Is there homelessness in China? Why or why not? What happens in China if someone can't pay rent? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by secretlyaddictedtolinux@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I genuinely don't know and would prefer getting perspectives from Lemmy rather than just reading generic facts. (Sorry if this seems lazy!)

I ask because China is communist, and sometimes I am afraid of some policies in China, like lack of free speech or free press. But I also think poverty and homelessness are a great evil and don't know to what extent China has stopped this.

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[-] P00ptart@lemmy.world 68 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Honestly, you're probably going to have a hard time getting a legitimate answer from someone with experience. Misinformation and disinformation are likely to be tried on both sides but the reality is that it's very difficult to really know.

Even when China does release statistics, you have to take it with a grin of salt.
homeless statistics, accounts and even acknowledgement of their existence is hard to trust even in the most democratic societies simply because of the nature of homeless living. Homeless generally tend to avoid official looking people if they can.
propaganda abounds from every angle when it comes to homeless, propaganda built from within, for within. Propaganda built from within, for export. Propaganda from outside, for themselves. Propaganda from outside, built for us.
The odds of getting first hand experience from a homeless (or formerly) person in China, on Lenny is unrealistically small. A large portion of Chinese housed don't have internet, let alone the homeless. What I can guarantee you is that it's not like the homeless you see in the west. They're not sitting outside of a Starbucks on a cell phone.

[-] UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago

They're not sitting outside of a Starbucks on a cell phone

My dude can we not gatekeep homelessness‽ Lack of a home in societies with abundance is a systemic issue stemming from the diversion of tax funds away from supporting those who desperately need it. Just because the Starbucks people are human enough to give the guy a cup of coffee while he charges the best chance he has at getting the support doesn't mean he is the problem.

Dehumanization of any population is the issue. Your neighbor is not a subhuman to you, nor you to him (I hope) but suddenly the neighbor a few blocks down is a subhuman? What's the local "radius of exclusion" before we start othering more humans?

[-] rishado@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Do you just comb through comments assuming the worst intentions and inferring the most negative connotation possible from everyone? Or is this a one time thing? Leave that shit on Reddit please you added absolutely nothing to the discussion

[-] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

A large portion of Chinese housed don’t have internet

They do. Most people, even some in rural areas, have access to the internet. But due to both censorship issues, and most importantly, the language barrier, its really rare for someone to seek out the western internet. Even first generation Chinese immigrants to the US still mostly use Wechat, even when they have unrestricted access to western-based media (because of the language barrier).

[-] Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago

Also because WeChat is definitively the best app on the internet for communicating with their Chinese friends and family both at home and abroad.

[-] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Agreed, I dumbed it down a bit to summarize the point. The main point being that there isn't any free pipeline of communication between these groups.

this post was submitted on 02 May 2025

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