Consider the magnitude of the disaster of the 8.0 Sichuan Earthquake and how quickly China and its ordinary people have responded to harness China's resources, to mobilize, and to extend rescue and relief assistance to the victims; and now, after one week, to provide emergency shelters to 5 million people left homeless and in need of emergency shelters.
The quickness of the response, the massive scale and spirit of the entire nation of 1.3 billion people working together to rebuild is indeed impressive and unprecedented. Not to ignore that there are real shortfalls and deficiencies which will need remediation and critique. But overall, the rescue and relief efforts that have been exerted deserves praise and gratitude.
Especially noteworthy is the almost minimal incidence of public predatory misbehavior, misfeasance, ant-social behavior, property crimes and looting, compared to what happened in Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. One wonders why, indeed ? Yes, why ?
Consider the latest update from Sichuan, China:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121127191480606617.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
And ask yourself why there is order in the midst of incongruity, with minimal predatory behavior in one of the refugees' tent cities, with hardly any thefts, disorderly conduct.... which points to China's laobaixing's ability to presevere and "eat bitterness" in times of crisis:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/20/AR2008052001585.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008052001690
Comparing Sichuan, look back to Katrina in 2005; consider and compare how the United States federal government in Washington D.C. performed in the aftermath of the 2005 Katrina Hurricane Disaster, after the hurricane struck New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississipi and the Gold Coast, and its aftermath as critiqued six months later by Ron Paul, Texas congressman and GOP libertarian presidential candidate, and as assessed by Wikipedia bloggers in the links below:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul305.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina_disaster_relief
