Why can't the west COMPETE with China?

China doesn't pay for their people to sit at home. They don't give free education to people that don't have jobs. They don't pay you to have children and they don't pay for your daycare. This is only done in the west and the people really paying for these other people are the tax payers. The cost of this welfare system raises the cost of doing business in the west making it so everything is more expensive. No wonder the west can't compete with China when it comes to manufacturing goods. This is a little rant of mine and probably not as politically correct as I wanted it to be but it is what it is.

[@JM.TheComposer]

Very well stated. In Canada, you get paid to *not* work. In China you get paid to work.

[@fengz-x7z]

Thx for the summary. Save 12 mins of my life.

[@internationaltraveller4222]

Canada is quite a sad place. Most people work for bank or government....government being teaching, hospitals, doctors, nurses, and the government jobs like roads, city, etc. .

[@JM.TheComposer]

Enough with the Canada-bashing. Where do you think the most wealthy Chinese prefer to raise their families? They go to Canada, USA, Australia, etc.

[@WCqq]

Canada got a shitty education system, that is from my personal experience, I was schooled in China from grade 1-9 and went through high school in Canada.

[@nwsoulman]

Nah, In China, you get to work to get paid... sometimes you work but might not even get paid.

[@howie-pd6vz]

China has a baseline welfare for underprivileged people called "Dibao". but the amount is very low, only enough for food.

[@erwingobig1954]

In fact, this kind of welfare is only for people "not having work capability". As long as they can work, they can not apply for this easy money. The gov will help them find a job or just give them a job, such as cleaning workers.

[@krollpeter]

I like the basic idea behind it, to help those who really have no choice. Every nation can accept 2 or 3 % people who (for example) are too stupid to even hold a broom. So there is some truth to this video. But generally, it is not true that countries with no or no relevant welfare system do better. Look at the US, a rotten country. It is however true that some western countries spend their money too much on those not contributing. The truth is in the middle, as it is usually.

[@parisqs]

Also free housing for the extreme poor and people in underdeveloped rural area.

[@plusonetenthousand136]

In China, such a big country, 3% still means 42,000,000! So, 0.3% please.

[@gbbchen1070]

hui h 10 us dollarsa month

[@pegefounder]

I know here in Austria somebody who struggled as a self-employed for years. He was declared bankrupt, for not being able to pay his social insurance. Finding a job as a 60 year old, after being for decades self-employed? Impossible! So he had to go to the welfare called in Austria "Mindestsicherung". After some weeks, the first money from the welfare appeared on his account. It was a big shock for him. He never thought the welfare would be so high. He started to calculate how much, he would have to earn before taxes and social security to earn as much as the welfare after taxes and social security payments. It's complete crazy! They closed his business, declared him bankrupt for not being able to pay 600 EUR social insurance per month, and now they sent him 1500 EUR per month for doing nothing.

[@vintageskybee1238]

Roland Mösl yeah they're busy taking care of muslims instead of the elderly Austrian. Shame. They're doing the same in USA.

[@zerosum88]

Canada is more like a communist country, and U.S.A. is more like a socialism country, and ironically China is more like a capitalism country. Too many regulations in the U.S.A., and China has more or less free market.

[@ZhangBangsFury]

Haters gonna hate, once they realise what you say they’re gonna slander capitalism and glorify Canadian communism to satisfy their racist ego

[@naex6444]

TRUMP want US become an authoritarian state

[@一郎-e1i]

So why is youtube banned in China, if they are so free market "capitalist"?

[@lxy0709]

@@一郎-e1i Why is Huawei banned in the U.S? Politic and security concerns. Same thing to youtube. Is the US free market "capitalist"? Probably isn't.

[@一郎-e1i]

@@lxy0709 BS

[@3nien]

Hi Kirk.. I think the fundamental difference between China’s approach to competition and the West is that for western countries there must be a winner and loser as an end result but China is looking for a win-win solution instead. Canada is an advanced country with advanced country problems and China is a developing country with developing country problems. When I was a kid, we used to get free milk at school every morning, we never had to lock our cars, a lost wallet would be returned promptly with money and everything intact. I remembered we called an electrician to fix the switch for our washing machine and when he saw my father trying to fix the toaster on our kitchen table, the electrician voluntarily sat down and repaired the toaster for nothing more than a hand shake and a thank you. That was what made Canada great. Diefenbaker was the first to call out against South African apartheid. The one with the courage to fight for the rights of German Canadians who were accused of disloyalty to Canada. In 1961 in essence repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act since 1922 by allowing family unification of Chinese Canadians. Those were the times of courageous men and women who stood for ideals not personal deals. The failure of the western system is due to dearth of men and women with courage and conviction coming to the fore and contribute to society. Four score and seven before you were born, the Chinese came to Canada. The Chinese made tremendous contributions for the betterment of the nation of Canada. Like the Germans, Italians, polish, Ukrainians, Irish, who also made sacrifices and contributions to Canada. There were no income taxes in Canada before WW2, much of the country was not build by income taxes but hard working Canadians from all nations. In today’s global village, a win-win solution is the only solution. Instead of Making America Great Again, how about Making The World Great Again.

[@mrnoname315]

3nien well isn't there a saying that you put your house in order first before you start to help others?

[@3nien]

Alfredo Ubungen If the intent of MAGA is to put the house in order then the U S must accept globalization and drop protectionism because if the US wants to rebuild its infrastructure for example, it will need funding, technical expertise, labour, from outside sources. Many countries look at MAGA as predatory trade protectionism by the US and this will hurt rather than benefit the American house reorganization.

[@mrnoname315]

3nien i personally think that MAGA is not generally protectionism but instead giving incentives to US companies to invest in the US again as evidenced by the tax cuts. And pulling out of a trade deal that seems to disadvantage the US doesn't mean that the US is being an isolationist. In addition the US isn't really stopping any foreighn companies from doing their business here.

[@madeinchina1450]

3nien Do you know what the slogan says at Tiananmen Gate [[Long live the People's Republic of China]] [[Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world]] = Making The World Great.

[@3nien]

Alfredo Ubungen From Canada’s point of view, we are worried about NAFTA being sacrificed for MAGA. 45% duty on Bombardier C class planes is to protect Boeing. To me that doesn’t make sense since Bombardier’s planes are hardly competitive in terms of price and material. Especially when most of the avionics are from the US. Softwood lumber 30% - a few years ago ,Canada lost in court and had to pay over $1 billion and Canfor had to lay off a bunch of people. Now we are getting hit again... there’s also Canadian beef and dairy products... another thing that puzzles me is that Canada doesn’t have a large deficit with the US like China and Mexico, why target Canada at all.

[@greghutchins2625]

the big advantage china has is dedication to higher education.. as a family and united country goal. My country America just does not have higher education as a goal. Sadly to say so many young are just lazy in my country. China's challenge is teaching and embedding creativity and thinking out of the box.. and self motivation to create something new... America has the advantage in this area. I love your videos Kirk,, you are a real good guy...and not politically correct.. oh yeah!!!

[@jinniwind]

Greg Hutchins agreed

[@ewcvttrr4364]

yes,i am a chinese,as you say,we have less innovation than America.We build our country from worse situation,so we choose do some basic work first,like produce product,then we will COMPETE with usa in innovation.

[@humblehouse]

Good video. I laughed so hard as he tries to be politically correct and use 'underprivileged' to describe what he really thinks are 'lazy' several times but he is right. These is no other word to describe someone who is abled bodied but refuses to work and just want to receive welfare unless the person is mentally challenged or have some great domestic difficulties. My friend also waxed lyrically about the same situation when he returned to Singapore from a long work trip to France more than 20 years ago. He was marvelling at how compassionate the society is in terms of paying welfare payment to people in the categories described above and that Singapore should be ashamed that it was not doing the same thing. Initially, I found his argument persuasive as he was a very charming and suave speaker but in the end, I asked him (just as gweilo 60 here): who is going to PAY for all these welfare money? Why would anyone (in his right mind) then want to make the efforts to go brave the daily traffic, get scolding from bosses and customers, deal with bitchy colleagues, get stressed with ridiculous deadlines by WORKING when he could simply wait at home for a welfare cheque? Indeed, i am not saying everyone is lazy but human nature is such that many people would often take the easy way out if there is one. I am from a humble family but like what he described, I learned the precious trait of being hard working from watching the adults in my family as they toiled to put food on the table and sent us to school.

[@mrnoname315]

humblehouse awesome comment. People like to label welfare as compassionate but like the bible says "give a man a fish and he has food for the day. Teach a man how to fish, and he has food for a lifetime". That is true compassion.

[@messiahking1710]

well said！

[@Andrew-nu8ez]

Just what I want to say. In the US, there is so much abuse on our welfare system. However in China, it's the opposite. China needs to provide a bit more and better welfare to children. The rich are not paying taxes and the gap have spread too far for the poor to have any chance. The worst thing for a government to do is provide cash for additional children. They should provide free abortion instead. I feel sad for those children that's born to a family that abuses them.

[@MrBdoleagle]

well said indeed

[@benthekeeshond545]

Alfredo, That does not work for all people. I am not sure about the percentage, but there are many people cannot be educated.

[@spencer7404]

You do know China pretty good.

[@dragondescendant1]

he is living there.

[@spencer7404]

A lot of foreigners live in China. But only a few truely dive in the history, the people, the custom. They don't have the mentality of empty cup. So they are here, but they don't live here.

[@cognitiveatlas6220]

I'm not familiar with how Canada works, but in America, people fight for $15 minimum wage because living expenses are too high. This is especially true in urban America, which is why $15 minimum wage is popular in urban areas (AFAIK, rural areas have lower expenses, and $15 minimum wage is not needed). A factory job in the 60s would be equivalent to around $25-40 per hour adjusted for inflation, and wages have not kept up with productivity since the late 70s. The problem is a paradoxical because retail and fast food jobs shouldn't deserve $15 minimum wage, but in many towns there are only service sector jobs left as globalization and automation took the factory jobs from the West to places like China even BEFORE the minimum wage hikes in America. Also, low wages VS living expenses contributes to higher welfare bill for taxpayers because low wage workers cannot pay for living expenses, thus lean on the welfare state to help put food on the table (e.g. Walmart teaches their part timers how to apply for welfare because they don't pay their employees enough). Education in China is also paid by the state for the most part.... so I have no idea why you are making a comparison. As for daycare subsidies in the West (excepting Murica lol), I agree with you. The problem are laws that began in the late 80s over child supervision and protection due to perceived "widespread criminals". Daycare subsidies are only necessary when you have such laws because most working class families cannot afford to pay for expensive daycare. The problem is working class families cannot look after their children (both parents have to work), yet Child Protection Services will come knocking on the door if they find out a child is home alone without adult supervision. Personally, I think daycare for kids older than 8 years old is really stupid. Finally, the Chinese government does provide indirect welfare in the form of state owned enterprises and hiring for relatively pointless jobs. These companies hire more people than they need because the point is to provide employment. I suppose this system is still better than the Western model because at least the SOEs are trying to instill work ethic in the population. Ultimately, I think the biggest difference between China and the West is Chinese elite appear to care about the wellbeing of society while Western elite is driven by self-interest and greed.

[@rangyixiong]

Cognitive Atlas lol not really... Chinese elites care only themselves and their families. The reasons why China is developing as fast as it is are multiple, some due to culture (importance on education, importance of hard work, obedient population and family value), some due to Government (stable and authoritarian regime to ensure certainty and efficiency), some due to historical reasons (wars, famine so people strive for material comfort) and most importantly, the over population that produced cheap labour. Added with the access to cheap money (greedy capitalists who want to cash in on Chinese cheap labour), and free technology, that's pretty much the recipe of success of all rapid industrialized countries. Wait till the cheap credit and labour start to be more expensive... The other thing the video does not talk about, is the discrepancy between coastal China (prosperous from trade) and poor poor inland, and how poor people really struggle in China. PC is not a bad thing, too much PC is restrictive..

[@司马缸-z6j]

Yixiong Rang I always believe that there are three important factor for being rich. 1, human itself: intelligent, personality, luck. 2, geographic location: access to river or sea with good port, flatland with easy access to transportation. 3, The world general trend: For example the manufacture moved to east Asia , Or embracing the capitalism that China did at early 90th. Without one of these factor above would be difficult to become rich. Therefore it is never a thing that Government could achieve to help those people who live in inner land to be rich. What the government could do is provide opportunity, and if you failed to compete with those smart people lives near coast then why the hell you deserve to be rich? Do they born to be poor? Yes , unfortunately it. They are not lucky.

[@cognitiveatlas6220]

I'm aware of Chinese corruption. China is far from perfect or even good, but I think a good way to highlight my statement is the following: In China, there are corrupt practices like taking bribes, racketeering, etc. This is illegal. In America, we have corrupt practices like campaign contributions, revolving doors, etc. This is perfectly legal. The American people have spent over a decade trying to get our government out of foreign wars, rebuild our infrastructure, reduce debt, and get universal healthcare. We've achieved none of these goals. I used to be an American who thought America was better than China and that American elites cared about the people because they were elected. Obviously, I don't believe that anymore.

[@skychaos87]

its simple, a large portion of tax money in the west goes to the welfare scheme, giving handouts to support unemployed citizens that has no contribution to the country. with a basic sum of money without effort, production drops and price goes up. tax money in china sees that it is used to improve infrastructure, creating more jobs for its people. as such, production is high and it reduces the cost of living.

[@cognitiveatlas6220]

Service jobs are the only kinds of jobs you can get in the West these days. And because it's the only type of job left, there is a lot competition for them which makes it seem difficult to get. Just try and get a manufacturing job these days. Virtually impossible unless you are working in operations/IE. And stop blaming immigrants about the jobs issue. Most immigrants don't steal jobs and are actually required for Western economies to function. Example: I've never heard of Westerners ever wanting to do migrant farm labor, restaurant jobs, and other hard labor jobs. These sector end up needing illegals because us Westerners are too lazy to do them. If you want to blame something, blame job automation, which contributes the most (by a large margin) to unemployment. And it's only going to get worse.

[@terry890]

sure you can get paid in Canada for $15/hour, and you only get 100 RMB per day in China. But after you factor in the cost of paying income TAX, GST and factor in the purchasing power. You don't end up with better living style in Canada, you just end up with a society leech off the system.

[@Gregman420]

Except Canadians are free, and have 10x the living standards.

[@Gregman420]

Your insane. Canadians mock their government and own their own firearms. Not some communist shithole where KZbin is banned.

[@sweetpeas7033]

Greg M I have lived in both Canada and China for years. “10x the living standards” Maybe, if you compares the entire populations. No, if you compares the tier 1 cities. Frankly, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal is lame when compares to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Please don’t forget China has a huge population spreading out on regions of the country. In some regions, the development is hindered by limited resources and geographic challenges. “We have freedom in Canada” yes for political freedom. Not really for personal freedom in day to day live. In China, you can do pretty much whatever you like as long as it’s not against the law. You can call someone lazy people lazy. You can say religions are stupid. You can say Merry Christmas to anyone instead of “ happy holidays”. You can dance and sing with large groups of people in square without applying for permit.

[@donchandrasiri1277]

Joe Doe k

[@internationaltraveller4222]

They really are not that free. It is a mirage.

[@lylvls]

I've just had to pay over $64000 of tax, the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) ironically sent me a thank you letter with a breakdown of where my tax money was spent. Funnily enough over $24000 went to WELFARE 😑

[@CANADIANROADTREKKER]

Rightly said every thing, now here in Ontario, average child or baby bonus is around $650.00 per child, if you have four kids, it’s pretty handsome amount of money, plus you forgot, now if parents total yearly income is in a low income bracket, your kids will also get university education almost free. One more thing all kids under the age of 25 will get free medicines on prescriptions from the doctor. What else you need. On the top of all this minimum wages of $14.00 per hour is killing all businesses.

[@Fiscus128]

You may check the global competitiveness report 2017-2018 first. Canada still ranks 14th, while China ranks 27th. reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-index-2017-2018/competitiveness-rankings/

[@liaosanke]

In China, there is an old saying" 授人以鱼不如授人以渔“， which means it's better when you give a fishing stick than just fish.

[@mohmeegaik6686]

Gweilo60, I must mentioned that your audio has a very distorted background music - noise. Is that usual in all your video?

[@jimmetan7031]

This type of welfare system encourages laziness. The taxes are so high that it drive away the business men. Thank Gweilo 60 for your comment.

[@bruceb3525]

Agreed. I saw a "sob" story on the news from a 19 year old girl that was getting a stipend and public assistance to go to college. The girl was complaining that the money she received from the govt was only enough to live on and not enough to be able to save for a vacation! On top of that her mother was being paid by the govt to provide daycare for the 19 year olds child. Also I know of someone who has at least twice rented a room from someone who is in Section 8 housing. Opportunists.

[@6663000]

Several great points in this video. Imagine being the child of a low-skilled person in China, your mother and father are breaking their backs sweeping the street or picking up garbage in order to provide a life for you. You have been afforded the opportunity to go to school and have a better life through their hard work, you look around you and you see that either you work hard and dedicate yourself to education and developing your skills, or you break your back in poverty like your parents did. Furthermore, you are motivated to work hard so that you can re-pay your parents later in life and ensure that their sacrifices were worth it. That type of environment is going to create one hard working individual, a country full of hard working individuals will thrive. In a country like Canada (or essentially any other "progressive" Western country these day), a very small percentage of hard working individuals prop up a lazy majority who have come to the realization that a comfortable life can be attained through gouvernment handouts rather than hard work... it is not a recipe for long lasting prosperity. But hey, it's the "compassionate" and "evolved" thing to do... right?

[@steves4296]

See, how freedom to speed in China -- you don't need to be afraid to call some one lazy person if they don't work :-)

[@erwingobig1954]

totally, lazy people are not welcomed in China, they will be criticized by all the society.

[@磐石选锋]

you got the point, haha. Less PR, more truth!

[@李荣-n7s]

what？ the west cant call lazy people "lazy people"？ really？

[@timelessd9096]

In the west, everything has to be PC - politically correct. Let's say those countries mentioned by Trump are really shithole countries, but everyone in the US was crying hoo-ha over it. You can't call a short person short . . . you use height deficient.

[@ymhktravel]

The PC shit got to stop. Lazy is lazy. Period. Most asian countries don't have this PC thing.

[@leiliu83]

In a nutshell, someone's payment is other one's income, this is how the economy works. Things are cheaper, the cons are that you will earn less money selling them, it also means other guys income are lower. For example, I take a taxi, in China, it takes 100 RMB, the same distance it easily will cost you 100 USD in San Francisco. If you only pay only 100 RMB for the taxi fee, how can you expecting the taxi company pays 50$ per hour to the driver. So nominal is a little bit useless when comparing real living standard across the country because the living cost is *very* different. Nominal GDP is a circulation thing. It is merely a number.

[@cindyzhang7622]

let me say something. talk about my sister ----- a 41year old woman, a house wife now. she used to run a children's ware shop for 4 years and transfered to other people. then move to her husband's city. then got a job from a friend ---- shop assistant in a super market near home. several monthes later, she quitted her job. she thought the job is hard and her husband can feed her. then she stayed at home till now for more than 2 years. When I suggest her to find a new job not stay at home every day, she finds excuse that she is too old to be employed. she said she tried to do garment shop sales but the shops limit the age to under 35 years old and the people at her age can only find cleaner job. It is an excuse. not true. not all shops do that. I suggest her to do e-commerce customer service at home and give her the employment ad info. She doesn't do that. she is just a typical LAZY PEOPLE. I look down on her. what she does everyday at home is to cook breakfast and dinner and raise 3 cats! this is what her value is. this can be done by my mum. they live together. Her time is just wasted by her. Anyway, she is fed by her husband. if such lazy people let the society to feed her, why? why should we feed her? IT IS UNFAIR! I bet if she can get money from government for basic need, she will just live on that and rest all her life hope to her son and hope her son can feed her when he grows up. cheeky

[@xianya6472]

That's why most Chinese people always willing to move to your countries so they could enjoy more freedom and playtime, and also they don't need to worry about children's future like they did now.

[@Flyin_k]

THE WORSE PART IS YOU CAN'T EVEN TRUST ANYBODY TO WORK FOR YOU IN CANADA, THEY EITHER STEAL FROM YOU OR RIP YOU OFF AT WORK. ....THATS THE SADDEST PART OF LIVING IN CANADA OR STATES ......

[@xz1891]

其实就两条，一，政府高瞻远瞩，不必像西方政治那样为每四年怎么讨好选民伤脑筋，一切从长，从国家，人民根本利益计议，社会也有这种环境，比如，中国的人的社会流动性，三代之内完全可以咸鱼翻身。二，人民努力工作，you either swim or sink, 这对许多(东)亚裔来说天经地义，没有那种fat A$$ 在家等支票的情形，我所了解的华裔在美加可以说一个都没有。当然这两条的根本原因还是历史文化，家庭，教育至上，中国人本来就是天生的entrepreneur(大小不一)，历朝历代也没指望过有人给你送银子，现在中国是self made亿万富翁最多的国度，尤其是女性，这是发人深省的。

[@ssskkk8829]

傻逼

[@dans1466]

这么算来最高瞻远瞩要数秦始皇：啥选民？能吃么？都发配修工程去！ We have a new Emperor now! All hail to the China Tianzi -- Bun!

[@serlancerlot315]

笑死人了。如果國家富得流油，還會有這種「高瞻远瞩」？早就反死了。 idiotic！

[@xz1891]

Sk, you are big SB, sl, you are idiotic.

[@albertkam6785]

You are absolutely right.

[@seinfrei5644]

China has many parts of a planned economy and they are the weakness of China. China has over 250% of government debt and GDP reflects a mix of private and government investment. Private investment creates prosperity, public investment benefits people because it lacks the money to meet needs, create jobs, and raise living standards. Plan economies are inferior to market economies on the whole and are superior to where the planned economy concentrates all resources. But a planned economy involves many freedoms and every state has a knowledge problem. Knowledge is decentralized as Hayek said and therefore the market economy must be free. No state can know what is best for people. He can not know the quality, the price or the form people prefer. Plan economy is monotonous, simple and central. Only a clique of beneficiaries benefits enormously. The further away a person is from this power, the more the state craps for him. The Western ideal of a free market economy does not exist, but the Chinese system is doomed to death and can not survive. It will collapse, the question is only when. The Keynesian monetary system is at the heart of the US, Europe and China and all will collapse through this inflationary monetary system. While prosperity is broader in the West because markets are freer, in China there are people who are derelict and can not participate in prosperity. It is not about a welfare state but about a market economy. Through the market economy and property rights, even the poorest build wealth. China's prosperity is very poor, if you look at what potential this country would have if it were free. I think China's growth in real value creation is embarrassing. There is too little added value in China and too much government investment that is not creating value. Therefore, it is embarrassing to claim that China is superior to the West. Are not you ashamed of such a title? Read Ludwig von Mises and learn how economics really work and not always recount the baby propaganda. Become a little grown up the gentlemen.

[@howso5302]

Canada don't pay the daycare either. China has the free 9 years education and student loan for higher education too. China would not pay the people who is not willing to work but pay those who are not able to work.

[@chinese8067]

i am from Nanning,china and the laowai living in nanning,I've seen him in Nanning Street

[@homan2329]

In Chinese society the family is responsible for individuals while in the West the government is responsible . People don’t feel guilty taking from government but feel bad taking from family .

[@glennneutrin501]

Everybody in America should watch this...hits the nail on the head...excellent!

[@hong3170]

The Chinese policy is not encouraging lazy people. They won’t just give you the cash because you don’t want to work.

[@bcbc7193]

paying you to have children is a crazy idea, considering how populated the earth is.

[@pegefounder]

This depends on the area. Some countries have less than 1,5 children per woman.

[@定啖]

emmm,hello. i am a Chinese.and i am curious about the fact that have you upload these video inside of TGF?

[@tlowe9796]

In Canada, I have known people that only work around 8 months in a year and the other 4 months are paid by the generosity of the real hard working people for many years. Anyway, after living in Canada for about 17 years, I can say that the longer you live in Canada, the poorer you will get.

[@SilverSilence002]

You didn't mention corporation welfare in the West, did you?

[@磐石选锋]

Well more and more westerners realize that China is less communist country than those developed ones, that's interesting. Besides, it's just a balance between equity and efficiency, competition and welfare.....it's hard for every government to find out the best balance point.

[@一郎-e1i]

So why does Xi tell you to learn Marxism, if "China is less communist"? Why does the communist party hold all power if "China is less communist"? Why did millions of Chinese move to the West if "China is less communist"?

[@RayDu]

"They study their asses off." So true...

[@asianthor]

Last year Canada opened their border for Mexicans who feared Trump would deport them back to Mexico. Now Canada has regret this decision.

[@魏振雄]

if the money rate same balance then good to compare...so you know how much you get from 1 hour...

[@chazIII7III]

Yep. Sometimes just the mention of a minimum wage increase is enough to drive all of the prices of everything up preemptively.

[@fernl4396]

I once heard an American scholar described China as a civilization based on a merciless meritocracy. Chinese has an old saying “ help those who are in emergency, and don’t help the poors”......

[@wenc9027]

ya，in Chinese it is "救急不救窮"

[@unifieddynasty]

Sounds like in China, welfare is more focused on providing low-skilled government jobs and also investing in public infrastructure. I would say these are still forms of welfare, albeit with more emphasis on individual agency.

[@Vermilion2049]

China hasn’t competed using low wage for a long time. Listen to Tim Cook, China is competing with the share amount of talented people.

[@rogerfaint499]

How is it low wage when the wages in China has increased by more than 5 times in 15 years from rmb800 to rmb5000 for a production operator (monthly wage)? That is the case study of my factory in Guangzhou and the wage increase forced us to automate many operations and also to make each operator man more machines.

[@燕雀安知鸿鹄之志-c8k]

TOBY You pay the high wages?

[@laurad6368]

I've never thought of the minimum wage increase like that. I've been looking at it as the economy doesn't support that sort of wage raise. Thank you for the new view point.

[@dnickaroo3574]

There is increasing automation. At my local Supermarket, checkouts are almost completely automated so that where they used to employ 12+ people, now there are 2. The same applies to most other larger stores. At the Bank there are no people serving at all -- banking is done via various automated machines. It used to employ 6 to 8 people. Much manufacturing is becoming automated (as is Street-sweeping). Who owns these machines? Of course it is large corporations, products of Neoliberal Capitalism. To them Labour is a commodity to be used and then discarded -- they prefer machines so that employees are reduced to a minimum. The Profits go to these Large Corporations which often pay very little tax. Society is then left with these "lazy people" who will not work; but a bit of money is thrown to them because these Large Corporations still need customers. Perish the thought that these "lazy people" might get active, and rise up and take over the Means of Production, and jail those who have exploited them, as happened in China!

[@Gweilo60]

Exactly good observation

[@Georgesnon-stop]

You got so many views on this one, very good topic.

[@ablam8]

You really opened up a can of worms with this topic. Wow, i read all the replies to 11/2/2019. Varied response , with many still bashing China, instead of allowing they have done well to come from dirt poor 35 years ago, to bringing more people out of poverty than has happened any time in the world. Go China.

[@FoieGras]

Can't argue with that one. Chinese people are hard-working, and people have a sense of obligation to work hard, and they're humble about it! Nevertheless, it was ingrained in the culture from the get-go, work hard, respect parents, get rich, etc. Again, not a lot of room for doing MEANINGFUL work, but just work. It was what raised Chinese people's status in the Western society in the first place OVER the blacks and latinos. But they always seem to crack that last home-stretch, of becoming the boss (even though many are OVER-qualified for the role). Again, that way of thinking of always trying to fit the old mold, leaving ideas inflexible, unable to move forward...

[@geneshepherd9393]

They dont waste their money on the biggest military in the world

[@Flyingaceful]

I see your point! 👍

[@ieb994]

China has expendable people living in really bad poverty and people wouldn't bat an eyelid if they died or not. This kind of thing hasn't been acceptable in the west for a long time.

[@jiml3933]

Hey, who do you think in China pay for stablizing government? And who pay for the GFW that prevents citizens from exploring this website? taxpayers. I bet taxpayers in Canada don't have to invest so much on this aspect. Instead of stablizing a crooked government, I might love to throw these money to some "parasites".

[@skipthepump7714]

Haha... gweilo60 trying so hard to be politically correct.

[@xuzhang3823]

Yup lol

[@BaysviewPg]

California has also set a minimum wages at US$14 an hour or daily labor cost is about $115. This translates to RMB750/day or RMB16K per month. China labor minimum wages at this current rate is about RMB2500 per month. If US wants to pull back all the manufacturing to US, this means that US labor must meet or exceed 5 times higher in productivity or COGS than in China. Looking at the rate of automation in China, US is way way far off from China. This is just like the turtle and rabbit race, but this rabbit continues to run without any rest. So, don’t even dream of relocating back to US. If the manufacturing cost is getting higher in China, they will move somewhere else instead of moving back to US. It is not china’s fault to take away their jobs, go blame your big corporates who wants a better profit margins by outsourcing their products to China.

[@RayDu]

He never laughs at his own deadpan humor haha.

[@ronniejames2392]

In China, I heard they were paid after reaching retirement age of 50 years old by the government insurance policies. Recently retirement age was raised to 60 now. Welfare for EU countries were much better & they were paid for being jobless & free provision of heroin or cocaine for drug addicts too.

[@takchengsze4719]

China is trying to improve her health care system as well. However, you are right that China is not a welfare state like Canada or Europe. They prefer to spend the money on infrastructure and construction. So people work in the city when they are young and when they old they can retire in rural area and the living expense is much lower. Also, you will not have a big population of immigrants who just want the social benefit without contributing to the society even one can sweep the floor or cleaning dishes. However, the big picture of Chinese government is to create a large working middle class in whatever area. China does make a lot of effort to make life affordable. Off course there is pros and cons of a Chinese system. It is not perfect.

[@kau6912]

The people working are paying for the people who aren't working.....wow

[@astonm1990]

The fact that is is expensive to get children is a problem. Less Chinese births means future decline.You need a balance or a slow decline in birth. This is a big problem for China. BTW, Chinese wages are also rising fast. Cheap labor will go to other Asian countries.

[@mwmanwei]

Issue with western walfare system is that no politicians dare to minimize it, unless they do not care for their election result. Therefore it keeps escalating.

[@pohkhui]

Thanks you. You wake my mind that I nearly forgotten about myself once I believe in.

[@1decee]

Hit the nail right on the head. Liberal voters just don't get it. Sell your vote to the Liberals, the hell with tomorrow's consequences

[@hansnews5270]

Cheap manufacturing jobs go to China, higher paying service jobs goes to the west

[@koko20467]

The music in the park is annoying. That's very bad Chinese municipal governance.

[@travelinchina532]

the meaning of welfare is to prevent people from starving or freezing to death and give them a chance to get a better life on their own, like giving them a skill lesson, INSTEAD OF WITHOUT WORK BUT LIVE IN A COMFORT WAY!

[@cindywuzh1]

Are you crazy guys? No no no no no. That part is funny.

[@howie-pd6vz]

Party get vote for the welfare given to underprivileged people

[@Numira]

Funny how people here talk about certain groups whom they never met or rly interacted. There is one thing I learned for beeing unemployeed for a certain time, working socialy and my gf and friend working in different jobs like education, working with mentally ill then it is the common interest of getting a job or try to get out of poverty. First off. I talk about the perspective of germany. So i cant say how it is in canada or the US. Even with social help you will need to calculate every cent or get free food from shelters cause the budget is so tight. You will need to prove evrytime that you did not waste your money for useless luxury things. Even getting once to a dinner a month with your child or a attraction chances are high your social worker will blame you and say you were wasting money. Everything you probably got for free you will need to pay back to a certan degree or if not payed back they will constantly remind you that you got help and dubblecheck everything. When you are unemployed you will need to show will to work and real applying. Its not enough just to show a paper with some names of the company and they say ok. heres your money. also you only got that for a certain amount of time. when you get unemployed money you will need to accept even jobs that are out of your qualifications and often under like cleaing street even if you learned in university (yea even then it is not easy to find a job). if you deny these opportinuites or dont give in the papers or show up in the departments each month, the right time you gt hefty penalties. I could add tousand things. Many people dont gt jobs even good qualified is cause the economy especially in offices is overfilled with good qualified personell. craftmen job are lacking personell o he other hand. It is aas bad that people who studied economy working as a normal office guy. the guy who got a education in office works as a copyguy or other brianless jobs. and well then the ones without education.... they have a hard time. When companies make a huge recruitment around a minijob 10h for 400euros when the only thing is you do filling up shelves in a store, then something is wrong. and again. out of hundreds of people here whom i met and all of them had a different story. around 2 handful and not more were on purpose abusing the system or not rly trying to get a job. You guys rly forget the social status/rep and shame that comes with beeing unemplyed. no one likes to be that period. Most poor people i know worked their asses off and now need to fight at old age for evry cent, even though they are in the right.+ I come originally from switzerland and a job overview like that is not uncommon: age between 22-25. Speak 3-4 languages fluently. have working experience 5-7 years. worked as a team leader. do have further education into xy. in the end it is for a basic office job, and if you get it in the end you will not need any extra languages and also not leading a team or need extra knowledge. they do missleading applications get the best of the best for a average job that every person can do who got an education in office.

[@quentinaskin6752]

Another great video i really don't like working for lazy people to sit. Back and smoke drugs and everything as the rest of us work in vain when we are not of the same mind set sucks.

[@6663000]

The minimum wage should be abolished... the very concept of a "minimum wage" contradicts even the basic laws of economics. In the short term, raising the minimum wage hurts the very people that it is supposed to protect by increasing the barrier to entry into the job market, and leads directly to inflation and/or the outright loss of low-skilled jobs through an increase in outsourcing and automation. In the long term it has absolutely no effect because the free parts of the market allow for a correction against the forcibly inflated wages. It is a political contrivance, most people don't understand economics (I am not claiming to be an expert myself), a high minimum wage *feels good* to the uneducated voter, and so they vote for it.

[@seinfrei5644]

I am not a populist who vilifies China. Cheap products are good and not bad and we should trade more with China because it increases the prosperity of everyone. But you also have to look very honestly, that the figures of the GDP are fake. Because state investment creates no added value. This also applies to the west but also to China. I'm not saying that China is totally planned economy but that it needs more market economy and we should not think unthinkingly in the West that the Chinese system works well. It still has a lot of planned economy and is therefore authoritarian and that belongs eliminated. All shares of capitalism in China increase the prosperity of the Chinese people and the whole world. That's what differentiates.

[@tonylam303]

I am confused. Which country is a socialist country?

[@Vermilion2049]

There IS welfare in China, just very low. More encouraging to work.

[@rocappreciater5540]

Meanwhile in my country the welfare is too much that people are not encouraged to work.

[@gogoavril]

I am South Korean. My country is somewhere between Canada and China. Canada has large amount of natural resource per capita. So they don’t need to work hard as much as Asians do. Many Asians envy Canada. Life in South Korea is too competitive. Because of too many people too rare resources.

[@白里挑一]

You are absolutely correct, reading my mind. Agree from Toronto

[@UnChosenWon]

China does have "welfare" in the form of public mega projects, state owned enterprises, and subsidies to strategic manufacturing sectors. So instead of paying people welfare and hoping they find a better paying job, the Chinese government creates the jobs directly. Whether the resulting jobs are actually productive is hit or miss, many state owned companies are losing money and only exist for employment purposes, but so far the overall results have been positive. So while China does not believe in welfare they are not exactly following the Western right wing/Hong Kong/Singapore economic model of ultra low taxation and low public spending. Overall taxation in China is actually not that low if you are not in a strategic industry that gets preferential treatment, its just that the Chinese government seems to spend more efficiently and strategically.

[@shampaochung45]

haha.... what ever you said its 100 % true , i live in toronto the largest city of canada , here people have no money especially local canadian , not immigrat canadain like me, they all are on disability , ontario work or refugee status, they don't like to work , everything's provided by government as you said, sometime i feel like i'm in third world country, they have cars, iphones but bank balance empty , live on pay cheques. and remaining like me who came from other country , went to school , become denturist , doing business, paying taxes, paying mortage , insurance , car loans , baby sitters fees... etc etc... i also consider myself poor because after paying all that i don't left much. but we live in canada the 1st class country. so you are right canada cannot compete with china.

[@ewcvttrr4364]

as a chinese,i basicly agree with you.but chinese give free education to child,when a child is 15,he go to high scholl,he will pay for his education,normally his parrents pay for it.

[@tomdobyns2062]

We need tariffs to balance trade. That way, the government doesn't get cheated out of their tax money, and the working people will have jobs available. Trump's tax cuts make sense this way. GO UNCLE TRUMP !!

[@matejebach5487]

Simply again, china is socialist country who want that all people can live good, not only few on count of all other. Limited brain perceive weighted with western cruelty, and can see only that china don't pay for laziness. But they do, they paying people that they can learn, train, find what they would work, they paying peoples education. They planning business primarily for society not only for profit. They do not kick on the street those in need. They care about them. And result of that care and planning is that whole people work and contribute, even rich people unlike in western countries where rich people are only leeches. Distorted western mind see only trough fascist lenses how to compel people how to scare them and make them slaves. Chinese aren't like that they know that others must be fill inside, satisfy. Thus you have westerners factories in China with slave work and with so much suicide and you have Chinese's factories with normal work and with higher productivity then in that westerner's. How to change that in westerners to make compete-able with Chinese? No way too much sadism and malice in westerners hearts. And yes again, here also you can see how socialist model is superior then greedy and selfish capitalist model.

[@peteryeung111]

Good video. I'm in Ontario Canada. I know exactly what you're saying. If you don't work in China, you don't eat. Simple concept. There's a lot more difference, but too much to say. Cheers.

[@pokeumon282]

That is also impossible to give a check to every low-income individual regularly. China tried the western-style administration in the 20th century but unfortunately failed.

[@menghuakin8574]

Good video, good education for all. Thanks.

[@Timotravelfun]

Well said Just that China will beat the west, doesn’t mean its own people wouldn’t destroy themselves already due to the competitiveness within

[@Loyee2000]

@gweilo I partly agree with you. You mentioned quite a few times "Canada". But you see. These are not ALL Canadians' value. It's just the Liberals' value. Sadly, all they care is our wallets !

[@benthekeeshond545]

In the U.S., the welfare system initially set up to help the poor, underprivileged, and unemployed people. We may say that our society was and still is prejudice against some of our citizens. The U.S. Federal Government welfare system is a way to compensates these groups of citizens. However, over dependant on these programs by many become outright abuses of this system. Today, too many ignorantly believe that it is their rights to obtain welfare money. Illegal immigrants is another huge problem. They are usually concentrated in the States next to Mexico. The hospitals along the Texas/Mexico border are heavily subsidized by our Federal Government or else they would be long gone. California has one of the most advanced economies in the world and its GDP will rank about #5 or #6 in the world by itself. Yet, California is in debt for how many years in a row? To "Gweilo 60," at least Canada doesn't pay welfare money to illegals and Cannada's medical system serves only Canadian citizens or tax-payers.

[@overavas]

I think that small park you are in is somewhere in the middle of the City. It's not big but we went there for some picctures to our wedding. Realy nice park with old buildings surrounded of Nanning al new built scrapes. The green City of China.

[@datatran07]

Thank you to speak out for some of the Canadian and how the government spending.

[@rocappreciater5540]

Canadian welfare is huge when I've gotten unemployed this year and decided to get welfare I never thought my welfare could cover a small Toronto apartment and 3 meals a day and some utility bills each month. The amount is just insane.

[@seinfrei5644]

Shanghai is my favorite city in the world. But in everything I love I am very critical and honest. Shanghai can not compete with New York in many places. In Shanghai, there are sometimes fantastic roads in the former French concession or at the federal government. But there are streets in Shanghai that look like they are in the 3rd or the 2nd world. To be honest, Shanghai lacks the entrepreneurial freedom that exists in New York to make small-scale changes to the streetscape. Unfortunately one notices the power of the government, which determines how an area or a street should develop and that is communist shit. In Shanghai, shops are sometimes closed by the government. Booksellers who publish non-compliant journals or books will be bricked up. They are bricked up with mortar and brick. Fortunately, there are no such things in Toronto or New York. Should the West take an example? Anyone can see the streets of New York on Streetview and anyone can walk through the streets of Chinese cities on map.qq.com. You will see that many roads in China look run-down and look poor. The ground floor zones are often not exactly modern. That also applies to Shanghai. This has nothing to do with culture. There is a lack of entrepreneurial freedom and there is also a lack of money to invest as a private person in small projects. China is a state capitalist country with a totalitarian state apparatus. The consumption options are not very diversified. The street scene therefore has a very limited functionality. Because Xi Jinping wants to destroy freedom of expression, more than 2,500 kiosks have closed down the streets in Beijing alone. What fascinates about China? In the West we are fascinated by the gigantic construction projects, the hot lights at night and the super rich projects for rich people. We also like to be rich and horny in the West. But we overlook that at the bottom, the level in China is very bad. The wealth in China is not wide, the state regulates society in winners and losers who remain poor as long as they live. The rich Chinese are presented to us as role models in the systemic struggle. Because there are rich Chinese who are super rich, the West is a bad system. But if we look at the poor Chinese, the exploited and expropriated Chinese, then we have to find the Chinese system bad.

[@燕雀安知鸿鹄之志-c8k]

Sein Frei Is there freedom of speech in the United States? Did you forget to watch the news? Fake news is also news, freedom of the press.hahahaha......

[@zoezhao2711]

I just find too many things i cannot agree with, but i am too lazy to type all...

[@xt1945630]

不应该指责没有工作靠吃福利的人，应该指责的是这个失败的系统。失业的原因是劳动力价格被扭曲，高于市场供需下形成的价格，“产品”(劳动力)太贵所以没有人(企业)愿意买。独立工会，最低工资法和劳动法中过度偏袒劳方而导致的雇佣僵化是劳动力市场被扭曲的根本原因--结果就是导致社会刚性失业增加，为了社会稳定，不得不发福利给他们--千万不要倒果为因。民主的缺陷就是你知道问题在哪里，但是你改变不了什么。

[@erwingobig1954]

This is totally a BIG PROBLEM, just like "How hard should we try to save the dying people in hospital?". We all know that, it is unavoidable for a people to die eventually, it is the nature of life. However being a person, we are always making "bad" decisions on this question, especially when the dying people is related to us or just in front of us. There is no "win-win" solution, we just need to find the "balance point" that works, both for a person and for the community. Political correctness making this kind of problem much harder to answer. They put too much "emotion" and "humanity" to it, wasting too much resources. This maybe good for the particular person, but totally harmful to the community. A good example may comes from the Animal World. The Cape buffalo (I guess, I am not sure) will force the old and sick one to stay in the out side of the group, when lions attack, they have to defend others and make room for them to leave. If the old and sick one don't do it, they will be abandoned by the community and die quickly. Is this brutal? Yes! But it is also reasonable. This is how the world runs. We are just another kind of animal essentially, we can not escape the nature rules. China wins just because it is sitting more close to the balance point than anybody else. The western world is sitting the same place maybe 100 or 150 years ago, but now they are moving to the pole. This is why so many western media criticized China "lack of human right". Because they think they are more "advanced", but we Chinese believe we are more "practical".

[@lepolhart9623]

Zhong Huang You may think you are being more practical but it is a very cruel and inhumane way to look at human beings i.e if a person becomes old or sick just leave them to die instead of helping them. That might be how it works for the Cape Buffalo but as humans we are much more advanced and have more complex range of emotions and thought processes than Buffalo. I have visited China before and one thing I observed about the culture which I did not like was a general disregard for other people e.g lack of care for others safety, hygiene, health. Crossing a road was very scary as drivers had no regard for pedestrians.

[@erwingobig1954]

You have missed my point. What you said is totally more advanced. But for some topics, you got find a balance point, for example, how much a society should give to the poor to let them live a decent life.

[@3nien]

lepol hart I presumed that you turned a blind eye to the homeless in North America. What have you done to help the homeless as a human being.

[@rangyixiong]

Zhong Huang the problem with your logic is the boom and bust cycle associated with treating poor people poorly (no pun intended). If you look at every dynastic change in China, most of the time it starts with rich getting richer and poor getting poorer, to the point that they can't live anymore. Then they rise up, kill the rich people, call it a revolution and become rich themselves, destroying previous civilization (to a certain extent) in the process. Can you even imagine if Imperial Qing had undertaken some necessary land reforms to spread the wealth after 1st opium war? Or even the KMT government was not as corrupt and shared a bit more with the poor? China will probably be as advanced as Japan now! Not taking care of the poorest in the society will have dire consequences for everyone in the long run...

[@fooksengloke3625]

Yixiong Rang Let us not forget the legendary proverb: Give the man a fish, he fills his stomach for a day but give him a fishing line and teach him to fish, he fills his stomach every day for the rest of his life. That fishing line is the eleven years of free education a person gets in China and the efforts of the government to keep the growth up.

[@seansixsixsix]

I got offended when I heard the word "Lazy" 手动滑稽

[@kau6912]

I like your videos, they make a lot of sense

[@BRICSSCO]

You forget to mention taxes go to public sectors union workers pension etc too wasteful spending

[@manualcontrol7518]

all societies develop and morph, based on level of productivity/wealth created (and the efficiency of) and the redistribution of this wealth in a given society. societies should change, keep fine-tuning its policies to ensure this wealth-creation-and-redistribution system is sustainable. China tried the great socialist/communist experiment to the extreme, and it failed miserably. The communist doctrine dictated that individuals were given the same "allotment" (regardless of their level of productivity/ability to create wealth). It created a society that reward free-loaders and in effect discriminate against hard work, thus the great famine happened in the 60s partially because "most" people were content with not working hard enough (at all) to produce the food that turn into the "allotment" that feed them. But what I've always been most curious about is the socialistic societies in Scandinavia, they have absolutely the best welfare systems in the world and with the highest living standards for individuals of their societies, yet the "free-loading" mentality doesn't develop or develop to a point that hinders progress, what's the difference? culture? level of education? dunno, that's why those societies fascinate me. But, now that they've opened doors to an influx of mass immigrants and refugees from less developed regions, it's an interesting case to observe and study how that would impact and adjust moving forward.

[@sammus65]

Minimum wage is still $14. Next year it will be $15 per hour

[@115Carssssssssss]

Social welfare is important to a society as it helps poor people to have a better living environment and thus they can work more and make more contribution to society. However, when there is too much social welfare, it makes people lazy because they think that they can get money even if they didn't work. Therefore, the world should adapt the social welfare system in developed countries in Asian like Japan, people are hardworking, while the government gives out quite substantial social welfare.

[@kenlieu52]

That’s how democracy system works; we may be are lazy underprivileged people but being equal with others when it comes to vote. More bread more votes! Australia is best sample for this kind of social welfare abusive.

[@krowman8458]

How can anyone compete with Child Labor..

[@rafaelmelo2576]

But the West will always have more GDP per capita then China, and even Latina American countries like Brazil and Mexico have a higher GDP per capita, and having a low pay almost slave labor it's not a reliable way to keep economic growth, Germany has a much better strategy, since it relies on small and medium companies with a very skilled (and well paid) worked force that makes high value products, that make them the top companies on nich markets because of quality. Without those companies, China couldn't have the machines that make it's very cheap products . China only has technological breakthroughs mainly because of intelectual property theft, or because of unethical health research programs that put a low value human and animal life in the case of Biotechnological development.