China and Reality

Social media is filled with posts showing Chinese cities looking spectacular, and morons claiming this is proof that Socialism works.

It’s all smoke and mirrors, and those posting it are likely paid shills for the leaders of China. The reality is that most Chinese citizens are virtually slaves, forced to live in conditions that most Americans would NEVER willingly accept.

For example, at Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.), which manufactures products for Apple and other companies, many workers live in company-provided dormitories that are located on or near the factory grounds. This setup is common at large electronics manufacturing complexes in China and other parts of Asia. Workers often live in shared rooms (typically 6–10 people per room). The dorms are part of large factory campuses that also include cafeterias, shops, and recreational areas.

Most Foxconn campuses (like in Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, or Chengdu) are enormous — small cities in themselves — with tens of thousands of employees. Workers live in dormitory buildings right next to the production zones. There are 6–10 people per room sleeping in bunk beds, with shared bathrooms and showers down the hall, they have only basic furnishings: metal lockers, small desks, fans or air conditioning. Laundry facilities and common rooms are available in the building.

They eat in company cafeterias with “subsidized” meals that are paid for with payroll deduction, they shop in convenience stores using that same deductions, and have security gates limiting entrance and exit to and from the factory complex. Rent to live there and for meals is automatically deducted from wages as well.

The schedule looks like this:

• 6:30 a.m. – Wake up
  Workers get ready, have breakfast in the canteen, and line up for the shuttle or walk to the assembly building.
• 7:00 a.m. – Start shift
  Workers attend a short morning meeting, then start their station work — like assembling iPhone parts or inspecting components.
• 12:00 p.m. – Lunch break
  Around 1 hour. Some rest at their stations or go back to the dorm if close.
• 1:00 p.m. – Afternoon shift
  Work resumes. Music or motivational announcements sometimes play in the background.
• 8:00–9:00 p.m. – End of shift
  Return to the dorm, shower, relax a bit, maybe chat, watch videos, or sleep early to repeat the next day.
• One day off per week (though during peak periods, even weekends may involve work or partial shifts).

They largely cannot leave, so they are forced to buy from the company store. The US tried that and moved away from it. Tennessee Ernie Ford even sang a song about it. It’s called the Truck system and has been illegal in the US for decades.

Historically (especially in 18th–19th century Britain and the U.S.), a truck system was when employers paid workers not in full cash, but partly in credit, goods, or services, often redeemable only at the employer’s store or housing. Workers were thus economically dependent on their employer for everything, including housing, food, and basic supplies. It effectively ties workers to the employer, reducing their freedom to leave or negotiate better pay. This practice was widely condemned and outlawed in many countries because it created a form of economic bondage. What China is doing is slavery.

In Foxconn’s case, workers are legally free to quit and spend their wages outside the factory, but the practical barriers (location, cost, lack of time, dependency on dorm housing) make that freedom constrained. It’s not legal bondage, but it can create economic enclosure: a self-contained world that keeps workers tethered. The average worker makes about $400-700 US dollars per month, but then has about $120 of that deducted for housing and food.

This is nothing more than slavery. These workers are prisoners and are being forced to work under penalty of being accused of a “worker contract breach,” which can result in criminal penalties like having social credit scores reduced, and are held there purely by economic slavery means.

The pictures of modern cities with great conditions are the result of the “owners” of the factories living large from the profits of these Chinese sweatshops. In places like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu, and Hangzhou, the living standards can look — and often are — comparable to those in developed countries:

• Modern skylines, clean public transit, high-speed rail, cashless payments everywhere.
• A large urban middle class with apartments, cars, good schools, and consumer lifestyles.
• Tech professionals, designers, engineers, and businesspeople can earn salaries on par with or higher than those in some Western cities (adjusted for cost of living).
• Poverty in these urban centers has become rare, and many people live comfortably by global standards.

Prosperity is not universal. China’s growth model has relied on hundreds of millions of migrant workers from rural areas who move to cities for factory or construction work.

• These workers often earn 2,000–4,000 RMB/month (≈ US$280–560).
• Many live in dormitories or shared housing to save money.
• They often lack urban residency rights (hukou), which limits access to public schools, healthcare, and social benefits.

For them, life can still feel precarious and exhausting, with long hours, low pay, little time off. It’s not “slave labor” in the legal sense (they’re paid and can leave), but it’s often wage labor under intense pressure — especially in export manufacturing and gig economy jobs.

The city life you see in those posts is not the reality for the overwhelming majority of people in China. Of course, China claims prosperity. China officially declared an end to extreme poverty in 2020 — meaning almost no one lives below the UN standard of $2.15/day. Uh, so their claim to a workers’ paradise is that no one makes less than $2.15 a day.

The modern Chinese city is real — but it doesn’t represent everyone’s experience. Less than 1% of China’s population lives in those gorgeous cities in nice buildings.

Region	Quintile	Per-Capita Income (RMB)	Approx. USD

Urban

Lowest 20%

18,000

≈ $2,500

Urban	Highest 20%	113,750	≈ $16,250
Urban	Highest 1%	515,000	≈ $70,000

Rural

Lowest 20%

5,400

≈ $775

Rural

Highest 20%

53,800

≈ $7,700

Imagine working 72 hours per week and making $2,500 per year. The fact that the AVERAGE wage for a rural peasant is around $1200 per year, you know why you don’t see many pictures of rural life in China. As I said, the US did this in the era of sweatshops during the early 20th century. Workers were locked in factories that had no fire escapes, forced to work long hours for low pay, and child labor was the norm. Workplace injury and death were fairly common, while the rich owners lived in absolute luxury. Life for the rich people that owned the factories was pure splendor. See the difference between first class and steerage class on the Titanic for an example.

This isn’t anything new. Anyhow, this post has been long enough, and I think I’ve made my point.