Mass Production: Happiness

Li Lei finishes dinner with his wife, Han Meimei.

They look out of their dinning room. It's the sky rocketing theme of
terraced residential buildings in suburban area of an ordinary Chinese
city, a major sign of middle class youth of their generation. The
couple, both of whom starred in the country's early edition of English
textbooks, are now working for a state news agency with nice pay check
and fabulous bonus. Now they have it all: job, family, and house.

The state media has been successfully imbuing them with the ultimate
goal of pursuing "good". They say that when GDP shoots up, and the
firework of Olympic game goes out, it's the exemplification of
happiness. They say that when you have a better-off life compared with
the past in WWII, you should be, and should naturally be, happy.
However, they do not specify what happiness is. They also hide away
the price tag of the current happiness, just like what they did to
Sichuan earth quake and tainted milk report in 2008.

On the other side, the down payment to the Li couple's RMB 1,600,000
(approx. USD 200,000) condo was covered by both parties of their
parents. The economists in Beijing are busy comparing the real estate
price with Fifth Avenue at downtown New York, even if the residents
are half an earth, geographically and economically, away from Wall
Street. Deprived of any form of material enjoyment during the Cultural
Revolution, their parents are determined to maximumly ensure the
happiness of their children. Thus contributing their life-long saving
to a condo where their children live, is absolutely justified.

Meanwhile, their children are having children. Li Lei holds his son Li
Maidou while Han Meimei pushes the baby cart into elevator. Downstairs
they are greeted by tens of other children of similar age who are also
born and grown up in the community. Carefully watching the children
and gently talking with each other are their parents, who either hold
high position in Fortune 500 firms or local governments. Yes, they
believe that every investment in their life comes with a return, just
like every product comes with a profit. They plan to give the best
toys manufactured in Wenzhou, send them to the best local schools,
later Ivy Leagues in the US, and guarantee the happiness of their
children, like their parents did, in a mass production way.