...
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# ? May 27, 2013 16:21 |
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They obviously didn't understand that United Airlines is awful to all passengers. It's an honest mistake one could make if not from the US.
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# ? May 27, 2013 17:12 |
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It's interesting how the article conflates morality and dishonesty with poor customer service.
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# ? May 27, 2013 17:29 |
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Honda-induced riots in everyone's favorite province, Henan:SCMP posted:When the side rearview mirror of a black Honda bumped a 10-year-old girl on her way home from school, the driver - instead of helping the child - insulted and hit the mother. "I come from an influential family," the driver said. Something isn't adding up.
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# ? May 28, 2013 09:56 |
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Bloodnose posted:Honda-induced riots in everyone's favorite province, Henan: Bitch hit a kid, thought she could fake her way out of it... didn't quite go according to plan.
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# ? May 28, 2013 10:17 |
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Sad thing is, from the description the child wasn't even hit that hard. If she had stepped out, apologized, and helped the kid up, I'm betting things would have been fine.
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# ? May 28, 2013 12:11 |
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I think the bigger question is, why would an unemployed factory worker own a Honda?
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# ? May 28, 2013 12:44 |
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I think the bigger question is "is anything the government has said about the perpetrator true?"
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# ? May 28, 2013 12:47 |
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VideoTapir posted:I think the bigger question is "is anything the government has said about the perpetrator true?" Yeah, their reaction is a bit...odd. Riot mob tries to lynch a woman? Better give out all of her personal info, as well as the personal info of everyone she's related to.
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# ? May 28, 2013 13:01 |
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GuestBob posted:Please tell me that "People's Daily" is now going to be an innuendo for morning wood. God drat that has to be intentional.
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# ? May 28, 2013 14:08 |
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Longanimitas posted:God drat that has to be intentional. Well, if it's an organ of the nation that fires out half-built information packets and boiling piss on a regular basis...
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# ? May 28, 2013 14:14 |
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WarpedNaba posted:Well, if it's an organ of the nation... I missed this pun. How could I miss this pun? I have some thinking to do.
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# ? May 28, 2013 14:38 |
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TheBalor posted:Yeah, their reaction is a bit...odd. Riot mob tries to lynch a woman? Better give out all of her personal info, as well as the personal info of everyone she's related to. Eh, there's no "right" move to make. They treat it for what it is, a minor accident, fake plates, and apply the maximum penalties (not all that crazy) and every screams that the government must be covering something up. Release all the personal info of all her relatives, and obviously, the government must be lying. So, either the government flat out executes anyone and everyone who the public has a suspicion of (CR2.0), or the government is "wrong". She's driving a Honda Accord, looks to be something from after 2008, which brand new, fully loaded is something like 20w. Used, around 10~14ish. Nothing insane. Oh well, look on the bright side I guess, at least she wasn't sporting some fake white plates.
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# ? May 28, 2013 14:47 |
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So they pulled a newborn baby out of a sewer pipe. Video and pictures in the article. I won't link them here because it's extremely disturbing. quote:It’s not clear how the baby originally became lodged in the pipe just beneath the building’s fourth-floor bathroom, but according to Zhejiang News, China’s state-run news service, residents reported hearing a baby crying through the piping this weekend, summoning firefighters to the Jinhua-based apartment complex Saturday morning, where they worked for two hours to carefully disassemble the sewage system. The little guy's alive though, at least that's something. Nilbop fucked around with this message at 02:31 on May 29, 2013 |
# ? May 29, 2013 02:28 |
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Here's my new favorite China story: Holy poo poo check out this guy with Donald Tsang! Oh man, there he is with Li Ka-shing! He must be really important! SCMP posted:A self-claimed “successful” businessman from Hong Kong scammed three billion yuan from 600,000 investors via a pyramid scheme on the mainland before he and his criminal gang were caught by police, China’s Guangzhou Daily. reported. Well this was actually a great idea for how to scam uninitiated nouveau riche .
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# ? May 29, 2013 06:53 |
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GuestBob posted:People in glass houses shouldn't Grand Fromage posted:Caberham use your libertarian dystopia to keep sending me Shaoxing wine and I'm a happy man.
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# ? May 29, 2013 11:29 |
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Y-Hat posted:My ex is from Shaoxing... they make wine there? The only industry I know in that city is textiles. A village a little way north of me makes very, very bad "alcohol" (it deserves no more specific label). Should I actually get to Hong Kong this summer then that's going to be my standard gift. Shaoxing is pretty famous though. What I am talking about is drain cleaner. Ironic drain cleaner, but drain cleaner. GuestBob fucked around with this message at 13:19 on May 29, 2013 |
# ? May 29, 2013 13:16 |
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Shaoxing wine is a big thing, rice wine that's used in a looooooooooooot of recipes. Easy to get in the US but nearly impossible here in Korea. I don't know why.
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# ? May 29, 2013 13:18 |
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Shaoxing is awesome! Aside from the cooking wine (which as Grand Fromage noted is actually famous famous and not just "stop trying to make your 特产 happen, it's never going to happen" famous), they have museums for Lu Xun and Qiu Jin, two of the coolest Chinese people ever. Qiu Jin, the woman knight of Mirror Lake. Qiu Jin was a women's rights activist. In Qing era China. Let that sink in for a moment. When she was young her parents married her off to some guy, but she just ditched him and went to study abroad in Japan by herself. In Japan she started wearing men's suits and took up martial arts and swordfighting After Qiu Jin came back to China she became head of a military school, founded the first women's newspaper in China, and plotted an uprising against the Qing. She also wrote a ton of poems like this one (shamelessly ripped from Wikipedia) quote:漫云女子不英雄, Qiu Jin fought really hard for women's literacy and the right to choose their own spouse and ending footbinding. Keeping in mind this was around 1900 and women's rights didn't become a "thing" even in the West for another 50-60+ years... some people are so ahead of their own time it just blows my mind Eventually her plotting caught up to her and she was arrested. When the authorities beat her up and tried to make her confess, she refused to confess because she is a badass. She wrote in place of a confession: "“秋風秋雨愁煞人" (something like "the autumn wind and autumn rain worry me to death" also a pun on her last name) So then she was beheaded at the age of 31 and never lived to see the Xinhai Revolution . hitension fucked around with this message at 00:14 on May 30, 2013 |
# ? May 29, 2013 23:59 |
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hitension posted:Qiu Jin fought really hard for women's literacy and the right to choose their own spouse and ending footbinding. Keeping in mind this was around 1900 and women's rights didn't become a "thing" even in the West for another 50-60+ years... some people are so ahead of their own time it just blows my mind Not to dis on Qui Jin but women's rights was a thing in the west starting in the last three decades of the 19th century. By the time they got the vote in the early 20th century there had been women agitating for a long time. Also the pun is "Qiu's wind and rain scare people to death" which is like a mega-pun because it could refer to her "thunder" scaring the authorities, refer to her being put to death over her activities, and also "wind and rain" is a double entendre for sex which I'm not sure she intended to put in there but it could be that she's so good at sex people die??? Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 01:52 on May 30, 2013 |
# ? May 30, 2013 01:49 |
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Man there is a lot I could say about women's rights but in terms of individuals I suppose that is pretty fair. I like to go ahead with my hyperbole sometimes. Qiu Jin's story is certainly more exciting/dramatic than any others I can think of ... Also the quote is basically a poem/creative writing so it is open to interpretation It's not like Qiu Jin made a footnote like "note: here the author uses a literary allusion" I never heard the sex thing though Qiu Jin isn't supposed to be sexy hitension fucked around with this message at 02:13 on May 30, 2013 |
# ? May 30, 2013 02:02 |
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In Chinese literature any time a male and female character are together and then some "wind and rain" stirs up outside their tent/yurt/cave/house it means they're having sex. It's like the one thing I remember from my erotic Chinese literature class and yes, I had to take an erotic Chinese literature class for reasons.
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# ? May 30, 2013 02:18 |
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Arglebargle III posted:Not to dis on Qui Jin but women's rights was a thing in the west starting in the last three decades of the 19th century. By the time they got the vote in the early 20th century there had been women agitating for a long time. I don't think every reference to wind and rain is necessarily sex, old sport.
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# ? May 30, 2013 02:20 |
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Barto posted:I don't think every reference to wind and rain is necessarily sex, old sport. I'd hate to see the weather from where you come from.
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# ? May 30, 2013 02:31 |
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# ? May 21, 2024 14:55 |
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WarpedNaba posted:I'd hate to see the weather from where you come from. Stormy.
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# ? May 30, 2013 02:52 |