It’s tough to be a pimp young worker in today’s China. In addition to being repressed by the communist government, they’re unable to afford cars or houses, and many can’t even find jobs. As a result, some have turned to the philosophy of bai lan, or “Let it rot.” They’re just giving up on working or caring anymore and openly embracing loserdom.
Naturally, the CCP is not pleased. Commies have never been tolerant of “parasitism” getting in the way of their political goals.
A few takeaways:
Unspoken is just how these young working-age Chinese who have given up manage to afford food and shelter, but I’m just assuming they’re following the time-honored tradition of sponging of their parents. What are they going to do, kick out their only heir?
The problem with reports like this is that it’s hard for those of us outside China to determine just how widespread this phenomena is. Is it “Hey, all the young kids are listening to Mel Torme” or “Hey, all the young kids are listening to Nirvana”? It sucks to be young with dim prospects during a recession, and it sucks a lot worse to be under the heel of a communist dictatorship. Combining those isn’t a recipe for happiness.
Hey Chinese bai lan sufferers: Have you considered launching a revolution against the communist government instead? That would give you lots of excitement and fill your life with purpose! It may shorten it as well, but I suspect it beats lying around waiting to die…
Tags: bai lan, China, Communism, coronavirus, economy, Foreign Policy, lockdown, unemployment, video
Not only that, but it sucks being an incel as well since China killed off millions of baby girls back then.
tinyurl.com/2p8d6cay
As I have said, many times… The whole idea of “social credit” begins to break down, the minute you try to implement it.
China is probably not going to be around in a recognizable format, in a few years. Prepare yourself for that.
Totalitarianism can do anything, except motivate people to do things willingly. And, willingness is key; the enslaved and enserfed do not make for much in the way of progress or improvement, especially when they know that they can lose everything they work for at the whim of someone above them in the hierarchy.
This is why so many totalitarian cultures fail. Happened to the Chinese Imperial dynasties in the last century, after centuries of stasis.
Sounds like “Laying Down”
“Unspoken is just how these young working-age Chinese who have given up manage to afford food and shelter,”
Food is a question, but China has dozens of “ghost cities” to cop a squat in.
“…Chinese people once thought that if they worked hard and followed the rules they could have a good future but that seems to be an illusion.”
Now do Americans.
“Unspoken is just how these young working-age Chinese who have given up manage to afford food and shelter”
perhaps they go back to rural subsistence farming? a significant proportion of the population still lives that way, it’s very low-consumption
but it’s easy to preach revolution from the West, less so when the secret police are everywhere and eager to torture you into compliance on any pretext
look what they did to Peng Shuai, and she was famous
[…] New Trend For Young Chinese: Give Up And “Let it Rot” […]
“Have you considered launching a revolution against the communist government instead? ”
Easy to say, but how to do? I would think it would require organization, secure communications, logistics…lots of stuff. Does China have any non-governmental groups that could pull it off?
Absent that organizational infrastructure, the most any given individual could do is try to go out in a blaze or glory while taking some of the enemy along with him. I suppose a covert hitman approach might work, for a while. But that would also require skills that the average desk-jockey will lack.
[…] how a bunch of young Chinese just decided to give up and let it rot? Recently, a whole bunch of them have decided to make Dali in Yunnan Province their own slacker […]