Student suggests sending workers back to the countryside as a solution to the economic crisis.

Tonight, I had a student tell me that the government should send unemployed city migrant workers back to the countryside. Her rationales were that there was unused land in the countryside needing to be cultivated (she said she had a plot of land), workers could learn useful agricultural skills such as growing food for themselves, and millions of Chinese would have work to do.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that Chairman Mao had tried just this sort of thing with a complete lack of success.


The bike ride home tonight was yucky. It rained, it was cold, and my rain coat was torn.