Thoughts on China

Socialism / capitalism




"china needs more socialism, and Europe needs more capitalism", a

colleague commented touching on an important issue which is evident to

anyone visiting china these days.. Entrepreneurship, privatization,

liberalizing and opening up the economy are the hot words, and growth

seems to be the new one god..'and - as socialists and communists -

what will you do about the widening income gap ?' is a question that

would get no straight answer from an official in the highly privatized

and rich Zhejiang province as he continues his discussions of plans to

raise the GDP per capita astronomically in the next 5 year plan... We

r in the time of the 12th one I think. The professor comments 'he gave

u the answer... He said 'we r pragmatic''..



'probably worse here', commented two friends who work in the venture

capital industry as I expressed my surprise that the china and the US

might have similar income gaps and disparity between rich and poor

(gini index)



The state, planning, and knowing what is best




Can one person or group know what is - generally - best? This is what

central and ubiquitous planning poses as a fundamental question.. What

about shared decision? What about muting the voices of more

intelligent thinkers, or more informed ones, getting lost in the arena

of power and struggles?but, doesn't a group of coordinated and

powerful leaders have more access and potential to plan and implement

'harmoniously'? All that set aside, we can go up one more level and

ask the fundamental question: is it really important that 'what is

best' gets implemented rather that 'what most people want' , 'what a

group of intelligent people want' , ' what a group of powerful people

want' , or even 'what is simply the most suitable' ?



These are just samples of questions open at this level, far too

complex to be answered simplistically through ideological shortcuts

that demonstrate as a professor called it : 'just laziness'



Working more, working less, culture and economic conditions



So, is working more (or finding it acceptable to work more, and

sometimes in more difficult conditions) a matter of culture, economic

level, social and political demands..? Can we really say that a

certain work ethic is embedded deeper within a culture of collectivism

and respect, or is it simply the 'poorer economy' as a colleague

argued ( and I enthusiastically dismissed) ?



The food and the pork



What is the deal with so much pork, pork feet, pork ears, and pork

bellies? It was everywhere. In restaurants, hotels, storefronts,... I

even thought that there were pork body organs hiding under my bed at

the hotel awaiting the right moment ...



The language



Brilliant to know about a tonal language employing four different

tonalities for every character.. of course i couldn't hear the differences at first. Many possibilities and difficulty,

but more potential for working out the 'right brain' functions ..



Religion



Not much I can discuss here, except my surprise sometimes at the

'externalization' of religion in an eastern culture. The Tao , Lao tzu

and the tai chi are fundamental elements of the philosophical and

religious guiding framework whic predictably embraces many values and

norms perceived in the society