i have seen a lot of fake 10’s, and even been given them in pay packets. but i have never seen fake 100’s, even though i’m sure there are plenty. you really have to pay attention, to not get ripped of in this country.

May 12, 2007 @ 11:04 am | Comment

I hope to start up a chain of businesses in China some day, so I can shove my boot firmly up the asses of unscrupulous employers.

May 12, 2007 @ 1:52 pm | Comment

I’ve gotten a fake 50 before – naturally, in the Silk Market!

May 12, 2007 @ 4:39 pm | Comment

Before you enter politics, you must ask yourself a question, “Who am I?” This is usually a philosophical question, but in this post, this is a political question.

How do you answer this question? Well, this is simply asking “Whose side am I on?” Marx said once, “Humanity is the sum of all social relations”. So the “I” in politics is basically your relationship with politics.

Now some people may say “I’m an independent, I form my opinions based on my conscience.” Well, very good. But I’m sorry to tell you that you are too politically immature. In the realm of politics, there’s no such thing as an independent. People who claim to be independents simply have no entered the doors of politics. In politics, you are bound to belong to a certain group, a certain interest. To put it very bluntly, politics is just the continuous struggle and scheming between different groups and interests. The only way you can particpate in politics is to find a group to be in. There are those who are already in a group, yet they don’t know it. That is very dangerous, that leads to the kind of people who make political mistakes and end up like Gorbachev.

To the question of “Who Am I?”, my answer is very clear, because I have very high political awareness. I belong to the Chinese worker/farmer class, of course that does not mean I have to be a worker or a farmer, but my allegiance belongs to that class. Therefore my political view is that I want to maximize the interests of Chinese workers and farmers.

The reason I support the Chinese Communist Party so far is that this Party’s view is the same as mine, both of us are here to defend the interests of the workers and farmers.

Now you may say “Math! Are you blind? The workers and farmers have greatly suffered under the Chinese Communist Party!” Please listen to me.

Workers and farmers are laborers, laborers are born to take in hardships. Workers and farmers are at the bottom rung of the society, and the bottom rung of any society is not that comfortable. If you do a “parallel comparison”, workers and farmers always live harsher lives than other classes in a society. In America, workers and farmers live the harshest lives as well. This is a basic fact of human society, and even the Chinese Communist Party cannot change that fact. Yes, I agree that the biggest beneficiaries of China’s economic reforms are not the workers and farmers, yet that is not a reason to deny that the Chinese Communist Party stands politically on the same side as workers and farmers. One, workers and farmers also benefited from the reform (please do not disagree with me on this basic point). Two, the reforms are the quickest ways to raise the livelihood of workers and farmers. Now you say “How can you say you represent their interests when they are so poor!”. Well, when a party represent the interests of workers and farmers, it does not mean it wants to make all workers and farmers millinaires. When American Democratic Party claims it represents the interests of minorities, does it aim to ultimately make blacks more powerful than whites, of course not. In other words, can you say that the democratic party is a worse party than the republican party becaues the democratic party’s constituencies are statistically much poorer than the republican party’s constituencies? If this is the case, then whoever represents the interests of the Oil Tycoons will always be judged as a good party, while whoever represents the interests of the homeless will always be judged as a bad party. Can you say “Look! You represent the homeless’ interests, but the homeless’s are so poor! So clearly you are doing a bad job!”

I stand by the Chinese Communist Party and I like their slogan of “Stability overrides everything”, because this is the necessary ingredient for China to continue to grow and develop. It may not be the necessary condition for another nation, but for China, I’m sorry, it is. If one day the Chinese Communist Party betrays the workers and the farmers, then I’ll find another group to stand by with.

Ok, now I have answered my question of “Who Am I”. Do you dare to answer yours? Please tell me, which group do you stand by with?

May 13, 2007 @ 3:38 am | Comment

“Group? I don’t need no stinkin’ group!”

May 13, 2007 @ 11:27 am | Comment

Math,

That sounds like a lot of santimonious Bull Sh–

You are supposedly there for the farmers and workers.
You also say they are born to take in hardship.

Do you feel you are born to take in hardship?
I doubt it; it seems you want to take the role of benefactor from a distance; therefore when the sh-t hits the fan, not much splatters on you.

I would grant that the CCP has done good things for the farmers and workers; but it also does it at what it dictates at its pace, and allowing others to skim off the top.

Plus, they don’t allow anyone else to give it a try to see if they can do better; nor allow for divergent opinions etc. so we really don’t know who might represent the farmers and workers better. As long as they can then provide some small benefit for the farmers and workers they can justify their seeming benevolent and skim and skim and skim.

For me, I am for anyone who brings consistent results and lets the farmers and workers have their two cents in on who represents them best.

May 13, 2007 @ 11:33 am | Comment

Math

This is my first post ever; I just couldn’t let this opportunity slip by I’m glad to see that your finally starting to post again. I was starting to worry that some thing happened to you. Ever since they banned you from the duck pond, I didn’t think you would ever post again. The comments that you have written are very interesting and well thought out, fortunately I have no idea what the f**k your talking about. Welcome back I missed you.

May 13, 2007 @ 12:25 pm | Comment

“Plus, they don’t allow anyone else to give it a try to see if they can do better; nor allow for divergent opinions etc. so we really don’t know who might represent the farmers and workers better. As long as they can then provide some small benefit for the farmers and workers they can justify their seeming benevolent and skim and skim and skim.”

I have invited all here to come to my house and I’ll hold interviews for them for the position of CEO of China, as a replacement for CCP, the current management team of China. But no one responded.

So I send my invitation again, you are welcome to submit your proposals/papers/research/ideas about governance in China, anything from healthcare, social security, unemployment, military, environment protection, etc. And I’ll review your submitted proposals and policies against the current CCP’s policies, and see which ones make more sense for China.

This is not a joke. If you have better policy ideas for China, please submit.

May 13, 2007 @ 1:09 pm | Comment

holy shit he actually responded

May 13, 2007 @ 2:23 pm | Comment

Joe, Math was never banned from the duckpond. Readers were simply cautioned not to reply, since he never once, until today, responded to the comments of others.

Meanwhile, his argument is screwy as usual, but I think he has a point about those being on the bottom of the totem pole being stoic and accepting of the shit they are doled out. Especially in China. Still, his BS about the CCP being the party of the farmer and the laborer is simply that, BS.

May 13, 2007 @ 8:28 pm | Comment

This is a little miracle, isn’t it? MATH RESPONDED!
“Workers and farmers are laborers, laborers are born to take in hardships.”
I always knew it, Math is a real member of the gentry, he died during the Middle Ages and his ghost can’t find peace, so he has to haunt blogsites on the Internet.
“I have invited all here to come to my house and I’ll hold interviews for them for the position of CEO of China, as a replacement for CCP, the current management team of China. But no one responded.”
Where is your house?

May 14, 2007 @ 12:37 am | Comment

Math,

It is not a matter of policies; on paper the policies express concern, appropriate goals etc.
The flaw is in the greed of control.

In reality it is like an oversized corporation that is too large to manage effectively. To compensate, justify their top position, and cover up the flaws, the rulers refuse transparency.
Further they minimize rule by law so they can arbitrarily keep things in their favor and avoid any serious accountability.

Finally they control the media so that the underlings do not realize how much in common all are suffering.

This allows them to maintain a patronizing attitude which you reveal in yourself–the farmers and laborers are destined to hardship and adversity, not those on top.

And you (lacking any authority for enforcement) still in the same patronizing manner, say you will evaluate all suggestions for change.

Read the responses on Richard’s gym; any system that large allows those on the upper eschelons the freedom to skim and skim and skim; As long as they can show some progress they have a job for life. They and only they can dictate the progress for others.

May 16, 2007 @ 12:23 am | Comment