You know, writers usually die early. And they give out Nobel Prizes to those who are still alive.

chocolate-covered-coffee-bean style critique

John Pomfret
which was both thought-provoking and critique-inducing.

four bets he was talking about today:
development above all?
income gap
environmental problems
collapse of belief system - from the era of morons to the money-driven society


I was surprised by his profound knowledge of the contemporary China as a foreigner and inspired by the metaphers of "bets" he used in talking about the future of China. But I certaintly do not agree on the "total collapse of the belief system", to me it is rather in the process of redefinition/blending. And what is the use of a belief system per se?
Also I found him to be a little pessimistic, and he sort of deviates from at least having a deeper look at the temperament of the Chinese citizens. If I were to have a choice right now to either bet on the government or on the people, I'd definitely choose the latter. Not just China, the trend of "people not trusting their government" is prevalent in other parts of the world including America. The government may be very soon malfunctioning, and our people could be as blind (or even more so) as any other peoples. Chinese people somehow are unusually tolerant, adaptive, and entrepreneurial (when it is necessary). We are less happy because we burden We are usually much closer to the sense of "we have nothing to lose" than many other peoples. When there are market failures, people strive to make new markets. I admit this is a excruciating growing pain for us Chinese right now and it may last long but they are the prices we pay to rebuild our nation. Also he ignores that the government is getting more repsonsive to public feedback on government performance (cancelation of the plan for the Nu River Dam, posecution of several corrupted officials?). Also I want to explore more about how the potential redefinition of immobile property rights in the Constitution will impact the environmental issues and a healthier economic development path.
Forgot to also mention the impact of legal reforms. There are so many aspects about the new China that John didn't see.
And also I have new ideas about informed decision-making at the government level so that decisions are made not out of balances of state and provincial political powers but scientific observations and estimations. This is not to say the latter would necessarily result in a better situation since nature is also a big player here but it is certainly a convergence to how most up-to-date decisions are made in private businesses, which
I'm actually a little worried about the imprecision side of the Chinese temperament, but the biggest pitfall is not the ideal pursuit of hamonies withotu calculations but rather the somewhat failing education system, which I believe serves as the root for any positive changes and growths in any society. so what's the problem? brain drain? confusions of the teachers themselves? Scarcity of children comes along with spoiling and lack of considerateness and sympathy. hate from the poor? access to higher education? structure failures? forgot how to be a real scholar?
Sigh, talking all these I found many are stil going back to the belief systerm. But I sincerely don't think any single religion can solve the prolem sicne they can also be used to error on the moron side. It is all our own doing.
It may more be a defect of our temperament than out government.
Sigh, I don't have a point anymore. So, stop here.

well before best before

Everything that is good will go well before "best before". And I realized it doesn't just apply to snacks.