Where's the Outrage?

There was a good article on Drudge today about China and how its economy is set to overtake the U.S. by 2045. Whilst members of the American left are protesting our involvement in Iraq (shame on us for helping liberate an oppressed people from a ruthless dictator! Bad America! Bad!), crying that Bush is the "worst" president in history and calling for his impeachment, and ranting about how OUR pollution and evil capitalist ways are supposedly more powerful than the sun to change the earth's climate, they completely ignore China. In fact, these people are so ignorant, they would probably speak in support of China. (See! They're communist and look how good their economy is! See! It CAN work!!! Can't we just give socialism a chance???) But let's take a look at a few other facts about China:

-By manipulating and undervaluing their currency, they've managed to attract so much business that now "more than half of all industrial goods are made in its factories." (Yes, this does cost American jobs and hurts our economy thanks to the unlevel playing field they've created)

-Worker earns 5-10% of an American worker's wage

-17% of people live on less than a $1 a day

-One-third of the world's cigarettes are smoked in China (this should REALLY anger those Libs, b/c as we all know, the government should tell us what we should eat, drink, and smoke)

-Has 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities
(What??? I thought it was the evil capitalists polluting the world! Say it ain't so!)

-Half of the population has polluted water supply

-World's largest consumer of coal; second only to US for oil
(Oh, no! They must be in bed with Halliburton, too! Oh, wait, they just deal with Iran and other terrorist-loving countries; nevermind)

And whether or not this is true bears further investigation, but Falun Gong practitioners are protesting the Chinese president's American visit this week on the grounds that members of their group are rounded up in concentration camps by the Chinese government and murdered for their organs. (We've seen worse things in history before, so we shouldn't just dismiss this outright without learning a bit more).

Oh, and for all you tree-hugging, Commi-loving libs out there --people in China DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. So if they thought, for example, that President Hu was "the worst" in Chinese history, they wouldn't exactly be allowed to say it or make misleading movies about him. They wouldn't be able to camp out in front of his ranch or publically call him a liar and worse.

So the next time you hear someone touting the great Chinese economy, please remember the rest of the story over there. And I'd also beg you to remember that we do live in one of the best countries in the world. If you really want to put that much energy into protesting things, I think there are a few worldwide causes that better deserve your attention.