In The Chinese Century, my first alternate history novel, written right after the 2004 election, I painted Jiang Zemin and Hu Xintao as heroes for an implied devotion to stability and peace.
It was fiction. China has the worst environmental record, the worst human rights record, the worst safety record, of any government in the world. So I believed then. So most Americans believe now.
These are some of the advantages which Americans feel are our birthright:
- We’re free. They’re not.
- We’ll be told. They won’t be.
- Trust us. Don’t trust them.
The worst legacy of our time has been how open to question these assumptions have become. Rather than writing about Iraq, or the wiretaps, or the Justice Department, or Guantanamo, the torture, the corruption, or any of the other issues Left Blogistan loves harping upon, let me talk about basic health and safety.
- How many of you know the real safety record of Robert Murray, the man who owned the Utah mine which collapsed? We just spent two weeks with this slimeball, and his sanctimony. Only after-the-fact did our supposed "free" media reveal anything of his safety record.
- Who was to blame for the latest Mattel toy recall? China? No. It was a Mattel "design flaw" which caused most of 9 million toys to be recalled, because they contained powerful magnets little kids could pull out and swallow. Magnets designed into the toys by Mattel.
Far more important than our media’s transparent grandstanding against viewers’ interest is the actual record of the Chinese government in dealing with business issues.
- China is putting in an antitrust law, while ours has been gutted.
- China has begun a serious crackdown on shoddy goods, while American businesses continue to ignore health and safety.
Yeah, I know. They’re Communists. You can’t trust a thing they say. We’re a democracy, we’re free. They’re not. Yadda yadda yadda.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. As an American, your
every phone call and e-mail is subject to search without warrant. Your
President has specific procedures in place to avoid seeing any protest
you may make. The so-called "Justice Department" is filled with
political appointees who cover up for Republicans and throw Democrats
in jail.
And the corporate media, by and large, ignores it. In fact, they enable it.
My point is not that we should hate Bush, or blame Republicans for
our ills. We voted those slimebuckets in, and continued to vote them in. I just want to point out the costs of these policies. The cost
to our reputation when we’re seen doing evil. The cost to our economy
when we’re seen ignoring safety while others address it. The real
costs of endorsing monopolies rather than competition, because it’s
politically expedient to do so.
Right now Americans feel immune to those costs, just as the Bush
Administration feels itself immune to Congress and public pressure. But
that’s not true. There is no immunity from blowback for
the actions of our government — both foreign and domestic. Those are our actions. It’s not Bush’s fault. It’s our fault, yours and mine, for stomping on the vision of the Founders, for preferring safety to liberty.
All we’re doing, with all this sloppy reporting, timid law-making, and pig-ignorance, is putting off the day of reckoning. But it will come.
