…scrape by on minimal consumption. It’s a dark, sobering self-portrait of a generation…
Consumption != Happiness
The author channels a viewpoint of the government…if people can be happy and fulfilled without contributing to GDP, that’s “dark, sobering.” It’s bad news for government planning but not necessarily bad for the people.
Except a lot of them aren’t happy and fulfilled, they’re opting out for the same reasons young people in the US are:
they can’t afford homes, can’t find decent jobs, and don’t see a future worth bringing children into.
That’s not “happy and fulfilled outside the rat race”, especially since they’re solution is closer to hikikomoris. They’re not out there building self-sufficient communes.
If they need social systems to support them, I am all for that (its good regardless, and I’m not in China so I have very little voice for them/understanding of what is available)
But the article just presents the authors editorialized view, which is from a government planning perspective, not from the perspective of what is good for these young people (or what they think would benefit them). So I take with a grain of salt the authors judgement of their choices, satisfaction, or opinion of what is “right” for them.
Consumption != Happiness
The author channels a viewpoint of the government…if people can be happy and fulfilled without contributing to GDP, that’s “dark, sobering.” It’s bad news for government planning but not necessarily bad for the people.
Except a lot of them aren’t happy and fulfilled, they’re opting out for the same reasons young people in the US are:
That’s not “happy and fulfilled outside the rat race”, especially since they’re solution is closer to hikikomoris. They’re not out there building self-sufficient communes.
If they need social systems to support them, I am all for that (its good regardless, and I’m not in China so I have very little voice for them/understanding of what is available)
But the article just presents the authors editorialized view, which is from a government planning perspective, not from the perspective of what is good for these young people (or what they think would benefit them). So I take with a grain of salt the authors judgement of their choices, satisfaction, or opinion of what is “right” for them.