Leaders lose face as Most Honorable Lucky Joyous #7 Golden Blizzard leaves China in shambles (Trees And Things)

port1080: Re: There Is No Value Judgment In These Statements

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 18:39:39 EST

China is not on a march to democracy.

Did I ever say it was? You'll note that I have explicitly stated in at least two other posts that I don't think China will become a Western style democracy any time soon (if ever). All I'

thefadd: There Is No Value Judgment In These Statements

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 18:25:45 EST

China has had the same government system for better than 3000 years. Foreign royals (Ming Empire) and foreign ideas (communism) have toppled the head but all, even Mao, have left the same system of bureaucratic local governance in place. The changes have b

port1080: Re: Government by Riot

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 15:48:18 EST

What about a nation like North Korea which has had nearly continuous negative economic growth? You aren't describing the conditions required to avoid a revolution so much as the conditions required to maintain popular support.

Ahh,

Shy Elf: Government by Riot

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 15:35:08 EST

That's why authoritarian nations are always, inherently unstable. Unless they can maintain perfect economic growth at all times, eventually they'll stumble.

What about a nation like North Korea which has had nearly continuous negati

port1080: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 15:18:45 EST

I've little understanding of how China actually replaces its leadership and thus whether there is sufficient flexibility to change prior policy.

It's basically on a ten year cycle - each new central figure gets two five year terms.

Shy Elf: Cascading Failures

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 14:38:18 EST

China is not used to snow, so of course it will cause transportation problems. The roots of their problems with this storm go deeper, however.

Electricity demand is way up with increased prosperity. Recently a series of high-profile coal min

doom4rent: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:45:41 EST

"So far the only country that's been totally successful at that has been Singapore - which, let's not forget, is a tiny, mono-ethnic city state that could hardly be more different than large, multi-ethnic China."

Possibly just nitpicking, but as

wetkarma: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 06:53:29 EST

Now, that said, I don't think that if the CCP's rule ends in China that we'll see a democracy come out of that. We could just go to another authoritarian government (or even to a complete breakup of the country). I'm one that believes in the inevit

port1080: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 06:03:11 EST
I realized after re-reading my reply that I never responded directly to the thrust of your post. In answer to this:
We hold free flow of information and individual liberty at such a premium that we rarely question whether modern societies -truly-

port1080: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 05:48:47 EST
I think we (in the west) have a presumption that China, because it opresses and restricts the liberties of its citizens, is fundamentally an unstable nation. Eventually, we think, the people will rise up and the CCP toppled.
Well, the thing is

wetkarma: Re: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 05:10:31 EST

I think it will take something a bit more major than what we're seeing right now, but if, say, there's a huge disaster related to the Three Gorges Dam, or a huge embarrassment related to the Beijing Olympics, it could serve as the catalyst for an h

thefadd: Re: That 54 degrees fahrenheit really only applies

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 22:19:29 EST
Yes, and they're not used to it.

Lou: Fear not

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 22:11:14 EST
Even if the gutters of China run red with blood...even if bodies are stacked five high from conflicts between the citizens and the government...there will be a US President ready to give China Most Favored Nation Status.

port1080: Challenges for the Chinese leadership...

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 21:48:05 EST
The next year or two might be interesting for the Chinese leadership. A lot of the reason that their hasn't been a whole lot of protest or resistance to the Communist dictatorship in China since Tienanmen has been that the CCP leadership has done a very g

MayorBob: That 54 degrees fahrenheit really only applies ...

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 20:57:32 EST
... to the far south of China, which includes Hong Kong. For the more populous regions of China, it looks like they've been experiencing constant sub-zero temps and going d

thefadd: I'd Rather Be

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 19:48:38 EST
...stuck in a snow storm than at a Tom Petty concert for 3 hours. At least there'd be a story to tell and maybe a couple decent snow ball fights. However, these people appear woefully ill-prepared for any weather below 54F.