China's capitalist reforms are said to have moved 800 million out of extreme poverty. Data suggest the opposite

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to World News@lemmy.world – 71 points –
China's capitalist reforms are said to have moved 800 million out of extreme poverty. Data suggest the opposite
phys.org
15

This article is a classic "find some stats to back up my political position" nonsense. They admit that the world bank findings directly contradict what they want and so redefine "purchasing power parity" to suit their needs. Apparently a more socialist weighing of "basic needs" better suits an argument for socialism? Then they make the somewhat bizarre assertion that socialist China had better life expectancy and infant mortality than Indonesia, Brazil, and India at that time. Maybe that's true, but wtf does it have to do with the merits of socialism?

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Yeah, you're gonna have to count me pretty fucking skeptical that the poor in China in 1981 were better off than the poor in China today.

Not saying the lives of many haven't improved. But outside the major cities/provinces. For many, little has changed. Definitely not for the better. Even as the party has enriched themselves. Building opulent terminals for high speed ghost rail lines etc.

Not saying the lives of many haven’t improved. But outside the major cities/provinces. For many, little has changed.

Are you missing the fact that over 278 million Chinese people move out of the rural areas to those cities to take part in the prosperity?

Here's the data to back it up: source

Rural population of China in 1981:

Rural population in of China 2022:

I don't hear anyone making that claim. If 40 years ago say 30% of your population could barely afford food and today it's only 5% it still very much sucks for that 5% but it's still objectively better for there to be less super poor people than before.

I don’t hear anyone making that claim.

That... that's literally the claim the article is making.

"The opposite." So... China has moved 800 million people into extreme poverty?

You have been banned from /r/china

/r/sino

So happy i can freely type that now. On Reddit if you mention that sub they remove it/ban you for brigading.

And they would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you darn data.

We find extreme poverty increased dramatically during the market reforms of the 1990s. It reached a peak of 68% as price deregulation pushed up the cost of basic food and housing, cutting the buying power of low-income people.

Lol, their point is that China doesn't do enough socialism. Which is fair, especially for the healthcare