What's a "cis"? Sounds like a codeword of the intolerant to me.

You're part of the problem.

The "ghost cities" you talk about are actually gradually filling up as more population moves from rural settings into the cities - this has been a long term goal of the Chinese government, but their "long terms" are a fair longer than the "around next election time" terms that westerners tend to think in.

True, running a government is so much easier without that pesky democracy to get in the way.

Pretty much, yeah. Though I don't actually get to grow a beard unless I'm either on leave or deployed overseas, so I guess you got me there.

Of course, if you had a functional sense of humour you would have realized that my "manliness" comment was tongue-in-cheek. The fact that I do cut down trees with an axe and light them up with a blowtorch is just an amusing coincidence.

Sure, just go ahead and deny my experiences. Next you'll try to tell me that I deserved it because I was wearing a kilt. Victim blaming is always popular, especially when the victim is male.

I've never denied the evidence. You may have me confused with a strawman you constructed. If you're going to argue with him, why address your response to me?

Assuming a completely unwilling and unaroused victim, yes, I very much suspect it would be. However, feminists and victim-advocacy groups have spent the last couple decades telling us that "rape is rape" and that they're all equally bad, so it would be a bit hypocritical for them to now start screaming "BUT WE HAVE IT WORSE!".

You seem to have imagined a generalized assumption of my circumstances.
I associate cheating with an abstract action, I associate stealing with a concrete action. Either will put you in harms way, in arms reach.
Yes, the problem is age old and universal no matter what government, class, walk of life, religion it is filtered through. In my case, even with a job I had just acquired that paid MORE, I found myself in circumstances brought about by the actions of others that had me losing 100 lb in 3 months, not due to drug use, but starvation so my woman and child could survive as I plotted an escape by whatever means presented themselves, in an unfriendly environment. I stole, I conned, I inadertantly wound up mugging an attacker for his wallet and left him with no front teeth and a broken nose. unconscious in FRONT of a bar in a major city.I cheated many, some deserved it, some probably deserved it, some didn't. It was winter and our fuel was stolen, even as I dodged rent and saved every penny to get us and a few items to a safe place in a distant city. I gave up my possessions, used up my resources and we survived. In the good ol' U.S.
Yes, most of my "victims" were those who put me in my circumstances, others I just scammed money from. I've tried to pay it forward over time, but, if you are ever REALLY there, you will too.

Even the rich of the world will rip each other throats out if they perceive that tomorrow will not be as full as today. I don't think it is different for any other subset of people in any era.

Government is just smoke and mirrors distracting from the problem at hand, as it has plagues all people for all time under all govenrment.

Government is a red herring in this. The problem plagues all walks of life, under all authority and has for all time.

To assume makes an ass of u not me. ass-u-me

Which, the cause or the symptom?
Either is probably a fools errand, if one has any hind-sight at all.

Yup, we should all just ditch the modern world with modern conveniences and technology as well as ANY of the current governments and go back to being nomadic tribesmen living off the land. That would take us back to a natural order of things, any other solution is just self-protective rationalization, doomed to failure, on the part of the chump.When we can all live simply and depend on each other, then we don't need money, government or class. When we all live with less, then there is no scarcity.

Til then we've all got bills to pay and blood to let in every aspect of life.
Bitcoin isn't the answer.
Credit isn't the answer.
Debt isn't the answer.
That leaves trading.
If you really want to eliminate a world that generates crapitalism,communistosis, socialist diseases and any other number of competitors for supremacy amongst cockroaches, we need to release some imagined needs and grow some brains.
See that happening?
We can't get past " DAD!, ROBBIE STOLE MY FRIES!" in our homes,round the globe. How are you going to balance the load for a world of strangers?
Most people couldn't survive a week without their current belongings. No knowledge of how to feed or clothe themselves without a government as a go between for mass trading.

          So we adapt as our ancestors did without the answer either. We cheat, lie, con, finagle and it can get so bad that you steal, mug, burgle,injure and could possibly kill, dependent on circumstances. All classes, with their own perspective on what level of living constitutes survival. Even non-capitalist governments are vampires depleting their constituents. Two classes there Government/Non government, predator/prey, parasite/victim.
Sad. True.

Yes, cynically, in the U.S. these phrases would be a sarcastic indication of your naiivete'.
The rest you have indicated on your own.