THE MORE A SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT EQUALITY IN THEORY, THE MORE IT PRODUCES AN ARISTOCRACY IN PRACTICE: Children of the Revolution: China’s ‘princelings,’ the offspring of the communist party elite, are embracing the trappings of wealth and privilege—raising uncomfortable questions for their elders. “State-controlled media portray China’s leaders as living by the austere Communist values they publicly espouse. But as scions of the political aristocracy carve out lucrative roles in business and embrace the trappings of wealth, their increasingly high profile is raising uncomfortable questions for a party that justifies its monopoly on power by pointing to its origins as a movement of workers and peasants. . . . The state owns all urban land and strategic industries, as well as banks, which dole out loans overwhelmingly to state-run companies. The big spoils thus go to political insiders who can leverage personal connections and family prestige to secure resources, and then mobilize the same networks to protect them.”

Hey, at least the Ferraris are red.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Other than China’s state-owned industries, this sounds awfully familiar here in the US. Brings to mind what I think is your most memorable line:

We now have a government OF and FOR the well-connected, paid for BY the non-connected.

When oh when are Republicans going to figure out the power of the crony-capitalism issue?!!

When they stop aspiring to join the cronies.