Heartbreaking story out of rural China via the LA Times: poor farmers defrauded in a pyramid scam involving–would you believe it–ants. Somewhere, a grasshopper is smiling a little too smugly. The story illustrates the get-rich-now mentality here, the constant search for a new angle by those struggling to make a go of it with the communist economy having all but given way to private enterprise, and the frequent collusion of government officials in shady dealings.
Old rules of caution don’t carry much weight in a society that has seen some become absurdly wealthy, seemingly overnight. And government officials often are first in line to fleece the laobaixing, or common folk.
It’s hardly the first case like this here, in fact it’s probably not even among the first 10,000, and it certainly won’t be the last, especially if local officials and the central government stick with a policy of covering their own asses rather than trying to fix the problem.
It’s the dark underbelly of a reemerging China. The noveau riche zip around the country with their new cars and the latest in man-purse fashion. But while the economy is booming, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to grow.