"be careful what you wish for."
a recent article from the washington post suggests that chinese citizens are tired of diminishing human rights and limited freedom within the communist system. as you read this, wen jiabao is attempting to mobilize the communist party of china and win the upcoming elections.
as most americans would argue, china's integration into the capitalist system presents opportunity for the average chinese citizen. while i wholeheartedly agree with this statement, i urge the western world and "global north" to take caution when examining the results of the upcoming elections. i, like most logical thinkers, am thrilled that china is beginning to embrace not only capitalism but the opportunities that it can bring to an entire nation.
that being said, we need to beware of the negative impacts that said integration can have on the entire economic system. daly and farley point out that capitalism's throughput has dire environmental consequences. throughput (otherwise thought of as low-entropy resources transformed into high-entropy waste via the capitalist system) is unaccounted for in the circular flow model. when you take into account the fact that china alone--separate from the rest of the developing world--will become one of the largest users of fossil fuels, mineral resources, water, renewable energy, and waste absorption, the reality is disheartening.
ultimately--not only the environment--but the economy as a whole will suffer with china's integration into the capitalist system. and, as previously mentioned, these facts pertain only to china's progression into capitalism. when you take into account the demands and resources needed by the rest of the developing world--particularly brazil, russia, india, and indonesia--the future becomes rather bleak.
most of our blog readers are aware of my political persuasion. that being said. maybe change isn't what we should embrace. perhaps just this once we should hope for familiarity. communism may not always be the answer, but when it comes to china's economic aspirations, perhaps--just this once--we should forget about "change" and instead give our wholehearted support to the "chains" that have tied down china literally for generations.
+10 points to whomever can tell me how much i've consumed tonight.
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