Around the Bloggosphere(AtB): Now is a very, very good time to be Chinese

The staggering magnificence of China

It is almost beyond belief: China is in its blossom and no sight could be more gorgeous. As you walk the streets of its capital, there is a wonderful mood of joy and optimism, even invincibility. The restaurants are crowded, and smiling, well-dressed people seem to be everywhere. Who would believe that not that many years ago this nation was suffering from seemingly insurmountable upheavals and crises, political, social and economic –all swept away by a focused, strong and determined leadership the likes of which the nation (and the world) had never seen before?

Yes, people who were here just 10 years ago and who are returning for the first time are calling it a miracle, and indeed it is. This is an engine that simply cannot be slowed, let alone stopped. And it all came about thanks to the vision of one man and one party that knew exactly where China should go and how it should get there. From an isolated and humiliated nation, China has emerged as a true superpower.

The transition hasn’t been easy nor has it always been gentle. The truth is, to keep the momentum going and achieve its high goals, the government has had to be strict. At times, protestors have been dealt with harshly, and many were imprisoned. But when you have an entire nation to watch over, it is simply impractical and impossible to allow dissent and criticism to get in the way. And the Chinese people agree. This is their day in the sun, and they have expressed a sincere love of their government, a love that is utterly without precedent. They have simply never known such success, such glory.

Some on the outside have complained about the persecution of “unfriendly” religious groups, and even acts of violence against them. That cannot be denied, but I’m sure it will improve. Many Chinese see these groups as dangeorus cults, and are only too happy to see them dealt with firmly and efficiently. But these are little things, far overshadowed by the greatness of the economy and all of the benefits it brings.

Some have also said that government spending is behind much of the prosperity. This is true to a certain extent, but other nations have dipped into the state coffers before, and as the economy grows the debts will be paid. The massive spending is worthwhile and will bear results.

As proof of just how high China’s star has soared, the country has been chosen to host the Olympics! Can you believe it, looking back at the relative chaos of 20 years ago? How fast and how explosive this growth has been! The Olympics – this gives China and its regime a patina of respectability and validation like nothing else could. It is a sign of international respect and has elevated national pride to new pinnacles.

Possibly the most extraordinary aspect of the new China is the sheer irrepressible optimism of the people. They are boisterous and proud. They can do anything, they can even help make China a master of the world! They know about the criticisms of the government, the charges of suppression, but it’s water off a duck’s back.

Now is a very, very good time to be Chinese, and they respect the rules. China is a country of laws. You understand and respect the need to not call for changes in the government or to stir up trouble. Yes, the government is everywhere and watches everything, but it’s a tiny price to pay for its pulling China up by its bootstraps. And as long as you mind your own affairs and leave the government free to do its vital busines, your prosperity will continue.

So let’s give China in the year 2003 all of the praise and recognition it deserves.

But wait a minute. There is one big lie in the tribute above: It is not about China and it has nothing to do with the year 2003.

It is all about Nazi Germany in the year 1936. Every word. Go back and see. Just substitute Germany for China and Germans for Chinese.

So what’s Richard’s point? Only to point out the irony of how something that seemed so picture-perfect in 1936 not long afterward was perceived as something very different. Some of us who are critical of right-wing regimes tend to allow the glare of China’s successes to blind us to the inequities and iniquities inherent to any police state. I was blinded about it myself for some years. I am not drawing any direct comparisons of the CCP to the Nazis, tempting though it may be. The CCP is at least showing dramatic signs of continuing reform. But there are still interesting historical parallels.

Meanwhile, I want to see China continue to grow and prosper, because I care a lot about the people there. Looking aqt all that prosperity and success, it is so easy to forget that it's a country still in the iron grip of tyranny. You wouldn't know that from the smiling faces and jubilant mood in Beijing and Shanghai. But it is.

Like a highway full of potholes

Every time I visit India, Indians always ask me to compare India with China. Lately, I have responded like this: If India and China were both highways, the Chinese highway would be a six-lane, perfectly paved road, but with a huge speed bump off in the distance labeled "Political reform: how in the world do we get from Communism to a more open society?" When 1.3 billion people going 80 miles an hour hit a speed bump, one of two things happens: Either the car flies into the air and slams down, and all the parts hold together and it keeps on moving - or the car flies into the air, slams down and all the wheels fall off. Which it will be with China, I don't know. India, by contrast, is like a highway full of potholes, with no sidewalks and half the streetlamps broken. But off in the distance, the road seems to smooth out, and if it does, this country will be a dynamo. The question is: Is that smoother road in the distance a mirage or the real thing?

What a Shocker!

[deadpan sarcasm]
I mean can you believe it? What crazy antics those guys at the Justice Department must have gone through. Now just moments from a record breaking fine due to a proven conspiracy by the big tobacco companies to hook people, primarily young people, to their addictive product, suddenly out of now where they offer a much reduced penalty. Wow, who'd have thought such a thing could happen.
[/deadpan sarcasm]

[republican spin]
Well those lawyers must have screwed something up I’m sure. Leave it to the government to screw it up.
[/republican spin]

Tobacco Escapes Huge Penalty

U.S. Seeks $10 Billion Instead of $130 Billion

By Carol D. Leonnig

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 8, 2005; Page A01

After eight months of courtroom argument, Justice Department lawyers abruptly upset a landmark civil racketeering case against the tobacco industry yesterday by asking for less than 8 percent of the expected penalty.

Google Print

I hadn't seen this before. It appears to have a LOT of titles, and you can get inside them pretty easily, as long as you have some idea what you're looking for. This helps me imagine what it would be like for libraries to be fully on the web. I have a similar service at work that allows me access to many, many technical books, but this is more fun.

Hyperweatlh

Does not the very naming assert a disease? Would not naming it be a cure?

Look for the loyalty statements. Felt is no hero: he isn't dead

Gergen calls Felt a snitch.
Anybody who has anything good to say about Felt: no place in Bush administration, that's for sure.
Presidential candiate "X" said , "Gee, I hope if I do something bad there is someone like Felt to turn me in to the authorities. Someone like that who has the true welfare of the nation in mind, not just me, the president."
No. Felt is no hero. He did the dirty work that someone had to do. Coming out before he was dead, that was a disservice and a great big mistake. Heros do NOT accept congratulations.
Real heros know that real heroes are under the stones and crosses.

Discovery of 'Momma' T-Rex

Answers to questions*
1. female
2. related to bird
3. medullary bone

*For creationists
"God" or "we really don't know"or leave blank for full credit

the 35 hour week: isn't a that where we want to go?

A good, clean, safe life full of leisure for thinking and creating... isn't that where capitalism is supposed to go? Why shouldn't one resist going backwards?
The yardstick of a persons life appears long, but used as a measure against human events much less geologic events, it is like trying to measure out a small town with a 12" ruler.
Jeffrey Sachs says that up until 200 years ago, essentially everyone was poor. Period. So wealth for semi regular people is really only 200 years old and that really is true.
The middle class: gee, that's just a post WW II phenomenon. Post Keynesian, brand new, unheard of prosperity. However, the disparaging tone directed at people accused of self indulgency for expecting what was totally expected, is way way out of line. Just a few years ago, the US was glory bound with William J Clinton and his man Robert Rubin running the economy.
When the man calls out This Way! make sure he is going forward before you follow. Running backward with great purpose: Monty Python does that.

MTV rejects Nine Inch Nails' performace image

They Hate America, They Hate Freedom, They Hate Apple Pie too.

Too funny for words except that it is so sad.

"President" Bush on Tuesday dismissed a human rights report as "absurd" for its harsh criticism of U.S. treatment of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the allegations were made by prisoners "who hate America."

More Hussman

From this week's Hussman report:

There continues to be pressure on China to revalue the yuan. In standard Orwellian fashion, China 's maintenance of a fixed and stable exchange rate with the U.S. dollar is being criticized as “manipulation.” We should be careful what we wish for – the deep current account imbalance with China owes far more to profligate fiscal policy in the U.S. than to unfair currency policies abroad. Sure, the yuan appears undervalued, but before pushing for a revaluation, U.S. policy makers would be really, really smart to get our own fiscal policy in order so we wouldn't be so heavily dependent on foreign capital inflows to finance U.S. economic activity.

Unless that happens, a revaluation of the yuan will do more to stifle growth in U.S. gross domestic investment than any single policy move that Congress could contemplate. Thinking about this in general equilibrium is a disaster: the stuff we buy from China isn't really stuff we make at home, so we'll observe import price increases without enjoying much increased demand for domestic production, the stuff that China competes with us to import (mainly oil), being priced internationally in U.S. dollars, will become cheaper to China, thereby exacerbating energy prices, and the major source of growth in U.S. gross domestic investment in recent years (foreign capital inflows from Asian central banks) will drop off substantially. This is going to be interesting.

Don't miss the message here.

Candidates Loyal to Hariri Sweep Election and elect his son.
(Blood is way way thick. Everything else is water or worse.)

A Bane Amid The Housing Boom: Rising Foreclosures

Is "news" the reporting of something changing, or is it just a matter of convenience, accident or pile on?
"Hey, the lights good over here: lets write about this."
Dunno: does seem to say that the caution flag is out for buyers.

Trial balloon

"Meanwhile, retired Gen. Wesley Clark predicted 'a substantial pullout of American troops' from Iraq by the end of the summer. The former presidential candidate was a speaker at the senior convocation at upstate Ithaca's Cornell University"
The spin machine is reving up. As of May 28, victory is scheduled for September.

Bubbles

"About 54 percent of home buyers in the District purchased their homes using interest-only loans so far this year, according to LoanPerformance, a San Francisco-based company that tracks loan originations nationwide. About one-third of buyers in Maryland and Virginia are buying with interest-only loans. Just five years ago, only about 2 percent of home-purchase loans in the Washington area involved interest-only terms."

WW III

No other way to describe it. Bigger and better, as this is a war without borders: it's your neighbor.

Interesting

"Tell your boss you have to deal with a drinking problem and you'll be fine; say you want more time with your family and you're on the endangered species list."

Everything is OK. Go back to sleep.

This is a government that lives to make itself look good, so that people remain placid and accepting of (or better still, oblivious to) the shit going on around them.

This is a quote from a blog about China, but you no doubt first thought it was about our own government. This is why W likes China so much, his government is just like theirs.

Rates: swimming in deep waters.

"It may just be a confluence of all these. But many economists are concluding that, in a world of rising savings and cheap money, returns on Treasury bond investments may simply be the best of a bad bunch."
GMB: Which would make I-bonds an easy entry.
But the underlying reasons examined here are a cautionary tale. Basically, nobody has clue, not really.

post-digestive art

uh, thanks. no more for me.