Blog 2: Inequlaity Must Be Addressed

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On February 2, Liu Shinan from China daily wrote an article about the income inequalities that are currently taking place in China. He interviewed a man by the name of Dong Guofa who talked about his economic problems. Shinan also gave examples about how Billionaires in China spend their money.

            Fifty-year-old Dong Guofa was riding a train to his hometown of Mohe and he was claiming that he hadn’t eaten since he left Dalian, Liaoning province, where he worked. Guofa has not eaten because he is a migrant worker who makes very little pay and he did not want to spend any money and he wants to save up to buy spring festival gifts for his family. The following day a man, who was in Lushan country, Henan province spent 100,000 yuan on something called an imperial bath with two court maids. This man was from an area called the Shanxi province, where it is known to be the birthplace of billionaires who have made it rich in mining coal.

            These two examples is a prime example of the gap between the rich and the poor and how the priorities differ from one another. Shinan was intrigued by Guofa’s story about saving up money to buy spring festival gifts for his family and the man who spent 100,000 yuan on an imperial bath disgusted Shinan. People in China who are in the higher classes have different morals and concerns as oppose to the people in China who are in the lower classes.

            The number of poverty stricken families has declined but the disparity between the rich and poor is still widening. This forms a problem because the gap does nothing but encourage inequality. It has worsened to the extent that it has worsened social stability. The wages of the lower class are so bad that there have been instances when migrant workers have committed suicide and staged violent protest over their wages.

            The Chinese government is aware of this wealth gap and they have pledge to address it. Unfortunately it has been over two years since that statement was said and there has not been any improvement since. “At the recent Party congress, the Party gave reducing income inequality a prominent position in its work agenda for the next phase of governance. And the Party's new leadership has given serious heed to low-income people's concerns and demonstrated an unprecedented attitude in replacing empty talk with solid work. That has rekindled people's hopes that social inequality will be eliminated”. This process will take some time because of China’s current social conditions.

            The Chinese government is very slow in their process of decreasing inequality in China. It has gotten to the point where things are starting to get out of hand and the government needs to show more initiative. However, there are reports that say that the State Council recently issued guidelines on changing the income distribution system. This process is a good beginning even though it has been prolonged for this long. Problems like this happen all over the world and governments need to start addressing them with more of an urgency.
Article Link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-02/07/content_16210173.htm