Of course, if a few peasants are in the way of development in China, the gov't can boot them off their land without a second thought. They don't have to worry a

Of course, if a few peasants are in the way of development in China, the gov't can boot them off their land without a second thought. They don't have to worry about NIMBYism or environmental concerns either. I think a lot of the developmental sclerosis affecting America comes down to the relative affluence of the people impacted by development. Poor Chinese may be just as unhappy about development, but the government can simply ignore them in a way the US government can't ignore its citizens. California is one of the most affluent states; it makes sense that development in CA is particularly difficult.