China: The Income Gap is the Medication, Not the Disease – Ooi Kee Beng

From Opinion Asia:

Most analysts looking for weaknesses in the steamroller that is the Chinese economy today would agree that the income gap and corruption are the parts most likely to cause the machine to break down in the near future. From what was fundamentally a society that strove to be egalitarian and classless, i.e. one without any millionaires, China has not only become a country of rich and poor, but also of the super rich and the super poor.

What was wrong with the Maoist egalitarian society was that it tended to stagnate and to regress. Power, instead of being exerted from the top on the bottom as in the case of class societies, was misused at close range by one’s own neighbours and even relatives in the almighty name of whatever happened to be politically correct and expedient for the time being. [Full Text]

Ooi Kee Beng is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.