# Why I as an American support revolt in China **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353 "2011-06-21T23:13:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/61 "2011-06-22T04:16:49Z")
Yeah, well. You don’t get far without sacrifice, right? To get one thing, you’ve got to give up another. Do I really need a cushy mattress? Do I really need my laptop? do I really need A/C? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/62 "2011-06-22T04:21:30Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > So it is indeed China, not America that is the Golden Land of Opprtunity? Perhaps not freedom, but fortune. No, I just think you should go to China. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/63 "2011-06-22T04:21:45Z")
But you are right. I have no right to force people to do or not do anything, no human has that right, which is something China seems to have forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/64 "2011-06-22T04:23:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > No, I just think you should go to China. I think you should go to SPAAAAACE!!! (see what I did there?) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/65 "2011-06-22T04:23:54Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > Yeah, well. You don’t get far without sacrifice, right? To get one thing, you’ve got to give up another. Do I really need a cushy mattress? Do I really need my laptop? do I really need A/C? Actually no, China did not go too far with that sacrifice, only after ditching their sorry planned economy is that then China did go far. How much further it will go by continuing to limit the freedom of their workers is the question now. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/66 "2011-06-22T04:42:57Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > But you are right. I have no right to force people to do or not do anything, no human has that right, which is something China seems to have forgotten. Then we’ll just have to beat it into them. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/67 "2011-06-22T04:54:57Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then we’ll just have to beat it into them. No, we should use the combustible lemons. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/68 "2011-06-22T14:46:11Z")
You still here? I thought we told you to go to China. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/69 "2011-06-22T15:16:46Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You still here? I thought we told you to go to China. And who are you to command me to go anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/70 "2011-06-22T15:35:36Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > And who are you to command me to go anywhere? And who are you to tell the Chinese people to start a civil war? At least if you go to China you are unlikely to be killed. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/71 "2011-06-22T15:51:56Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > No, we should use the combustible lemons. Why lemons? Why not combustible rice? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/72 "2011-06-22T16:04:28Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > \\ NOTHING is going to EVER bring those jobs back to the US. They are gone for good, for better or worst. We have moved beyond manufacturing that requires large numbers of low skilled workers to accomplish repetitive tasks. > > -XT Then we must simply eliminate by any means necessary any and all possible competition for jobs that do require large numbers of low skilled workers to accomplish repetitive tasks. Before that, though, we must eliminate automation in order to make those jobs available in the good old USA. I have no recommendations as to how we will accomplish either of those solutions. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/73 "2011-06-22T17:07:33Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > And who are you to command me to go anywhere? I’m the Anti-Christ. You got me in a vendetta kind of mood… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/74 "2011-06-22T22:04:22Z")
**humanafterall** – the last 2 times China had civil wars, the casualty rates rivaled those of World War 1. Your suggestion is inexpressably vile. Go home & re-think your life. ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/75 "2011-06-23T02:22:16Z")
Hey, Moderator! I’m calling for a thread deletion, because this was not as well received as I’d hoped it would be, I also need you to delete my Pit thread, because it’s just not working out either. I probably need to go take a few college classes in diplomacy and political science before I write something else stupid. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/76 "2011-06-23T02:25:19Z")
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**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/77 "2011-06-23T02:33:58Z")
Oh I can be plenty compassionate, but I have problems with controlling my impulses and sometimes talk without thinking about it. It’s just easier to say or do what’s on your mind than it is to think about it. I don’t _really_ want the death of millions, but sometimes it’s all about having the will to do what is necessary, even if it seems kind of wrong. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/78 "2011-06-23T02:46:18Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > Alright, so now we have automation, but then what? Why aren’t people getting the educations they need to fix the robots? Robots do break down, and invariably it’s a human that fixes them. So why aren’t we training more people to fix robots and other machinery? I’m trying to leap hurdles, here, people. Is it a money issue? If not, then what? If we were **smart** , we’d be hiring people to keep an eye on those damn robots to make sure they don’t break the three laws. > [@xtisme](#): > > In China the average wage is less than $4k/year (granted, that $4k is going to go further in China than in the US) while it’s roughly $50k/year in the US. Also, a rather large percentage of the worlds goods and services flow through and into the US, while mostly goods flow out of China. So…you tell me which is the ‘Golden Land of Opprtunity’. Do the math. 😉 > > -XT You used the wrong number for US wages - $50,000 is household income, not average per-person yearly wage. Median personal is [half that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States). Unless you were implying that $4,000 is the average total household income in China. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/79 "2011-06-23T03:02:13Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > Hey, Moderator! I’m calling for a thread deletion, because this was not as well received as I’d hoped it would be, I also need you to delete my Pit thread, because it’s just not working out either. They only delete the threads of spammers, not those of people who lose an argument. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353/80 "2011-06-23T03:03:00Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > Oh I can be plenty compassionate, but I have problems with controlling my impulses and sometimes talk without thinking about it. It’s just easier to say or do what’s on your mind than it is to think about it. I don’t _really_ want the death of millions, but sometimes it’s all about having the will to do what is necessary, even if it seems kind of wrong. Well, I don’t think anybody is “doing” anything here — and the death of millions more than seems wrong, it is wrong! Compassion needs some discipline to it — you have to remember to practice it, even when it’s tempting not to, and of course that does mean stopping and thinking sometimes. Anyway, good luck. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-as-an-american-support-revolt-in-china/586353.md?page=5)