So, the economy is in the pits, you just took a fully-insured renewal from your medical insurance provider that gives you a company-wide 12% increase when the national trend is 6%, and you keep hearing that China is going to put the USA out of business.

Plus, you watched the Olympics, and the Chinese sure look modern.

Not so fast there, Chicken Little.  You may have been watching a made for TV event in Beijing, and for all the shiny stadiums and cute kids singing, there may be 10 kids in the countryside who live in squalor compared to our poverty level in the states, and aren't part of the picture China projects.

From Reuters:

"China's economic boom has resulted in stark health inequity between its urban and rural populations and health experts urged the Chinese government to work harder at providing healthcare for everyone.  Infant mortality in China's countryside stands at 123 for every 1,000 live births compared with 26 in the richest counties, the experts wrote in a paper published in The Lancet medical journal.

Of every 1,000 children, 64 in the countryside will not live beyond their fifth birthday, compared with 10 in the cities.

The report, by researchers in China, the United States and Britain as well as from the World Health Organisation, is part of a special series on China's health reforms.

Another paper highlighted how healthcare was taking up the bulk of household incomes, or a whopping 50 percent in 2006 (over 18 times that in 1990) because of inadequate health insurance. This compares with 45 percent in South Korea, 16 percent in Sweden, 15 percent in Japan and 11 percent in France."

Why this post on a HR blog?  Like you, I read a lot about our country's competitiveness in the global labor pool, and it hurts to see jobs lost to a cheaper labor market overseas.  That being said, I can't help but to be proud to live in a country, for all its challenges, that tries to do the right thing and actively has conversations about topics, like finding a way to ensure healthcare for all of our citizens.

You think serious conversations are going on in that regard in China?  Perhaps, but I suspect the context is for the ruling party to stay in control, not a drive for equality, fairness and doing what's right.

The USA - imperfect, but I like it compared to that.