Purpose. I'm sure lots of people don't think of it as their purpose to work in factories and offices performing some routines they don't particularly enjoy but had to because they have to.

You have to think outside of this consenting slavery box. Individuals will find meaning in their lives. Volunteering is one. Learning a craft is another. Acquiring knowledge and improving oneself as a person is one too. Americans/westerners keep lecturing about "freedom" but they don't even recognize what real freedom is.

What about it? It's called South China Sea for a reason. BTW, many countries are disputing over parts of it, not just China.

By contrast, US has been occupying parts of Syria and Cuba. It overtly seeks to take control of Greenland. It has 800 military bases around the globe; in most cases, de facto occupying a country.

LOL If you believe western MSM, China has been collapsing (or on the verge of) for the last two decades. There is always some "time bomb" somewhere waiting to explode in China. Every issue in China (which country doesn't have issues?) is amplified 100 folds in western MSM. That has been going on for at least two decades. It has become a comical satire but some people still believe it. I guess it's kinda consoling to tell oneself that someone else's situation is bad when our own is going down the gutters.

The state has always been a major contributor the long term major tech innovation and evolution.

Private enterprise contributes to the “last mile” but grabs all of recognition. AI is the latest example of this. The Googles and Facebooks of this world have been hoarding AI researchers and experts who have been working on AI for the last 30+ years thanks to public money.

The US DoE invested in Tesla Motors when not a single private investor dared to touch it.

But the masses are not only too ignorant to recognize the state’s major role and contribution, they religiously believe private enterprise alone made it all possible and that the state is a roadblock.