Harmonious Society Defined

You see the term "harmonious society" in every piece of propagandist literature put out by the Communist party. This is the first time I've seen them attempt to define it.

The government plans to set up a system that will measure factors that contribute to "building a harmonious society," a senior government official has said.

"The ministry is working together with experts to create an index system judging social harmony," Wang Jinhua, deputy director of the Grassroots Political and Community Development under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said.

Though Wang did not reveal details, he said the satisfaction level of citizens would be the chief criterion.

The idea of "building a harmonious society" was adopted by the Party as a key factor to judge its leadership, since 2004.

A harmonious society is defined as a socialist democracy, with rule of law, social justice, honesty and credibility, balancing human activities and natural resources.

Right now, China looks nothing like a democracy, has virtually no rule of law, very little social justice, no honesty at any level and very little credibility in anything other than its economy. The government doesn't do a particularly good job of balancing human activities and natural resources either. The good news is all the room for improvement. At least we know what the measuring stick is.