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Thursday, November 20, 2008 There Are A Lot Of People In China By Paul Hsieh @ 12:06 AM Today's Eric Daniels-type bit of trivia comes from Strange Maps": China is the world's most populous nation. That much anybody knows. But even if we know a bit more (that the number of Chinese is around 1.32 billion, which is just under 20% of all humans alive today), that figure is still too big to mean much beyond that China is 'number one'. This map compares the population of China's provinces (plus the 'renegade province' of Taiwan), autonomous regions and municipalities with those of whole countries, and thus helps shed some light on that issue. China is an interesting country in that it is no longer committed ideologically to Communism, but it is no where close to a free country. Instead, the ideology is a mixture of authoritarianism, nationalism, and some market elements. Hence, I'm glad that there are people interested in translating Ayn Rand's works into Chinese. If Rand's ideas ever took hold there, China could become a true powerhouse on the world stage. On the other hand, if a different bad ideology became entrenched in place of Communism, we could be looking at a huge menace. (Via Dave Does The Blog.) Labels: Cool, Foreign Policy   E-mail Paul Hsieh    PermaLink ()    Comments (New Page)

Comments on "There Are A Lot Of People In China"
	Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 6:03:38 mst Comment ID: #1 Name: Doug URL: http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com I think there are still some nontrivial elements of Marxism in China. A lot of my friends from mainland China indicated that Chinese high school students are still forced to learn various Marxist "refutations" of capitalism. Specifically, they are forced to memorize (not question or necessarily comprehend) these arguments and must regurgitate them on command for exams. Thus, while Marx's ideas may be currently fading from China's political scene, his ideas are still well-entrenched in China's educational system. Since their education is limited to memorization, I am not sure how these arguments influence China's youth. I suspect many of these students go shopping at the mall immediately after learning about Marx in school. However, there obviously are some powerful people in China who still take Marxism seriously, otherwise it would not be taught in public schools. Needless to say, to move towards becoming a free country, China must get Marx out of its educational system.
	Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 8:09:39 mst Comment ID: #2 Name: Tom Swift I am a Canadian school teacher in China, working at a joint Canadian-Chinese school. It is true that the students are forced to memorize Marxist propaganda but the young kids are starting to realize that the system that they have grown up in is flawed. I do not know what it is like in areas that do not have the influence of the west, like our school does. Just today, our students staged a mini-riot since they have no other way to get people to listen to them. When they complain to the Chinese principal, she ignores them. When they complain to their parents, their parents tell them to listen to authority and do not argue. They know that the Chinese system is not working and they are angry and frustrated. You sense it with every person you talk to. Sooner or later, something is going to happen. Pretty soon the government will push someone too far and it will start. I tried to look at the link provided for the Rand translations, but the Chinese government blocks internet access to that url. I have purchased a Chinese translation of the Fountainhead in Shanghai and I believe that a copy of We The living is also available. Have not seen Atlas Shrugged though. I do not know how good the translation is, since I can not read Chinese but the one person I gave a copy of the book to could not get through it. It is an interesting society over here. Most people just want the government to leave them alone and let them do business. Quite a bunch of capitalists here. They will ignore laws that they feel block them of what they need to do to survive. For a communist country, in many aspects it is the freest place I have ever lived.
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