It’s more like poor China with their average $5000 per year income.

They also have a 0% homeowner rate. All property is owned by the state. As for the houses they do “own”, the typical city apartment or rural homestead is…deficient by Western standards.

They absolutely are.

Let’s say I get into a car accident or have cancer. Treatment involves expensive chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and multiple rounds of major surgery.

If I’m in the poorest 10%-30% of the population, the care is provided free of charge. If I’m poor-but not that poor- I have the option to receive the expensive treatment and just not pay. It will just negatively impact my credit score, but I can also get away with “paying what I can afford.”

…this is just one example. Everything from our food to our electronics are subsidized by the government. Most of the resources are more or less taken from poorer nations. If they don’t play ball, we withhold aid, bribe officials, loan their enemies weapons, or finance a coup.

I feel as though the low standard of living of the average Chinese national is a more decisive factor. The resources that could be spent on public welfare programs are spent on research and subsidies instead.