Two tales of 1 city: Economic miracle and spiritual struggle
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Consumption - conspicuous consumption in particular - is a hallmark of this generation of newly urbanized people. They might not know that the idea of rampant consumerism as salvation in our day can be traced back to the West. But they have embraced it as the most natural thing in the world. Consuming is like breathing.
My wife and I happened upon a guqin teahouse on Pingjiang Road. We did not order tea, but just sat there listening to the music of the guqin, an instrument in the zither family that is 3,000 years old. With the consent of the owner, we ourselves plucked some strings and made soothing music in the teahouse. No one charged us a penny for our pleasure in listening and playing.
Some might say that people acquire a taste for and appreciate music because they no longer must struggle - like young migrants - for basics, such as food and shelter.
Wrong. Just notice what those young migrants eat and wear - they are already overfed and overdressed and yet they struggle for more °?°?- another costly handbag or a fashionable skirt.
On Guan Qian Jie, you see a city marred by so many look-alike structures, loud and tacky, that match the taste of tasteless shoppers who are told they can consume their way out of any economic hardship.
Professor Raghuram Rajan couldn't be more correct in saying in today's opinion article that the benefits of growing consumption and loosening real estate credit in the US were "immediate," though misguided, and "paying the inevitable bill could be postponed into the future."
The "inevitable bill" also applies to China. A disquieting news report yesterday said that China's economic planners, who had vowed to freeze some real estate lending, have decided instead to loosen credit for those wishing to purchase a third residence.
These are not the big developers or speculators - but precisely those individuals who wish to flaunt their wealth. Yes, more people buying third homes could stimulate economic growth, but growth is a double-edged sword and can be corrosive.
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