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China’s Millennials

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Re: China’s Millennials

#11

Post by freeflight »

thrwway483 wrote: post #6

I skimmed it, but didn't see much mention of something that I think is pretty big to my generation (I'm '83) in the West: counterculture, protest, etc. It's not as big as in the 1960s and 1970s had been (before I was born), but still, it was definitely a pretty big element, and LGBTQ+ and social justice seem to be important topics that affect many people here in the West. Here, much of this is expressed -- or social…

> In China, everybody fully supports the government, don't they? I mean that what the Party does, has 100.00% approval rating at all times, there are no Facebook groups for discussing it, there is no activism protesting anything or driving for any kind of change, and everyone there just totally supports everything. (In Mainland China).

I take issue with that description of China because any government that is in power usually is so because large numbers of its citizens supporting it.

That's something absolutely normal, as it doesn't work any other way. But with China, it's somehow made out to be something bad when the Chinese are supportive of their country and government.

Similarly: Facebook ain't the only platform for discussion and organizing, the notion that China doesn't have any such platforms, and thus no counterculture like that, is just silly.

Re: China’s Millennials

#12

Post by hos234 »

They seem to be having a good time and some old man is uneasy about it. Nothing to see here.

The thing about uneasy old men, is they are happy only if everyone shares their uneasiness or someone shows up and holds their hand and tells them everything will be all right. If neither happens they get more and more cranky.

Re: China’s Millennials

#14

Post by noisem4ker »

diN0bot wrote: post #7
treden wrote: post #2

is behind a paywall, how can I read this article?

on iphone (and maybe safari desktop, too?) you can tap to the left of the URL (the icon with a few horizontal lines) to get a non-ad view that often shows the full article, too.

Also known as Reader View in Firefox (all platforms).

Re: China’s Millennials

#15

Post by scilro »

freeflight wrote: post #11
thrwway483 wrote: post #6

I skimmed it, but didn't see much mention of something that I think is pretty big to my generation (I'm '83) in the West: counterculture, protest, etc. It's not as big as in the 1960s and 1970s had been (before I was born), but still, it was definitely a pretty big element, and LGBTQ+ and social justice seem to be important topics that affect many people here in the West. Here, much of this is expressed -- or social…

> In China, everybody fully supports the government, don't they? I mean that what the Party does, has 100.00% approval rating at all times, there are no Facebook groups for discussing it, there is no activism protesting anything or driving for any kind of change, and everyone there just totally supports everything. (In Mainland China). I take issue with that description of China because any government that is in powe…

Ridicule of the government is quite common on Chinese social media.

But then a lot of Chinese folks who cross over to Western social media find the anti-CCP sentiment to overreach (no doubt bc of the geopolitical considerations involved), and switch over to a defensive posture as a result.

Re: China’s Millennials

#16

Post by wffurr »

DavidHm wrote: post #4

This was extremely fascinating. Thanks for posting.

Seemed a little shallow to me and focused on a small slice of the Chinese population born between 1981 and 1996 (a widely-accepted birth year range for "millenials").

During those years, there was almost no Chinese middle class. All the growth in China's urban middle class happened well after 1996.

Even with that growth, they're still greatly outnumbered by rural and working class families, whose millenial children are likely quite different from what's described in the article.

This felt like an article describing American "hipsters" who are nowhere close to a majority of their birth cohort.

Re: China’s Millennials

#19

Post by SolaceQuantum »

thrwway483 wrote: post #6

I skimmed it, but didn't see much mention of something that I think is pretty big to my generation (I'm '83) in the West: counterculture, protest, etc. It's not as big as in the 1960s and 1970s had been (before I was born), but still, it was definitely a pretty big element, and LGBTQ+ and social justice seem to be important topics that affect many people here in the West. Here, much of this is expressed -- or social…

"there is no activism protesting anything or driving for any kind of change,"

This isn't true. There have been several documentaries covering people trying to drive change in China that the west has documented. (Hooligan Sparrow, Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry, The Ivory Game, etc. just on Netflix alone) The problem is, these people are regularly disappeared in China and their lives are put at risk by doing this work.

In truth, most people know the chinese government, especially Xi, is behaving to preserve control first and foremost. That this benefits the chinese economically is a side effect- but now that effect is waning.

Re: China’s Millennials

#20

Post by corey_moncure »

freeflight wrote: post #11
thrwway483 wrote: post #6

I skimmed it, but didn't see much mention of something that I think is pretty big to my generation (I'm '83) in the West: counterculture, protest, etc. It's not as big as in the 1960s and 1970s had been (before I was born), but still, it was definitely a pretty big element, and LGBTQ+ and social justice seem to be important topics that affect many people here in the West. Here, much of this is expressed -- or social…

> In China, everybody fully supports the government, don't they? I mean that what the Party does, has 100.00% approval rating at all times, there are no Facebook groups for discussing it, there is no activism protesting anything or driving for any kind of change, and everyone there just totally supports everything. (In Mainland China). I take issue with that description of China because any government that is in powe…

Have you ever been to China? You can find yourself cornered by armed soldiers with assault rifles just for taking a photograph of the "wrong" building in a completely ordinary public thoroughfare. Dissent is literally banned and access to external social networks is cut off.

There's no way support for the government is completely genuine in such an environment.

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