this does not invalidate the idea that they're not wasting half so much time in arcane bullshit so deep it'd make an Elks Lodge proud.
Not to be a troll but uh, source? I'm not sure what you're pointing to here. Their censorship? Human rights record? Stomping on heads-ohwait
Honestly, you point out one of China's ills is its pay parity being lower than "bumfuckistan", which may be true on average. But you then turn around and point to India as an example of what's going right? Unless you have some sort of quantitative evidence for why this is so (beyond the fact that democracies give you happy feeling in pants) I'm gonna call your argument out as bullshit.
Anyway, the CPC can call for whatever it wants in its grandiose budget statements, but saying you're going to fund innovation or green tech is one thing and actually having your economy become significantly greener or more innovative is another thing entirely. The disconnect between statements and results is old hat for the CPC now.
We all know the CPC statements are full of shit, but the change in the tone of its shit is more the point of that "soundbite" article. You can point to any world government's statement of economic goals and claim bullshit, but this is just rhetoric. Yes, you are correct that currently, the Chinese economy is not environmentally friendly or innovative for the most part. However you are incorrect if you believe the CPC's true intention is to keep it that way and claim differently just to placate the West. In order for China to sustain growth, the paramount goal to the CPC, it needs to move beyond its current market of manufacturing and construction. As Obama has pointed out, the Green Economy is a large area of growth in modern times, and I believe China's first move of $34 billion is a step in that direction. They're certainly far behind other world economies, but they're taking bigger steps as well.
I mean, it was a running gag last month that Wen Jiabao has been calling for political and social reform but his remarks were was censored by the party. The damn Premier can't even call for change without tripping over the bureaucracy. I know that the fact that he wasn't rebuked actually means that there's a tacit sort of approval for his comments in some quarters, but the whole thing is still theatre of the absurd.
Haha, yes the Chinese invented bureaucracy, they'd be excellent at it. The political landscape in China is pretty ridiculous. The Party would like to present itself as a solid coordinated entity, but the reality is that it is composed of people. Often when talking about China, the Party is conflated with the people of China, which is unfortunate. It is the will of the Party from which all the grandstanding and all the bullshit arises. The people have their own desires for their lives. As much as China is dominated by government policy, much more indomitable is the cultural pragmatism that's lasted much longer than any empire. As long as the people believe the government is making things better, the Party will be in power.
The Chinese people have never been idealistically unified, and hence cannot be idealistically motivated around a concept like Christianity or Democracy. Chinese religion has a pantheon of gods that fall in and out of favor by how much their worshippers believe that god is effective at giving them what they want: health, progeny, prosperity. Much is the same on the political side. It is not that the people are inherently
communal, it is what worked for them at that point in history. And quantitatively, looking at the past 20 years, the Party has for the most part done the people good in terms of living conditions, poverty levels, education. Why do you think Deng Xiaoping introduced mixed economy or "Communism with Chinese flavor"? Because the Party was in danger of losing control after the failures of the planned economy; it was no longer effective to the people. The "nice-sounding" statistics exist because the Party has quantitatively improved aspects of Chinese life, in contrast to the "nice-sounding" ideology that the US has introduced to Iraq.
Is the Western ideocentric view false or somehow misleading? No. But it is not what the Chinese people understand. It will not work in China. But you know what, it works here (hopefully). Individual voice, however contrary or inflammatory, serves a purpose in this ideology. And that's why, to make this ideology work here, you should all go vote.
In related news: I have begun processing my N-400 application to Naturalize. Hopefully by April of next year I will be able to vote as well!
