Timf,
I appreciate the thought you’ve put into your response. To begin with, my perception of China was sculpted from my visit to Beijing and other provinces a little more than 5 months ago. Granted, a couple of weeks doesn’t really lend itself to a broad perspective, but I did get a dose of what I speak.
a. I had to hand over my passport to use the internet at a public cafe. What may or may not be allowed is not the point. The fact that information is controlled limits the capacity of the people to understand the problems they face, especially when buisness crosses politics, which we’ve established happens from time to time.
b. Mao’s face was all over the place. It’d be like walking around germany and seeing pictures of hitler hanging everywhere, and millions of people walking around without knowledge or reflection of what that image means. Deception on such a massive scale is disturbing, especially considering the degree of the cover up.
c. China may be doing this, but from what my ex-pat friends in China have told me from their own experience, what the Chinese government says, and what the Chinese government does, are often two completely different, if not directly opposite things. Heads roll at the top levels, and thousands of factories close? Sounds like a political powerplay to me, and there’s no way the government publicly admitted failure to its people. If they did, I’d like to see the press release.
d. Unlikely. Perfect english would be a bit suspect, don’t you think? I have to say though, it’s improbable that China would have much to gain from subverting our forums.
e. Does it take a highly educated person to know that something’s wrong when an entire class of second graders would rather hand in a blank piece of paper than draw something of their own creation for credit? As for the change, I think you’re right. They’re not stupid, and I imagine most Asian nations are recognizing, on some level, that ceativity is important to a future economy. That said, the educational system, social trends, and buisness institutions have a lot of momentum going the other way. Young Chinese/Asian IDers have a lot standing in their way, but who knows, it could make them stronger.
If I’m way off base on something factual, let me know, but for the most part, I have either had first hand experiences, or multiple conversations with those who have had such experiences for themselves. China is a Massive place and to speak in generalities is always a fools errand, but alas, we do what we must. I know some of my statements line up with sterotypes, but if the shoe fits…