Reply to Rinsa.

A rare reader made a reply to one of my entries (what can Al Gore do about the Chicoms).  I will post this reply and make my reply to it.

 

Mr. Kaulins,
Greetings from Shanghai! I just came across your blog/vlog and I wanted to send you my regards.

I think you and I have opposing political perspectives, but I appreciate your efforts to chronicle your experiences in China none the less. Actually, I bet we have a lot in common. Your writings about "China Angst" struck a chord with me. Lord knows, I've been there a few times!

Anyway, in response to your post about Al Gore (recent Nobel Peace Prize recipient) and any supposed relationship or influence he might have on the Chinese, I can only say that I don't think it will matter much in the long-run. The Chinese are already keenly aware of their environmental problems. They are also aware of their relative impoverishment. Striking a balance between economic development and environmental health is extremely difficult, to say the least, but the Chinese seem to be up to the challenge. The government (surprisingly) has made strides in recent years to address such issues (the Kyoto agreement, state-sponsored green industries, public transportation initiatives, eco-friendly urban planning, etc.-- all things in which the U.S. seems reluctant to engage, by the way).
Therefore, I will venture to suggest that Al Gore's primary audience is really the apathetic western world (i.e., the United States). A place, my home, where consciousness about these global matters abounds but action clearly does not. I honestly wish I could say otherwise, but one only need look at national budget expenditures to see where our priorities really lie--corporate welfare via the military-industrial complex (to put it bluntly). It's a shame.

I must also respectfully disagree with your statement that "China's environmental problems are the result of authoritarian government..." This is, well, not a complete analysis. Quite frankly, it's a little cliche to beat the old Communism-as-pariah drum in this way. It's not only utterly meaningless in this situation, but it also denies the real-world causes of environmental devastation. How, Mr. Kaulins, can we begin to address our global problems if we can't even be honest about their root causes?

I mean, I would say (just for starters) that China's rapid industrialization, along with it's sparse and unreliable infrastructure, overpopulation, diminishing natural resources, and the insatiable hunger for material goods from foreign interests (among many, many other issues) are far more directly responsible for China's environmental concerns than state authoritarianism. I mean, since when does global warming have a political agenda? If I remember correctly from my elementary biology class, we all breathe the same air.
That being said, I thank your for your commentary. It's always great to see how other expats are understanding China and its relationship to the rest of us. It helps to get some fresh perspectives from a fellow blogger.

Much respect to your and yours.

 

First off, I am of the opinion that Global Warming or Climate Change claims made byAl Gore are exaggerated.  But this is not to say that there are not environmental problems.   There are but they should be solved locally.  If we changed our life style's as Al Gore wants us to do, it would not make a whit of difference.  It would also impoverish many.

I know the Chinese are aware of their environmental problems but they are also aware they have a corrupt government that controls everything.  During the onset of the Wuxi Water Crisis, the government controlled media, made no mention for three days of the problems citizens were having with their tap water.  The government hoped that the problem could be solved without actually having to say anything about it.  But when the groundswell of concern became too much for the government to ignore, they told the citizens that the water was okay if you boiled it, but this was not true either.   The annoying smell of the water was stopped by rumours persist that the government was only using more chemicals to to hide the odour.  Later on, a few people working in Yixing got the sack, but no one in authority like the mayor had to suffer the grilling that an elected official in the west would have if this had happened on his or her watch.

Incidentally, an environmental acitivist who was first cited as a hero by the Wuxi government for bringing attention to the problems of Tai Hu Lake water has put in prison for three years because he went too far and might have actually challenged the positions of those in power.

I had the opportunity to go to the countryside of Jiangsu province and the first thing I notice is the amount of trash everywhere where there is no trash collection.  Citizens of the countryside should be parading in the streets demanding that the local government do something but that won't happen.

Global Warming does have a politcal agenda.   I could not help but notice that every article praising Al Gore's Nobel triumph could not help but take a shot at George Bush.  And the changes that Al Gore wants us all to make will involve an increase in the size of governing bodies. 

After the death of Mao, the Chicoms realized they could not solve poverty through central-planning, so they opened up some markets.   The markets brought with them some forces that the Chicoms had to crush to keep themselves in power.  For the Chicoms, this is the real balance they are trying to grapple with (environmental concerns are secondary).  How to keep political control of the country while not letting the market unlease forces that could damage this control.  The amount of economic growth there has been in China is really an indication of how bad an economic idea central planning by the ChiComs was.   It is still the same party that is in power today. 

It was the Chicoms who made the horrendously arbitrary decision to build the Three Gorges Dam.  It will take them years to admit they made a mistake.

For the Olympics, the Chicom solution for hiding the bad air of Beijing is to use authortarian means .

We have our problems in the West too but again I see we would differ about what they are.  I don't think China can teach us anything about environmental problems.  I see China as still a sad country.  It has fouled up its development big time.  I would say it has even warped it.  Its people are its greatest resource.  They can be hard-working.  They still talk of having a strong family structure.  But they are victims  of things right out of Orwell's 1984.  It is a shame.

Thank you Rinsa for taking the time to read my blog.  Email me at akaulins@gmail.com