I don’t know much about China, what structures does China have in place to help folks who can’t afford food, or don’t have enough? Are there things we could learn from them about how to adress hunger?
In the US I feel like the main ways we aim to adress that are food banks and food programs like WIC. Which I frankly also dont know a ton about
welfare system called the Five Guarantees (五保) if you want to look into it further. as far as I understand it if you qualify for the Three Withouts (三无): without livelihood source, without the ability to work, and without family support then the state guarantees basic food, clothing, housing, medical care, and burial expenses
And I believe there was/is an ‘n’ number of household appliances, as a sort of economic benchmark, which has been revised a few times. However now I can’t find any details about it.
How often is that able to be utilized? For example, there is a filial piety law, but elderly are still abandoned occasionally, right? I heard from a friend that the pension elderly are able to sue their families for is very low, and nursing homes aren’t as popular. In most countries, there’s what exists on paper, and then there’s what actually happens.
That seems to me like the devil is in the details: what does “without the ability to work” mean? So if you lose your job and can’t find a new one, you’re just gonna die because you don’t qualify?
That is the opposite of what they are saying, “without the ability to work” meaning they provide you food if you can’t work, if you lose your job you won’t starve unlike what happens in many capitalist countries.
Well, it’s understandable how I could not understand it though, isn’t it? They could have also said “people without work” instead of “without the ability to work”, no? Then it would have been clear that someone that loses their job, but still has the ability to work, is included. The way they phrased it very much sounded like you’re fucked if you have the ability to work, but just don’t have a job right now for some other reason.
The issue with food banks and food programs is that they often do little to address the underlying cause, which is that housing is not a guaranteed right. Difficult to store stuff long term if you have nowhere to store it. Fresh shit is basically right out.
The other thing is that most, if not all, of these private organizations are tied to religious organizations, most of which (Unitarian Universalists ftw here) make you attend a service or join a group in order to have basic access to these things. Hell around here, even the domestic abuse shelters are all run by Christian fundamentalist groups, and while it is good that someone is doing it, they actively turn away trans survivors because ‘they are actually men’.
The issue is that it isn’t a right. We give up so much to the state in terms of freedom and we don’t even get the right to the basic security of goods.
That isn’t to say that China doesn’t have its own issues, but in giving up some of your freedoms your are guaranteed some level of basic security.
It varies wildly. Nanjie Cun, for example, has an average monthly salary of $32 USD, but all housing, utilities, healthcare, education, public transport, basic furniture (tv, microwave, beds, chairs) are provided for free for all residents of all ages. Also, there’s a stipend of free food: rice, flour, some vegetables and some seasonings. Beyond that, there are communal canteens which is under $0.40 for a meal, or free for pensioners.
But you also have other areas of the country where you only get free food and housing if you’re unable to work or in an area without jobs.
some friends of mind visited here last year and had a great time. they were very surprised that foreigners were visiting, apparently it is not very common. everyone should go say hi!
I don’t know much about China, what structures does China have in place to help folks who can’t afford food, or don’t have enough? Are there things we could learn from them about how to adress hunger?
In the US I feel like the main ways we aim to adress that are food banks and food programs like WIC. Which I frankly also dont know a ton about
welfare system called the Five Guarantees (五保) if you want to look into it further. as far as I understand it if you qualify for the Three Withouts (三无): without livelihood source, without the ability to work, and without family support then the state guarantees basic food, clothing, housing, medical care, and burial expenses
Damn if they don’t live for Number Plural Noun over there
Five Guarantees, Four Cardinal Principles, Three Withouts, Two Whatevers, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
And I believe there was/is an ‘n’ number of household appliances, as a sort of economic benchmark, which has been revised a few times. However now I can’t find any details about it.
Three Alls.
yikes, not as fun
How often is that able to be utilized? For example, there is a filial piety law, but elderly are still abandoned occasionally, right? I heard from a friend that the pension elderly are able to sue their families for is very low, and nursing homes aren’t as popular. In most countries, there’s what exists on paper, and then there’s what actually happens.
That seems to me like the devil is in the details: what does “without the ability to work” mean? So if you lose your job and can’t find a new one, you’re just gonna die because you don’t qualify?
That is the opposite of what they are saying, “without the ability to work” meaning they provide you food if you can’t work, if you lose your job you won’t starve unlike what happens in many capitalist countries.
Well, it’s understandable how I could not understand it though, isn’t it? They could have also said “people without work” instead of “without the ability to work”, no? Then it would have been clear that someone that loses their job, but still has the ability to work, is included. The way they phrased it very much sounded like you’re fucked if you have the ability to work, but just don’t have a job right now for some other reason.
If that was the only “without” then yeah but just before that they say “without livelihood source” which means a job or income of some type.
It literally means welfare for disabled and unemployed people, you doughnut!
That’s why I phrased everything I said as a question, because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t misunderstand them, you bagel!
The issue with food banks and food programs is that they often do little to address the underlying cause, which is that housing is not a guaranteed right. Difficult to store stuff long term if you have nowhere to store it. Fresh shit is basically right out.
The other thing is that most, if not all, of these private organizations are tied to religious organizations, most of which (Unitarian Universalists ftw here) make you attend a service or join a group in order to have basic access to these things. Hell around here, even the domestic abuse shelters are all run by Christian fundamentalist groups, and while it is good that someone is doing it, they actively turn away trans survivors because ‘they are actually men’.
The issue is that it isn’t a right. We give up so much to the state in terms of freedom and we don’t even get the right to the basic security of goods.
That isn’t to say that China doesn’t have its own issues, but in giving up some of your freedoms your are guaranteed some level of basic security.
It varies wildly. Nanjie Cun, for example, has an average monthly salary of $32 USD, but all housing, utilities, healthcare, education, public transport, basic furniture (tv, microwave, beds, chairs) are provided for free for all residents of all ages. Also, there’s a stipend of free food: rice, flour, some vegetables and some seasonings. Beyond that, there are communal canteens which is under $0.40 for a meal, or free for pensioners.
But you also have other areas of the country where you only get free food and housing if you’re unable to work or in an area without jobs.
for context this is a single (extremely based) village that basically refused to do the market reforms and said it ‘fuck it, we mao’
some friends of mind visited here last year and had a great time. they were very surprised that foreigners were visiting, apparently it is not very common. everyone should go say hi!