Chinese still has a generally free healthcare system for its citizens
Nope. There is no “free healthcare” according to my parents’ direct experience in Guangzhou (广州) and also various relatives. (At least not around the time we left) Everything requires pre-payment, even emercency procedures.
good quality of life overall.
Not really, especially not if you have a rual Hukou. To be fair, it did get a lot better compared to imperial dyansties or warlords era right after Xinhai revolution, but its not that good compared to most western countries. One of the biggesr problems is food safety. Work place safety is also a huge problem, and pay is low, no overtime extras, no vacations for most jobs. Employers frequently delay payments with no consequences. Not really a place you wanna live in.
There’s a reason why my parents left the country. (And then now here in the US, we have this wannabe dictatorship thing happening all over again 🫠 wonderful*, isn’t it?)
*sarcasm
SGforce@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
The most glaring issue with their healthcare or other benefits is that the decision to have those things at all comes down to one party or even one man. That means there is nothing at all stopping those things from being taken away on a whim.
marcos@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
China seems very stable to me. Their government is afraid of making people angry, and removing basic help like that is very likely to make people angry.
But also, it seems to me that the “generally” in “generally free” is doing some work. AFAIK, some care is free, some care isn’t. And the pretty good quality of life doesn’t seem to be universally distributed. Both of those seem to be improving quickly, but the “people are better than in the US” impression one may take from that comment seems to be a misrepresentation.
cecilkorik@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
At the end of the day all governments are desperately afraid of making people angry (at them), from the healthiest democracy to the most totalitarian dictatorship, because the people are always the overwhelming majority, creating all the goods and services, creating the surplus that the rich and powerful exploit and enjoy, and therefore ultimately holding all the real power no matter how much legal, policing and enforcement structure is built around them. Some governments are just extremely creative at making people forget that or preventing them from learning it in the first place, while finding ways to manage their expectations to either convince them to be happy enough, or to make sure they’re always going to be angry at somebody else (or each other), or some combination of the two. They usually turn to the latter when they fail at the former. When they fail at both, it tends to become a revolution.
marcos@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
One would think so. But a quick glance at Russia, or even the current US one would show you otherwise.
Most governments don’t seem to pay a lot of attention to it. Democracies tend to be the most concerned ones, but it still varies a lot.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 weeks ago
the ccp also thinks long term in economic policies, which is why they arnt aggressive like russia or the USA, causing foreign wars on purpose. they rather do it economically which is safer. they also currently have internal problems to deal with: aka thier population crisis.
Friendlybirdseggs@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Yes but at the same time the population would likely be very VERY pissed.