A Chinese blogger went viral for lamenting the solitary lives of men in his nation: '50 years old and eliminated by society'
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images
- A Chinese blogger has gone viral for asking if his male relative is "eliminated by society" at 50.
- He lamented the reclusive life of a man who declines to socialize or engage in life outside of work.
- But thousands of people online responded approvingly, saying they aspire to do the same.
A financial blogger on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, has gone viral for his mournful commentary on the social life of his male relative, whom he said was "eliminated by society" at the age of 50.
BubblePisces, a blogger with 2.375 million followers, on Sunday posted eight observations of his unnamed relative's reclusive life, in a topic that accrued 120 million views, per data seen by Business Insider.
"He has almost no friends. No one comes to hang out with him, to eat or drink," the Shanghai blogger wrote.
He lamented how his relative only leaves home to work, and spends his days watching TV, using his phone, or sleeping.
The man rarely interacts with others on social media, declines all social gatherings, and refuses to host friends for dinner, BubblePisces wrote.
"There's no point in entertaining through food and drink. If you have money, it's better to have a good meal with your family," the blogger wrote of his relative's mindset.
The man also doesn't take vacations, is uninterested in shopping and isn't bothered about getting promoted at work, BubblePisces wrote.
"Even when he returns to his hometown, he stays at home and rarely goes out to chat with his neighbors, when he meets them he just says a quick greeting," the blogger added.
"I think he's been completely eliminated by society at the age of 50 and is out of touch. Is it normal for him to be like this?" BubblePisces wrote.
But the financial blogger's post was flooded with approving comments, with people saying his relative's life appeared appealing.
"If he has savings, that would be perfect, wouldn't it?" one person wrote in a top comment.
"This is called living with clarity!" another person wrote.
Thousands of others responded by posting a meme of the legendary ancient warrior Zhang Fei, in which he is depicted holding a kung-fu salute in the 1994 TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
"I am the same!" Zhang Fei says in the scene, in which he and two other warriors agree to become honorary brothers based on their values.
Screenshot/Weibo
"In today's introverted society, everyone is exhausted. Sometimes you have to let yourself go and let others go," wrote Hubei blogger Yichuan Yuebai in a popualr response to BubblePisces' post.
"Let yourself be yourself, and others be themselves," she added.
Beijing blogger "The goat here" offered an opposing perspective to BubblePisces. "This is actually a person that society can't eliminate no matter what it tries to do," he wrote.
The Chinese internet has in recent years grappled with entrenched societal expectations on its office workers, with people questioning long work-hour mandates and whether it's worth climbing the corporate ladder.
This social reckoning birthed the "lie flat" movement of the early 2020s. Office workers posted proclamations on social media, saying that it was better to live a no-frills life without a job than to work at a company where working six days a week for 12 hours is the norm.
More recently, an off-shoot of the "lie flat" movement has seen people advocate for "letting it rot," or wasting away and doing nothing in lieu of working hard for an employer.