From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Mon Jun 11 2001 - 10:45:27 MDT
Bill Douglass wrote:
> Ah, and things have gone just swimmingly in Russia since the collapse of the
> Soviet Union, haven't they? Soaring crime, unemployment, mortality rates,
> drug and alcohol addiction, abortions, and dramatically declining birth
> rates and a shrinking GDP. Why are people here in China so dense that they
> can't see what a shining example modern-day Russia is for them? For that
> matter, what's wrong with the numerous Russians living here in Beijing?
> Don't they know what a comparatively awful place this is?
I'm not saying that. I'm saying that the Chinese are becoming virulently
nationalist because we are coddling them with this 'engagement' policy. By our
acquiescence, we are signalling that the Chinese tyrants are okay and right, so
no significant questioning of the leadership goes on in the majority of the
people. If we embargo China, the people suffer, and they start to wonder if
supporting a corrupt regieme is worth putting up with the economic hardship.
> Seriously, modern China is *nothing* like the Soviet Union was. Just
> because the government still calls itself "communist" doesn't mean it IS
> communist. This is a very capitalist country, getting more so by the day,
> with a *much* higher level of freedom (not to mention development and
> prosperity*) than there was just twenty years ago. If you don't believe me,
> you should come here sometime and see for yourself... I don't think anyone
> who has actually spent time in modern China would have such a hostile
> attitude toward the place and the people.
Any country in which I can't walk down the street with a gun on my belt and a
sign in hand saying the government sucks is a tyranny and needs to be
overthrown. Period.
Now, there are a lot of other countries where I can't do that either, but none
of them will put me in front of a firing squad for counterrevolutionary
activities or sedition. China would.
> *Real incomes here have nearly quadrupled in the past twenty years,
> reflecting economic progress which has never happened before on this scale,
> anywhere. A great book on China, its economic development, and why things
> have gone so much better here than in Russia, is "The Rise of China: How
> Economic Reform is Creating a New Superpower" by William H. Overholt.
> Highly recommended.
I don't give a rats petard how much money the sheep are being paid to keep their
mouths shut. Contrary to popular opinion, money doesn't equal freedom. If you
are not free when you are dirt poor, then all you have when you have money is a
policy with a protection racket.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 08:08:04 MST