Totalitarianism is annoying after all.

Not long ago, I tried to argue that a totalitarian state might not be so bad. I was, admittedly, arguing for the sake of arguing, but I partly believed what I said. Claiming that freedom of speech was overrated and rules are a necessary evil, I was pretty sure it would at least be possible to not be miserable under totalitarianism. I was right. Plenty of people are satisfied if not actually happy in this country. Where I was wrong, however, was in thinking that I too would be able to tolerate the same state of affairs with the same degree of complacency. It appears that once you have rights, it's pretty hard to grapple with the idea of not having them.

The irony of this revelation is that it has nothing to do with anything that has happened to me directly. In fact, it has more to do with the treatment of Chinese people, specifically at this school. Most foreigners (westerners, at least) seem to be exempt from real life in China. To anyone who knows me, it's no surprise that I would become enraged about something that has nothing to do with me. I have a passion for "fairness" and at times become vehemently righteous about the way I think people should be treated. That said, I will move on to the nitty gritty.

In the past few days, the seriously off balance policies of this school have become utterly apparent. I'm not feigning ignorance where salary is concerned. I knew from the beginning that I would be making two or three times the salary of the Chinese teachers at this school (not to mention about 10 times as much as local employees), and working a heck of a lot less. A meal in a restaurant in the village costs 12 rmb ($1.50) for two people and I make about $700 a month, but I digress.

Before continuing, I have to note that a job at this school is superior to many for any Chinese person. That said, I am appalled by the collective differences in treatment and disgusted by a few recent events. Not only are the teachers paid less, but they are forced to pay more. Our housing deposit was a mere 500 rmb, theirs is 3000 (or so I've been told). We have free meals, they do not. In addition, it appears that their pay can be docked for almost any reason. I've been told that several teachers were paid only 2/3 of their salary last month because they didn't demonstrate enough discipline in the classroom. Unfortunately, I'm sure these are only a tiny tip of the iceberg.

Even more disturbing, however, is the fact that a Chinese teacher was recently mobbed by a group of 15 or so students (only two or so of whom were suspended and are awaiting further decisions regarding punishment). The teacher was dragged out of his office and repeatedly kicked and punched by the mob. Needless to say, with the majority of those students still in his classroom, he has not and will not return this year. Sadly, I have my doubts that the school will do the right thing by kicking the students out of school (for good) and paying the teacher a year's leave.

Needless to say, I'm convinced that the students wouldn't have even considered doing the same thing to a foreign teacher. Frankly, they knew they could get away with it. They get away with everything. I'm not even going to get into academics here.