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China: Programmed By Fellows With Compassion And Vision?

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

A just machine to make big decisions Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision We'll be clean when their work is done We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young Donald Fagan, IGY Could not help but think of the above song after reading Silicon Hutong's Post, "Who Got Your Vision?" Post is on the division of vision as between businesspeople and government leaders in the United States, versus businesspeople and government leaders in China. Silicon Hutong repeats the following "interesting theory," recently told to him by a Chinese national:

"In America ... your businessmen have dreams and great vision and operate accordingly. But your leaders are preoccupied with the present, grabbing votes, staying popular. In China, it is different....Our government leaders are the ones with the great dreams and vision, and our businessmen are preoccupied with the present, grabbing as much money as they can now, and to hell with the future."

Silicon Hutong rightly calls this "searing generalization" "suspect," but deserving of some contemplation, and then goes on to say that what he liked best was this person's comment that "where both the government leaders and the businessmen are people of vision...THAT is a truly great country." What do you think? Does China's government really have vision? Or is it simply doing what it needs to do to stay in power? Does any government really have vision? Do businesspeople have vision beyond their own businesses? Would it be grand to have a country where both the businesspeople and the leaders have vision? Has there ever been such a country? Should the businesspeople and the leaders have the same vision? What is vision anyway?

Full post as published by China Law Blog on February 03, 2008 (boomark / email).