People's Republic of Capitalism

Chuck and I just finished watching the Discovery Channel Koppel special four part series, The People's Republic of Capitalism. I have been looking forward to this for awhile, since my interest was piqued by our earlier discussion of an interview with Ted Koppel on The Daily Show, the end effects of which were previously posted here. Having now seen it, this series provided a very interesting glimpse into the economic boom that is happening in China today. For all that I felt the program was biased, both from the standpoint of us viewing it through the lens of democracy and from the fact that the Chinese people are very discreet in their responses, the interviews with people of various positions and economic status offer some idea of what the people are thinking.

One of the things that interested me most is how much faith the people have in their government to do what's best for the country. People have been long taught not to openly question their government and to voice their opinions publicly (those that did so often disappeared to be reprogrammed in remote areas), something we take all too much for granted here. Currently, the government has placed a huge emphasis on the economic boom, and this has caused a greater tolerance for corruption and a horrible double standard wherein government officials taking bribes are severely punished while those offering bribes are not because the government doesn't want to lose the development and investments.

Another point was the value of children in China. Due to the strict restrictions placed on family size, children are now seen as very precious and educating children is one of the top priorities of many families, both rich and poor. Peasants recognize that, by sending their children to boarding school, the children will be able to seek out better lives than they ever could imagine or have any chance of attaining for themselves, and many poor people are willing to endure a lot for that opportunity.

The economic boom is raising the standard of living for many, but there is a huge gap between the rich and poor and many people are still willing to work at trying, difficult and dangerous jobs for very little pay because the labor supply so exceeds the demand for labor. Nonetheless, the general consensus was that times are better now than ever because there are so many more improvements. For example, a lot more people can afford automobiles and are driving, something that was unheard of only a short while ago. I don't know how biased this opinion is, though, because a lot of the people seem afraid to speak anything bad about the times that they live in and especially about the government, and I'm certain that they would not do so on a program that will be seen worldwide.

The environmental impact that this will have is tremendous and difficult to even fathom. The need for energy to power all of this development is enormous, and the country is relying predominantly on coal, known to be polluting and dangerous to obtain, as a source. So many more automobiles on the road means so much more pollution as well. And it seems that a lot of things, like environmental impact, worker safety and human rights, are being filed away to be dealt with later so that economic development can thrive, and this will have an impact over the entire world and not just in China.