In which Andy Stern confuses a mythical free-market fundamentalist economic model with the actual way things are in the United States, then writes about it in the Wall Street Journal.
He also comes back from China, deeply confused, proclaiming that it's the future.
Hang on there, Sparky.
It's a real good bet that Stern does not speak Chinese. Did anyone in his delegation speak Chinese? I bet, no. Did he get away from the guided tour, talk to actual people away from the government minders? I bet, no.
Stern didn't really see China, he saw what the Chinese government [1] wanted him to see. In terms of actually knowing what is going on he's dumber, now, than before he left for his trip. It's like he opened a big hole in his head and replaced some of his brains with sawdust.
[1] The government and the people are one and the same to a degree that is really hard for someone raised in the West to get. It's - not to put a fine point on it - alien. I, personally, blame Communism.
The only Western counterpart to this I can think of is working for a Big Company. You toil there, your input in your group is valued, or not: you're a cog. You have no choice in the company's direction, it's plans, it's goals. Having an opinion is encouraged, officially, sometimes, and there are official channels for that, but woe to you if you actually dissent: you'll be fired quicker than you can say 'Jack Robinson'.
From the outside, you don't see a separation between 'IBM' and 'IBM people': it's all just IBM.
It's interesting that Stern is advocating that this kind of government is better than that representational democracy jazz.
He also comes back from China, deeply confused, proclaiming that it's the future.
While we debate, Team China rolls on. Our delegation witnessed China's people-oriented development in Chongqing,
Hang on there, Sparky.
It's a real good bet that Stern does not speak Chinese. Did anyone in his delegation speak Chinese? I bet, no. Did he get away from the guided tour, talk to actual people away from the government minders? I bet, no.
Stern didn't really see China, he saw what the Chinese government [1] wanted him to see. In terms of actually knowing what is going on he's dumber, now, than before he left for his trip. It's like he opened a big hole in his head and replaced some of his brains with sawdust.
[1] The government and the people are one and the same to a degree that is really hard for someone raised in the West to get. It's - not to put a fine point on it - alien. I, personally, blame Communism.
The only Western counterpart to this I can think of is working for a Big Company. You toil there, your input in your group is valued, or not: you're a cog. You have no choice in the company's direction, it's plans, it's goals. Having an opinion is encouraged, officially, sometimes, and there are official channels for that, but woe to you if you actually dissent: you'll be fired quicker than you can say 'Jack Robinson'.
From the outside, you don't see a separation between 'IBM' and 'IBM people': it's all just IBM.
It's interesting that Stern is advocating that this kind of government is better than that representational democracy jazz.
