DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - China's Trade Surplus

**enactolaelant** · 05-30-2007, 01:03 AM

For the record, I am not condoning the lack of rule of law in China nor denying that govt repression still exists, but that does not detract from the fact that Chinese people have a work ethic that has long passed us by. And it is that work ethic togethe with a cultural bias toward living a frugal life style and within ones means, a sense collectivism, and a willingness to sacrafice that drives the growth we see today. . They are out working us pure and simple, and that is what I mean by capitalism at its finest.

For you, the work ethic is proof enough. For me, it's only one piece of the puzzle. Capitalism is not sustained alone by hard-working people: I can guarantee you that in virtually every other type of political economy, be it feudalism, communism, or military dictatorship, the vast majority are working hard, long hours every day to survive. And that's just the problem with China (for now): too many people lack the freedom to survive without working in sweatshops for poor pay, in poor conditions, having many of their basic freedoms of expression trampled upon.

Capitalism is inseparable from freedoms, and freedoms mean individual choice. Ask anyone what the greatest achievement of capitalism is, and the answer you get will be some form of: "I don't have to worry about survival." Once you solve that elemental problem, you're *free* to pursue other areas of self-expression - through the work that you do, the way you spend leisure time, the way you live your life. I see little of that in today's China, which - as you say - has a strong collectivist strain still in it. And the Communist politicians, ever fearful of losing more control as the country comes closer to prosperity, do their best to prevent the spread of freedom through prosperity.

China still needs to provide a citizen living standard that would enable greater domestic consumption, but they are leaps and bounds ahead of where other industrialized countries were at this point in thier development Tough to do that when the modus vivendi seems to be: "live frugally, live obediently". I also doubt your claim of China being "leaps and bounds" ahead of its predecessors. Sounds made up.

05-30-2007, 01:03 AM	#18
enactolaelant Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 512 Senior Member	For the record, I am not condoning the lack of rule of law in China nor denying that govt repression still exists, but that does not detract from the fact that Chinese people have a work ethic that has long passed us by. And it is that work ethic togethe with a cultural bias toward living a frugal life style and within ones means, a sense collectivism, and a willingness to sacrafice that drives the growth we see today. . They are out working us pure and simple, and that is what I mean by capitalism at its finest. For you, the work ethic is proof enough. For me, it's only one piece of the puzzle. Capitalism is not sustained alone by hard-working people: I can guarantee you that in virtually every other type of political economy, be it feudalism, communism, or military dictatorship, the vast majority are working hard, long hours every day to survive. And that's just the problem with China (for now): too many people lack the freedom to survive without working in sweatshops for poor pay, in poor conditions, having many of their basic freedoms of expression trampled upon. Capitalism is inseparable from freedoms, and freedoms mean individual choice. Ask anyone what the greatest achievement of capitalism is, and the answer you get will be some form of: "I don't have to worry about survival." Once you solve that elemental problem, you're free to pursue other areas of self-expression - through the work that you do, the way you spend leisure time, the way you live your life. I see little of that in today's China, which - as you say - has a strong collectivist strain still in it. And the Communist politicians, ever fearful of losing more control as the country comes closer to prosperity, do their best to prevent the spread of freedom through prosperity. China still needs to provide a citizen living standard that would enable greater domestic consumption, but they are leaps and bounds ahead of where other industrialized countries were at this point in thier development Tough to do that when the modus vivendi seems to be: "live frugally, live obediently". I also doubt your claim of China being "leaps and bounds" ahead of its predecessors. Sounds made up.
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