China: Money does not mean freedom

[Pangloss]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16339822%5E29677,00.html

 

THIS Friday, Chinese TV viewers in record numbers will tune in to watch the painful birth of China's newest singing star. The contest has come down to three finalists from the 120,000 hopefuls who auditioned for this year's Mongolian Cow Sour Yoghurt Supergirl Contest, with an estimated viewing audience to date of 400 million.

 

The more popular it gets, the more suspiciously it is viewed by the Chinese broadcasting establishment. An official of the top broadcasting regulator warned this week that the show might be taken off air if it doesn't quickly correct its "worldliness".

 

That may explain why last Friday's semi-final among five hopefuls kicked off with traditional Chinese opera and folk songs such as Wusuli Ship Song and Girls of Alishan, then rounded off with a chorus of Love our China, eschewing the raunchier rock-pop numbers of earlier rounds.

 

I believe that the rise of the Chinese middle class is going to be one of the great stories of the 21st century. On the one hand, you can't help but root for these people. It's also fascinating to see the "Chinese experiment", like the American experiment, try to pave its own path to a unique combination of prosperity and freedom. Alas, it seems likely that there will be many pitfalls along the way.

 

I will say this, though -- few societies are better mentally equipped to handle such travails. After all, it's built right into their language. Many of their language symbols are "overloaded" (to steal a programming term), meaning such contradictory things as "danger" and "opportunity" at the same time.

 

At any rate, I wish them the best of luck. Because of there's one thing I think we can say for sure at this point, it's that the western world will have very little to say about how it goes.

[ku]

Economic growth in China is good because China makes up a large chunk of the world's population. Therefore, reduction in poverty in China will have most impact on the goal of reducing world poverty. Economic growth in the world's second largest country India is also high.

[Pangloss]

So when does Bono start asking China for aid for Africa?

[john5746]

So when does Bono start asking China for aid for Africa?

 

That's a good one!

 

I guess when they have enough weapons to destroy the world twice they will feel like they can "splurge"