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The Chinese leadership, like the leadership of every country, is a band of old men. Old men who know they won't be around to see the worst consequences of glob
by caf 17y ago
The Chinese leadership, like the leadership of every country, is a band of old men. Old men who know they won't be around to see the worst consequences of global warming, but consider that they might well be around long enough to hang from lampposts should the gravy train of economic growth shudder to a halt.
- hga 17y agoCulturally the Chinese seem to care a lot more about their children, you can see this in their ruling class by how many well connected sons are running various enterprises. And culturally I see no reason they'd buy into the West's Malthusian tradition, which goes back to 200 AD (sic). So as noted, they (or their staff) can read the IPCC reports, read the ClimateGate emails and code, etc. etc. and do what's right for their country. Heck, they're not watermelons, e.g. green on outside, red on the inside. They're unabashedly red all the way through, they don't need environmentalism as a stealth path to "socialism", they've got their own version of the real thing!
- gaius 17y agoCulturally the Chinese seem to care a lot more about their children, you can see this in their ruling class by how many well connected sons are running various enterprises There's a word for that: nepotism.
- nitrogen 17y agoI don't see any reason for all cultures to have a negative view of nepotism. Were I a parent, I'd certainly try to provide the best possible platform for my children on which to build their careers. I see nepotism as wrong only when it comes at too great a cost to the company or country in which it is practiced, or violates laws or company policies.
- Tuna-Fish 17y agoThe reason nepotism is so despised in the west is because we still remember how it worked the last time we tried it -- aristocracy is just the extreme version of nepotism. There is nothing wrong in trying to provide for your child as well as you can, but (s)he shouldn't end in a leadership position just because of his pedigree. Nepotism is generally one of the opposites of meritocracy.
- jacoblyles 17y agoThe Chinese old men seem to have a much longer planning horizon than the leaders of our own country, who only look to the next election cycle (2, 4, or 6 years).