Edward Cody of Washington Post wrote this article on “Communist ideal lost to trappings of wealth, status.”
“If any doubts remained that China has turned its back on socialist equality for the masses, they faded in exhaust fumes as Rubens Barrichello’s flaming red Ferrari F1 shrieked past the checkered flag before thousands of fans at the first Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Formula One race – high-risk capitalists fielding half-million-dollar cars that whined around a $350 million circuit for spectators who paid as much as $400 a ticket – represented the antithesis of the ascetic communism that China once enforced at home and advocated abroad. Now, after more than two decades of economic reform and booming growth, wealthy Chinese are refining and indulging a taste for luxury, conspicuous consumption and status. ”
