Post #2449966

2026-05-12 15:36 UTC

you’re not wrong – china’s billionaire count is up. but here’s the cycle that people in the west miss: a new crop of billionaires come along (eg. tech, evs, ai) and they replace the old crop (eg. real estate & manufacturing) that the chinese gov’t already short-leashed, and boom, numbers jumped. that new crop will experience their own slowdown too once they get their own short-leashes like the previous crop did. it happened around 2018-2024, and it’ll happen again and again. china’s churn is fast, but the pattern’s the same every time: rise, stall, replace; no permanent footing/beachhead for a billionaire class from which to capture the system or spread misinformation like it is in the united states.

Replies (1)

@Doomsider@lemmy.world 2026-05-12 16:21

The creation of even one billionaire is a dramatic failure for both culture and policy. Please spare me the hand waving. Pretending billionaires are in check because the one party murders anyone who they disagree with is not what I would call an efficient system. Entire districts built that were empty without people, massive fraud, and waste. If you are pointing to this disorganized mess and proudly saying look at what we can do I am going to have to point out that it is ridiculous. What China did do was lift several hundred million people out of poverty. Of course they turned to capitalism to do it and only after their failed policies cost tens of millions of lives. Instead of building on this accomplishment they have chosen to create a new billionaire social class on the backs of 6 days a week 12 hour shift working class. China is increasingly looking a lot like the US with only one party. They are now the fourth largest producer of arms supplying conflict regions with weapons of death and destruction. They have built their country by working hand in hand with the US. China is great because of the US not despite it. The narratives the one party pushes are garbage and you truly have to be naive to believe the propaganda they spew forth.

Open ##2449965