Is agricultural business that powerful that rising minimum wages in agriculture will fuck powerful interests? i think the solution is like tried and true - mandatory 8h work days and then bumping minimum wage until you encounter inflation
The problem isn’t so much agricultural mega conglomerates you see in Western capitalist countries.
China’s rural problem comes from the reprioritization of urban development since the reform and opening up area, and it has to do with land finances.
Due to the reckless property building frenzy in the 2010s, the Tier 1/2 cities sucked the population out of Tier 3/4 cities, and in turn, the Tier 3/4 cities had to suck the population from provincial towns and rural villages.
As a result, the rural regions suffered the most during this infrastructure building phase. This is NOT to say that there hasn’t been development in the rural regions. In fact, you can see quite nice infrastructure in the villages due to the massive infrastructure building, but there is no economy. The youth have already left and there are very few job opportunities in the rural areas. Especially with the local governments struggling with their finances now that the land revenue is plunging, they have even less means to give attention to the rural areas.
There is a meme on the Chinese internet that says the high speed rails have connected all the small parts of China, but it also provided a one-way ticket for the youth to leave for the big cities forever. While you might think better connectivity would have helped rural development, in reality, the high speed rails have practically benefited the big cities at the expense of the rural areas.
Although in recent months there is a reverse trend as the economy is taking a downturn, with the tangping/lying down movement gaining traction, but that’s an entire effort post in itself.
but no jobs is precisely “no nicely compensated jobs”, sure after agricultural automation rural villages will become much smaller, doesn’t mean it can’t be a well paid career for those who stay. It’s not like screwing iphones logic boards or biking food is very mentally stimulating work, and if there was a financial choice, some people would stay
Is agricultural business that powerful that rising minimum wages in agriculture will fuck powerful interests? i think the solution is like tried and true - mandatory 8h work days and then bumping minimum wage until you encounter inflation
The problem isn’t so much agricultural mega conglomerates you see in Western capitalist countries.
China’s rural problem comes from the reprioritization of urban development since the reform and opening up area, and it has to do with land finances.
Due to the reckless property building frenzy in the 2010s, the Tier 1/2 cities sucked the population out of Tier 3/4 cities, and in turn, the Tier 3/4 cities had to suck the population from provincial towns and rural villages.
As a result, the rural regions suffered the most during this infrastructure building phase. This is NOT to say that there hasn’t been development in the rural regions. In fact, you can see quite nice infrastructure in the villages due to the massive infrastructure building, but there is no economy. The youth have already left and there are very few job opportunities in the rural areas. Especially with the local governments struggling with their finances now that the land revenue is plunging, they have even less means to give attention to the rural areas.
There is a meme on the Chinese internet that says the high speed rails have connected all the small parts of China, but it also provided a one-way ticket for the youth to leave for the big cities forever. While you might think better connectivity would have helped rural development, in reality, the high speed rails have practically benefited the big cities at the expense of the rural areas.
Although in recent months there is a reverse trend as the economy is taking a downturn, with the tangping/lying down movement gaining traction, but that’s an entire effort post in itself.
but no jobs is precisely “no nicely compensated jobs”, sure after agricultural automation rural villages will become much smaller, doesn’t mean it can’t be a well paid career for those who stay. It’s not like screwing iphones logic boards or biking food is very mentally stimulating work, and if there was a financial choice, some people would stay