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but I have talked with a person who attended the Olympics there . . . .
Wow, you are practically an expert!
And what are your sources specifically, that you know China is NOT like North Korea?
Let's see...the two years I lived there, the thousands of Chinese people I know and have known, the dozens of Chinese people I interact with on a regular basis, and a familiarity beyond what seems to be your simplistic generalizations.
Gee, I could say that too.
But you would be lying, and I'm not. Why is this about your ego all of a sudden?
Many on the left are no longer interested in the debate over whether China is socialist. Rather, they are concerned with whether China's growth and transformation has led to "successful" economic development. For a majority, the answer is an unequivocal "yes." This answer appears largely based on a consideration of a limited but important set of indicators: rates of growth of foreign investment, exports, and GDP.
If we broaden our notion of development, however, to include measures of working-class well-being, the answer tragically changes. The reality is that China's market refor m polices have created a growth process underpinned by increasingly harsh working and living conditions for the great majority of Chinese.
Perhaps most surprising is the fact that the country's rapid growth has failed to generate adequate employment opportunities. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), total urban (regular) manufacturing employment actually declined over the period 1990-2002, from 53.9 million to 37.3 million.(10) And while there was a small increase in total urban employment, almost all the growth was in irregular employment, meaning casual-wage or self-employment - typically in construction, cleaning and maintenance of premises, retail trade, street vending, repair services or domestic services.
More specifically, while total urban employment over this 13-year period grew by 81.7 million, 80 million of that growth was in irregular employment. As a result, irregular workers now comprise the largest single urban employment category - much as in Africa and Latin America where such an outcome is blamed on stagnant capital accumulation. In addition, the ILO reports declining labor force participation rates and double digit unemployment rates for urban residents.
The reform process has taken an especially heavy toll on state workers. According to Chinese government figures, state-owned enterprises laid off 30 million workers over the period 1998-2004. As of June 2005, 21.8 million of them were struggling to survive on the government's "minimum living allowance" - the basic welfare grant given to all poor urban residents. In June 2005, this allowance was approximately $19 a month.(11)
Of course there has been job growth in the private sector, especially at firms producing for export. But most of the new jobs are low paid with poor working conditions. "Even after doubling between 2002-2005, the average manufacturing wage in China was only 60 US cents an hour, compared with $2.46 an hour in Mexico."(12)
A recent report on labor practices in China by Verite Inc., a U.S. company that advises transnational corporations on responsible business practices, found that "systemic problems in payment practices in Chinese export factories consistently rob workers of at least 15% of their pay."(13) Workplace safety is an even greater problem. According to official Chinese government sources, about 200 million workers labor under "hazardous" conditions. "Every year there are more than 700,000 serious work-related injuries nation-wide, claiming 130,000 lives."(14)
One critical but often overlooked explanation for China's manufacturing competitiveness is that approximately 70% of manufacturing work is done by migrants. Over the last 25 years, some 150-200 million Chinese have moved from the countryside to urban areas in search of employment.
Although the great majority of these migrant workers have moved legally, they suffer enormous discrimination. For example, because they remain classified as rural residents under the Chinese registration system, not only must they pay steep fees to register as temporary urban residents, they also have no rights to the public services available to urban born residents (including free or subsidized education, health care, housing and pensions). The same is true for their children, even if they are born in an urban area.
As a consequence migrant workers are easily exploitable. They typically work 11 hours a day, 26 days a month. Most receive no special overtime pay and commonly earn one-quarter to one-half of what urban residents receive.(15)
The overall effectiveness of Chinese labor policies (which are primarily designed to boost export competitiveness) is well illustrated by recent trends in wages and consumption. Chinese wages as a share of GDP have fallen from approximately 53% of Gross Domestic Product in 1992 to less than 40% in 2006. Private consumption as a percent of GDP has also declined, falling from approximately 47% to 36% over the same period. By comparison, private consumption as a share of GDP is over 50% in Britain, Australia, Italy, Germany, India, Japan, France, and South Korea; it is over 70% in the United States.(16)
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
The number of people who have risen out of poverty in China over the past 20 years is much larger than the entire population of the US.
You could be lying for all I know]
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
The number of people who have risen out of poverty in China over the past 20 years is much larger than the entire population of the US.
As you can see by the above link, that is not necessarily true at all.
You could be lying for all I know]
But I'm not, so why don't we go from there?
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
The number of people who have risen out of poverty in China over the past 20 years is much larger than the entire population of the US.
As you can see by the above link, that is not necessarily true at all.
It is FACTUALLY true.
"Since initiating market reforms in 1978, China has shifted from a centrally planned to a market based economy and experienced rapid economic and social development. GDP growth averaging about 10 percent a year has lifted more than 500 million people out of poverty. All Millennium Development Goals have been reached or are within reach."
China Overview
Still a long way to go, but the above cannot be said of North Korea to say the least.
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
The number of people who have risen out of poverty in China over the past 20 years is much larger than the entire population of the US.
As you can see by the above link, that is not necessarily true at all.
It is FACTUALLY true.
Not according to the link. Besides, how is "poverty" defined in China? Lol!
I don't see where the PEOPLE of China have benefited though.
The number of people who have risen out of poverty in China over the past 20 years is much larger than the entire population of the US.
As you can see by the above link, that is not necessarily true at all.
It is FACTUALLY true.
Not according to the link. Besides, how is "poverty" defined in China? Lol!
How about as it is defined by The Economist or the World Bank?
Just admit you spoke out of ignorance and move on.
Why are you doing this to yourself?
Why are you doing this to yourself?
Why are you defending an oppressive regime that really doesn't give a crap about it's people?
Why are you defending an oppressive regime that really doesn't give a crap about it's people?
