Disagree with that, China has been self-sustaining for millennia.
The "cultural revolution" didn't really change much other than which families were in charge and the public rituals required to show one was "maintaining social order".
They have been practicing 1984 style population management since 2000 BC.
The basic idea is the majority of the population self-supporting dirt farmers scattered throughout the countryside. When times are good this population grows and excess resources are siphoned off to support the lifestyle of the "elite" which are the city dwellers. When times are tough the peasants' resources are stolen and they are left to starve.
Since the government doesn't really expend resources to support the peasants they are effectively a "free" repository of value and available for conscription should the need arise. I don't know if they still do it but in Imperial China the government would send officials to the rural villages to siphon off the talented fighters for the military and scholars for the bureaucracy. So the "proles" are also the breeders for future party members.
Unless things get SO bad, like nuclear winter bad where agriculture is no longer sustainable, China can carry on indefinitely with or without outside support. The only thing that shifts is the number and opulence of the elites and their lifestyle.
All of that worked just fine before they built their entire modern nation on an export economy. What are over 100 million factory workers going to do once their products have no one to sell to?
Rural Chinese will survive on its own, but China as a nation is entirely parasitic and dependent on the West.
And that's under the assumption that once things "fall apart" there will be no war. Because China is on a lot of shit lists once the UN/NATO types aren't around to protect it, and their military is entirely paper tiger.
Without Western civilization to prop up their economy by buying their dirt goods, they are likely to run into a lot of trouble.
Parasites need hosts, no matter how scary they seem.
Disagree with that, China has been self-sustaining for millennia.
The "cultural revolution" didn't really change much other than which families were in charge and the public rituals required to show one was "maintaining social order".
They have been practicing 1984 style population management since 2000 BC.
The basic idea is the majority of the population self-supporting dirt farmers scattered throughout the countryside. When times are good this population grows and excess resources are siphoned off to support the lifestyle of the "elite" which are the city dwellers. When times are tough the peasants' resources are stolen and they are left to starve.
Since the government doesn't really expend resources to support the peasants they are effectively a "free" repository of value and available for conscription should the need arise. I don't know if they still do it but in Imperial China the government would send officials to the rural villages to siphon off the talented fighters for the military and scholars for the bureaucracy. So the "proles" are also the breeders for future party members.
Unless things get SO bad, like nuclear winter bad where agriculture is no longer sustainable, China can carry on indefinitely with or without outside support. The only thing that shifts is the number and opulence of the elites and their lifestyle.
All of that worked just fine before they built their entire modern nation on an export economy. What are over 100 million factory workers going to do once their products have no one to sell to?
Rural Chinese will survive on its own, but China as a nation is entirely parasitic and dependent on the West.
And that's under the assumption that once things "fall apart" there will be no war. Because China is on a lot of shit lists once the UN/NATO types aren't around to protect it, and their military is entirely paper tiger.