bitofarambler

Few things going on there. Disappearing a couple generals is pretty par for the course for Xi and it wouldn’t be ruffling any feathers if the economy wasn’t stumbling, unemployment wasn’t crazy high and his covid policy wasn’t an unmitigated paying-it-forward disaster.

He’s probably asserting authority because he knows he’s run out of a lot of runway, and I’ve read things and listened to people saying that Xi is really at the end of his rope, but being in China myself recently, so educated guess having talked to Chinese people, unless there’s a military coup, which seems imprudent and not to the advantage of the military, I don’t see Xi being ousted from leadership.

He’s changed the constitution so that he can be president for life, released indoctrination pamphlets, but way more importantly on the ground, has dominated trump publicly and repeatedly, which Chinese people love to see, and the technological infrastructure and development of China is so rapidly outpacing the rest of the world due to Xi’s directives(400% medical tourism increase in the last 5 years, more than double solar energy installation than the other 199 countries combined every year, 25% of global battery energy grid storage added annually in China alone, BYD destroying Tesla, driverless taxis being commonplace in China, delivery drones, wind farms/turbines) that China already looks progressive, almost futuristic, and has no reason to stop pushing forward.

It’s impossible to know, but i think this move will further strengthen his authority that is resting on his political victories on the public stage and that head party and military members won’t want to risk removing Xi from power now for fear of losing this opportunity to completely outpace the US in practically every field while trump is fumbling everything scientific, social, and technological while simultaneously destroying almost a century of international goodwill and trust.

Chinese people care a lot about face, and while they aren’t domestically happy about covid/economy/unemployment, a lot of them are very happy to be prevailing over the US and for the rest of the world to be witnessing repeated Chinese victories over the US.

2028? Depends on how Xi does. For now, I can’t see the advantage to any faction in China removing Xi in the near future and throwing away this golden opportunity trump has handed to them.

Taxes: everybody’s hoop.

Which latest consolidation of power? I lived in China for 7 something years.

I use 1440 for news in general, and if I want to confirm or get more context on something, I use a few different sources to piece together the consistent facts.

Moved out of the US, legally stopped paying earned income taxes using the FEIE via physical presence test, an IRS procedure that allows you not to pay taxes if you live outside of the US for 330 or more days out of 365 consecutive days including the day you pay taxes.

I like it a lot, good find

Sane in an insane world.

Quick reminder that English speakers can retire 30-40 years early if they want to head over to China and teach English for a couple to several years, depending on how many hours you want to work per week. I worked 10 hours a week. That was comfortable for me.

$3-10k USD per month, practically unlimited jobs, no qualifications to start aside from English-speaker, work as much or as little as you like.

For those who wanna skip the business management and other work and get to the not-working part real quick.

Yea. The path i was on was pretty depressing, so i took a big step off it straight into the forest.

Started traveling didn’t stop.

I’ve known plenty of older travelers and I’m happy to talk to you about traveling if you’re interested.

Golgoppa, minced veg salad you can eat with potato chips.

Cabbage base, carrots, onions, other crunchy vegetables, dice/minced everything, mix in some cream sauces so it sticks together, you don’t need much, cute down on tastiness.

Super cheap, super easy to make, super tasty and healthy.

From a post with more detail and recipes back in the old travel com. New travel com here.

I travel full-time and I definitely feel more free and protected abroad then i ever did in the US. It’s healthy for you to want a better life or to distance yourself from an abusive government.

Let me know if you have any questions,I’ve been traveling for 15 years and can explain exactly how to live abroad easily and comfortably.

Relaunched Travel to fix the name and reached 100 subs in a week(took half a year the first time).

You’ll get answers at Travel.

I’ve been traveling 15 years and created the com as an active resource for lemstituents curious about any kind of travel

I’m pretty proud of how Travel developed this year; i just relaunched it last week to fix the name.

It’s all accurate travel information and fun travel shares.

This is the old com with more content to see if you’re interested in the OC to come.

I still travel because learning about the world is fun(and cheap) and every time I’m in a new country it’s no small measure of reassurance that most people are kind.

Hey, yup!

I’ve been traveling for 15 years in 30 countries and most people are very receptive to respectful American tourists, especially if you take an interest in the culture and learn the standard greeting. They love it if you like the food, which i am very good at!

Everyone asks where I’m from, and nobody is upset when I tell them the US.

In vietnam, they love it because they kicked our ass in the war.

That’s great, let the notion simmer. I heard about teaching overseas multiple times before the right opportunity struck at the right time.

Teaching English is such a quick, comfortable route out of the US rat race, and travel is a wonderful way to build curiosity, respect and tolerance.

I worked with a 67 year old English teacher in Beijing, so with a teenage son, you’re probably well within the comfortable age range for English teachers. With 2 billion English students, they aren’t saying no to many native speakers.

You can always start with an hour or two a week on an online platform too, if traveling isn’t in the cards right now.

Thanks for reaching out, someone else from the US I’ve been talking to just let me know twenty minutes ago they’re moving to Portugal with their wife! I hope these posts stay useful, and I’ll be here to offer advice and encouragement as long as I’m able.

If you or your teenager have any questions about travel now or later, let me know!

Thanks, it was definitely the pivot I needed at the time. I recorded a podcast episode with the full story, retelling it makes me laugh every time.

I was on CL looking for an N64 controller and this drunk guy posted an ad for an English teacher in Beijing in the for sale part of craigslist.

I thought that misplaced ad was funny, applied, got the job and flapped over to Beijing to teach.

Rocked. made more than in the states working less than half as much ($2500 USD/month for 9-20 teaching hours a week), cost of living was insignificant, great food, learned mandarin, started traveling and never stopped, and a lot more!

I’m building up Travel right now; it’s good because it’s all real travel stories and information.

Feel free to browse or post, any travel questions or discussions are welcome and you would be the first not-me posting!

Thanks, I hadn’t realized it had become so commonplace.