[TFNA]

You fell for a meme that was tired years ago already (your link is from 2017, after all). The article itself notes, “Relatively low-value items, like ballpoint pens, have not been a priority”, so obviously this says little about higher-priority military and industrial areas to which the CCP devotes greater effort.

[margalabargala]

Ball point pens are surprisingly high precision items. Making a good ball point pen is not easy.

[8note]

is it really a tired meme?

its a clear prioritzation choice from the government, and that prioritization is itself a technology

notably this same prioritization mode resulted in the soviet union failing to produce quality of life improvements for its citizens.

the failure is that the CCP is unable to prioritize making simple useful stuff

[TFNA]

Have you been to urban China anytime after that 2017 article? The country is now as developed as anywhere else, indeed it feels like it is gradually overtaking other developed countries. The comparison to the Soviet Union feels ridiculous to anyone with a firsthand experience of the country.

[jurgenburgen]

The political push in the US to cling to legacy fossil fuel technologies feels to me more Soviet-like if anything.

[cpursley]

Not really, the Soviets pushed all sorts of new transportation and energy generation ideas, not to mention nuclear.

[BigTTYGothGF]

What country do you live in, and are they currently capable of making ballpoints?