I came across some very sad and troubling pictures by Chinese photographer Lu Guang (卢广) on the price for environmental damage in China. The environmental is not an abstract issue in China, it is poisoning and killing the Chinese people. It is an equal opportunity killer that does not discriminate between the powerful and the powerless - except its simply bad for everyone in an affluent area and disastrous for everyone in the poorer areas. Which is why things must and I am convinced it will change for the better. Why do I think so? The local Party Secretaries, county chiefs and bureaucrats themselves live there and they have children too (even if they can be shipped off to cleaner places or overseas). And here is something that even absolute-power can only go so far. Secondly, official inaction (on top of official abuse and corruption that created the mess to start with) simply creates a powderkeg of resentment and trouble. Thirdly, the Chinese government knows thats not what they want. No matter how profitable, this is now officially something to be ashamed of and not something to play victim or be defensive about. This is the big difference with India (right now) and China (from 5-10 years ago).
Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment