Who doesn't pursue the American dream? The dream has been exported all around the world. To post-communist Russia, to South-America, to the growing middle class all over the (developing) world. Everyone wants to drive a car, watch soap series, enjoy vacations, drink Starbucks coffee and buy the latest gadget. "The world is flat", as Thomas Friedman claimed, might not be entirely true, but it is very true for the people who can afford it. And for those without the means, they often desire to live the American dream, influenced by television and billboards.
China's middle class is growing at a terrifying speed. From around 300 million today, it is expected to reach 800 million in 2025. Each and everyone of them contributing their fair share of CO2 emission and waste to the planet, eating from already scarce resources. A big fat problem in the making...
What is the alternative? Chinese - American Peggy Liu is dedicated to finding sustainable answers for China. Her project is called "China dream", an attempt to create images, stories and choices that together form a new dream, one that is attractive to the rising middle class, suited to Chinese culture and one that enables a healthy future for their children. The China dream is about doing more rather than having more.
As Godert got involved with Peggy Liu's NGO Juccce recently, I will be blogging more about the progress that they are making. Upcoming are five rounds of meetings, bringing bright minds together to find alternatives for different aspects of the China dream. One will be held in Shanghai about urban life later this month. Topics are the four corner stones of urban life: dress / eat / live / move, as an old Chinese saying goes.
Get inspired: http://pinterest.com/chenyuzheng/juccce-china-dream/
Get involved: http://www.juccce.org/chinadream
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| Guangzhou with smog |
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| Guangzhou after some sea wind |
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