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by magicalhippo 716 days ago
Things can be very cheap indeed if you can use forced labor[1], don't have to consider the impact on the environment[2] and such.

[1]: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/02/hrw-urges-european-commi...

[2]: https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3232456/your-made-chin...

1 comments

I mean, the US already has forced labor (i.e. prison labor).

And for what it worth, China is leading the way in green energy transition. They are pushing it much faster and adopting it way better than anything the US has historically tried. Remember they only have a few decades into their own industrial revolution compared to the West's hundreds of years and they had already exceeded most if not all other countries in terms of progress.

The US doesn't even have a functional high speed rail system yet. Meanwhile, China built its own national rail network in less than 2 decades.

Almost like you can get amazing things done in a short time if you get everyone pulling in the same direction, willingly or not...

But I agree, the massive amounts of cheap solar panels and EVs has and will continue to make a significant impact. It sucks that they're built on such lousy foundations though...