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kleinbl00  ·  3063 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why the world economy as we know it is about to be turned on its head

China was trying to clear out the peasants. As you mechanize farming your labor needs plummet so those become idle, angry males with nothing better to do than foment revolution. When you're trying to pivot from agrarian to industrial economy, limiting idled farmers is a prudent move.

China also grossly understated its population problems. They probably peaked between 1.3b and 1.5b people, not 0.9 and 1.1.