Caged Laziness

I have noted here before that despite their many foibles and follies, Red China occasionally does something with which I agree. Case in point:

Beggars at a religious folk festival in southern China have been ordered to stay in purposely built cages, or be removed from the festivities. Organisers gave the beggars an ultimatum saying their presence ruins the experience for visitors at the temple fair in Nanchang, Jiangxi province and if they wished to beg they had to do so from inside small cages. The zoo-like cages are so small adults are unable to stand and although they are free to leave at will, they are immediately banished from the festival area and have to leave the town if they do so.

That is pure brilliance, ladies and gentlemen. The point here -- which all of the hordes of screaming, wailing, bleeding-heart Western "Progressives" have of course missed entirely -- is not that it keeps this societal trash confined and controlled. No, it does something much more important: it shows in the clearest possible way the true character of beggars. They were not forced into the cages, they entered them voluntarily.

Let's play that again with more emphasis: THEY VOLUNTARILY STEPPED INTO CAGES TO DEBASE THEMSELVES AND BEG FOR MONEY.

Upon further reflection, I think I understand why the "Progressives" are so upset over this so-called "human rights violation"; because they see within it their own reflections. The Chinese government guarantees work to any who want it. That is the core philosophy behind all communism, whether the soft or hard variety. They're not going to make you a CEO or an artist, but you can bloody well use a shovel, can't you?

Pop quiz: If given a choice between the most menial minimum-wage job you can imagine, or begging and intimidating grudging "charity" from strangers, which would you choose? I can guarantee you the way that question is answered (by Americans, at least) will break down almost exactly along political party lines. One party feels they are owed nothing; the other, everything. I trust you can figure out which is which.

The difference between a beggar and a thief is an almost invisible line -- and one not worth drawing, in my opinion.



UPDATE: I realized upon further contemplation that there may appear to be a hole in my argument. Namely, that some of these Chinese beggars in question may be disabled, and thus the answer to the question "You can bloody well use a shovel, can't you?" might be "No." But in America, the disabled are cared for by government and private charity... which is very often not the case in Communist countries. In this manner, the loop of the argument is closed: the Left, which adores communism, cannot reconcile it with their much-vaunted compassion. Thus they rail against it from their squatting hovels atop the moral high ground, as their positions are yet again proven to be conflicting and non sequitur in nature.