PREPARE YOUR BODIES FOR THUNDERDOME

vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
edited January 2014 in Strut Central
now, i'm not a member of green peace, but the profundity of moving one step closer to the nuclear dawn that has been promised us is definitely not lost on me. this stopped me dead in my tracks when i read it.

is this a hoax or are some places in the world already embracing the post-apocolyptic life?


The smog has become so thick in Beijing that the city's natural light-starved masses have begun flocking to huge digital commercial television screens across the city to observe virtual sunrises.

The futuristic screens installed in the Chinese capital usually advertize tourist destinations, but as the season's first wave of extremely dangerous smog hit - residents donned air masks and left their homes to watch the only place where the sun would hail over the horizon that morning.

Commuters across Beijing found themselves cloaked in a thick, gray haze on Thursday as air pollution monitors issued a severe air warning and ordered the elderly and school children to stay indoors until the quality improved.
..........

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11188605
«1

  Comments


  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    I cannot wrap my head around how people live like that. I mean, I get it...if it's your only option, you do what you gotta do...but goddamn, that looks miserable.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    It seems to be pretty common part of a rapidly developing industrialisation. I know that London went through something similar bitd, I assume that American cities where pretty grotty places to live when they were developing as industrial powerhouses. It's just shitty that we have not progressed enough for this not to be some kind of right of passage for developing nations.

    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey. They stand to be exponentially better off than their parents generation and their children's generation will likely improve upon that. Most children of the Western world have no such expectations, in fact they can expect to not do as well as their previous generations.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I was just talking about how we just don't care about environmental disasters.

    Can't drink the water in WV. Who gives a fuck?
    Explosive oil tankers rolling through your town. WGAF?
    Smog so thick you can't see down the street. WGAF?
    340,000 Fukishima refugees. WGAF?
    The next Fukishima in your backyard, GMO's, global warming, man made chemicals that do not break down, deep sea drilling, oil sand strip mining, fracking...

  • LaserWolf said:
    I was just talking about how we just don't care about environmental disasters.

    Can't drink the water in WV. Who gives a fuck?
    Explosive oil tankers rolling through your town. WGAF?
    Smog so thick you can't see down the street. WGAF?
    340,000 Fukishima refugees. WGAF?
    The next Fukishima in your backyard, GMO's, global warming, man made chemicals that do not break down, deep sea drilling, oil sand strip mining, fracking...

    yeah man, i keep seeing that neon coloured image of the radioactivity from japan spreading across the pacific and it's got me shook about moving to the west coast. i KNOW i'm being equally exposed to things here at home, but i mean shit..... how many feet offshore does it really have to get before actions start being taken?

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,896 Posts
    A good friend of mine stays in Qingdao quite a bit. I always look forward to the smog photos.


    When I was in HK, it was so-so. But I see they have moved to putting up fake photos for people to use now.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/fake-hong-kong-skyline_n_3830750.html

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.

  • Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.

    Oh, yeah.

    They've got the machinery of Mao's Army serving plutocrats who make the Koch brothers look like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

    There's a cataclysm coming in China that will make the Cultural Revolution look like Woodstock.

  • This kind of stuff kind of makes me feel guilty for having kids. Fingers crossed, life in the future is good for them and not some all encompassing cosmic slop of an existence.

  • Controller_7 said:
    This kind of stuff kind of makes me feel guilty for having kids. Fingers crossed, life in the future is good for them and not some all encompassing cosmic slop of an existence.

    Some variation on the Blade Runner/Rollerball/Soylent Green future is coming down the pike.

    That the government of the most powerful country on Earth is largely controlled by ignorant assclowns who can't even admit that global climate change is happening doesn't bode well for that future being more towards the benign side.

    I hope I'm wrong.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.
    You think they're more fucked now than they were under the old Communist regime?

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,885 Posts
    I wouldn't worry.

    The US and China are locked in a kind of financial Mexican Stand-off.

    US owes China a very large amount of money.

    The day China call in that debt, is the day that none of their customers will have money.

    They can't afford to call it in.

    They will work together to make benefit everyone.

    Probably.

  • ppadilhappadilha 2,233 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:

    They will work together to make benefit every single one of their bankers.

    Probably.

    correcteded

  • dammsdamms 704 Posts
    that screen is way off

  • J i m s t e r said:
    I wouldn't worry.

    The US and China are locked in a kind of financial Mexican Stand-off.

    US owes China a very large amount of money.

    The day China call in that debt, is the day that none of their customers will have money.

    They can't afford to call it in.

    They will work together to make benefit everyone.

    Probably.

    China holds 8% of the US debt.

    It's not really that extreme of a situation.

    US indebtedness to China is overstated by xenophobic fascists with an (R) next to their names. This lie goes unchallenged by most of the media and so the legend that China has us by the balls is created and passed on.

    http://www.factcheck.org/2013/11/who-holds-our-debt/

    Don't abet this kind of nonsense.

  • covecove 1,566 Posts
    Will any climate change deniers pollute this thread?

  • GibboGibbo 124 Posts
    Maybe not quite as dire as straightforward as reported. Still looks like the smog apocalypse to me though.

    http://www.policymic.com/articles/79483/this-photo-went-viral-but-you-probably-didn-t-get-the-full-story-behind-it

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,896 Posts
    Gibbo said:
    Maybe not quite as dire as straightforward as reported. Still looks like the smog apocalypse to me though.

    http://www.policymic.com/articles/79483/this-photo-went-viral-but-you-probably-didn-t-get-the-full-story-behind-it

    So they are making the case that the story is hyperbole . While using statements like "Chinese citizens being forced to watch virtual broadcasts of the sunrise in Beijing"

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    The day China call in that debt, is the day that none of their customers will have money.

    They can't afford to call it in.

    They can't 'call it in' period.

    The debt is held in the form of bonds which are payable according to the established timetable on their maturity - there's no more calling it in than your landlord can demand your next year's rent all at once because they feel like it.

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Okem said:
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.
    You think they're more fucked now than they were under the old Communist regime?

    Not sure why that's relevant, but...

    The old Communist regime perpetrated the worst (by far) slaughter in human history, of their own people. Just because the current Communist regime (which differs mainly by reasons of pragmatism) isn't as bad doesn't mean things are 'rosey' - there's a little bit of ground in between the two, imo.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.
    You think they're more fucked now than they were under the old Communist regime?

    Not sure why that's relevant, but...

    The old Communist regime perpetrated the worst (by far) slaughter in human history, of their own people. Just because the current Communist regime (which differs mainly by reasons of pragmatism) isn't as bad doesn't mean things are 'rosey' - there's a little bit of ground in between the two, imo.
    Well that was kind of the point I was making that you obtusely said you believed the opposite of, that compared to previous generations the future prospects for Chinese youth is looking pretty good right now. Are you actually going to say why you believe they're all fucked or do we have guess?

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.
    You think they're more fucked now than they were under the old Communist regime?

    Not sure why that's relevant, but...

    The old Communist regime perpetrated the worst (by far) slaughter in human history, of their own people. Just because the current Communist regime (which differs mainly by reasons of pragmatism) isn't as bad doesn't mean things are 'rosey' - there's a little bit of ground in between the two, imo.
    Well that was kind of the point I was making that you obtusely said you believed the opposite of, that compared to previous generations the future prospects for Chinese youth is looking pretty good right now. Are you actually going to say why you believe they're all fucked or do we have guess?

  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Okem said:
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    Horseleech said:
    Okem said:
    As much as this clearly does suck, life for the young of China, conceding they get through this with their health intact, looks pretty rosey.

    I always read up on this subject when I get a chance. I'm interested because I used to live in Hong Kong when I was in high school.

    I have to say, I've come to pretty much the exact opposite conclusion.
    You think they're more fucked now than they were under the old Communist regime?

    Not sure why that's relevant, but...

    The old Communist regime perpetrated the worst (by far) slaughter in human history, of their own people. Just because the current Communist regime (which differs mainly by reasons of pragmatism) isn't as bad doesn't mean things are 'rosey' - there's a little bit of ground in between the two, imo.
    Well that was kind of the point I was making that you obtusely said you believed the opposite of, that compared to previous generations the future prospects for Chinese youth is looking pretty good right now. Are you actually going to say why you believe they're all fucked or do we have guess?

    First of all, you just said that their future looks rosy, not "rosy compared to being starved to death like previous generations".

    Why am I not optimistic?

    - The Chinese economy is a huge house of cards which is starting to show signs of it's imminent collapse. And it may well collapse hard. As soon as it does, you can count on whatever meager societal freedoms that have been offered in the last few years being revoked ASAP.

    - The environment is seriously fucked and not likely to get better anytime soon. The brutal smog that European and American cities experienced was largely caused by coal and leaded gasoline. China has even worse smog and they don't even use leaded gasoline. My cousin has to go to China 3-4 times a year for a couple weeks at at time for business. He gets a respiratory ailment the day he arrives and it lasts until he leaves, every time without exception for about 12 years now. Add to that the damming of all of the major rivers, the untold toxic chicanery and who the hell knows what else. There are tons of industrial processes that get done in China because they are illegal everywhere else in the world.

    - The average worker in China slaves away in conditions that are unthinkable in the west, and it is that slavery that gives the government whatever power it has. As soon as the economy starts tumbling, you can count on those conditions worsening.

    China has the potential to become a giant North Korea, imo. Granted, it will probably be one based more on pragmatic evil than batshit craziness, but the effect will be the same on the average citizen.

    Basically, China is at a peak right now. A peak that is propped up by their totally bogus currency among other things. Conditions now are a lot better than under the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, but the future is anything but rosy, imo.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    In sure the Chinese, with several millenia of culture and civilisation in their shared experience, will be eternally grateful for a bunch of New World arrivistes telling them where they're going wrong.

  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    china is all good don't worry about it

  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    LazarusOblong said:
    J i m s t e r said:
    I wouldn't worry.

    The US and China are locked in a kind of financial Mexican Stand-off.

    US owes China a very large amount of money.

    The day China call in that debt, is the day that none of their customers will have money.

    They can't afford to call it in.

    They will work together to make benefit everyone.

    Probably.

    China holds 8% of the US debt.

    It's not really that extreme of a situation.

    US indebtedness to China is overstated by xenophobic fascists with an (R) next to their names. This lie goes unchallenged by most of the media and so the legend that China has us by the balls is created and passed on.

    http://www.factcheck.org/2013/11/who-holds-our-debt/

    Don't abet this kind of nonsense.
    throw me that # minus fed buying up all our shit the past five years bruv

  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    skel said:
    In sure the Chinese, with several millenia of culture and civilisation in their shared experience, will be eternally grateful for a bunch of New World arrivistes telling them where they're going wrong.

    No doubt.

    I know us Yanks are grateful for the daily assessment of our misdeeds we receive from the Brits and Canadians here.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    I believe it's called friendly fire

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,896 Posts
    So when does the Chinese bubble burst on real estate? Or is that all just bullshit too?

  • the original story is a hoax.
Sign In or Register to comment.