In China a 2-Year-Old was Ran Over Twice & No One Helped Her

... Didn't follow this thread recently, but the localnewspaper I'm reading was shedding some light on what's currently going on there : There is currently a special kind of scam going on, where - the article said - older people throw themselves onto the earth, and the next person who wants to help them and lift them up is accused by them to be the originator of this ... accident ? breakdown ? crash ? - Anyway, they're sued for compensation after this ... "accident" afterwards - the scammers are after the money.

And the author of the article mused that this might have been the fear of the people : That they might get sued, being accused of being responsible for this terrible accident.

You can rationalize anything, I don't see how the Peng Yu effect makes it any more excusable.

An online article of the local newspapr tells me that several ( ! ) Chinese car drivers didn't let an fire engine through to go against a house fire.

Is this what happens with people when communism turns into capitalism ? Pure egoism ?

That kind of things also happened in other coutries.Just wanna say i will try my best to help others in danger, because it is human nature.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

An online article of the local newspapr tells me that several ( ! ) Chinese car drivers didn't let an fire engine through to go against a house fire.

Is this what happens with people when communism turns into capitalism ? Pure egoism ?

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Alrik, you are on the right track here. Actually this unrestrained money worship and egoism is the spawn of Deng Xiaoping's reformation and opening policies which happened during the youth of most middle aged Chinese.

Hu Jintao is the first Chairman of China and the politburo since Mao to turn his back on the money oriented ideology of his predecessors. His famous "harmonious society" is a list of ethical rules for party members to follow so that the country can be filled with filled with moral piety based on patriotism.

The problem is that Chinese people have as much faith in their government as Americans do in theirs. We all believe our governments full of corrupt crooks that deserve nothing less than life in prison. The result is that the "harmonious society" is one of the biggest sarcastic jokes of all history. Harmony actually is more commonly used as a word to describe government suppression.

The girl that got ran over is a direct result of this destruction of ethical standards within China. I should note that that same week I saw another girl get run over. She wasn't in critical condition or anything, but after what happened to the little girl down south, the people around me were pretty pissed at the driver. Lucky for him he was very polite about it and immediately offered to take care of everything and guaranteed he would pay for any medical costs or otherwise.

Interesting side note for those who find this stuff fascinating:
Most Chinese people are not part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Why? Because the Party won't let them join. In modern times the CCP is an elite club that only the born rich or top scoring high school graduates can join. To join the CCP you must first be vetted by joining a minor party (not the same thing as the young pioneers, for those wondering) in elementary school. If you perform well here (both ideologically and in your general life) throughout your schooling you may then apply to the communist party. If you really want to get in, you better hope your parents are members in good standing, you are rich, and you are the top of your class. Of course lesser members are selected from time to time, but in general, they are not.

Once in the CCP you are now more or less above the law (the party has their own internal arbitration system which supersedes the law). You will be fast tracked for promotions and receive a multitude of perks from sweet resorts to free iPhones.

staylost said:

Interesting side note for those who find this stuff fascinating:
Most Chinese people are not part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Why? Because the Party won't let them join. In modern times the CCP is an elite club that only the born rich or top scoring high school graduates can join. To join the CCP you must first be vetted by joining a minor party (not the same thing as the young pioneers, for those wondering) in elementary school. If you perform well here (both ideologically and in your general life) throughout your schooling you may then apply to the communist party. If you really want to get in, you better hope your parents are members in good standing, you are rich, and you are the top of your class. Of course lesser members are selected from time to time, but in general, they are not.

Once in the CCP you are now more or less above the law (the party has their own internal arbitration system which supersedes the law). You will be fast tracked for promotions and receive a multitude of perks from sweet resorts to free iPhones.

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Really? That is interesting. Can you point to some sources?
I find it rather fascinating that China still keeps up the pretense of being a communist country, when in practice it seems more market-economy-oriented now than much of the west...

It's sounding like China is becoming more of a plutarchy. I find it fascinating.

GhanBuriGhan said:

Really? That is interesting. Can you point to some sources?
I find it rather fascinating that China still keeps up the pretense of being a communist country, when in practice it seems more market-economy-oriented now than much of the west…

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Sorry, I'm not going to be very good at getting you hard info. My information must be anonymous because I work with Party members every day and many are my friends as are their children. So I what I type here is not from western sources, but from dealing with the Chinese government bodies, living in Chinese society, chatting with my Chinese friends, and from Chinese media.

The one thing I can tell you is that the bad apple ruins the bunch. Most Party members view their role as a burden to do more than the average person to help their neighbor. But you still end up with your share of sociopaths, egoists, and narcissists in the party who simply use it as a way to do whatever they want. As we all know, the bad apples really stick out. (And tend to receive local leadership positions for reasons I can't understand. Maybe its because people lacking morals are willing to shoot Tibetans and then silence the truth like our friend Hu Jintao?)

Well, you'd better be careful as to what you are posting here, the way the internet is being monitored over there.

The communist party is really for the elite, but one thing to add is the elite most often don't have a choice, if you want to climb high you'd better join when you get the offer. Also if you have joined and you want to leave, there'll be quite some investigations and interviews with people who know you as to why this happens.

GothicGothicness said:

Well, you'd better be careful as to what you are posting here, the way the internet is being monitored over there.

The communist party is really for the elite, but one thing to add is the elite most often don't have a choice, if you want to climb high you'd better join when you get the offer. Also if you have joined and you want to leave, there'll be quite some investigations and interviews with people who know you as to why this happens.

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Actually, although internet monitoring is something I do actually consider evil and wrong, what I am speaking about isn't at all sensitive information, nor even about things I consider "wrong". China has its own way of setting up their government and that is their business.

Also, this idea of free speech scare tactics is so out of date in China. Yes, China blocks and monitors everything. But do they really care? I'd have to be a government official or large business owner for them to actually care what I am talking about. Honestly, people feel free to disparage ANY past or present leader in personal conversation like this. It is only when I am speaking for the government or am speaking with a public voice and as fact (as opposed to as my opinion) that the government here cares.

Also, the elite totally do have a choice. Higher level government posts require Party membership, but I know many (relatively) wealthy and powerful people that have been asked to join and have flatly refused.

China has problems, but people who want to act like it is still back in the cultural revolution environment of fear and despair are simply trying to score political points. I have never been treated in any way other than in total open mindedness by everyone I've met in China.

That's good to know. Thanks for your insight.

China has problems, but people who want to act like it is still back in the cultural revolution environment of fear and despair are simply trying to score political points. I have never been treated in any way other than in total open mindedness by everyone I've met in China.

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That is indeed interesting, I would wounder which part in china you are from in that case, or perhaps you've simple avoided the most sensetive topics ?

Either way that is completely untrue, people are still being arrested for posting something on weibo, or even for searching for wrong phrases on yahoo. In some ways things have gotten better sure, but somethings haven't changed at all or gotten even stricter.

The development in Wukan is extremly intersting though, I was really suprised by the way that was handled by the party. But perhaps they realise that after the tortures and killings, they had to give something to prevent all the bad PR.

but I know many (relatively) wealthy and powerful people that have been asked to join and have flatly refused.

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If you build your wealth and power on your own, you might have an option, as long as you don't try to oppose the party. But in a lot of companies you'll be asked if you want to join the party, and if you say no, you'll be excluded from the promotion and be stuck in a dead-end.

Let's keep in mind that what staylost isn't an uniquely Chinese experience. When Poland was a "socialist" (notice quotation marks) country Polish United Workers Party was as corrupt as its Chinese equivalent CCP. While ordinary party members weren't that much better off than rest of the citizens, once somebody has reached higher levels of party structure they were provided with special housing, health care and even special shops. There was a points system which guaranteed Politburo members' sons and daughters places at the universities and courses of their choice.
We called them "Red Princes"...

People are being arrested for posting stuff negative stuff about the CCP on weibo, because that is meant as a public broadcast system and those posting the material are well known or are Party enemies. Normal people aren't getting arrested, they are just getting their posts deleted and some sort of talking to if they continue down the same line.

I've never heard of someone being arrested for searches on yahoo.

Obviously, being a Party member is a way to get promoted in the system, but lets say I was an expert in engineering and they would bring me in to help on all sorts of projects. I'm not a Party member and they ask me to be one. I say no. They aren't going to do anything because it would be worse to have me stop working for them than it would be for me to not be in their club. Obviously, once again, opposing the Party is the big no no. Being independent or believing the Party could be better if it went in one directly rather than another isn't.

That is a very good point about where I live: Beijing and certain other northern cities are a bit behind the times. They like having soldiers everywhere and are afraid to speak out. Outside of that area, and especially along the east coast & all of southern China everyone is much better off and much more free to live their lives however they want. Speaking of which, Beijing is probably my least favorite city in the world. Pollution, censorship, bad people, and arrogance make for a terrible place. The local area is beautiful, but the town itself is wretched.

Funny thing about censorship is that Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are both often censored. When Hu came to Washington they cut half of his own speech out over here.

It is funny how Wukan caught the international spotlight. People protest all the time and the government almost without fail bends the knee. Most people in the CCP want to do right for the people and they are trying to listen to the people's needs. So when they hear something, they jump at the chance to show what they can do for the people.

Either way, Gothic, it is good to know others are keeping up with what it is really like over here. There is just so much misinformation and political sniping that the reality sometimes gets mixed up with the idea that the norm in China is equivalent to a few exceptional stories. That goes both ways, too.

Speaking of which, Beijing is probably my least favorite city in the world. Pollution, censorship, bad people, and arrogance make for a terrible place.

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I couldn't agree more, each time I get away from there and back to Sweden I take a lot of deep breaths enjoying the air and being able to see without a thick layer of fog.

In places like Fujian for example ( which is the richest parts of china ) things are better, I know, even some protests go through and people have a bit more influence.

It is funny how Wukan caught the international spotlight. People protest all the time and the government almost without fail bends the knee. Most people in the CCP want to do right for the people and they are trying to listen to the people's needs. So when they hear something, they jump at the chance to show what they can do for the people.

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The reason is that to my knowledge it is the first time, there was an actual real election held, much like a democratic election. It also surprised me how people where crying because they were allowed to vote… I guess it says something about how strong the will is in China to be allowed to influence.