Where private giving still seems foreign.
The week's news at a glance.
China
Jonathan Watts
The Guardian (U.K.)
China’s communists have discovered the capitalist virtue of philanthropy, said Jonathan Watts in the London Guardian, but the people have been slow to catch on. The Chinese government used to pride itself on providing all social assistance according to the tried-and-true communist model of a centralized economy. Now, though, the government is actually asking the private sector to give more to charity. Natural disasters such as floods and droughts left 15 million Chinese homeless last year—far too many for the government to house. In other countries, ordinary citizens chip in after natural disasters, writing checks to the Red Cross or calling in to telethons to pledge donations. Not in China. As the country modernizes, leaders have noticed with dismay that “the spirit of philanthropy is developing a lot less quickly than the urge to accumulate wealth.” Maybe it’s time for the communists to resurrect “traditional Confucian ethics,” which instruct successful people to help the poor. Until that happens, this massive country will struggle through an economic revolution “with all the pain of Victorian capitalism” but “not much of the charitable benevolence.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Selfies ban in art galleries: a sign of the times?
Talking Point Priceless art has been damaged by visitors desperate to take a snap with star attractions, leading some galleries and museums to start fighting back
-
Quiz of The Week: 21 – 27 June
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: How do you turn plastics into paracetamol?
Podcast Plus, what is the Wagner Group doing now? And why is it so hard to find a job after university?