But what is the relationship between this vision and democracy? Imagine you are a member of the two-thirds of U.S. workers who work in the local service economy—a statistic cited by the authors—who get up every morning to clean houses, cut hair, apply cosmetic treatments, service appliances, drive for Uber, manage medical appointments, or answer angry customer requests. Who has the most money to spend on these services? Those who have much more than you. You are constantly confronted with people who are living in abundance, who have fridges stacked with fresh produce, who drive silent e-vehicles, who overlook green lawns. From where you sit, the problem is not that there is not enough material wealth around but that you are shut out; that after working long hours, juggling care work and several jobs, you are still living in scarcity while others are dwelling in abundance.
This is the vantage of most people. To build a new political order, Democrats must win back the large numbers of working people who stayed home in the last election and win over the losers of Trump’s shock therapy. Will they be mobilized around a happy go lucky vision of green abundance where all distributional and power conflicts have disappeared? I doubt it.
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Having researched China’s market reforms for many years, I can say that it’s baffling to argue China’s success in building out critical infrastructure is simply a result of a combination of power abuses and the absence of regulations and “debating with judges.” There are many countries in the world that have authoritarian governments and loose environmental and building regulations. None of them has managed to build high-speed rail at breakneck speed.
In fact, a quick search on the internet is enough to find a detailed study by the World Bank on how China managed to build its high-speed rail so quickly and efficiently. Among the key factors are: a 15-year plan that lays out long-term goals and was followed up with five-year plans to specify construction projects and revise goals based on past progress (these have all been upward revisions); special-purpose construction and management companies that are joint ventures between central and provincial governments; coordination among rail manufacturers, research institutions, and engineering centers; managers with clear responsibility and significant performance-based compensation that incentivizes them to stay for whole projects; a high degree of standardization in design and procedures; and a steady stream of projects to enable the creation of a “capable, competitive supply industry.”
Weber is ultimately a liberal, but I'll take a 15 year plan lib who understands China and isn't blinded by the beautiful glow of their lawn over a fucking aboondance lib any day.
Her book on China and shock therapy was great btw