Guest guest Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Perhaps, but you also have to consider the costs of living in a city. There is rent for a place to live, they have to buy all of their food and taxes are certainly higher than in the countryside. I've read a few articles that state that even those most factory workers are well paid as far as that goes, that they often can't afford the things they are producing. So they might be getting paid more than a farm worker, but it still doesn't mean they are rich. The people who are actually getting rich or well off in China are a small percentage of the population. So over half is poor, another large chunk is "working poor" while maybe 20% tops would be combined middle class and rich. That's just a guess though based on what I have read about the Chinese economy. That is, it is mostly middle and upper management that is well to do, same thing with government bureaucrats, and some shop owners and such. They have a large "imbalance" of income, far worse than here in the States. Oddly enough, all those peasants would probably be the best off if the Chinese government falls because they can feed themselves. In a message dated 3/31/2009 11:42:44 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes: Because they blew their money on luxuries just like Americans with no forethought did. Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 " As little as the Chinese are paid, is it any wonder so much manufacturing has gone over there? It should also be noted that over half of their population is still poor and backwards. The article doesn't mention the pollution, drought and soil degradation that is also taking place there. " Yes, but one has to wonder. If the average peasant earns $400.00 a year and can survive on it in a communist system, and if a person can earn three times that at a factory job in a communist system, it means that the recent economic boom allowed some factory workers to earn enough to keep them going each year and have enough to keep them going for a few more years as well. So why didn't the factory workers save up their money in anticipation of a downturn? Because they blew their money on luxuries just like Americans with no forethought did. Yet if they had all saved their money, and just let the Chinese economy be driven by manufacturing and exports alone, China would not have been affected so much by the economic downturn, and there still would have been considerable wealth locked up in the country. Administrator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 " Perhaps, but you also have to consider the costs of living in a city. There is rent for a place to live, they have to buy all of their food and taxes are certainly higher than in the countryside. " I took that into consideration when writing my response. I know from some documentaries I have watched that city living is harder for the Chinese, yet many do find a way to send some of their earnings back to their family members who are still peasants. Administrator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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