Li ziqhi and undermining the CCP

 Li Ziqhi is an extremely popular chinese social media star slash youtuber from an inner rural state in China. She owns a small homestead, and cooks food, makes furniture, rears and butchers her cattle, grows fruits and veggies, makes pots and pans, and does literally everything you could imagine someone doing in a rural setting.

Her videos have billions of views across the internet, and her youtube subcribers number in the tens of millions, despite youtube being banned in china.

When I -- and N as well -- watched her videos for the first time, something seemed quite off. They're far too well-produced and shot, the sound quality is perfect, the scenery seems almost surreal in how good it is. She happens to have the lushest of vegetables growing in her garden, the best of sunrises, the most photogenic moutains right behind her house, the most adorable old grandma, and generally everything else. It's almost as if she was a fairytale princess in a fable about self-sufficiency and traditional cultural values.

So I suspected -- and so did N, independently -- that there was something up. It doesn't seem like a random Chinese youtuber would stumble into untold popularity and wealth, without being encouraged or supposed by the CCP. Specially since everything is so clean and perfect, it doesn't seem any amateur creator would have just stumbled into it. It's almost like this is a series of propaganda videos for the sake of internal Chinese viewers, as well as exporting chinese traditions and rural values abroad.

Except. If that was the case, the character and show is a stupendously wrong way to do it.

In fact, everything Li Ziqhi does and stands for, undermines the importance and existence of the CCP, and really the entire Chinese traditional society. It's as pro-American propaganda as it could possibly get within a Chinese context.

Allow me to explain.

Homesteading is a uniquely american concept, the idea that you can have a plot of land large enough that you'd be sufficient on it and wouldn't have to worry about anybody else, even if the rest of the world is burning down you'd be safe with your friends and family, because you've got all the land. Quite closely with that is the 'virtue' of individualism, that you can really do all you need to do for the survival of you and your people, division of labor is applicable only when you want to expand societies and 'grow' not for everyday survival. You don't need the support of your people, your society, and most definitely not your government in your everyday life. In fact, every existence of the government in your life for some sort of block.

Li Ziqhi has a lot of land, in China. She doesn't seem to need anybody else to do anything. Even when she does clearly use other people's services, they're barely if at all featured in her videos. It's all about her own self-sufficiency, and taking care of her old mother-in-law.

It's almost as if it's asking the question: wouldn't it be so cool if we could all go to this wonderful place where there's so much land, and quite few people and you don't need to bother yourself with cultural norms and traditions and really can focus all your energy on survival and doing cool shit? Hmmm wonder where that place would be, could it be china? could it be elsewhere?

Etcetera.

If it were indeed sponsored by the CCP or related stooges, it's quite a strange take. If it's American propaganda, well done, couldn't be more subtle!