Capitalist Pigs More Equal Than Commie Rats

The headline says that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has concluded that the gaps in wealth that have arisen in China since it began modernizing have closed, meaning China has become more "equal" after decades of development had caused the dread inequality. Apparently, China really was more equal back in the Maoist, mass murder days. The OECD seems to think the return of equality is a good thing: OECD: Inequality In China Leveling Off

The increase in inequality in China has leveled off in recent years and could be less severe than previously thought, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says, suggesting that Beijing is starting to make progress in tackling one of its biggest social problems.

The OECD, in its economic survey of China published Tuesday, said more welfare spending in rural areas and increased migration to cities helped arrest a widening of the income gap. The Paris-based organization urged China to lower what is still a fairly high level of inequality by further boosting social programs and eliminating discrimination against rural residents.

(snip)

China's breakneck economic growth of the past three decades has pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But the incomes of people at the top have risen much faster than the rest, creating new divisions in a once-egalitarian society. Tensions between property developers and dispossessed farmers, and between factory bosses and their rural work force, are often a flashpoint for social conflict. That has pushed China's government to narrow the gap, and officials have repeatedly said they will do more to boost incomes of the worst-off.

That's all very nice, but there's a surprise in the OECD's handy chart. Among the nations that are more equal than China, according to the OECD are Japan, the UK, and ... the US????

Jeez, the western Left's world view is dependent on their oft-repeated claims that the US is a den of inequality, with piggy bankers on top and oppressed masses - AKA the middle class - at the bottom. Now, we learn that the three most successful capitalist countries in the world are actually more equal than loudmouthed "progressive" countries like China, South Africa, and Brazil. Of course, simply observing the extreme - not to mention endemic - poverty in those nations will make you realize that their claims to equality are greatly exaggerated. I'll be watching to see if this makes it into Paul Krugman's next column.