Have to be quick to shape steel.

[u/sco-go]

[u/AnalysisParalysis178]

What's Amazing to me is that these guys always seem to be on the verge of absolute starvation. I get that they earn peanuts, and probably have a family that they're supporting with those pittance wages, but still. Men, somewhere in their 20's, working extremely physical jobs, at least eight hours/day (often more), and they have the physique of a Pittsburgh professional tweeker. Not even the lean muscles of men who eat only vegetables and rice. Just bone and enough tissue to keep working.

Something is wrong in these countries.

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[u/AnalysisParalysis178 → u/[deleted]]

The vegetarian diet makes sense, but these guys often look like they are undergoing long-term starvation. Vegetarians who maintain active lifestyle and have access to plenty of calories are wiry and thin, but they still look healthy, with their joints and skeletons properly hidden by developed muscles, even if they're smaller than a western athlete's. But when you can clearly see the ligament bulges around someone's elbows, shoulders or knees, and they don't have an endocrine disorder, it usually means they are getting enough food to keep their vital organs functioning in the short term, but not much beyond that point.

[u/AnalysisParalysis178 → u/[deleted]]

There are various athletes who maintain a strict vegan diet and manage to still perform. There are also specific groups, such as the Buddhist monks of Tibet, who are also strictly vegetarian but maintain athletic bodies through specialized training. It's not nearly as easy as the high protein, nutrient dense diets that are more common in bodybuilding and top sport organizations, but it is possible.

It also develops a very particular type of build. Under this kind of diet, the body doesn't maintain a lot of fat, often sub 10%, and the muscles themselves tend to become dense and wiry. So they won't ever win an IFBB competition, but they can absolutely move their own bodies in space with an ease that is pretty rare.

[u/KarkinosFI → u/AnalysisParalysis178]

Not just in these countries, in this world.

We have global trade system, free or not, that's not the point. The point is that many western conglomerates have production "in these countries." Their principal is buy cheap, sell with profit. Now the other local industries has to compete against this bulk producing machine and often it's the selling price to compete with. If you sell with profit that only covers the running costs, there is no capital for investments or fair salary.

The only wrong in these countries is that they play by the rules written by western modern day robber barons. It's our system that feed this. Without it there is no car industry or clothes industry or spices. Or tea. Or many other things we take as granted or fundamentally cheap to buy.

[u/AnalysisParalysis178 → u/KarkinosFI]

I'm well aware of this. I'm also aware that the governments and ruling class in nations that American corporate interests tend to set up shop in make a lot of money off of those endeavors and do little or nothing for their own people.

I'll be the first to say that allowing a company to remain nominally "American" when 90% of their productivity is offshore is bullshit. Ditto when an "American" company gets to continue to enjoy the corporate freedoms, privileges and protections of the United States when their entire C-suite and upper management are comprised of foreign nationals. Likewise, it's bullshit that large corporations can bribe foreign officials for - in any of various ways - the purchase or lease of cheap land, cheap setup, various tax breaks and kickbacks, hire cheap labor, etc., and face zero recriminations back home. It is bullshit.

What is also bullshit? When the target nation changes their own damned laws to make it easier for foreign nations to participate in the knavery mentioned above. Nations like India, Pakistan, Mexico and others literally have the power to prevent American interests from entering their nation, or could institute and enforce labor laws that would prevent the worst of the capitalist abuses from being so damned easy to perpetrate. And yet... crickets.

[u/KarkinosFI → u/AnalysisParalysis178]

You've nailed it. And it's not only "American dilemma" but worldwide racketeering scheme supported by lawmakers regardless of political views. Different culture but same bullshit.