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April 1, 2010
EMINENT DOMAINIA: Chinese Farmer And Son Light Themselves on Fire To Protest Land Sale, And The Shanghai Bulldozers Pause For Just Two Hours
Business Insider
by Joe Weisenthal
Moral amnesia is one of those signs of a telltale bubble that doesn't show up in official statistics.
When people become indifferent or ignorant about actual human suffering, that might be all you need to know.
So it is with that in mind that we present this Shanghai Daily piece (with key parts bolded by us) that's just chock full of moral amnesia in real-estate crazy China.
Behold:
Farmer Tao and his 92-year-old father set themselves on fire when a 100-strong team led by a township chief set out to tear down their home and their pig farm.
The farmers had found the compensation they were being offered far too low.
The son died and the father was injured - but, according to Beijing Times, that did little to distract the team from their destructive mission.
Yes, the incident caused a two-hour delay, but the home and the farm were pulled down while the remains of the victim were still lying nearby.
...One report suggests that officials there wanted to have the demolition completed before April 1, when a new relocation law would make forced relocation more difficult. This is likely an exaggeration of their respect for law.
That a villager chose to end his life in such a violent way can only dramatize the futility of any resistance.
Posted by eric at April 1, 2010 11:03 AM