How threathening is the wealth gab?
One of my favorite theories that should explain why China will be falling apart is that of the growing gab in wealth that seems to divide the country. I cannot resist an article that starts like this (from the HK Standard, picked up by Howard French): The darkest side of China’s miraculous economic takeoff is probably its ever-widening wealth gap, which has become a major source of social unrest.I do not agree. The wealth of assumptions is just amazing. The basic assumption is based on the frustration theory, a classic theory in sociology that suggests the upsurge in anger when existing expectations are not met. That theory has been very useful in explaining with hindsight why things have happened, but less than helpful in predicting the future. In one of my favorite books on poor people’s movements, the much more relevant question is being asked: why do they fail anyway even if the conditions for their success seem to be present. That would already be at least one step too far for Chi
