ПАРАДОКС КИТАЯ: КАК СТРАНА ИЗ БУДУЩЕГО Живет в СРЕДНЕВЕКОВЬЕ?

Exploring the paradox of China's advanced technology contrasted with medieval-level social and healthcare issues.

Key Takeaways

China's technological progress contrasts sharply with outdated and oppressive social systems.
The Hukou system severely restricts access to healthcare and social mobility for rural citizens.
Healthcare costs can lead to catastrophic debt, with many families unable to afford proper treatment.
Chinese education is highly stressful and restrictive, likened to a concentration camp for children.
The state prioritizes control and obedience over individual welfare, resulting in systemic neglect.

What the video covers

China is technologically advanced with maglev trains, 6G, and widespread internet, yet social and healthcare systems resemble medieval conditions.
The story of Zhang Ziyae, a 5-year-old girl with leukemia, highlights the harsh realities faced by ordinary Chinese citizens.
Despite modern technology, access to healthcare is limited by the Hukou system, which acts like legalized caste slavery.
Medical treatment in China is prohibitively expensive for many, forcing families into massive debt or abandonment of care.
Unlike other countries, leukemia treatment in China is often inaccessible, leading to preventable deaths.
The Chinese education system is described as a harsh, prison-like environment focused on high-stakes exams with severe pressure on children.
The social safety net is weak, with families often left to fend for themselves amid systemic corruption and bureaucratic obstacles.
The red envelope (Hongbao) system creates additional financial burdens on patients and their families.
The video critiques the Chinese economic miracle as a facade that masks deep social inequalities and human suffering.
Confucian loyalty and obedience are demanded by the state, but the government often fails to protect its citizens adequately.

Chapters

What is the main paradox discussed in the video?

The video highlights how China is technologically advanced yet socially and medically regressive, with systems resembling medieval Europe.

How does the Hukou system affect healthcare access in China?

The Hukou system ties citizens to their native regions, limiting access to quality healthcare in major cities and creating a form of legalized caste slavery.

Why is leukemia treatment difficult for many Chinese families?

Treatment is expensive and often requires huge debts; rural patients face restricted access to advanced care, leading to many preventable deaths.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

How did it happen that super-progressive China, which seems to be already living in the year 2126, turns out to be at the same level of development as medieval Europe? In the Middle Ages, a person had two forms of entertainment: playing with dirt or dying of the plague.

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entertainment: playing with dirt or dying of the plague. Here you have maglev trains, 6G, internet in every corner, and robots delivering noodles right to your bed. But the result is the same. Look at this little girl with her duckling. Her name is Zhang Ziyae.

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Here you have maglev trains, 6G, internet in every corner, and robots delivering noodles right to your bed. But the result is the same. Look at this little girl with her duckling. Her name is Zhang Ziyae.

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cannot pet cats. And she has, and can have, no friends. You might think she lives in a cult, but no. Her father is a simple construction foreman, and her mother is a cook in a local canteen.

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She is 5 years old. While some people complain about almond milk lattes, this girl has been on a hardcore diet of water and steamed rice since birth. No pancakes with chocolate or cakes. She is not allowed to go outside; she

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waste products help with blood cancer? Today is the most important day. Her father is taking Ziyae to Beijing for treatment. Don't worry too much; in the modern world, this frightening diagnosis is treated with a 90%success rate. Full recovery awaits you in

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cannot pet cats. And she has, and can have, no friends. You might think she lives in a cult, but no. Her father is a simple construction foreman, and her mother is a cook in a local canteen.

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disease itself. It’s just that the Chinese economic miracle is a pretty tall tale for tourists. In this neon cyberpunk world, a human life is worth less than the life of a witch during the Spanish Inquisition. But how did

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They love their daughter dearly. It's just that Ziyae has a terrible disease: leukemia. And the only medicine used to treat Ziyae is Niuhuang. Pulverized cow gallstones, sold by the local healer Lin Apo. How much do you think bovine

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residence permit, but in fact, it is legalized caste slavery. Your medical insurance is a collar that ties you firmly to your native land. Imagine your tooth starts hurting badly, and for the third day, you can't drink, sleep, or speak. The right side of your

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waste products help with blood cancer? Today is the most important day. Her father is taking Ziyae to Beijing for treatment. Don't worry too much; in the modern world, this frightening diagnosis is treated with a 90% success rate.

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equipment is an enema and a portrait of Chairman Xi. If you want treatment in Beijing, you must pay millions. Yes, in America, for instance, the situation with insurance is similar, but they will pull you back from the brink of

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Full recovery awaits you in America, Russia, Sweden, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, indeed in any civilized country; even in the African nations of Zambia and Ghana, where people live in mud huts and barefoot children kick cow dung down the street, leukemia is successfully defeated—but not in China. And the issue is not the

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surgeon doesn't mix up the operating room and the nurse doesn't forget to set up an IV or change a bandage, you need to bring some cash. Do not confuse this; these are not bribes. In China, there is a death penalty for bribery.

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disease itself. It’s just that the Chinese economic miracle is a pretty tall tale for tourists. In this neon cyberpunk world, a human life is worth less than the life of a witch during the Spanish Inquisition. But how did

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capital's doctors, she was a foreigner. The parents took on monstrous debts just to keep their daughter in chemotherapy sessions. Within a matter of weeks, the debt reached around $ 100,000. There was no money left even for food. It reached the point where

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this happen? China has money and technology, doesn't it? Well, it happened like this. If you think that serfdom is something ancient from the 19th century, you are mistaken. In China, the Hukou system is still in effect. Officially, it's just a

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She simply couldn't bear her helplessness before her dying daughter and one day just left in an unknown direction. The father, being an illegal immigrant in his own country, was torn between low-paying shifts as a loader and his daughter's ward. One of those

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residence permit, but in fact, it is legalized caste slavery. Your medical insurance is a collar that ties you firmly to your native land. Imagine your tooth starts hurting badly, and for the third day, you can't drink, sleep, or speak. The right side of your

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today I saw you crying in secret. It weighs so heavily on my heart. I know that our family spent all our money on my treatment. And there is no money left. Mom left too. And it's all because of me. If I die, then Mom will

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face is swollen and starting to turn blue. Sepsis: you need to see a doctor immediately. Surgery is required. But you are from a village, which means you have the right to be treated only in your local rural clinic, where the only

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story ended. You are surely waiting for the end of Jiajia's story, and I will give it to you. Believe me, it ended much crazier than you think. I just need to give you a little more context on what is happening in China to fully

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equipment is an enema and a portrait of Chairman Xi. If you want treatment in Beijing, you must pay millions. Yes, in America, for instance, the situation with insurance is similar, but they will pull you back from the brink of

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adult letter. Why? It's simple. In China, this is the norm, because childhood here ends before you learn to tie your shoelaces.

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death first, and only then will they send you the bill. In China, they will simply leave you to die right on the sidewalk if you have no money. And don't forget about Hongbao, the so-called red envelope system. So the

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other children just like him sitting in his classroom. Above them hangs the quiet medical rustle of IV drips. This isn't a hospital; it’s an ordinary math class. Before you is a piece of state know-how. The school allocates 10

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surgeon doesn't mix up the operating room and the nurse doesn't forget to set up an IV or change a bandage, you need to bring some cash. Do not confuse this; these are not bribes. In China, there is a death penalty for bribery.

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Why torture children like this? Why not just let them get some sleep? It’s all about the Zhongkao exam. The Party has decreed that every year, exactly 50 %of students are sent to vocational school. For a Chinese person, that is a

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This is just a good, ancient tradition. And it doesn't matter that you are neck-deep in payday loans. This is the Hukou trap that the father of little Jiajia fell into. In Beijing, the girl was eventually hospitalized, but to the

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Jia's father. And God forbid your child gets sick at that moment. A Chinese school is not an educational institution; it is a concentration camp . Pay attention to the stairwells and roofs of Chinese schools. They are tightly sealed with steel bars. Do you

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capital's doctors, she was a foreigner. The parents took on monstrous debts just to keep their daughter in chemotherapy sessions. Within a matter of weeks, the debt reached around $100,000. There was no money left even for food. It reached the point where

Speaker A

The system has tightened the screws so much that it had to build iron cages so that children couldn't commit the only act of freedom available to them. But what if you are a genius? What if you endured years under medical IVs, broke

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the mother moved to live in the hospital hallway because there was no more money for red envelopes for the nurses. She lasted exactly one year.

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of Asia's top universities, Tsinghua, then a master's at Peking University, then Britain's Oxford, and finally, a doctorate in Singapore. By all laws of logic, we are looking at a future industry leader, a dollar millionaire.

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She simply couldn't bear her helplessness before her dying daughter and one day just left in an unknown direction. The father, being an illegal immigrant in his own country, was torn between low-paying shifts as a loader and his daughter's ward. One of those

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doesn't need Ph.D.s. It needs cheap hands to pack parcels. The state machine digested trillions of dollars in education just to get a delivery driver at the end. And Ding is not the only one. Today, officially, one in four young Chinese people is unemployed

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days, as he was leaving for his shift, the father received a note from the little girl. She asked him to read it when he was alone. Unfolding a piece of lined notebook paper, he saw text written in a shaky child's hand. Dad,

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in this system than the ability to pedal quickly. Because the system itself cannot provide its own citizens with decent work. While the entire civilized world fights for talent, China is disposing of it. They have built a digital prison for themselves

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today I saw you crying in secret. It weighs so heavily on my heart. I know that our family spent all our money on my treatment. And there is no money left. Mom left too. And it's all because of me. If I die, then Mom will

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career ladder for an average person ends with a courier job. Take a look at this shot. A man in a yellow courier uniform is kneeling before a residential complex guard. The delivery pays pennies, but if this guy with two

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come back, and you two can be happy like before. I don't want to get treatment anymore. Why don't you just take me home? Okay, this is very hard to hear, but the real shock will come when you find out how little Jiajia's

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dispersed them, and the government instantly scrubbed all mentions of the incident from state-controlled social media. This is the truth hidden behind officials' fairy tales about digital safety and protection from scammers.

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story ended. You are surely waiting for the end of Jiajia's story, and I will give it to you. Believe me, it ended much crazier than you think. I just need to give you a little more context on what is happening in China to fully

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hit the delete button, and the dissatisfied will disappear. But the internet remembers everything, if, of course, you know where to look. Those very videos of the strikes and footage that Chinese censors cut within the first few seconds, I saved especially

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appreciate the situation. And to understand what happens next, answer me one question. Weren't you puzzled by how articulately a five-year-old child expresses their thoughts? At 5, the limit of dreams is something like "Mom washed the frame," but here is a deep,

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And here, forget about the lies from TikToks and Reels about luxury apartments for the price of a studio flat rent. Instead of a home, a true hell of Chinese megacities awaits you.

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adult letter. Why? It's simple. In China, this is the norm, because childhood here ends before you learn to tie your shoelaces.

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length away from the toilet bowl. Meet Mr. Fong. He once had a normal life, but he lost everything. Now he prefers to sleep on the bare floor because the mattress is crawling with bedbugs. When asked how he sees his future, Mr. Fong

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Look at this twelve-year-old, Hao. He is not sick. He doesn't have a fever, but there is a catheter sticking out of his hand. And above his desk swings a bag of amino acids and glucose. Hao hasn't slept in 20 hours. There are 40

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if you suddenly decide to fight back? What if you decide to play by the rules ? Look at this happy couple. Millions of people in China know them as Liang-liang and Jun. They say of people like them that they have a spark in

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other children just like him sitting in his classroom. Above them hangs the quiet medical rustle of IV drips. This isn't a hospital; it’s an ordinary math class. Before you is a piece of state know-how. The school allocates 10

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home. The payment is 900 dollars a month. These guys are the hope of an entire generation. The couple makes cute videos on Chinese TikTok that get millions of views. They are becoming an example for the whole nation. It seems

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yuan per bag of this doping so the student doesn't physically pass out during the fourteenth hour of cramming.

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turned into an abandoned concrete skeleton, you are obligated to pay the bank the full loan amount. That’s your problem. And if you stop paying, the social credit system awaits you.

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Why torture children like this? Why not just let them get some sleep? It’s all about the Zhongkao exam. The Party has decreed that every year, exactly 50% of students are sent to vocational school. For a Chinese person, that is a

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robot notification so everyone who calls you knows that you are social trash and a nobody. There are about 60 million such people cast out of the system in China today. That’s more than the population of Spain or, for

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social death sentence. If you end up in the other half, you already know at age 15 that for the rest of your life you will either be mixing concrete or delivering noodles to those who studied two hours longer, just like little

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? No, they weren't just refused. The couple was demonstratively and brutally beaten right in the office and thrown out onto the street. Do you think the state intervened? Why would it? Just like in the case of the courier strike,

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Jia's father. And God forbid your child gets sick at that moment. A Chinese school is not an educational institution; it is a concentration camp. Pay attention to the stairwells and roofs of Chinese schools. They are tightly sealed with steel bars. Do you

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the mortgage for a non-existent apartment. And no one asked you to dream of a good life anyway. This is the true, wild Middle Ages. The only thing missing for a complete resemblance is the feudal right of the first night. But don't worry, in China,

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know what officials poetically call them? Flower cages. But the students themselves call them the grilles of last hope. Because the number of teenagers deciding to voluntarily drop out of this survival race has long been rivaling traffic accident statistics.

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arrived in a village in Xuzhou district to film a proper patriotic clip about a heroic father of many children, Dong Zhimin, who raised eight kids on his own. A real example for the nation. And while the hero was posing in front of

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The system has tightened the screws so much that it had to build iron cages so that children couldn't commit the only act of freedom available to them. But what if you are a genius? What if you endured years under medical IVs, broke

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She couldn't say a single word. And a heavy iron chain hung around her neck.

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through the concrete wall of the Zhongkao, and graduated from the best universities in the world? What prize awaits you at the finish line? Meet Ding Yuanzhao. He is among the most educated people on the planet. First, Ding earns a bachelor's degree at one

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Why do you think? So that she would keep giving birth without interruption. Eight children is not a fatherly feat.

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of Asia's top universities, Tsinghua, then a master's at Peking University, then Britain's Oxford, and finally, a doctorate in Singapore. By all laws of logic, we are looking at a future industry leader, a dollar millionaire.

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imbalance, China has ended up with 30 million "surplus" men. If you don't have the money for a mortgage, it means you have no chance for a legal marriage . You go to the black slave market.

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But in reality, Ding puts on a yellow vest and brings you wontons for 2 dollars. He is the most educated courier on planet Earth. Why? Because the Chinese economic miracle is just a giant assembly line. This conveyor belt

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Local police issue fake documents, and officials stamp counterfeit marriage certificates. Just think about it: in a country where neural networks on street cameras identify you by your gait in a second and issue a fine for jaywalking, the great state suddenly goes blind

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doesn't need Ph.D.s. It needs ch

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how this nightmare of Dunga ended? No, he wasn't executed. He was given only 9 years, and Xiaomei herself was hidden away in a closed psychiatric facility.

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Completely isolated from the world. The most popular videos on social media were instantly scrubbed, and those who tried to help her ended up under investigation themselves. Nothing happened; the system does not make mistakes. Just like we all know

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perfectly well that absolutely nothing happened on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. You have likely already realized that neither as a child nor as an adult do you have the right to a happy life in China. But perhaps the system at

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least respects old age. Look at those who built this economic miracle with their own hands. The system no longer needs them. They were used as living filters for processing toxic waste.

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While officials in Beijing admire GDP growth charts, cancer villages are emerging on the body of the country.

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These are hundreds of points on the map where the soil is soaked through with chemicals and the water in the rivers resembles fuel oil. The builders of Shanghai skyscrapers and the assemblers of your smartphones return to their home provinces to die as entire

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families. Esophageal or liver cancer here is just a statistic. This is the true price of the "Made in China" sticker. Today, China is a perverse, hypertrophied copy of Japan. The army of builders of a bright future has grown old and turned into useless

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ballast. And this has given birth to the most insane surrealism of modern China: the "yau zhengli" industry, cleaning up after the dead. In Japan, lonely death, or "kodokushi," is a national tragedy. In China, the youth have turned it into one of the few

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working social elevators. Death in Chinese culture is a profound taboo. Contact with a dead body is considered almost a curse. But when your diploma is only good for delivering noodles, thousand-year-old principles evaporate.

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3,000 dollars for a single shift. And now, yesterday’s students, having found no place in the economy of the future, are putting on respirators.

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Just think about the level of systemic cynicism here. Parents toiled in factories their whole lives, choking on toxic smog, to raise a happy tomorrow for their children. But in the end, the only way these children can actually earn a living is by scrubbing their

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parents 'decomposed remains off the hallway floor. This is the absolute finale of Chinese cyberpunk. You spend your whole life building concrete skyscrapers, and your son buys himself food by scraping you off the floor.

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More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese society was cultivated as a Confucian one. It is not just a philosophy, but a well-thought-out system of complex societal organization created to turn chaos into a perfectly controlled mechanism. Confucius envisioned the state structure as a family, where

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every member has their own rights and obligations. Unfortunately, in modern China, this system has broken down. The state still demands Confucian loyalty and obedience from the people, but it is far from always playing the role of a caring father. And the issue here is

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not the Chinese people themselves. If you recall the story of little Jiajia, after her father, in total desperation, posted his story on Chinese TikTok, the situation changed. Sympathetic Chinese people—those same couriers and loaders working for pennies—literally raised $ 100,000 in a day and covered

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all the debts. Later, the girl received a bone marrow transplant, and she is now in long-term remission. There are no evil nations living in any country in the world. The majority of people on the planet are, after all, kind and

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understanding. Government systems were originally created to protect the interests of the people. But if the population in a country becomes merely fuel to support the system, then such a state is doomed. China is probably the only country in the world where the

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internet and technology have brought more pain and suffering to the population than they have improved their lives. There is no perfect culture or perfect world order. But if they start blocking your basic rights like freedom of speech in your country,

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hiding behind tall tales of safety, then your task is to fight for your rights using available legal means.

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Please, do not turn into China. You will not like it. Friends, I have a big request for you to support the release of new videos with a subscription or a donation on Boosty. And be sure to subscribe and leave comments.

Topics:China paradoxChinese healthcareHukou systemleukemia treatment ChinaChinese education systemsocial inequality ChinaChinese economic miraclered envelope systemchild healthcare ChinaChinese social issues

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