"Bother me," you say?!?!? Hardly! Your posts have been quite useful and helpful to me, and many other readers.

So often you provide an insightful and illustrative perspective on the many woes that China faces in this important and painful period of transition. I greatly appreciate the information and theses you present based on your own experiential and educational endeavors.

As I sure you know, when having a comparitive discussion regarding China and say, Canada, the UK, Australia, or the USA, many/most Chinese students (of all ages) will say something like: "China is a developing country. America is a developed country;" as some sort of explanation of various conditions and behavior in China.

I usually respond by telling them that sometimes, this comparitive idea is an acceptable answer to various questions and concerns; but that in a number of ways, China is as "developed" as America (whatever "developed" actually means -- i.e. most Chinese own at least one mobile phone, use the internet, etc.).

I also suggest they try to not always apply this knee-jerk response to so many situations. I tell them that most Americans (as far as I know) do not wake up in the morning and say to themselves something like: "I live in a developed country."

Americans, and most human beings in the world, just try to face the mundane and/or complex problems of daily living in the contemporary world. America is as much a work-in-progress (albeit in a different way, perhaps) as is China.

The amazing Chinese people are not helping themselves, IMHO, by constantly telling themselves that they are not "developed." It allows them to feel lesser-than and also allows them to avoid any personal responsibility for what is happening NOW.

Thanks so much for helping me understand China more and more, and making me feel much less alone in my confusion.

By the way, I'm OLD and TIRED, but unfortunately, not yet RETIRED! Hahahaha!