Former Leftist says: Do not have a “Hate the Rich” Mentality! Sounds familiar?

Asterix

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Seems Ah Leong is not the only one who keeps admonishing us not to hate the rich. Below is an article from today's AM730, a free Chinese language paper in Hongkieland.

Background: Hongkie Govt proposes to acquire land in Fanling, near the border, to provide cheap housing for the masses. Some squatter villages will be demolished. Those affected are refusing to move and say that the Govt should acquire the land occupied by the Fanling Golf Course instead.

The author has an interesting background, but we’ll get to that later, if anybody is interested.

Here’s the article in Chinese:

從土地使用的效益角度來看,我是支持收回粉嶺高爾夫球場作新市鎮發展用途的;但我對現今社會上瀰漫一片仇富的情緒卻有點擔憂。有人反對高球,純粹是因為它是富人的玩意,所有與富人有關的事情他們都反;譬如建豪宅,建五星級酒店,開名牌旗艦店等。這對香港的發展並不一定有利,甚至可能影響基層改善生活的機會。

香港行資本主義,社會不追求絕對平等,而是容許差異,並利用人們追求差異的心態,去產生經濟動力。在這樣的社會裏,無可避免有貧富的差異。上一代的香港人選擇來香港生活,就是因為喜歡這種差異,而不是「做又三十六,唔做又三十六」。

收入上的差異,必然會在生活上的差異上反映出來。收入高的人,可以住大屋,著名牌,享美食,四處遊玩,否則努力工作為甚麼?我雖不完全認同這種想法,但不得不承認大部分人有這樣的想法。其實,讓有錢人過相對奢華一些的生活,可增加社會的生產力。大陸在改革開放前,要求所有人都過簡單樸實的生活,嚴禁奢華,結果生產力停滯不前。鄧小平讓少數人先富起來之後,就有人買別墅,坐遊艇,戴名錶,打高球,社會的動力反而大增。

因此,我自己雖然不打高球,而且覺得打高球極不環保,但我並不贊成禁絕高球。我擔心一旦把富人的玩意都列作罪惡之後,社會上就沒有人想做富人,經濟就會失去動力,以至社會整體的生活水平都沒法提升。兩害取其輕,所以我接受讓富起來的人可以生活得奢華一些。

通常,能夠富起來的人都有一種通病,就是比較節約。他們努力工作,卻不肯花錢,結果積累起來的錢愈來愈多,沒法令普通人受益。本來,最好叫他們把錢捐出來,從事公益事業,但並非人人都有這樣的情操。較為有效的方法,是引誘他們過奢侈的生活;這樣反可增加多一點消費活動,令普通人可以多一點工作機會,讓生活有機會改善。試想像一下,如果銅鑼灣、尖沙咀的名店都沒有生意,名車賣不出,高級食肆沒有人幫襯,富人俱樂部會籍轉讓價大跌的時候,小市民的生活會過得好嗎?

因此,除非我們打算整個地否定資本主義制度,否則把仇富情緒煽動起來是沒有意思的。當香港人以李嘉誠為榜樣的時候,就會努力奮鬥,當香港人想打倒李嘉誠的時候,就得努力搞破壞,以推翻現有建制,叫李嘉誠沒法再享受既得利益。結果,有能力富起來的人就不想留在香港。香港就只能靠「窮棒子扭轉乾坤」。大陸與一些社會主義國家就試過讓無產階級出來主政,但效果只能達到均貧,而沒法達到均富。所以,我還是比較接受讓社會上存在一定的差異好一點。

http://www.am730.com.hk/article.php?article=163711&d=2107
 
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i don't haet the rich
i hate rich peeps who use their money and power to control, and bully
 
It is alright to be rich ...but if you take advantage of others to accumulate wealth, than you deserve all the contempt hurled at you.
 
Ah Neh journalist, Michael Chugani, writing for South China Morning Post today, looks at same issue in a different way. UNFAIR! Boss Sam, what do you have to say? Good thing about having many newspapers is that you get a diversity of views. When is Sinkieland going to free up the media? Don't tell me Sinkieland does not have the same kind of unfairness!

From SCMP:

Ordinary Hongkongers complain about our unfair society, but just how unfair is it? This much: the Hong Kong Golf Club pays the princely sum of HK$1 a year on top of a one-off 20-year land premium of just HK$1,000 for its 170-hectare Fanling golf course, used by about 2,000 of Hong Kong's richest men. The poorest in our city pay HK$1,500 a month for a bed space smaller than a coffin in the slums of Sham Shui Po. An ordinary Hongkonger pays the government a HK$19 entrance fee to use public swimming pools. Again, the Fanling golf course pays the government HK$1 a year for rich guys to play.

An elite American business college, Chicago Booth, has secured a grade-three heritage site on Mount Davis as a campus for a one-off land premium of HK$1,000 for 10 years. The university will charge HK$1.2 million tuition fees. Needless to say, those sleeping in bed spaces smaller than a coffin won't be able to afford it. Chicago Booth will be for rich folks, just like the Fanling golf course.

About half of the 28,418 secondary school pupils who achieved the minimum score last week to enter university won't be able to do so. That's because the government has only 15,000 subsidised first-year university places. If the grandmothers and grandfathers of those who lose out can scavenge enough discarded cardboard boxes, they might just about be able to afford the HK$1.2 million tuition fees at elite colleges.

So here's the deal: if you're rich and powerful, you get heavily subsidised golf courses. If you're an ordinary Hongkonger you don't get heavily subsidised swimming pools. If you're an elite university catering to rich folks, you get subsidised land. If you're an ordinary Hongkonger who has struggled hard to qualify for a subsidised university place, you can forget about it. You want to know how unfair our society is? This is how unfair.


http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1284207/golf-course-highlights-citys-unfair-ways
 
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