The Editors at Time Magazine Are All High On Goofballs

2009-12-17

I have no other explanation for Time's selection of "The Chinese Worker" as the runner-up "Person of the Year." WTF? (h/t China Digital Times)

Read the weird writeup first, and then we'll talk:

A year ago, many thought hitting such a [GDP] figure in 2009 was a pipe dream. But China has done it, and this year it remains the world's fastest-growing major economy — and an economic stimulus for everyone else. Who deserves the credit? Above all, the tens of millions of workers who have left their homes, and often their families, to find work in the factories of China's booming coastal cities . . . (Time)

Um, yeah.

First, is this tongue-in-cheek or are they serious?

Second, is this tribute to Chinese workers a metaphor of some sort, a politically palatable way for Time's editors to admire the Chinese economy from afar (i.e. not give any credit to the scary Communist government)? Call me crazy, but I would have thought that some credit should go to the folks who came up with that thing we like to call the economic stimulus program.

Third, does Time really want to suggest that your average (poor) worker in one country is somehow better than the average poor worker in another? Are all those unemployed slobs in Detroit simply lazy? Should they nut up and catch the first China Eastern flight to Shenzhen and wait patiently in the Home Depot parking lot for some work crew projects?

Fourth, I thought that the "Person of the Year" crap involved something that went on during that particular year (i.e. 2009). {stage whisper}: Hey Time magazine editorial board. You do realize that poor schmucks from the farm have been coming to work at factories in Guangdong for quite a few years now?

Fifth, if the economy tanks at some point in the future, will Time Magazine blame it on the workers too?

OK, that's enough. I find the whole thing incredibly bizarre.

Tags: China Business & Economy