There is an incredible story in the Los Angeles Times about a new scourge of corruption in China: the removal and selling of babies against the wishes of their parents. The officials are first finding families in violation of child care laws and then, instead of imposing a fine, they are taking the babies to get $3000 in adoption fees.
One report out of Tianxi, China describes a child welfare official who was known to prowl the streets looking for telltale signs of children like toys or hanging diapers. He would then stop at the house and in one case simply told Yang Shuiying: “Bring out the baby.” The mother said that the official admitted that he was going to sell the baby to foreign adoption parents. In return, he would keep the money but the family would not have to pay fines.
More than 80,000 Chinese children have been adopted since the early 1990s.
These shocking stories follow an earlier scandal involving the selling of educational files in China, here
For the full story, click here.
This gives new meaning to adopting a new policy.
That is so sad. Such laws need to be changed over there. It would be a freezing cold day in hell before someone took my second child aways from me (I’ve got two girls).
It’s just so upsetting, I cannot even imagine how those parents must feel!
what do you expect from a country that does not believe in property rights and the citizen are a resource of the state.
China, you suck because you do this type of thing to your people, you will never be a world power until your citizens have liberty.
Byron,
So, the USSR wasn’t a world power?
Gyges:
I guess that depends on who you believe as far as the capabilities of the Soviet Union. Some say it was a paper tiger and that most of the missiles that you saw on May Day were made of wood. Their economy was always in a shambles due to central planning.
Certainly they had nukes but for the most part, and this is my opinion based on what I have read, they were not the threat we made them out to be.
We should have stomped their asses right after world war II when we had nukes and they did not, it would have saved the world a bunch of heart ache and made our sand box a lot nicer to play in.
But then it’s the old yin and yang thing. And we will probably do it with China, which appears to be much smarter than the Soviet Union as they have us by the short hairs with nary an angry glance or unkind word. The Chinese already have us beat and they haven’t even fired a shot. Hopefully they will let us live out our delusion of grandeur in peace.
I find it funny that capitalism without individual liberty has taken the Chinese to where they are in a few short years. I wonder what the real truth as to the communist parties control of the populace is. Has economic freedom made them yearn for political freedom or do they even care.
Byron,
So basically, it depends on what we mean by World Power?
Gyges:
I guess it means that you can look at it a number of different ways.
So your definition of a world power is what?
Hello, they are doing this here. See the preacher sent to prison for child abuse. The state gets lots of money to destroy families. The hard to place children get almost as three time the normal adoption subsidy. At least China is being more honest about it. As anyone who has a child that they are in the process of adopting. They get continuing subsidies. Believe this or not, I think it started under the Reagan Administration.
It is a bullshit program. Here is the link: http://library.adoption.com/articles/adoption-subsidy-negotiating-and-renegotiating-your-childs-contract.html
Byron,
If you want to talk Soviet military capacity vs. the West, the key term to define first is “when”. There were times when they were a very serious threat. They outnumbered us on tanks since sometime in the late 50′s or early 60′s. Hell, our entire European theater strategy for most of the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s is based on that little gem and most of the NATO plans still take the tank gap into their planning. They are less a threat today, but only in the conventional sense perhaps because their economy could not withstand a prolonged war in its current state. They still have the capacity to destroy the world many times over.
The former Soviet republics are still a world power.
The biggest issue now with the former U.S.S.R. isn’t capacity.
It’s control.
Or lack thereof. And an open market. Did I mention a huge underclass of underpaid, underemployed and under appreciated Soviet era military officers with access, scientists and technicians of almost all disciplines floating about?
Offer them a job. Most of them would accept.
Offer to buy something restricted they can get their hands on? If the price is right, you too can be a nuclear and/or biological power.
And for that, everyone – EVERYONE – should be absolutely scared shitless.
I hope that adds a little perspective to this discussion.
Byron,
Well they do have more people, but we drink more beer. So let’s call it a toss up.
Buddha,
I have a friend here in the US that sell Russian Arms. I guess he figured out he is from over yonder btw.