by Michael Breckenridge

Created on: July 19, 2007

Absolutely not!

I am a Canadian and have lived in Tianjin China for five years. Tianjin is a city of ten million plus but is far from Capitalist, it is not even Socialist, it is Elitist. In this city all power is controlled by the Communist Party secretary, nothing happens here without his or her ok.

There are many, many small business people but they are dictated to daily on what they can do,sell, say etc. Now if you are a Communist party member and part of the government you can do anything you want. There is no "rule of law" in Tianjin so there is virtually no justice system. Corruption is rampant in every area of society. In a Capitalist society corruption is eradicated through the legal system, but not so in China.Bribery is everywhere. Even most foreigners get caught in this scam.

In a Capitalist system the market sets the value on goods and services, but here that does not happen. The Government sets the price for everything and this creates a truly false economy. China only knows that Capitalism is wrong in their eyes. Things like technology and knowledge are chased after but seldom caught. If the Chinese beg, borrow or steal the technology rarely do they know how to use it. On televsion they like to boast about their newest achievements but usually soon after they show this technology it is broken and they cannot fix it.

So a Capitalist Society, a million light years from it. But, Elitist, the few people at the top of the power chain are glorified as Gods. Their nose are stuck so high in the air they treat other people like dirt,locals and foreigners. They believe because the they are the most populist country in the world, the oldest civilization, they are number one in the world but the reality is just the opposite of this.

Education is not valued here the same as anything of quality is not wanted. To meet their expectations they just want cheap. Unfortunately the world demands quality and good prices. China has only figured out one half of the equation.

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