Global snoring: Even good communists now have to work for a living

Times are tough for those Red Capitalists in the Middle Kingdom. Party officials who once lived well while the peasants paid obeisance, now have to play catchup with the entrepreneurs driving a runaway economy. It's hard work but they continue to thrive by doing what they have always done so well: Being corrupt.



The rules are fairly basic in these euphoric days of China's 'peaceful rise' [note: referring to the China 'threat' is discouraged for upwardly mobile Americans, Europeans and Asians of all stripes. So when tempted to say 'threat', catch yourself and say instead 'rise'.]. But we digress: Those rules or the rule is: Make lots of money but forget about all those First Amendment-type freedoms so valued in the U.S. (and actually everywhere come to think of it).

The world's bankers and traders are huge supporters of China's 'peaceful rise' but there are nagging problem, the main one being Taiwan (which still doesn't know its place). The military which is key to current dictator Hu Jintao's power, aims more and more missiles at Taiwan. But Taiwan businessmen now have at least $150 billion in Mainland investments and a half million managers and technicians residing in China.

Take a trip to Taipei and meet up with businessmen and you will find that many have second homes (and sometimes second wives) on the Mainland. So the globalization of business and culture is rendering ideology increasingly irrelevant. But making money the old fashioned way, by being corrupt, is hard work. So these National Communist hot air conclaves are an excellent way to catch up on the snooze.