[China] Life in rural China

[slipthejab]

Here's a nice bit by the BBC... a short pic expose on life in rural China.
Very accurate. As much as the world likes to hype China... life for vast majority is still very hard and very poor. Truly salt of the earth people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/asia_pac_life_in_rural_china/html/1.stm

[Johnno]

Here's a nice bit by the BBC... a short pic expose on life in rural China.
Very accurate. As much as the world likes to hype China... life for vast majority is still very hard and very poor. Truly salt of the earth people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/asia_pac_life_in_rural_china/html/1.stmThe impression I get of China right now is that while the economy is in overdrive and the cities are growing exponentially, rural areas are either stagnant or in a state of crisis.

Which all sounds very similar to Britain during the first Industrial Revolution!

[narcsarge]

To go along with ya Johnno, eh @. I just read this this morning. Seems once again the "salt of the earth" are always the ones that suffer....

Read this... (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19649894/site/newsweek/)

[slipthejab]

The impression I get of China right now is that while the economy is in overdrive and the cities are growing exponentially, rural areas are either stagnant or in a state of crisis.

Which all sounds very similar to Britain during the first Industrial Revolution!

Very much so. Probably similar to the industrial revolution in Britain... the masses from the countryside flocked to the cities. Where they were promptly taken of advantage of by savy labor brokers and straw bosses. Labor in China is one of the single biggest factors bubbing just under the surface.

They quite literally have riots everyday in China - the CCCP is very worried. It's one of their main concerns at the moment. This is why all you hear from them is the constant drone of 'social harmony' from the CCCP. I'm not sure how much makes the western news... but we get the reports from China agencies. So what that means is the story got leaked to western media slightly prior and the official Chinese news agency is attempting to be seen as transparent and objective. And we all know it's anything but.

People figure that with capitolism in China will come greater freedom. But I don't think the CCCP has any real plans for freedom at all. When that day comes... their power structure begins to erode. They're not going to let that happen if they can avoid it. Tiananmen square was a great of example of the path they will take. Massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989#Number_of_deaths )

Not surprisingly the commanding general who ordered the tanks to roll and the troops to open fire on unarmed civilians during the massacre was restationed to Hong Kong right after the hand over. He now runs the Hong Kong PLA garrison. Interesting... and scary.

[Johnno]

Very much so. Probably similar to the industrial revolution in Britain... the masses from the countryside flocked to the cities. Where they were promptly taken of advantage of by savy labor brokers and straw bosses. Labor in China is one of the single biggest factors bubbing just under the surface.

They quite literally have riots everyday in China - the CCCP is very worried. It's one of their main concerns at the moment. This is why all you hear from them is the constant drone of 'social harmony' from the CCCP. I'm not sure how much makes the western news... but we get the reports from China agencies. So what that means is the story got leaked to western media slightly prior and the official Chinese news agency is attempting to be seen as transparent and objective. And we all know it's anything but.

People figure that with capitolism in China will come greater freedom. But I don't think the CCCP has any real plans for freedom at all. When that day comes... their power structure begins to erode. They're not going to let that happen if they can avoid it. Tiananmen square was a great of example of the path they will take. Massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989#Number_of_deaths )

Not surprisingly the commanding general who ordered the tanks to roll and the troops to open fire on unarmed civilians during the massacre was restationed to Hong Kong right after the hand over. He now runs the Hong Kong PLA garrison. Interesting... and scary.For 'CCCP' read 'tory party', and for 'Tainanmen Square Massacre' read 'Peterloo Massacre'.

Blimey.... nothing ever changes, does it? :rolleyes:

[narcsarge]

For 'CCCP' read 'tory party', and for 'Tainanmen Square Massacre' read 'Peterloo Massacre'.

Blimey.... nothing ever changes, does it? :rolleyes:

Only location @, only location... :confused:

[Johnno]

Only location @, only location... :confused:Mmmm.... perhaps this means that China will have a mature parliamentary democracy in another hundred years or so.... and then go down the toilet about half a century later. ;)

(Not that the two events are necessarily linked in any way.)

[narcsarge]

Mmmm.... perhaps this means that China will have a mature parliamentary democracy in another hundred years or so.... and then go down the toilet about half a century later. ;)

(Not that the two events are necessarily linked in any way.)


Why not? Both the U.S. and the UK have boned up their so-called "democracies"! :woo: :D

[Johnno]

Why not? Both the U.S. and the UK have boned up their so-called "democracies"! :woo: :DWe went down the pan because two world wars cost us more than we could really afford - and I believe we're still paying you lot back for war materials from the last one!

Your government insisted (probably wisely) on being paid in gold bullion. Sterling lost it's long-standing position of being the international reserve currency, and we slid off into the economic twilight. (Relatively speaking.)

You'd better hope that the USA sorts out it's budget deficit before the Chinese Yuan replaces the US dollar as the international reserve currency, or else your economy will make Haiti's look strong.

Who will be the next Superpower after China? Or... is that it? :confused:

[narcsarge]

China owns most of the U.S. debt. Can't wait to see what will happens when they call in that marker!

[slipthejab]

Who will be the next Superpower after China? Or... is that it?


That's saying that China actually manages to overtake the US as a superpower.
Which in many respects... and despite all the media hype... I'm very doubtful of.

Not that I hold the US up as any sort of uber fantastic example. But by comparison we do have freedom of speech and a myriad of other rights that China is still a very long ways from having.

While the US does suffer from corruption and cronyism... it's almost nonexistant by comparison to China.

I think that China has a long, long way to go before it's actually a world superpower of the same level of the US. Not that it hasn't come far in a very short amount of time... but it's still got a very long way to go.

The world really needs to hope that the H5N1 virus (avian influenza or bird flu) doesn't reemerge in China... but with the way their set up... they could be depopulated in a rather abrupt fashion... and chances are it won't stop at Chinas borders.

Which ironically ties right into the title of this thread... rural China.

[Johnno]

That's saying that China actually manages to overtake the US as a superpower.
Which in many respects... and despite all the media hype... I'm very doubtful of.

Not that I hold the US up as any sort of uber fantastic example. But by comparison we do have freedom of speech and a myriad of other rights that China is still a very long ways from having.

While the US does suffer from corruption and cronyism... it's almost nonexistant by comparison to China.

I think that China has a long, long way to go before it's actually a world superpower of the same level of the US. Not that it hasn't come far in a very short amount of time... but it's still got a very long way to go.

The world really needs to hope that the H5N1 virus (avian influenza or bird flu) doesn't reemerge in China... but with the way their set up... they could be depopulated in a rather abrupt fashion... and chances are it won't stop at Chinas borders.

Which ironically ties right into the title of this thread... rural China.You seem to be suggesting that lack of freedom of speech and 'other rights' are an impediment to achieving economic power, but examples from history suggest to me that the opposite is true!

I'd suggest that the power will come first, and the rights will come second. People only care about freedom of speech and democracy AFTER they have a roof over their heads, a steady job, enough to eat, etc. etc.

I understand that China is changing to a more urban society, but to what extent is it still predominantly rural? Is there a real change in the overall balance?