• Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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    1 month ago

    If you believe there are better arguments to be made, go ahead.

    Well, you just did that. I was pointing out that your use of those images is misleading, and as critics, we should take the moral high ground.

    So much for your communist China.

    Not sure what you think about me. As an anarchist, I don’t have socially positive views of China.

    commercialised, mass-produced

    No. Albeit with a completely misguided target of technical skill, the admissions test is not a factory. And food and drink are, of course, allowed.

    then you are the ‘worse kid,’ which is an ideology in China where there is always a better child—Failure is not an option.

    Honestly, it’s just involution: Everyone always looks up to the better children and apply to the best school, whose exam is what we see here. However, failure is, in fact, an executable option. Just as there is always a better place, there is also always a worse place: a worse school to apply to instead of the one with a 2% acceptance rate, a worse place to live with a much better upkeep, a worse job where you can still apply your skills with the same comfort… The aforementioned streamers can always choose to pull up stakes and find other types of less gruelling careers, yet they’re not comfortable enough with the low-key: Unfortunately, investments in mental health education are way too low to counter the ingrained Chinese culture of overachievement, and that is a very big problem. Such involution is also a problem in the United States, especially in higher education, but we have much better access to online support.

    • goat@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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      1 month ago

      As an anarchist, I don’t have socially positive views of China.

      would’ve fooled me. You’re the only one defending the images and saying the same happens in the West. You’ve yet to show any examples of the above happening in the West, and just so we’re clear, the West includes Europe, Oceania–You know, anything western, not just the US

      No. Albeit with a completely misguided target of technical skill, the admissions test is not a factory. And food and drink are, of course, allowed.

      Mass-produced in the sense that for the test, they are mass-producing art to please their elites. Likewise I can’t find any image of any food or drink being used.

      The aforementioned streamers can always choose to pull up stakes and find other types of less gruelling careers, yet they’re not comfortable enough with the low-key

      They usually can’t, hence why they’re doing it.

      • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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        1 month ago

        I’m not saying the same happens in the west. Indeed, these are occurrences unique to China. I’ve never understood the appeal of the shopping streams, so I can’t say for sure what’s behind the first image. Meanwhile, misguided focus on technical skill over the essence of art combined with draconian educational values are behind the second image.

        they are mass-producing art to please their elites

        The only people who see the art are the 9 judges who have their internet-capable devices confiscated until they judge everything. They have to filter out the images and compare them meticulously for accuracy instead of pleasantry. After that, they have to do it again for the arts Gaokao. Nobody else sees the art, and even if they did, I doubt anyone would be pleased by what aims to be carbon copies of the same image. The stupid system harms the only people who see the product as well.

        Likewise I can’t find any image of any food or drink being used.

        If you look at https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-grueling-hyper-competitive-exams-decide-futures-chinese-art-students, there’s an outstanding example of tea near the bottom-left corner.

        They usually can’t, hence why they’re doing it.

        I don’t see how that article reflects your claim. In fact, it says that passerbys ask the streamers, “Why don’t you find a normal job?”. At most, it does say that some were drove off livelihoods and forced to stream by the COVID era, which involved stupid restrictions that the government finally relaxed a few months after the article. There are also a lot more white-collar jobs. That said, I’ve never been to Guilin, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Hair salons in Hangzhou reopened at most by mid-2021, though it may have intensified in late 2022, which is right after I left.

        would’ve fooled me. You’re the only one defending the images and saying the same happens in the West.

        Such “us vs them” mentality is why my country and so many others are currently so divided and leads certain people to believe in authoritarian rule of utmost hierarchy.

        • goat@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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          1 month ago

          You think I’m against you for trying to rationalise what’s happening in China as normal? I’m not. I find it weird, but I also don’t care.

          If this was us vs them, which I also believe is stupid, you would’ve been booted. I’ve dealt with a lot of pseudo-mods, usually admins, who do exactly this and it’s frustrating everytime I have to unban the user and explain to the admin that disagreement doesn’t mean ban. You can check out the modlog for this.