The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 17 Jun 2011 05:19 PM PDT Title: As China Goes, So Goes the World CHINA is vast, so is its pool of wealthy and hungry consumers. The Chinese consumers have taken merely a few years to achieve what took consumers of developed countries decades to learn – how to spend. Collectively, Chinese consumers are often touted as saviours of global economy. Their global omnipresence and their increasing hunger for goods can easily ward off recession worldwide. That reputation and status should make the Chinese people, who are often seen striding forward proudly in shopping malls around the world, proud. But Karl Gerth, a scholar of modern Asia, thinks they should, instead, be worried. Chinese consumerism, since unleashed as a catalyst for long-term economic growth, has begotten consequences that beget even more consequences, radically affecting and transforming the Chinese society as well as the world. While China is often thought of as a major producer of goods, it is as a consumer that the Chinese population is at risk. Imagine what happens when more than a billion people start to take shopping very seriously and believe that it is their possessions that define their status in the society. Exotic desires As they go out literally snatching whatever that they desire without caring much about how exotic their desires have become, the Chinese consumers are causing a myriad of problems – counterfeit goods, extreme markets for babies, organs as well as endangered animals, human trafficking, and environmental degradation. This consequences damage goodwill of capitalism at best and threaten humanity at worse. The most distinguishing feature of the Chinese counterfeit market is the lack of any. In no way can one differentiate between a real LV handbag from a fake one. Moreover, the variety of fakes for sale in China has moved beyond luxury goods; shampoos, soaps, powdered milk, and even lifesaving drugs have their own demonic fakes to fight against. Worst yet, there is no genuine curtailing efforts from the authority because the fake market has grown to account for nearly 8% of China's GDP, and has helped to employ between three and five million people. A fine writer possessing a highly likeable prose, Karl Gerth clearly has a deep understanding of China and its consumerism. As he picks and chooses from a wide range of historic and political aspects that have made China a country it is now, Gerth enlightens and surprises. Capitalism That Taiwan, of all country, was the first to teach China capitalism is surprising. On the contrary, it is unsettling to know that it is the Chinese government that is pushing their population to consume in order to keep the economy buoyant. This strategy, Gerth fears and you will too, if you read this book. For how long will the buying last? How unruly these Chinese consumers have become in their constant attempts to fulfill their insatiable desires. Not forgetting the irresponsibility of manufacturers running amok in search of goods to skate the thirst of their customers. We should all fret. Wildlife decimated, babies born and sold, rural women trafficked into cities, humans killed for their healthy organs, are just a few attrocities . The environment has already been compromised and its impact spill over across the Chinese borders to other countries. Trees are felled illegally in Siberia and fouled water flows through polluted cities to India. Internally, the challenges created by wealth inequality and rapidly changing social dynamics are equally worrisome. Ordinary Chinese despises the rich, who have amassed their wealth at the expense of many. Resentment may become widespread hatred, which, if unguarded, will turn into harassment, extortion, murder and social unrest. Gerth is not polemic. Neither is he refuting China's importance in the global economy. His central message is to examine "the complexity of the issues involved" and projects China's irrationality as "a land of staggering contradictions." Rich and poor China is both very rich and very poor (with nearly half a billion citizens living on less than two dollars a day, while it is also the leading creditor nation for the United States). It is also both black and green (the world's worst carbon polluter and the biggest green energy producer of wind and solar power). The Chinese are aware of problems caused by consumerism, but are reluctant to take efforts to limit them. These contradictions will go on and as China goes, so goes the world. This claim, just as the title of the book, sounds hyperbolic, but if you think about China's vastness, it perhaps is not by much. As for the book, though it is rather slim on solutions, it is an important read for all for if you do not think about China, then what are you thinking of these days? Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 17 Jun 2011 05:17 PM PDT Unfair Advantage: The power of financial education AUTHOR Robert Kiyosaki writes about the path to creating the life you want for yourself and your family and encourages you to change the one thing that is within your control – Yourself! He writes about the importance of knowledge, taxes, debt, risk and compensation. He writes that the decade from 2010 to 2020 will prove to be the most volatile in world history and those who cling to the relics of the past – job security, savings and a retirement plan – will be the most ravaged by the global financial storm. Why Entrepreneurs Should Eat Bananas: 101 inspirational ideas for growing your business and yourself AN inspirational book on staying on top in business, how to work smarter, not harder and how to bring out the best in your team so you have lots more free time. Author Simon Tupman writes for entrepreneurs from all sectors. An entrepreneur himself with a consultancy-based company, he writes with the objective of helping readers to connect with customers, colleagues and employees in order to create a better personal life. China Inside Out AUTHOR Bill Dodson presents stories of the average Chinese workers, along with interviews with topical experts, interlaced with his own experiences. The end result is an insider's view into the forces shaping China as it elbows the US and Europe aside. China has the largest middle class in the world, the largest internet user, the largest army. It is also the largest polluter, all with consequences on humanity. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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