January 28, 2008
Not in My Backyard
A rising middle class and the awakening of a sense of real citizenship
“… the coalescing of homeowners here around issues like property values, environmental safety, urban planning and how their tax money is spent is being seen as the strongest sign yet of rising resentment among China’s fast-growing middle class over a lack of say in government decision-making … what most distinguishes this wave of demonstrations from other recent protests is a new insistence that the government seek the public’s consent in decisions that directly affect people’s lives … With its tradition of top-down decision-making, secretive deliberations and little tolerance for dissent, the Chinese government has almost no practice of real popular consultation.”
See how a little bit of private property changes everything?