{^_^}

Meanwhile, the Great Second Cultural Revolution proceeds apace across the Tibetan plateau, from which all foreigners (especially journalists) have been forcibly evicted.

And Hillary’s statement about her meetings with the Chinese FM glossed right over it, with the name “Tibet” lightly passing her lips but once amidst all the counterfeit idealistic platitudes that poured out.

On the 50th anniversary of the Tibetans’ mass uprising against colonial rule in 1959, one would have expected better.

sethstorm on March 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM

What you ask for is unsustainable. So long as there is competition in the marketplace, the unionization of labor in this country will be a dead weight on any company suffering with it. Note the steel and auto industries.

DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 2:59 PM

A mixed model that either allows for unions and some form of stability or an effort to address the underlying causes that keeps US citizens working(and not threatened with “…or your job will go to those folks in…”.

Except that the United States and China’s neighbor, Japan actually have moved up in worker’s rights (despite the Reagan Era damage). China’s still in the “Battle of the Overpass” era.

sethstorm on March 11, 2009 at 2:49 PM

So you prefer a US sytle system, Japanese style system or something different? (I used to get a good laugh out of the one hour lunch-time strikes when I lived in Japan. I suppose that wouldn’t quite cut it for you.)

DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 2:19 PM

Except that the United States and China’s neighbor, Japan actually have moved up in worker’s rights (despite the Reagan Era damage). China’s still in the “Battle of the Overpass” era.

You were right the first time.

logis on March 11, 2009 at 2:27 PM

Working from different definitions of ‘liberal’ then I guess. Where did you get your perspective on China?

While you seemed to imply I was a ‘liberal’ on the daily religion thread, I’ll forgive that and say I think your ultimate conclusion is correct here.

However, you’re wrong about the economic model…
DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 2:16 PM

You were right the first time.

At least here in the US we don’t outright kill people who hate business. In China, folks like Meitai Plastics will.

sethstorm on March 11, 2009 at 1:59 PM

Good thing or you wouldn’t be around to amuse me. Who on HA hates business more than sethstorm? Maybe getalife. Possibly.

This is the part that a lot of people are missing: China is transitioning from a Communist economy, and more toward a Stalinist model combining Socialism and Communism.

So (in a completely abstract way) one could say the direction China is moving is better than the direction America is moving. But if you compare the two positions and say that America should be “more like China” — that’s actually the complete opposite.

logis on March 11, 2009 at 2:01 PM

While you seemed to imply I was a ‘liberal’ on the daily religion thread, I’ll forgive that and say I think your ultimate conclusion is correct here.

However, you’re wrong about the economic model. China is moving to a model which is minimizing communism in practice to a model which combines elements of socialism with a lot of capitalism. The government itself is still nominally communist, but not in practice. In practice it’s just trying pragmatic ways to keep the organization in power.

Well in ND we are really trying to fill the needs.
They got all the permits & everything done for the next coal gasification plant in South Heart.
But since Obama’s been POTUS, they put construction on hold bcs of the uncertainty of his intent toward coal energy.
Our state is also looking into building a state owned refinery.

Badger40 on March 11, 2009 at 1:43 PM

It’s good to hear there are still some states with sane governments.

Steve Z on March 11, 2009 at 12:15 PM

+100

It is a fact that while the US overall still has better infrastructure, China’s is improving while the US infrastructure is slowly deteriorating.
DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 1:13 PM

This is the part that a lot of people are missing: China is transitioning from a Communist economy, and more toward a Stalinist model combining Socialism and Communism.

Meanwhile, America is moving in the opposite direction: becoming less free, while implementing more of the Communist and Socialist elements that make up the Soviet system.

So (in a completely abstract way) one could say the direction China is moving is better than the direction America is moving. But if you compare the two positions and say that America should be “more like China” — that’s actually the complete opposite.

DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 1:30 PM

So you’ve seen your share of Kowalskis as well as those who are contemporaries of Richard Ebens and Michael Nitz?

At least here in the US we don’t outright kill people who hate business. In China, folks like Meitai Plastics will.

China cracks down on Olympic protesters

Well, that’s what we get for trading with them – lies and folks like Elaine Chao who were very H1-b/L1 friendly.

DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 1:30 PM

Well in ND we are really trying to fill the needs.
They got all the permits & everything done for the next coal gasification plant in South Heart.
But since Obama’s been POTUS, they put construction on hold bcs of the uncertainty of his intent toward coal energy.
Our state is also looking into building a state owned refinery.

Some states maybe.
Some cannot get past the EPA,OSHA etc red tape that environmentalist lawsuits have exacerbated to the point one can no longer build any modern infrastructure.

Badger40 on March 11, 2009 at 1:22 PM

I hope so. I’ve only ever lived in blue states and every time I’m home the apparent deterioration saddens me. Chinese colleagues who visit my home city (where our company is based) remark on it’s declining condition as well. It’s very discomforting not to be able to refute their observations.

while the US national and state governments seem indifferent at best.

DarkCurrent on March 11, 2009 at 1:13 PM

Some states maybe.
Some cannot get past the EPA,OSHA etc red tape that environmentalist lawsuits have exacerbated to the point one can no longer build any modern infrastructure.

The way Obama cites China as something we great country who’s infrastructure we strive to emulate really pisses me off. I bet those Chinese workers have the sames wages and benefits as American workers, huh.

Maybe Obama really was the Manchurian candidate.

BrianA on March 11, 2009 at 12:56 PM

It is a fact that while the US overall still has better infrastructure, China’s is improving while the US infrastructure is slowly deteriorating. Certainly much lower wages and benefits for the workers are a factor, as is the lack of environmentalist red tape and the fact that the government owns all the land so they can legally do anything they want with it. Another difference is that the Chinese government wants to build infrastructure, while the US national and state governments seem indifferent at best.

Maybe Obama really was the Manchurian candidate.

That is why the UN is such a waste of time. It is “International” and, therefore, worthless.
OhEssYouCowboys on March 11, 2009 at 12:32 PM

Like anything else in the world, it’s not the concept of an international organization that’s evil; it’s the STANDARDS that make an organization good or bad.

The UN is a paradigm for the concept of collectivism: Over half of its members are brutal totalitariansms. Individually, the vast majority of these guys are all scum by any imaginable standard. But (somehow, magically) their amalgam is unquestionably good.