# Will Not End Well: Chinese Profligacy Hits New Heights **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216 "2011-10-10T20:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/1 "2011-10-10T20:01:54Z")
[http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/\_news/2011/10/10/8252200-chinese-village-unveils-skyscraper-taller-than-the-chrysler-building](http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/10/8252200-chinese-village-unveils-skyscraper-taller-than-the-chrysler-building) These guys clearly did not read the Old Testament. They achieved a golden calf and Tower of Babel perfecta. Combined with those satellite pictures of the empty cities in the Mongolian desert – I don’t see how we’re not headed for a crash that even a command economy can’t undo. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/2 "2011-10-10T20:03:50Z")
Wow. That is an actual one ton gold statue of an ox. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/3 "2011-10-10T20:07:08Z")
And either a really big mushroom or a Space Needle replica in the foreground. The Chinese are…interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/4 "2011-10-10T20:44:24Z")
The first time I was in Shanghai, I pointed out an 80+ story building that had no lights in the windows at 8pm or so on a Tuesday evening. I asked my host how it could be that not a single person was working late in such a big place, not even a janitor. He said it was probably unused. The government liked the way Shanghi looked with all the tall buildings, but many of them stayed empty. The thing is, somehow their strategy seems to be working. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/5 "2011-10-10T21:05:39Z")
Working for now, yes, the idea this sort of thing can continue indefinitely is a bit foolish. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/6 "2011-10-10T21:15:31Z")
Yeah, it’s a bubble. God help us when it bursts. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/7 "2011-10-11T04:03:37Z")
fancy bling for sure, but they got nothin’ on our very own Barry Soetoro. He is the one ultimate waste man he has been waiting for. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/8 "2011-10-11T13:28:59Z")
Who is Barry Soetoro? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/9 "2011-10-11T13:33:48Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Who is Barry Soetoro? The President’s “[real name](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/occidental.asp)” if you’re a birther. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/10 "2011-10-11T13:35:41Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Who is Barry Soetoro? It’s a very unclever way of referring to Barack Obama. **code\_grey** seems to be a Birther. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/11 "2011-10-11T13:46:04Z")
I knew the Barry Soetero reference, but what the hell does this mean: > [@code\_grey](#): > > He is the one ultimate waste man he has been waiting for. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/12 "2011-10-11T13:47:23Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > It’s a very unclever way of referring to Barack Obama. it’s a way to refer to him that better fits into the cadence of the sentence. Compare _Our vEry Own bArry SoetOro_ with _Our vEry Own barAck hussEin obAma_. Maybe you guys graduated in liberal arts and social sciences type of majors. How else to explain the ignorance of basic literary devices. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/13 "2011-10-11T13:48:48Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I knew the Barry Soetero reference, but what the hell does this mean: [“We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For”](http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/02/-we-are-the-ones-weve-been-waiting-for/219588/) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/14 "2011-10-11T14:05:04Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > Maybe you guys graduated in liberal arts and social sciences type of majors. How else to explain the ignorance of basic literary devices. I’m surprised you’re not familiar with the device of “Socratic ignorance as a means of telling you to use people’s real names.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/15 "2011-10-11T14:05:25Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > it’s a way to refer to him that better fits into the cadence of the sentence. Compare _Our vEry Own bArry SoetOro_ with _Our vEry Own barAck hussEin obAma_. > > Maybe you guys graduated in liberal arts and social sciences type of majors. How else to explain the ignorance of basic literary devices. I haven’t been paying attention to **code\_grey**. Is he always the kind of guy who would terrify Willow Ufgood? Or does he just have a cryptic mind? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/16 "2011-10-11T14:57:37Z")
**code\_grey** , your Obama references seem to be off-topic in this thread (hard to tell, given how cryptic they are). If you want to bash Obama, start a thread in GD or the Pit, don’t do it here. The rest of you, if you want to respond to **code\_grey** on this issue, do it in the Pit. Thanks, **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/17 "2011-10-11T22:17:25Z")
Eventually, they’ll have enough people to fill it up. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/18 "2011-10-11T22:39:37Z")
Is it just my imagination, or is that a thick blanket of smog over that village in the picture? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/19 "2011-10-11T23:11:45Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Is it just my imagination, or is that a thick blanket of smog over that village in the picture? Nope. They’re buying much of the U.S. coal and mining more of their own, and building new coal-fired power plants at a ridiculous rate. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216/20 "2011-10-11T23:12:50Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Eventually, they’ll have enough people to fill it up. You sure about that? With a one-child policy still officially in place, rampant sex-selection abortion creating a shortage of fertile young women, and increasing affluence (traditionally correlated with lower birthrates), I’m not sure about that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-not-end-well-chinese-profligacy-hits-new-heights/599216.md?page=2)