“Kill Line” – Ugly Realities of American Life Discussed on Social Media
Chinese social media apps such as WeChat have been abuzz with the phrase “Kill Line.” The phrase is going viral as the harsh realities of American life are being widely discussed. In America, medical bills, car accidents, the sudden loss of a job, or another unpredictable event can lead people into a downward spiral resulting in homelessness. While this is a dark reality that American working families live with constantly, Chinese audiences are completely horrified.
The Global Times reports: “A WeChat account affiliated with the Beijing Youth Daily noted that the term ‘kill line’ could be used to describe a precarious financial reality for many Americans: after covering essential expenses, households are left with little margin for error. A sudden shock—such as illness, an accident, or job loss—can push their finances below a critical threshold, triggering a chain reaction within the broader social system that drives people into homelessness. … Online discussions quickly expanded around the concept on Chinese social media, with some netizens sharing videos of Americans describing the burdens of student debt and medical expenses, while others examined what they see as the structural roots of homelessness in the U.S.”
Around the world, many are deceived by U.S. media and propaganda to believe that all Americans have thousands of dollars sitting in bank accounts and live lives of luxury and material comfort. While this is true for some, the bulk of the American people don’t enjoy such a lifestyle. CPI founder and director Caleb Maupin noted: “When you watch American movies or TV, 90% of the time you are seeing either New York City or Southern California. But America is much bigger than that. In the Midwest, the South, and even out West, people are struggling. Roads are crumbling. Water isn’t properly purified. The next generation is stuck living with their parents in a cycle of low-wage, short-term service sector jobs. Opioid addiction, suicide, alcoholism, and diseases of despair are killing people at record levels.”
While China is still in the process of building itself up and eradicating poverty with five-year plans and the leadership of an anti-colonial revolutionary party, people are much less vulnerable to tragic life events. As Global Times noted: “Some users also compared the so-called ‘kill line’ with China’s social safety-net mechanisms, referring to China’s policies for poverty alleviation.”
The Global Times article quoted Chinese scholar Shen Yi noting the role of British Empire Malthusian ideology in the hardships Americans face: “The logic of social Darwinism—survival of the strongest—operates openly within the system. Yet for a long time, this underlying mechanism remained largely invisible. Only recently has this underlying logic of American capitalism entered public view.”
The Center for Political Innovation is dedicated to building a new America where working people come first, rallying around the slogan “We Need A Government of Action to Fight for Working Families!” The organization emphasizes that the country’s economy must be restructured to invest in communities and put people’s needs first instead of the fictitious and speculative wealth of international bankers. Instead of waging wars and trying to crush the new economy with sanctions, the United States should join with countries around the world building themselves up and breaking out of Wall Street and London’s dominance. As Caleb Maupin explained: “The only future America is going to have is with the new economy rising around the world—the BRICS, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Axis of Resistance, the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America … the Western financial system rooted in colonialism is doomed.”
CPI Founder and Director Caleb Maupin’s book Where is America Going? Marxism, MAGA and the Coming Revolution was featured in China’s Global Times and has been recently translated into Chinese.
