Quiet Revolution

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Urban income in China is over three times that of rural residents. The top 10% of urban Chinese earn over nine times as much as the bottom 10%. In rural China, the top 10% earn seven times what the bottom 10% earn. The income gap in China is not just between wealthy and poor, but is all-encompassing throughout the Chinese income structure. Where is the pay equity promised by the communist government? The problem is that old ways die hard. The pay inequity is to the point of causing social instability and new laws are being passed. The simple fact is that enforcement of new regulations lags about three years behind passage. And in certain remote geographic areas of China, even longer. Besides, China's well-implemented and widely accepted levels of social status and the rewards thereof are not about to change any time soon. Huge industrial infrastructure or not, the profits go to the owners and the pay to migrant workers is a pittance. And never forget that political corruption in China is rampant.

Surprisingly enough, yes, it does seem that there will be greater demands for respect of civil rights and political freedoms as the country grows more prosperous. There were 87,000 protest incidents in China in 2005 -- up from 11,000 a decade before. The scope of the huge and widening social and income inequity could eventually cause revolution it is so bad. Even Premier Wen Jiabao has met with construction workers and farmers to obtain their inputs. He has quoted Abraham Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people and for the people" in making promises of equity to all -- a promise he will probably not be able to fully keep.

The power of the communist party will eventually erode, as it did in the Soviet Union. But remember that China is eons behind in its social and political development. And the Chinese are renowned experts in the art of brutal social repression. Economics and resulting social unrest will drag the Chinese Communists down eventually -- but don't look for it anytime soon.

Bibliography

Guthrie, D. (2003, June 22). The quiet revolution: The emergence of capitalism (Harvard International Review). Retrieved September 8, 2009, from accessmylibrary.com: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-23886109_ITM