This article from the New York Times illustrates the problem of corruption in China in an unusual way. While on the way to China, the US envoy Gary Locke stopped off at a Starbucks to get a coffee. Nothing unusual in the US of course. And someone snapped a photo that has subsequently gone viral on the net among the Chinese people. Why you ask? Because he has no personal servants, no fawning assistants, no one to carry his luggage, no one to tell the server behind the counter to tow the line or else.
Corruption is so common in China that a photo of a US government official getting his own coffee is a revelation.
The lesson here is that while we don’t yet have such levels of corruption here, we are headed in that direction if we don’t change soon. Many of our own leaders have created a bubble for themselves that insulates them from the lives and concerns of regular people, just like the ruling class in China. And our current President is example number one. We need to change this culture and quickly or we will find ourselves in the same situation as the Chinese people who are unable to control their own ruling class.
