"Working Toward a Civil Society"

In the spirit of being fair and balanced, since my public cursing out at the hands of torch watchers, I have to admit that I have really been touched by the generosity of the millions of everyday Chinese people (and foreigners too) who are taking action, spending their own time and money and helping the people in Sichuan.There is a great article here about the same things. It has been really neat to see Chinese helping people they don't even know--this is not a knock, but this is type of "renqing" (or charity/human emotion) is very rare in China. Book after book comments on the lack of philanthropy in China and even other Chinese communities outside of China recognize this as a distinct difference between mainland and overseas Chinese. This could prove to be much more of a coming out party for China than the Olympics. Congratulations, China! Welcome to the 21st century; welcome to the world.On a somewhat related note, I'm not surprised to find that those kids who participate in sports growing up know how to compete and win and then do so later in life. The Article in The American is specifically about America, but how much of it will translate to Chinese kids in the next decade or so?! The competition in China is already fierce and will only get more so. Parents looking to give their little emperors an edge may now want to consider soccer instead of the oboe.Now having said that, I have to share part two of the continuing saga that is our apartment complex vs. the Shenzhen subway company. Yup, another wonderfully productive meeting today about where the pollution fans are to be built (not in our garden, we hope). Instead of telling us that if we died they wouldn't care or that if we protested they'd lock us up "like the previous protesters," today they just told us to be careful of what we say and who we say it to. What's the context of this warning? We put up large signs on Sunday afternoon on the apartment buildings facing the street that were, hours later that night, taken down by the police because "they detracted from the look of the downtown area." No shit?! That was pretty much the point. Good thing I took photos before the signs were taken down.So Kudo's to the Chinese people--and I hope that the Chinese that do read this realize that I am impressed by their individual efforts but still very wary of any government with absolute power.PS> The title of this post comes from a political sign that used to be in Shenzhen (Binhai Rd, Louhu Area). It read: "Struggling for a civilized populace, working toward a civil society."**yes, I know the pictures are sideways. I'm working on it.**