Last week, Aporia published Rule of the Five Percent–How China selects its governing elite, and popular gadfly, Richard Hanania was shocked at the waste of talent:
That’s pretty funny. Governance in the United States is almost non-existent and it’s China’s strong suit, so a little humility is in order.
Observations
Understandably, Richard Hanania missed the point of sending the smartest people to isolated desert towns because, like most Western elites, he is a talker, writer and thinker, not a doer. And of course, China’s smartest, most politically ambitious kids don’t waste their lives in poor villages. Some raise village incomes 50% in a year and move on. Most take 2-3 years. Here’s one young man’s account:
Why the Communist Party Sent Me to the Desert
by Heng Xiao
