Wrath for the wealthy

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-22 16:26

The immense public scrutiny over two recent traffic accidents in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, reflects a growing resentment of the rich, with one incident caused by a Mitsubishi sports car and the other a Porsche sport utility vehicle.

Meanwhile, road deaths caused by drivers in budget cars are less likely to be picked up by the news media these days. Just for consideration, on an average day last year, more than 200 people in China died on the road.

It would be easy to blame the incidents for the animosity of the rich. But that could not explain this increasing hatred in our society over the years. It is definitely something worthy of great concern for policymakers.

In fact, not all of the rich are despised. When rumors spread about the agriculturalist Yuan Longping owning six or seven sedans, many people believed that someone who made such a great contribution to mankind as Yuan deserves to have six private jets.

So this angst toward the rich is vented at those who racked up their wealth illegally. They are by no means a small group of people, if you look at the high-profile businessmen put behind bars in recent years, from Gome chief Huang Guangyu to Shanghai real estate tycoon Zhou Zhengyi.

In most cases, government officials have been implicated.

Wrath for the wealthy

The widespread collaboration between greedy businesspeople and rent-seeking public servants has achieved a synergy totally undesirable for our society. As a result, both sides become excessively rich by trading in money and power.

While business and official corruption itself could be cause for public indignation, the fact that most of these people are not only at large but enjoy good social status and show off their illicit money has only stirred more public wrath.

Many of the rich people in our society today dare not reveal their secrets to great wealth, such as whether they have been involved in smuggling, dodging taxes, bribing, cheating, polluting the environment and exploiting workers.

Besides, the lack of equal opportunities and the lack of a level playing ground has also sparked resentment for the rich. It was worsened by the widening income gap, which has transformed the country from an egalitarian society just 30 years ago to one of the most unequal in the world today.

In this sense, resentment towards some of the rich who have illegally gained their money actually reflects a sense for social justice. It is an anger that shows unwillingness to tolerate any more corruption and injustice.

For policymakers, this means that effective measures need to be taken immediately to uproot corruption and injustice, provide equal education, employment and business opportunities for everyone.

If we continue to ignore or misunderstand this public resentment, we are running the risk of turning this sentiment into great social instability.

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