Spot the flaw? What elephant is thriving on two blades of grass, here?

[bemused_leftist]

What elephant is thriving on two blades of grass, here? What well-known factor is ignored here? And in every big establishment source I've seen talk about this.

China’s demography is a disaster. About 2015, the seemingly boundless labor pool will begin to shrink. One reason is rapid aging, which presages that China will become old before it

Comments

[harvey_rrit]

“Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together” was the comment of the King of Brobdingrag to Lemuel Gulliver after hearing an explanation of Parliament.

[bemused_leftist]

Thanks. I assume that king was a good guy?

[harvey_rrit]

I... would be assuming too. Too long ago, and fog without warning at the best of times.

But I think so. There are authors who have characters say things that put a reader instantly on the character's side, only to reveal later that the character was a villain; but while Swift could be an asshole, he wasn't a dishonest asshole.

[bemused_leftist]

It can work the other way around. If throughout the story so far, the King and his rule had been shown bad and foolish, then this statement would be a worse insult. Like, even the worst people can see that Parliament is a bad thing, Parliament is too bad for even him to stomach.

[harvey_rrit]

I think a writer who would have a character explain human doublethink to members of a hippocracy* would be too heavyhanded to bother.

(*The Houyhnhnms. I am unable to discover whether anyone else has ever recognized this wonderfully ghastly pun.)