My copy of the March 2004 National Geographic came in the mail today, and I've just polished off a story about China's monumental difficulties with pollution, entitled "The Price of Growth in China." (Condensed version here.) It's with a mixture of amusement and disappointment that one reads the perspective adopted by such a traditionally morally neutral publication as National Geographic. The magazine's correspondent actually seems puzzled at the inability of a totalitarian-ruled country to properly address not only the physical ramifications of a modern industrial boom but also the resulting legal and humanitarian responsibilities. Cities are wreathed in smog. Workers are at the mercy of their government - at best stingy in terms of recompense, at worst violently uncompromising on labor rights.
To be fair, the Chinese people have never enjoyed the benefit of representative democracy through which to voice their concerns and petitions - indeed, America's rough industrial edges demanded considerable time and social struggle. The country will overcome these conflicts in its own time. But a little more than a slight acknowledgment of the political disparity, the fact that China is still ruled by tyranny, might help the author's attempts to reconcile Beijing's disregard for human life - a little bit like trying to determine the best layout for braille on the driver's side of the dashboard.