This week I checked out China Rises, a 4-part series that has been much hyped by the Discovery Times channel. As the title indicates, the program deals with China's coming of age and entrance on to the world stage. The theme constantly hammered home is that while they are many successes there are also failures, sacrifice and hardship in the country. While some get rich, others find themselves worse off. China's economic success has come at a price.
On the one hand this is undeniable. China's boom has been accompanied by some profound misery -- a key reason for the thousands of riots, protests and civil disturbances that take place there every year. One example cited in part 4 of the series, about Shanghai, is how many people have been forced off their land to make way for new development.
While the economic takeoff may be the proximate cause for this misery, the real reason is bad government. Developers bribe government officials to force the people off the land and eliminate their claims to it. This is not capitalism run amok, this is a failure to enforce and uphold property rights -- a founding principle of capitalism.
Far more egregious, however, was part 3, entitled "Food is Heaven." As the website states:
The economic illiteracy presented in this program was astonishing. During one scene some farmland was displayed that was slated to be turned into an Intel factory. The narrator grimly observed that unlike the farmland, the villagers would not be able to eat what was being produced at the new factory -- computer chips. He is, of course, technically correct. One can not safely eat computer chips. But what one can do is sell the computer chips, in exchange for money which can then be used to obtain food. It's called trade. It also explains how farmers in Iowa obtain computers despite growing corn.
What made this all the more frustrating is that the point was blatantly obvious if the program's producers had watched their own work. Early in the program they noted that China's massive population has traditionally struggled to obtain food, resulting in food being a long-time topic of interest. Food enjoys such an exalted place in the Chinese psyche because it is something few have taken for granted. This also helps explain why the Chinese have traditionally eaten just about anything that walks, crawls or swims. One gentleman explained that during the Cultural Revolution he often ate cicada larvae for protein.
But wait a minute, hundreds of years ago China has fewer people, more undeveloped land and yet struggled more to obtain food -- how is that? Doesn't more land mean more food? Not really. It is precisely because, not in spite of, China's development that malnutrition and hunger is becoming less of a problem. This development is absolutely something to be celebrated. Each wheatfield or rice paddy turned into a factory should be a cause for joy. After all, is it better to obtain one's food by toiling in a factory or doing back-breaking farm labor? The fact that so many people have left the countryside to find work in the cities would suggest an answer.
On the one hand this is undeniable. China's boom has been accompanied by some profound misery -- a key reason for the thousands of riots, protests and civil disturbances that take place there every year. One example cited in part 4 of the series, about Shanghai, is how many people have been forced off their land to make way for new development.
While the economic takeoff may be the proximate cause for this misery, the real reason is bad government. Developers bribe government officials to force the people off the land and eliminate their claims to it. This is not capitalism run amok, this is a failure to enforce and uphold property rights -- a founding principle of capitalism.
Far more egregious, however, was part 3, entitled "Food is Heaven." As the website states:
From the steamy kitchens of Canton to the arid moonscapes of the north, food is the very heart and soul of China. But increasing development and dwindling water supplies are threatening the nation's ability to feed itself.Indeed, I lost track of the number of times the voiceover kept saying that China is in danger of losing its ability to feed itself. This is bull****. Really, who cares? Lots of countries can't feed themselves. The Netherlands can't. Belgium can't. Singapore can't. Of course, they aren't starving either. How is that? Simple: they trade their exports for food. And they're all rich.
The economic illiteracy presented in this program was astonishing. During one scene some farmland was displayed that was slated to be turned into an Intel factory. The narrator grimly observed that unlike the farmland, the villagers would not be able to eat what was being produced at the new factory -- computer chips. He is, of course, technically correct. One can not safely eat computer chips. But what one can do is sell the computer chips, in exchange for money which can then be used to obtain food. It's called trade. It also explains how farmers in Iowa obtain computers despite growing corn.
What made this all the more frustrating is that the point was blatantly obvious if the program's producers had watched their own work. Early in the program they noted that China's massive population has traditionally struggled to obtain food, resulting in food being a long-time topic of interest. Food enjoys such an exalted place in the Chinese psyche because it is something few have taken for granted. This also helps explain why the Chinese have traditionally eaten just about anything that walks, crawls or swims. One gentleman explained that during the Cultural Revolution he often ate cicada larvae for protein.
But wait a minute, hundreds of years ago China has fewer people, more undeveloped land and yet struggled more to obtain food -- how is that? Doesn't more land mean more food? Not really. It is precisely because, not in spite of, China's development that malnutrition and hunger is becoming less of a problem. This development is absolutely something to be celebrated. Each wheatfield or rice paddy turned into a factory should be a cause for joy. After all, is it better to obtain one's food by toiling in a factory or doing back-breaking farm labor? The fact that so many people have left the countryside to find work in the cities would suggest an answer.
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