Let the games begin!

[metalman]

The Bejing Olympics are the CCP's chance to show off to the world just how well autocratic capitalism works. Who needs elections when great wealth can be amassed under single party rule? This is not the first time has the system has triumphed, either. The Berlin Olympics of 1936 were Hitler's showcase.

In his 1937 "Great Contemporaries," Winston Churchill wrote, "Whatever else may be thought about (Hitler's) exploits, they are among the most remarkable in the whole history of the world."

Churchill was referring not only to Hitler's political triumphs - the return of the Saar and reoccupation of the Rhineland - but also his economic achievements. By his fourth year in power, Hitler had pulled Germany out of the Depression, cut unemployment from 6 million to 1 million, grown the GNP 37 percent and increased auto production from 45,000 vehicles a year to 250,000. City and provincial deficits had vanished.

In material terms, Nazi Germany was a startling success.

And not only Churchill and Lloyd George but others in Europe and America were marveling at the exploits of the Third Reich, its fascist ally Italy and Joseph Stalin's rapidly industrializing Soviet state. "I have seen the future, and it works," Lincoln Steffens had burbled. Many Western men, seeing the democracies mired in Depression and moral malaise, were also seeing the future in Berlin, Moscow, Rome.

In Germany, Hitler was winning plebiscites with more than 90 percent of the vote in what outside observers said were free elections.

A forgotten poll

What calls to mind the popularity of the Third Reich and the awe it inspired abroad - even after the bloody purge of Ernst Röhm and the Nazi murder of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934, and the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws - is a poll buried in the New York Times.

In a survey of 24 countries by Pew Research Center, the nation that emerged as far and away first on Earth in the satisfaction of its people was China. No other nation even came close.

"Eighty-six percent of Chinese people surveyed said they were content with the country's direction, up from 48 percent in 2002. . . . And 82 percent of Chinese were satisfied with their national economy, up from 52 percent," the Times said.

Yet, China has a regime that punishes dissent, severely restricts freedom, persecutes Christians and all faiths that call for worship of a God higher than the state, brutally represses Tibetans and Uighurs, swamps their native lands with Han Chinese to bury their cultures and threatens Taiwan.
China is also a country where Maoist ideology has been replaced by a racial chauvinism and raw nationalism reminiscent of Italy and Germany in the 1930s. Yet, again, more than 80 percent of all Chinese are content or even happy with the direction of the country. Two-thirds say the government is doing a good job in dealing with the issues of greatest concern to them.

Contrast, if you will, the contentment of Chinese with the dissatisfaction of Americans, only 23 percent of whom told the Pew poll they approved of the nation's direction. Only one in five Americans said they were satisfied with the U.S. economy.

Other polls have found 82 percent of Americans saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, only 28 percent approving of President Bush's performance and only half that saying they approve of the Congress. In Britain, France and Germany, only three in 10 expressed satisfaction with the direction of the nation.

Democracy—A Flickering Star?

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Let the games begin!

I wish I or anyone had begun a thread on China Bullishness when its indices were going up like a rocket last year.

The conventional wisdom was that it would continue to do so until after the Olympics. Wasn't that the pundits' party line?

[jimmygu3]

Re: Let the games begin!

In Germany, Hitler was winning plebiscites with more than 90 percent of the vote in what outside observers said were free elections.

A forgotten poll

What calls to mind the popularity of the Third Reich and the awe it inspired abroad - even after the bloody purge of Ernst Röhm and the Nazi murder of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934, and the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws - is a poll buried in the New York Times.

In a survey of 24 countries by Pew Research Center, the nation that emerged as far and away first on Earth in the satisfaction of its people was China. No other nation even came close.

"Eighty-six percent of Chinese people surveyed said they were content with the country's direction, up from 48 percent in 2002. . . . And 82 percent of Chinese were satisfied with their national economy, up from 52 percent," the Times said.

Yet, China has a regime that punishes dissent, severely restricts freedom, persecutes Christians and all faiths that call for worship of a God higher than the state, brutally represses Tibetans and Uighurs, swamps their native lands with Han Chinese to bury their cultures and threatens Taiwan.
China is also a country where Maoist ideology has been replaced by a racial chauvinism and raw nationalism reminiscent of Italy and Germany in the 1930s. Yet, again, more than 80 percent of all Chinese are content or even happy with the direction of the country. Two-thirds say the government is doing a good job in dealing with the issues of greatest concern to them.

Contrast, if you will, the contentment of Chinese with the dissatisfaction of Americans, only 23 percent of whom told the Pew poll they approved of the nation's direction. Only one in five Americans said they were satisfied with the U.S. economy.

Other polls have found 82 percent of Americans saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, only 28 percent approving of President Bush's performance and only half that saying they approve of the Congress. In Britain, France and Germany, only three in 10 expressed satisfaction with the direction of the nation.

Democracy—A Flickering Star?

Maybe it's obvious, but I hope everyone knows that Hitler's elections were not free nor anonymous and I'm sure China's Employee Satisfaction Survey is not either. Imagine filling out this ballot in front of an armed member of the SS. Would you vote for "nein"?

[touchring]

Re: Let the games begin!

I saw the opening ceremony, everyone was suffering under the sweltering heat and humidity. Putin was obviously perspiring and a chinese guy at the back seat was fanning him all the time.

They should have prepared portable air-conditioners or electric fans for the dignitaries. :p

[touchring]

Re: Let the games begin!

I wish I or anyone had begun a thread on China Bullishness when its indices were going up like a rocket last year.

The conventional wisdom was that it would continue to do so until after the Olympics. Wasn't that the pundits' party line?

No, the conventional wisdom was that the bubble will burst before the Olympics, although it came a little earlier than everyone thought it would.

The Chinese were playing the stock market like they are playing the jackpot - everyone was prepared to lose big. Unlike subprime, a big collapse was not unexpected.

[Supercilious]

Re: Let the games begin!

[metalman]

Re: Let the games begin!

I saw the opening ceremony, everyone was suffering under the sweltering heat and humidity. Putin was obviously perspiring and a chinese guy at the back seat was fanning him all the time.

They should have prepared portable air-conditioners or electric fans for the dignitaries. :p

it's the mindset. if the gov't operates on the principle that the gov't tells you how you are feeling, the gov't doesn't think to concern itself with the fact that it's too hot. if you complain they'll say, 'no it isn't'. if the athletes complain about the pollution, the gov't says, 'what pollution'? and 'our athletes are not complaining. so you see, there is no pollution.' and if it becomes acrimonious the chinese gov't will say, 'you are trying to sabotage our great moment. your complaints are political.'

that's the ccp's pollution plan. deny that it exists just as human rights violations don't exist, and theft of property by gov't officials, and on and on. mark my words.

[touchring]

Re: Let the games begin!

There's also no human rights in singapore, but life goes on.

China has just imposed a no more than 5 person gathering law because of the Olympics. In Singapore, a similar law applies all the time, 365 days a year.

it's the mindset. if the gov't operates on the principle that the gov't tells you how you are feeling, the gov't doesn't think to concern itself with the fact that it's too hot. if you complain they'll say, 'no it isn't'. if the athletes complain about the pollution, the gov't says, 'what pollution'? and 'our athletes are not complaining. so you see, there is no pollution.' and if it becomes acrimonious the chinese gov't will say, 'you are trying to sabotage our great moment. your complaints are political.'

that's the ccp's pollution plan. deny that it exists just as human rights violations don't exist, and theft of property by gov't officials, and on and on. mark my words.

[jimmygu3]

Re: Let the games begin!

it's the mindset. if the gov't operates on the principle that the gov't tells you how you are feeling, the gov't doesn't think to concern itself with the fact that it's too hot. if you complain they'll say, 'no it isn't'. if the athletes complain about the pollution, the gov't says, 'what pollution'? and 'our athletes are not complaining. so you see, there is no pollution.' and if it becomes acrimonious the chinese gov't will say, 'you are trying to sabotage our great moment. your complaints are political.'

that's the ccp's pollution plan. deny that it exists just as human rights violations don't exist, and theft of property by gov't officials, and on and on. mark my words.

Reminds me of an NPR (yes, metalman, I'm a pinko NPR guy...) piece a few months back about how fortune cookies are an American creation (big surprise). The interesting thing was that the "Confucius say..." fortunes are not Chinese wisdom because it's often the opposite of the 'American way'.

The example they gave was "The squeaky wheel gets the grease". This is the opposite of a common Chinese saying "The bird who sticks its head out gets shot."

So I bet they don't get a lot of complaints about the heat in the PRC suggestion box. At least from not people who don't like to get shot.

[metalman]

Re: Let the games begin!

There's also no human rights in singapore, but life goes on.

China has impose a no more than 5 person gathering for the duration of the olympics. In Singapore, the law applies all the time, 365 days a year.

signapore doesn't have thousands of visitors descending on it to try to run around in the hot choking smog. here we have a formula for confrontation. how will the chinese gov't respond if teams start to leave because they deem the air quality unsafe? for a year up to today the belief was that the gov't was going to clean up the air. well, they didn't. i've been saying their strategy is to deem the air clean by gov't decree... and here we are. now watch what happens. i'll even come up with a upcoming newspaper headline for it... 'bejing olympic pollution crisis'.

[touchring]

Re: Let the games begin!

signapore doesn't have thousands of visitors descending on it to try to run around in the hot choking smog. here we have a formula for confrontation. how will the chinese gov't respond if teams start to leave because they deem the air quality unsafe? for a year up to today the belief was that the gov't was going to clean up the air. well, they didn't. i've been saying their strategy is to deem the air clean by gov't decree... and here we are. now watch what happens. i'll even come up with a upcoming newspaper headline for it... 'bejing olympic pollution crisis'.

The air problem in beijing is caused by many factors, one of which is bad engine oil and bad gasoline. You can remove 90% of cars from the roads, but the 10% will spew out bad air. The good air promise is almost impossible.

The air in singapore is superb as 90% of the cars are less than 5 years old and the engine oil must be changed at least once every year to pass the test. There is almost no smell when you jog along a busy street, in comparison i had to cover my noise when i was in LA and also in Tokyo.

[Spartacus]

Re: Let the games begin!

Beijing is in a valley that traps pollution, and has temperature inversions (hot air gets trapped under a layer of cold air - the air is trapped and will not move much for days, up to weeks) pretty often.

London used to get temperature inversions and each time thousands would die of the smog - back when there were no automobiles, just industrialization.

And London is not even in a valley that traps pollutants, even without an inversion.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Smog

"London has been known for smog since Roman times. In 1306, concerns over air pollution were sufficient for Edward I to (briefly) ban coal fires in London.[4] "

I would be surprised if Beijing has a better history than that ....

The air problem in beijing is caused by many factors, one of which is bad engine oil and bad gasoline. You can remove 90% of cars from the roads, but the 10% will spew out bad air. The good air promise is almost impossible.

The air in singapore is superb as 90% of the cars are less than 5 years old and the engine oil must be changed at least once every year to pass the test. There is almost no smell when you jog along a busy street, in comparison i had to cover my noise when i was in LA and also in Tokyo.

Back to the thread subject, IMHO ... bad stuff should happen to the bad guys.

[GRG55]

Re: Let the games begin!

...Contrast, if you will, the contentment of Chinese with the dissatisfaction of Americans, only 23 percent of whom told the Pew poll they approved of the nation's direction. Only one in five Americans said they were satisfied with the U.S. economy.

Other polls have found 82 percent of Americans saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, only 28 percent approving of President Bush's performance and only half that saying they approve of the Congress. In Britain, France and Germany, only three in 10 expressed satisfaction with the direction of the nation.

Democracy—A Flickering Star?

All constructive change starts with a dissatisfaction with the status quo.

There's good reasons the US economy and society has historically been one of the most creative and adaptive ever seen.

[jk]

Re: Let the games begin!

the declaration of independence proclaims the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." if we were happy, we wouldn't be PURSUING happiness. it's in one of our founding documents! we're chronically dissatisfied!

[metalman]

Re: Let the games begin!

All constructive change starts with a dissatisfaction with the status quo.

There's good reasons the US economy and society has historically been one of the most creative and adaptive ever seen.

good point. autocratic rulers disallow dissatisfaction. dissatisfaction is a measure of democracy,