One of the reasons my parents fled Germany in 1986 was due to the fact that the radiation cloud was supposed to be a threat to west germany and they didn't know exactly how bad... So we came here. There were other reasons but we werent supposed to leave the country that year but the Chernobyl disaster caused us to leave that year.

PS: Lex, thanks a lot for that post, lots of crazy pictures!

 

Of those Chernobyl pics, these seriously gave me the chills:

 

uh... u know that guy did not get run over by the tank right? there is a full video in some library you can take a look. It was made by Americans so its real not fake. the media just didnt show the whole video, and only showed a picture and saying that guy got run over.

 

http://zrwen.blog.sohu.com/82524105.html
that is a set of pictures show that western media has making up lies about the real truth behind tibet. so people say don't believe in chinese media, do the same to western media as well.

those were napal police, not chinese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQnK5FcKas

and here is a video on youtube where you can see. the view count was even deduct by youtube, because they didnt want people to see the video.

im not saying chinese government is the best, but i just think everyone should see the real thing behind the fake media.

 

 

It's just sad the government is so horrible to it's people. Seems there is nobody in control or government is planning for the future. From my understanding its the same way China got turned into so many factories in the first place. At one point Mao had all the people burn their silverware etc... and melt it down just so they could claim title as most silver manufactured, but of course it wasn't worth crap, wasn't quality enough to make a lot out of.....and it totally ****ed over all the people. He also shat on their ecosystem by having all the birds killed, because he thought it would save the grain.

The thing that bothers me is I don't see it getting better anytime son for the average chinese man, and i think we all know his life isn't like the average american. He sleeps in a dirt filled room with contaminated drinking water that he is probably joyful to have.

 

They are industrializing much like we did around WW2. The big differences being more waste and more people. Throw on top that they KNOW the damage they're doing. We had ideas but didn't truly KNOW the extent. They know and don't give a ****.

I don't understand what good these global meetings and the UN are if they don't do anything to stop countries from doing things that effect global health that much.

But hey... hybrids will fix everything.

 

Yeah I think the government knows, but the average person, and average worker do not. A lot of people can't read and write in China, and are kept in the dark by the government. They don't know what to believe, and you can bet the government doesn't tell them the truth. Without someone changing their government its a hopeless cycle. Pollution isn't a concern when you can't even eat a healthy meal, especially when you don't have a choice or a say. If you spoke up against that in China you would be arrested, they have a lot of plain clothes police there. You can't make a scene, or cause a rucus.

 

Most of that pollution comes from the west. We send our toxic waste to countries that we don't allow environmental protection laws through the WTO. They call the enviromental laws "non-tarrif barries to trade." Gotta love free trade right!

 

That is a statement that I'd LOVE to see some fact based articles on.

 

Um, the adult literacy in China is 93.3% according to the 2007 UNESCO Institute for Statistics Assessment. The problem is more like heavy government censorship as opposed to illiteracy, but the internet is fast rendering government censorship useless.






I agree with many that there are many social, political, and cultural problems in China, and that the Communist government is fatally flawed at all levels from local to national, but what I don't agree with are the wild and baseless assumptions that Americans have about the country. Just in this thread, I've seen crazy assertions that Kowloon is a despicable wasteland, that the average Chinese person lives in squalor, etc.

The Kowloon claim is the most ridiculous; Kowloon is in the Hong Kong S.A.R. (where the government is still democratic and the economy still capitalist despite being a part of China since 1997) and looks a little something like this:

 

That's why I'll just move along. It's the typical assumptions about China. Also, if you're going to judge a country by whatever number of "selected" photos then do as you please.

 

What OneManArmy said.

 

This.

 

Well said. I took many media classes in college and know that you can't judge an ENTIRE country by some photos... All the photos prove is that there are selected spots that are industrial wastes, they aren't just in china, but everywhere on this rock.

I agree with everything you said in your post, China's biggest flaw is the damn gov't. So many CHinese are against it but can't do squat about it which is a damn shame.