China is once again ignoring the wishes of its people as it forces the country's self sufficient peasant farmers to leave their land and become high-rise apartment dwellers and reluctant consumers in hundreds of newly built cities.Another of their social experiments is underway with scant if any regard for the people.
The government of China is endeavoring to create the greatest urbanisation program the world has ever witnessed and is spending trillions of dollars building over twenty cities a year, forcing what once were happy, not rich but contented farmers to become unwilling consumers in China's vision of its future.
Never mind that there will be few if any jobs for these poor transplanted souls. Never mind that they will have nothing to do except use up their meagre savings and be forced into debt. Someone has to live in the hundred million vacant apartments in these new and empty cities and these farmers have been chosen as sacrificial lambs.
Like plants lacking nourishment,
they will wither and die...
Doesn't seem like that's gonna turn out too well.
ReplyDeleteKevin
I think of cities as prisons during the best of times. These are not the best of times.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, living in a city of any kind would be hell on earth. You ain't going to get this ole county boy to live in any city!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is sure to have as much "success" as the back-yard iron furnaces of Mao.
ReplyDeleteHow incredibly sad. Xi Jinping - President of the People's Republic of China, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission - in other words - China's paramount leader, elected by the National People's Congress, the highest state body, is following in China's historical footsteps. China has experienced various spasms of violence - otherwise known as Cultural Revolutions - is this the next one? These 'revolutions' have nothing to do with the welfare of the Chinese people but all to do with power for the leaders and attaining global economic and cultural superpower, which given the strength and powerlessness of it's population will be gigantic and overtake USA in 2018. Beware... New Zealand and other nations are hell-bent on developing free trade and other relationships with China... What might your/my fate be?
ReplyDeletePerhaps Xi Jinping should be transported and forced to live in a peasant village and grow rice for the new city dwellers to eat?
Funny I recently read an article about how this is the current US government's plans...sounded a bit extreme but I didn't know China was actually doing it.
ReplyDeleteTruly, uproot the farmers and you've dug out your foundations. The entire structure topples.
Who will grow the food for the millions of people if the people who grow the food aren't there to do it? Idiocy.
ReplyDeleteCities are fine when they're compact and walkable. You can stroll from the heart of Florence - a very beautiful city, rich in art - to the periphery in about 35 or 40 minutes. Pretty soon you find you're in the countryside, which is also beautiful. Amsterdam is likewise a very attractive and liveable city. Giant metroplexes are another story.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what China will do with the forcibly vacated farmland? Stripmine the soil with agrobiz? They'll probably wind up dependent on Madagascar and Africa for farm produce. Hungry jobless ex-farmers starving while forcibly crammed into hideous highrises are liable to be restive citizens at best. The high command may be unwittingly preparing a whole lot of future trouble for themselves, I fancy.
Kevin
Shameful way to treat people like slaves with no say in how they wish to live. Maybe if I think hard enough , they will all decintergrate .. Makes me mad when the so called powers that be destroy lives that aren't theirs to destroy.
ReplyDeleteIn 2005 - 2006 a naturalized American artist (born in China) documented farmers life in series of oil on linen paintings, entitled "COLLISION OF THE PAST AND PRESENT". Whole series is on permanent exhibition at ORTEGO JUNIPER ART (las Vegas). To review on line, visit this link: http://www.seahawkartmuseum.com/chinasfarmers.htm
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