Clarifications

Today is a special day. It’s the day the world changes and along with it your life. Today, something incredible has happened, something unprecedented in the history of the cosmos. The gods have come together to play a trick on us mortals. It was all Loki’s idea, that Norse god of trickery, but he couldn’t have done it without Discord that bitch of a Greek goddess and of course Amun Ra the all-powerful Egyptian creator of worlds.

Are you curious what they did? Well, here it is. They took the entire population of the USA, all 290,000,000 of them Yanks and transplanted them all into India. Of course, India with its 1,150,000,000 people was already severely over-crowded and stretched thin on resources. Not to fear though, Discord as always was more interested in the conflict itself rather than the resolution and made the rules of the game even trickier. She only put the Americans in the major urban population centers. In other words, they get to keep their basic luxuries and homes, just in a different setting.

That works out to 1,440,000,000 people all crammed into the same space, just with vastly different resources and privileges. Those 300 million Yankee Dandies and the already 250,000,000 affluent Indians live in major cities, with all the development and luxuries money can buy. Of course the other 900,000,000 Indians will continue on in poverty and desperation much as they have for as long as anyone can remember.

If however, you’re from San Jose, California, well you’re among the 1,000,000 super-lucky people. Why? Simple! You have more than a million US dollars in your account. It’s even better if your one of the 150 currently employed actors and actresses in Hollywood cause you get to be a BILLIONAIRE!!!!!! Cha-ching$$$ So those are just some interesting factoids, let’s expand into this line of thought.

You can see the full-screen image of this map at the following link --> http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/mint-map-global-wealth-distribution/?display=wide

Pretend for a moment that you’re looking at 5 levels of society and each level holds a different number of people. The largest and most numerous are the “No-collars”. These are the most heavily down-trodden, often living under the poverty limit and doing the hardest, most menial labour, there are about 500,000,000 of them and they’re all Indian.

Then living just at or above the poverty level are the 400,000,000 “Blue Collars” and again, they’re all Indian. They’re restricted to mostly service related positions.

Next up are the 300,000,000 “White Collars” and finally we see some of those Americans mentioned earlier. Granted, it’s the poorest 50,000,000 of them, the ones who used to live in Ghettos in their old life yesterday. These are the faceless office workers, counting beans and writing records.

Almost at the smallest group are the “Gold Collars”. There are about 240,000,000 of them and they’re all ex-Americans. Here’s where you’d go to find Directors, General Managers, upper management-types basically.

But the smallest and most exclusive group are those 10,000,000 Californians who make up the “Platinum Collars” They live a life of luxury from the work of others. This is where you find the real owners and money-movers. They’re the bank-rollers behind the bank.

There’s even whispered secrets of the ultra-exclusive “Diamond Collars” Those ex-entertainers whose secret hands guide the entire economy based on their own profits. You will never be a part of them, no one will, there will never be room at the master’s table for dogs.

Interestingly enough, the earning power of each level is exponentially proportional to each other. So if a “No Collar” makes 10RMB/hour, then a “Blue Collar” makes 100RMB/hour, “White Collar” makes 1,000RMB/hr., “Gold Collar” makes 10,000RMB/hr., “Platinum Collar” makes 100,000RMB/hr. and that secret group makes a cool 1,000,000RMB/hr. . . . This is only natural, because income should never be directly proportionate to the size of the population, it wouldn’t be fair to the top echelons. Of course those numbers are far too high… For the No collars, Blue Collars, White Collars and some Gold Collars. The Platinum and Diamond Collars numbers are fairly conservative… I want to pretend that was ironic, but it was to be expected.

There’s a reason that I’ve taken all this time to so clearly (and admirably) illustrate the situation is to make a very simple point. Something that I’ve mentioned, alluded to and hinted at a few times. In mathematical language, A=/=B. If you haven’t already made the connection between my prettily painted picture and the real world, this imagining represents China, or rather both Chinas. No, I mean the 2 Chinas within China (i.e.: Mainland China). Now obviously, the numbers don’t quite match up, but the differences between the US and India are what’s needed to accurately portray the contrast between the A and B. Sometimes Reality needs to be molded slightly for the sake of making a point.

No Collars come from the deep countryside, small towns and villages and Blue Collars come from the rural centers of this countryside. Altogether numbering 900,000,000 people just at or below the accepted poverty line, they’re largely un-noticed and ignored until they’re needed or not there. They are the largest group, but have next to no buying power.

Much like the Americans and Indians (the sub-continent India Indians…. Not the racial slur), the difference is immediately noticeable. You know just by looking at them who’s from China A and who’s from China B. Their education, mannerisms, habits, lifestyle, income and living place distinguish them immediately. One group is ‘obviously’ superior and the other is wai di ren.

Those glittering, towering buildings on the news, on postcards, the “face” of the CCP are all China A. Pretty amazing isn’t it? 550,000,000 living in an urban setting almost all of them on the East coast with all the amenities of a developed civilization. McDonalds, high-rise apartment buildings, high-speed internet (within censorship laws of course), name brand electronics, new cars, paved roads, high-speed trains, haute couture, all that spending power has to go somewhere!!! The people demand it and if you have money, then you’re people and you can have demands.

On the other hand, that other over-burdened, depressing hand, is China B. Life here hasn’t improved much in a hundred or more years depending on how hard each area was hit by the various ‘policies’…. (Hint: Usually between balls-crushing hard and diamond hard). A 75cc motorcycle is a valued possession, your home has 2 MAYBE 3 rooms and it’s not like those fashionable 100m2 lofts we all fawn over. No, it’s your living room, bedroom, kitchen, storage and dining room… All in your current living room. Indoor plumbing is also another luxury. Electricity is hand wired into your home with extension cords and nails and your oven/stove is as reliable as a wood-stove, because well…. It is a wood-stove.

I’m sure you’re wondering what this means for anyone anywhere. There are 900,000,000 sob-stories, each more saddening than the last. It becomes too much, it numbs your sensibilities. Back home when you were an affluent American in the suburbs and you saw a beggar on the street, you’d immediately feel pity, probably call a relevant social service and think about how you just helped not only that one person, but your community and country by extension.

Now we begin to get to the nub of the problem in Chinas A and B. How can the people in China B help other people in the same position as them? They all survive on a knife’s edge. So then that patriotic (and usually instinctual humanistic) duty falls to China A. The White Collars don’t have much to give and if they did give it, then they’d be demoted to a Blue Collar. So it falls to the Gold, Platinum and secretive Diamond collars to give back and help. But even this group of seemingly invincible people is thwarted (at least in a sense) again.

Here’s the problem finally, that first and final hurdle to jump, the system. Of course in Chinas A and B, the system only means one thing doesn’t it? In order to not arouse those friendly-looking internet police cartoons to anger, I’ll call this system Z.F. You see, Z.F. is entirely made of the top three ranks with all the major decisions being made at the Platinum and Diamond level and Z.F. is only interested in money as a means to an end, not the actual goal. The actual goal is power of course. The ability to shape, manipulate, influence and decide not only the world today, but also what will happen tomorrow. Why would they share it? Or even want to share it? That would just dilute its potency.

In an instance such as this, I’m reminded of one of my favourite novels, “1984” by George Orwell (an old stand-by for us accused “China-bashers” for sure):

“If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. […] Until they become conscious, they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.”
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 7

Next week, I’ll talk about how Chinas A and B have impacted Chinese girls and what it means for those brave “pedophiles” looking to take advantage of the delicate blossoms….. You know who you are… Especially that Elijah fellow, he just disgusts me… Managed to pollute that poor girls mind until she was confused enough to marry him. Human Flesh Search him!!!!!

Cheers!