Number 6:
Everybody votes for a dictator.

You know, the Western “news” is just propaganda. Nothing more. It is used to instill fear, control and manipulate huge masses of people, and to bludgeon them into predefined and specific types of behaviors. And of the many things that propaganda does (lie, distort, and emphasize incorrect narratives) is ignore real and substantive actual news. And yeah. They do this for a reason, don’t you know. And this article is going to talk about one thing that the American media is very quiet about; the Chinese people are much more prosperous than Americans are.

So forget that neocon belief that the Chinese people are shivering in fear and oppression from their all-power Chinese Communist overlords (it is the de facto narrative). They aren’t. They are overwhelmingly happy, approve of their government, and just living their life in near carefree abandon.

Which is why I enjoyed traveling outside of America. When I went to Australia, the relationships with the folk there reminded me of my boyhood days in the 1960’s and 1970’s. And when I went to South East Asia, it reminded me of the days of “keg parties” and “hanging out”… you know. Doing ‘nothin. It was glorious.

It was everything I hoped it would be.

In those lands I wasn’t barraged with “news”. Even being connected to the USA though Wifi (much faster than what you get in the States, and for FREE!) no one read the “news” like I would (do so). They just pretty much ignored it. It was a much smaller part of their life. Certainly much smaller than what we from the States would think. And as a result they were far happier because of it.

Imagine that!

The lack of regulations, rules, policing control, laws, and just about everything else that is part and parcel of the regulatory and all-controlling America is absent in Asia. And it’s just glorious.

But anyways…

The American (and Western) “news” is just a big mill and den of lies and distortions. It is at all levels, and if you haven’t figured this out by now, you are either stupid or have mental problems. They lie. they distort. They cause you to live in fear. They spew hate. They are just awful.

• The dangers of 3G; your brain will cook when you answer your cell phone.
• Oh, and 5G, that terrible Chinese radiation is much worse!
• Mad cow disease will kill you when you eat a hamburger.
• Y2K is going to have your toaster jump and strangle you in the kitchen.
• Killer zombie hornets is going to attack your community.
• Donate money now to SAVE THE CHILDREN in far away Africa.
• Dangerous child abductors are prowling all over your neighborhood.
• Ask your doctor about Prozac Plus, the new gateway to happiness!
• You too can get a free trial of unlimited internet only $9.99, special conditions apply don’t you know…

Do something. Now! Now! Nowwww!

Number 6:
Unlike me, many of you have accepted the situation of your imprisonment, and will die here like rotten cabbages.

Do you think I’m exaggerating?  I’m NOT.  It’s just that when you view the “news” narrative out of context, at a time when the media onslaught has subsided, it seems just so very silly.

Silly.

Like mixing wine and chocolate.

Um. I take that back. Make that’s a good pairing. I’ll have to give it a try. Anyone game to experiment with me?  

Anyways back to the silliness about the United States. It is, really is, silly.

Sorry for being so darn harsh, but it’s true. American “news” is just plain silly. Like check out the latest “shit-storm” that’s a-brewing on Drudge today…

• Schumer puts gun control on Senate agenda…
• Homebuyers Heading to Florida — But Nearly As Many Moving Out!
• Boston Marathon Bomber Sues Over Treatment In SuperMax Prison…
• Why $4-a-Gallon Gas May Be Coming This Summer…
• 91-year-old cop has no plans to retire…
• Scientists want to send sperm and egg samples from 6.7 million Earth species to MOON…
• Cesar Millan wants to help Biden’s dogs feel at home in White House…

Ahem…

It’s sort of like this…

Anyways, lets leave the fairy tale world of American (and UK, Australian and Indian) “news”…

…and discuss something that really is intentionally omitted.

Number Two:
I'm the boss.

Number 6:
No. One is the boss.

It is the idea that not only is the rest of the world growing, and prospering, but that China is leading the pack and doing much, much… so much better than anything their American cousins can even realize.

What?

That’s right.

And that’s what happens when you have a capable, experienced leadership that is motivated to improve the lives of it’s people.

Observer:
Questions are a burden to others. Answers are prison for oneself.

The Communist Chinese are wealthier than Americans.

Ouch!

How about that for rubbing your face in a pile of shit?

This article is from Yicai global. You won't find it in the States, unless you perform a serious search. It's not that it's blocked, but perhaps it's more likely "shadow blocked". It's not gonna find it's way into your daily news feeds.  Reprinted as found with editing to fit this venue. All credit to the author Ben Armour.

There has been a lot of chatter in the [Chinese] press about the Chinese government’s setting a growth target for 2021. And specifically whether or not it was able to achieve its longstanding goal of doubling incomes in the last ten years.

While this year’s economic prospects are clouded by uncertainty, a recent study by researchers at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) indicates that China has already achieved its objective of building a moderately prosperous society (小康社会) – at least in its cities.

The study, published in the latest issue of China Finance, highlights the results of a comprehensive survey of urban families’ finances conducted at the end of 2019. It reports that median household net worth stood at CNY1.41 million or close to USD200,000.

• Median household worth in China is $ 200,000 USD.

The US’s own Survey of Consumer Finances was last conducted by the Federal Reserve in 2016. If I adjust its findings for inflation, then median US household net worth was about USD104,000 in 2019.

• Median household worth in the USA is $ 104,000 USD.

Thus, one can say that the typical US household is only about half as rich as the typical Chinese urban family.

Number 6:
[referring to the chess game] Why do you use people?

Chessmaster:
Some psychiatrists say it satisfies the desire for power. 'the only opportunity one gets here.

Number 6:
That depends what side you're on.

Chessmaster:
[quickly] I'm on my side.

Number 6:
[quickly] Aren't we all.

Chessmaster:
You must be new here. In time, most of us join the enemy - against ourselves.

How is this possible?

Since per capita GDP in the US is close to five times higher than in China, how can we explain such a surprising result?

The very unequal distribution of wealth in the US is a big part of the story.

The super wealthy is skewing all the numbers to be much higher than they would be otherwise.

The graph below shows that while median US household wealth is about half that of Chinese urban families, average US household net worth is about 80 percent higher than China’s USD413,000.

.

The ratio of average to median net worth is a measure of how equally wealth is distributed.

.

If everyone’s wealth was exactly the same, the ratio of the two net worth measures would be 1.0.  China’s mean household net worth is double its median. The ratio in the US is seven times, pointing to a much more unequal distribution of wealth.

• • • The Ideal = 1
    • China = 2
    • United States = 7

China has far better financial, and social equality than America has.

What are the attributes that contribute to this situation? Reason one.

Median Income. Since it lies right in the middle of the wealth distribution, we can think of the median household as “typical. ”Half the families are richer and half the families are poorer than it is.

On average, American families are wealthier than Chinese ones. There are a lot of really wealthy American families that pull that average up.

But the typical American household remains poorer than its Chinese urban counterpart.

Note that I am making these comparisons in 2019 US dollars and am not accounting for the fact that a US dollar buys more in China than it does in the US.

Reason Two

A second reason that Chinese urban households are relatively wealthy is that home ownership is quite widespread.

According to the PBOC study, 96 percent of urban households own residential property. The corresponding figure for the US is only 64 percent.

Median Data

• 96% of Chinese own their own homes.
• 64% of Americans own their own homes.

The gap between US and Chinese in home ownership is even more striking at the low end of the income distribution. In the US, only one-third of the families in the lowest income quintile own a home. In China, 89 percent do.

Low Income Data

• 89% of China’s poor own homes.
• 33% of American poor own homes.

In fact, many Chinese families own more than one property: 31 percent of them have two and 11 percent have three or more. On average, each urban family owns 1.5 residential properties.

Chinese home ownership

• Average family owns 1.5 homes.
• 31% of Chinese own 2 homes.
• 11% of Chinese own three or more homes.

Chinese family wealth does not simply rest on inflated real estate values.

Residential property represents just under 60 percent of household assets, with financial assets and other real assets (shops, productive equipment, vehicles, etc.) each accounting for close to 20 percent.

Moreover, from the information in the study, I estimate that the price-to-income ratio of these households’ residential property holdings at 3.7. This is fairly close to the median house price-to-income ratio in the US, 3.6, according to Demographia’s most recent survey.

• Home price / Income for China = 3.7
• Home price / income for the USA = 3.6

Reason Three

The third reason for Chinese urban households’ high net worth is their relatively low indebtedness.

Seventy-seven percent of US households have assumed some sort of financial liability (a mortgage, a car loan, student debt, etc.). In China, only 57 percent of the urban households have incurred such liabilities.

• In debt to financial loans – USA = 77%
• In debt to financial loans – China = 57%

Not only do fewer Chinese households carry liabilities, but what debts they owe are small relative to their assets. The debts of the median Chinese household, which does have liabilities, only amounts to 16 percent of its assets. In contrast, the median indebted American household has a leverage ratio of 36 percent of its assets.

• American debt to assets = 36%
• Chinese debt to assets = 16%

Reason Four

The final piece of the puzzle is understanding how Chinese urban households can have such a high rate of home ownership and such a low rate of indebtedness.

Chinese households do have much higher savings rates than their US counterparts and that is an important factor. But more important was the way in which the housing stock was privatized.

Up until the late 1990s, almost all residential property belonged to state-owned institutions, which provided low-rent accommodation to their employees. As part of the state-owned enterprise reform program, the government relieved firms of the burden of providing housing for their workers. Urban households were able to purchase their apartments from their employers at reasonable prices, leading to today’s high rate of home ownership and supporting urban prosperity.

A China First

(Yicai Global) April 27 — China may be the first country in the world to have reached a 96 percent urban home ownership rate, according to the central bank.

• China has a 96% home ownership rate in the cities.

In an article the People’s Bank of China published in its China Finance journal today it also noted that the bulk of assets held by urban families is physical.

• Chinese assets tend to be tangible, physical “brick and mortar” items.
• American assets tend to be intangible, stocks, bonds, pensions, potential worth.

Home ownership in developed countries is mostly around the 60 percent level, according to data from Trading Economics. In the US, the figure was 65.1 percent at the end of last year, US Department of Commerce statistics show. The PBOC report puts China’s home ownership 28.5 percentage points ahead of the US.

• Chinese home ownership = 96% (urban)
• USA home ownership = 65.1%
• Typical (developed country) home ownership = 60%

The reports also said Chinese urban households prefer risk-free financial assets, with homes making up nearly 70 percent and financial assets 20.4 percent.

The average wealth of urban households is CNY3.18 million (USD449,200), with a median value of CNY1.63 million, per the report. The difference between the two is about CNY1.55 million, indicating an uneven distribution of household assets.

Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu province ranked as the top three for family riches, with CNY8.9 million, CNY8.1 million and CNY5.1 million, respectively. The lowest three provincial-level units are the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Gansu province in northwestern China and Jilin province in the northeast.

Households in urban areas generally take out loans. Some 56.5 percent of those surveyed are in debt. Among them, the total owed per household is CNY512,000 (USD72,346), with roughly 54 percent owing less than CNY300,000, 35.6 percent owing CNY300,000 to CNY1 million, while the remaining 10.5 percent owe over CNY1 million.

Mortgages constitute the bulk of household debt.

Some 77 percent of indebted households have home loans averaging CNY389,000, making up over three quarters of total household debt. The PBOC’s urban resident household assets and liabilities research team from its Statistics and Analysis Department canvassed more than 30,000 households in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and cities across the country in mid-to-late October.

Wow.

It’s time to celebrate!

.

Um. No, this isn’t right. Not enough food.

A real celebration requires FOOD!

.

Ah. Much better.

Pretty Amazing Stuff

Yes it is.

So what is not being reported in the American and Western press? It is that China is not some backwards, dirty, disease ridden infested dark smoggy slime-ball nation. But rather, a growing prosperous nation where most people own their homes. Where most people are debt free, and those that are in debt with loans are not too worried about it as the debts are small relative to their income stream. It’s a big, big change when you compare that to America.

How can Americans (and others in “the West”) have this kind of idea? Well consider what consists of “news”.

Here, today is a headliner article…

Westerners are increasingly scared of traveling to China as threat of detention rises

...The dramatic detention of a handful of foreigners in recent years has instilled a deep fear in some people, especially those with politically adjacent occupations. As President Xi breeds a culture of nationalism and forges increasingly hostile relations with Western governments, some fear that if a diplomatic spat between their government and Beijing occurred while they were in China they could become a target... 

Um…

So just in this paragraph we see…

• Dramatic detention of foreigners!
• Deep fear is present.
• President Xi breeds a culture of nationalism!
• President Xi is hostile to nations in the West.

And that is just ONE lone paragraph.

Do I have to point out the absolute falsehoods, the manipulations, the distortions and the lies in the four bullet points above, or are you aware of the reality?

It’s a non-stop bullshit garbage narrative like this that is pumped relentlessly into the brains of Americans, non-stop, 24-7.

I makes me want to have a fine libation, and some delicious food, I’ll tell you what.

[over the opening of each episode - Number 2 played by various actors]
Number 6:
Where am I?

Number 2:
In the Village.

Number 6:
What do you want?

Number 2:
Information.

Number 6:
Whose side are you on?

Number 2:
That would be telling. We want information... information... information.

Number 6:
You won't get it.

Number 2:
By hook or by crook, we will.

Number 6:
Who are you?

Number 2:
The new Number 2.

Number 6:
Who is Number 1?

Number 2:
You are Number 6.

Number 6:
I am not a number, I am a free man.

Let’s take a look at what China is today, shall we. Here’s some videos (in no particular order) that I just pulled off my Douxing feed this morning. Just you click on the picture and it will open up in a new tab.

High Speed Trains.

There are everywhere in China. Fast. Cheap. Comfortable. Convenient. Takes you anywhere and everywhere. The American news is again talking about how soon, one day, America too will be as good as China. And the talk is all about having high speed trains, like China has.

Of course they never mention that America is literally twenty years behind China in this regard, or that America has already spent 77 billion dollars for a cardboard and fiberglass mock-up. Or that America started on the American HST at the same time that China did, but with over ten times the funding level. And while China today has hundreds of lines, thousands of Kilometers of track, hundreds of trains, and stations, the United States has nothing.

But some day soon. You just wait and see. Right?

In China, HST is average, normal, and no big deal.

Just click on the picture and the video will pop up in another tab.

Guangzhou

Guangzhou is a “working class” city. Much like Pittsburgh, PA is. It’s big. really big. But it’s got a real “local” feel to it. It’s not cosmopolitan like Beijing, or Shanghai are. It’s just full of average people. Going to work and living life.

Here’s some gals going out for a nice dinner, some great friendship and some wine. Wouldn’t you all wish that you were there with them? I do. I’ll tell you what.

Chinese Transport Air Force

The Chinese, since there have been so many restrictions placed on them by America, and the UK, were forced to develop their own systems. This is everything from their own space stations, and Mars lander to military aircraft, and computer systems. All “home grown” and mass produced at a frenzy and pace that is stunning to behold.

We hear about it all, but then when you see just how many state of the art systems are in use, it just boggles the mind.

A Typical Chinese family

Here we have a typical Chinese family in their home. Not some kind of dirt floored hovel, is it? Do they look like they are starving, and begging for American “democracy” to “save them”?

Why so many children? I thought that the Chinese kill babies and that you are only allowed to have one </sarcasm>. But take a look at the mother and her 19 year old daughter. The Chinese don’t age like Americans do, because they EAT MUCH HEALTHIER. No GMO hormones, and no one is taking anti-stress, and anti-depression medications.

Outside of Zhuhai

This chick is a dancing and carrying on in a park right outside the supermarket where I shop for my groceries. Yeah. It’s pretty much like this. This is obviously on the weekend, judging from all the people. Must be on a Sunday.

A typical park

The Chinese have made improving the lives of their citizens a top priority. This is ALL that the government does. I would say that a full 100% of their effort is towards helping the people, improving their quality of life, and setting up defensive measures so that evil people cannot run “color revolutions” against them.

Most parks are now, beautiful, well maintained, and tranquil. Like this.

Movie making

One of the big omissions in American “news” is that just about everything is made in China. But if you listen to them, you get the idea that China only makes cheap pens, rubber duckies and the low-end products for Wal-mart. It doesn’t. All of the high-tech stuff is designed and made in China. All of it.

All of it.

Like this movie camera kit that is used to make the movies that Americans are not permitted to watch. LOL.

All this is about reality

If the masses of people could think critically for themselves, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. By the way Rod, there is a war. It’s raging and has enveloped this planet. It’s a war for our minds. Many have been captured. I know, I see them every day. And I read what they write. 

-Ohio Guy

I think that most of us are living in an artificial construct; and artificial reality. it is one that is constructed and based upon lies and untruths. And so, believing these lies and untruths we live our lives, making decisions, and behaving in certain ways that do not… and should not.. be part of our reality.

I suppose that you could point this out to anyone. You could point at them and say..

"How dare you live like you do? Your ideas and your thoughts do not match mine. You must change and agree with me! For my reality, and my understanding is the only and correct way of thinking."

So, yeah. Let’s keep a real sense of perspective here.

It doesn’t matter what other people are doing. Not really. Not if they are Americans, or Chinese, or Zambians. All that matters is what you are doing with your life.

If you are happy, having fun, trust your government, then that is fine. You can keep on believing what you want to believe. You can keep on doing what you are doing, and listening to the news as you see it. It’s working for you. Keep it up.

But if you are not, then maybe you should reevaluate your life; your reality. You need to ask whether it is an actual reflection of the truth. Or instead, are you living something else instead.

Are you like “Number 6” in the 1968 television show “The Prisoner” where you live in a nice pleasant place, but you can never leave it. And no matter what you do, you never get any straight answers and never know your true and real situation?

"The Prisoner" is a unique piece of television. It addresses issues such as personal identity and freedom, democracy, education, scientific progress, art and technology, while still remaining an entertaining drama series. Over seventeen episodes we witness a war of attrition between the faceless forces behind 'The Village' (a Kafkaesque community somewhere between Butlins and Alcatraz) and its most strong willed inmate, No. 6. who struggles ceaselessly to assert his individuality while plotting to escape from his captors. 

-Written by Stuart Berwick <berws@essex.ac.uk>

I think that for many Americans, the answer is YES.

.

Since its initial telecast, back in 1967, this enigmatic classic has evoked every reaction from awe to contempt. Given the amount of serious critical attention THE PRISONER has received, and given that a whole society has been created in its honor, I'd say the awe has won out, and I vehemently agree that THE PRISONER deserves to be honored as one of the truly artistic programs created for commercial television.

However, I can also understand the frustration many viewers have felt. Over the course of its seventeen episodes, this offbeat spy thriller becomes further and further offbeat until it ultimately transforms into surrealistic allegory. I confess I'm not sure whether this transformation was intended as a complete surprise, or whether you were supposed to know where the show was going, but in either case, I think you can better appreciate the series if you can see the earlier episodes as preparation for what's to come.

THE PRISONER's title character is a British secret agent (series creator Patrick McGoohan) who may or may not be SECRET AGENT's John Drake. The story begins with him suddenly and mysteriously resigning, then just as suddenly and mysteriously being rendered unconscious and transported to a place known only as The Village, the location of which is known only to those who run it. The Village is a prison camp, but with all of the amenities of a vacation resort,. Attractive dwellings, shops, restaurants, etc. exist side by side with high-tech methods of keeping order and extracting information from those who won't give it up willingly.

Those who try to escape get to meet Rover, a belligerent weather balloon capable of locomotion, and seemingly of independent thought. It appears (to me anyway) that the authorities can summon Rover, send it away, and give it instructions, but that it acts more or less on its own initiative. Rover deals with fugitives by plastering itself against their faces, rendering them either unconscious or dead, depending on how bad a mood it's in. Twice, we see it haul someone in from the ocean by sucking them up into a whirlpool it creates.

Citizens of The Village, including those in authority, are identified only by numbers. Our protagonist is known only as No. 6 throughout the entire series. The Village is run by No. 2, who in turn reports to an unseen and unidentified No. 1. No. 1 is apparently an unforgiving boss, because No. 2 is always being replaced.

Shortly after he arrives in in the Village, No. 6 is informed, by the reigning No. 2, that he should count on remaining there permanently. If he cooperates, life will be pleasant and he may even be given a position of authority. If he resists -- well, the only restriction they're under is not to damage him permanently. To satisfy his captors, No. 6 need only answer one question: `Why did you resign?' His question in turn is, `Who runs this place? Who is No. 1?'

Most of the episodes deal with No. 6's attempts to escape, and/or his captors' attempts to break him, although there are a few side trips. Several episodes suggest that No. 6's own people may be involved with running The Village. Some of the episodes are fairly straightforward, while others leave you with questions as to exactly what went on. It's important to note that several of the more obscure episodes -- for example, `Free for All' and `Dance of the Dead' -- are among the seven episodes that McGoohan considers essential to the series.

And then we come to the final episode, `Fall Out,' which promises to answer all the burning questions the viewers have been anguishing over for seventeen weeks -- and which so frustrated and angered those viewers back in 1967 that McGoohan had to go into hiding for awhile. Of course, I can't reveal any of the really important details, because, as No. 2 says in the recap that begins most of the episodes, `That would be telling,' and as all of us IMBD contributors know, `telling,' is frowned upon. However, to come back to the point with which I started, you should be prepared for a resolution of an entirely different nature than the one you'll probably be expecting -- a resolution that forces you to rethink your entire concept of the Village, and of the intention of the series. If you aren't ready, you'll be frustrated. If you are, you can accept THE PRISONER is the spirit in which it was offered.

Yes. The 1968 version of the televisions show “The Prisoner” says it most clearly.

Astonishingly Original and Intelligent 
rlcsljo
14 March 2000

When I saw the first episode of this series, my jaw dropped in amazement. Here was a TV series that was entertaining and actually made you think. Nothing was ever what it appeared, no one had a real name, you never knew who was the good guy or the bad guy (or if they were one in the same!). The "final" episode was what could only be described as PSYCHEDELIC.

This TV series was, and still is, way ahead of its time.

Perhaps America today is a big prison. The inmates don’t realize that they are trapped in one, as it appears to be open and free. But in functional reality it is just one big enormous prison.

The New Number Two:
Good day, Number Six.

Number 6:
Number what?

The New Number Two:
Six. For official purposes, everyone has a number. Yours is number six.

Number 6:
I am not a number. I am a person.

The New Number Two:
Six of one, half a dozen of another.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my China and America Comparisons Index here…

China / USA comparisons

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