Sars and Chinese blogs
: Preston Whip, a Hong Kong blogger, took a tour of Chinese blogs to see what they were saying about SARS and among them he found this class analysis of disease:
The ruling class accumulates capital by brutally squeezing peasants. The rich live in obscene luxury while peasants are impoverished. SARS has erupted as a result of the unhygienic conditions the impoverished class face. The ruling class live separately from these conditions, but they have a moral duty and must help shoulder the responsibility to establish a fair foundation for all people in society. The price of the rich living extravagently is the disorder of the lower classes and a disease like SARS.
Today, he also links to a story about rioting in one Chinese town over SARS.
Could disease bring revolution?
: And Preston responds to my post about smelling a rat in China’s decision to close Internet cafes. He thinks my suspicion of cynical behavior from Chinese leadership — taking this convenient opportunity to try to shut down Internet usage — may be right but he also gives us an interesting view of the spread of the Internet in China:
Beijing, like most other large Chinese cities, has seen cyber cafes pop up like bean sprouts. The ensuing competition has meant that access to the internet is affordable (I
