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https://theconversation.com/living-in-garbage-time-when-500-million-chinese-change-their-spending-habits-the-world-feels-it-253341>
"China’s economic rocket ride appears to be ending – or slowing, at least.
Growth has declined from 8.4% in 2021 to 4.5% today, youth unemployment has
climbed to 16.9%, and cities are filled with unfinished buildings after the
collapse of property developer Evergrande in 2024.
For a while now, a phrase has been buzzing on Chinese social media sites Weibo
and RedNote to describe what’s happening: “garbage time”.
Borrowed from basketball slang, it refers to the final minutes of a game whose
outcome is already decided. The best players sit out. The bench players take
over. No one tries as hard because there’s less at stake.
The term caught on last year and seems to capture a mixture of sadness and dark
humour. Basically, people now seem to expect less. It’s not so much an economic
crash as a slow decline of hope.
For those born in the 1980s and 1990s, who grew up during China’s four decades
of fast growth, this is a major shift. Wages aren’t climbing, houses are losing
value and jobs in tech and finance are harder to find.
But “garbage time” is also making room for younger and middle-class Chinese to
redefine success and contentment. With good jobs, luxury goods and home
ownership now harder to attain, a generation is questioning what matters most
in a changing socioeconomic landscape."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
