Around the world, population growth has historically been encouraged by governments to bolster GDP figures. Religious institutions have pushed it in various ways to promote the growth of future followers. Capitalists have promoted it to reduce the bargaining power of labor and therefor wages, and increase the cost of goods/services by creating an increase in demand. Wars have been the go-to "solution" by these entities to keep the number of humans growing at a manageable rate. The loser? Every human that isn't in a position of power and authority.
Now that the capitalists and government no longer need as many extra humans with the productivity increase brought on by the advent of new technology, most of humanity is now surplus population to be culled. Naturally, the religious institutions object, and now find themselves in conflict with the other two. This is partially why the left and the right are switching sides on many issues. Further, with real cost of living increases(when you price something in terms of hours of labor required to afford it), having children is becoming increasingly non-viable in first world nations, thus the birth rates are down dramatically when compared to 50 years ago. The floodgates are being opened for immigrants in order to placate the capitalists to keep wages down and in order to keep the endless "growth" paradigm active in these countries so that their governments can pad the GDP numbers. The money printer goes *BRRRRRRRRRRR*. Without immigration, the population in the 1st world would already be in decline.
The film Soylent Green is proving eerily more prophetic as time goes on. The rapid inflation and supply line disruptions we are experiencing is in part a symptom of resource scarcity setting in.
As for "communist" China, the following video summarizes the state of life there:
https://youtu.be/ldkePw4ymx0?t=50
I'm glad I don't live there. I'm not so glad that the rest of the world is following in their footsteps, even when the establishment says it's okay when the "capitalists" impose all the same crap.
It too will eventually be our future. COVID may not be the excuse dujour when it happens elsewhere, but today's "leadership" in virtually every nation on Earth always have some sort of excuse to "justify" undemocratic authoritarianism. The entire Earth itself is in an incipient process of becoming a totalitarian regime, and an amalgamation of the worst characteristics of all of the countries.
In the coming decades, we'll look back on the present day as "good times", as shitty as things are today. Unless that is, we as a collective species do something drastic to change the current course, regardless of what is considered "acceptable behavior" or "legal" according to those who impose the rules.
For all we know, China could actually be in a state of civil war, but if the mainstream media never discusses it, did it really happen?
