Mao revival and a return to the iron rice bowl?

Economic woes have caused a Maoist revival for little red books and iron rice bowl jobs. The Asia Times quoted Hong Kong daily Ta Kung Pao figures of close to 30,000 visitors flocking to Mao’s hometown on April 2, days before China’s Chenming festival when Chinese worship their ancestors. University students are rethinking economic reforms amidst an extremely tough job market, while hundreds of thousands of graduates are jobless. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimates China’s unemployment rate is 9.4 percent, which is almost double the government’s earlier March figure of urban unemployment.

Tough times breed nostalgia for Mao, Asia Times Online