The Gap Between China's Rich And Poor.....

We have always been subject to the discussion on income gap between rich and poor back home in rags such as the New York Times, who never saw a tax that it didn't like, as long as it was aimed at the undeserving 'rich'. Typical leftist dogma likes to use taxes against the rich as a utopian wealth distribution method that shrinks the gap between the haves and have-nots. So, generally, blathering about the wealth gap is just the first volley in a program to increase income taxes.

However, this issue is even more important in the developing world, particularly China, where access to government and favors allows certain 'connected' private individuals benefits not allowed to the public in general. A widening income gap is the result of both...

Among the wealthiest are private business owners whose fortunes were built through hard work and talent, the Xinhua report said" and those whose riches stem from corruption and crime."

The interesting thing is that rampant corruption, particularly among the elite government officials, is itself viewed as a risk to stability in China by the government officials. So, what are they going to do? Throw themselves in jail? They are both the problem and serving themselves up as the solution to the problem. How silly is that? There are fundamental problems with this since government officials have always viewed themselves as above the law, the law, although voluminous, is not enforced equally and the judicial system is weak and is itself subject to the same corruption that plagues government officials.

As far as I am concerned, what makes the problem of official corruption in China even more recalcitrant is that there is no mechanism for cleaning house and injecting new blood in the political process. Authoritarianism is a short-term answer to a problem that other unintended long-term consequences for a society.

China now has an elite class of government officials that will be difficult to dislodge. Despite its short-comings, democracy is a mechanism for creating a transition mechanism and represents the combined wisdom of the people. It provides a peaceful mechanism to remove corruption and start on a path to make changes. Some may argue that democracy is an imperfect solution to such a big problem but I think that Winston Churchill said it best...

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

I had to laugh at this line in the article sited above, though, since it is ever so true....

In a separate report, the state-run newspaper China Daily took aim at the gaps in incomes of China's government employees.

The topic is "a highly contentious issue, especially as many in China cast doubt on the very existence of any honest officials," it said.