Before I make fun of someone...

I was clicking around on nytimes.com and found an article written by Thomas Friedman about China. Titled, "China Needs Its Own Dream", I was assuming that this article would be about the talk of China in the upcoming election or even about Chinese encroaching on intellectual property or being "cheaters", or perhaps even another apocalyptic article about the education race and how China is going to take over the world fast. I expected lots of the usual panic (which I poked fun of him for in class), and then realized that the article is very closely linked to my first essay. I am now wondering if I have been poking fun at my own writing style and paranoia this whole time!

This article is all about the upcoming Congress of the Communist Party in China, and what the key issues will be there. The key issue that Friedman discusses is the undoubtable monstrous growth in the Chinese population (particularly the middle class) and how that will lead to overconsumption. He  points to studies that show the Chinese will quickly (I believe the number was seven years for Shanghai) begin to deplete their resources- such as water. He is very wary of the concept of the "American Dream" and what that means in terms of consumption, and argues that the Chinese must alter this dream of success to decrease consumption.

The Chinese are currently holding meetings, forums and are educating citizens on how to design a new culture that would create an emphasis on efficiency. This efficiency includes sharing, city planning and new technologies to improve life without adding to the quantity of resources and space taken up. There is a new sense of innovation that is tackling these two issues, particularly targeted at the youth of Shanghai.  China's current five year plan intends to cut consumption of water and energy compared to its GDP, but it does not seem to have a great plan in mind for educating the average consumer on sustainability.

He ends the article with the paradox that Xi Jinping will face that has not been faced by any of his predecessors. He is hoping for increased population to stabilize party control, but at the same time will need to find a way to sustain this growth in terms of resources. Finally, he says that the new "Chinese Dream" must intertwine the concepts of success and happiness with environmental consciousness.