The People’s Republic of Desire

57 Easy Money?

The economy has been bad. Wherever I go to a party, I bump into people who are out of work, from the United States to Hong Kong to Beijing. The people I meet are often hard-working white-collar people. The sad reality is that hard work and kindness are simply not enough for survival, and these noble qualities no longer gain the respect that they deserve.

Mark, a friend from Silicon Valley, tells me that every morning, many of the homeowners on the street where he lives now greet each other before they begin to mow their lawns and fix their yards. They have all lost their jobs.

"Niuniu," he says, "perhaps I should work for Home Depot. They are recession-proof. When the economy is doing well, people have the money to buy new homes. When the economy is bad, people have nothing else to do but stay at home and improve the ones they have!"

Mark would like to find a job just to make ends meet, but other people find some creative ways to make big money. Lately, two of my former acquaintances have put their creative thinking into action. One woman named Stacy sued her employer for sexual harassment. She has just been awarded $2 million. Because the case will be appealed, it may take her a few years to collect all the money. Nevertheless, she is ready to retire. My former classmate at Berkeley, an Irish American guy named Neil, is suing his company for racial discrimination. He believes that he can get the $3 million he is asking for. If not, he'll find other ways to sue someone.

Making money out of lawsuits is creative. Win one or two cases, and you can retire financially free like Robert T. Kiyosaki and Suze Orman.

Though it sounds creative and easy, suing someone is a game plan that does not work for most people, who still have to put up with their routine drudgery and the bad temperament of their bosses.

If one can make money by suing people in the States, what about in China, a country that is not as wealthy and has fewer lawyers? How can one make easy money here?

Beibei's company Chichi Entertainment has recently signed up a twenty-one-year-old singer named Beijing Doll. She apparently has the answer: it's easier to stand out in a relatively conformist society like China. Once you stand out, you get attention. Once you get attention, you get the market. The Chinese market is a big one, which translates into big money. After all, it's all about competing for attention at a time when there is an information explosion. But how do you get attention? Simple – by placing a few hot news items, tailored by a savvy PR rep, into selected media, for the starved-for-scandal public to read and discuss.

Beijing Doll's first CD I Was Born in Beijingdidn't sell well. She quickly changed her appearance on the stage by sporting an artificial mole on the corner of her mouth and wearing her undergarments on the outside of her clothes. She knows that China needs a Madonna!

Not only a Madonna, but also a Monica Lewinsky. While on tour promoting her new CD, she invited a famous movie star to her hotel room, and later claimed that he tried to make sexual advances toward her. The movie star fiercely defended himself, saying "I didn't have sex with that woman." But Beijing Doll claimed that she had proof.

China is conducting a media reform and encourages newspapers to become more commercial. The movie star's scandal with Beijing Doll appears on page one in newspapers big and small for weeks. Beijing Doll becomes a notorious celebrity just like Monica Lewinsky. Reporters and entertainment columnists mass in hotel lobbies and concert venues in order to have the chance for a face-to-face interview with her.

Beijing Doll is aware of the notoriety of some of the media that followed her like a pack of dogs. When she is interviewed by some of the bigger newspapers and TV stations, she claims that what has happened between her and the movie star has simply been misrepresented by some irresponsible reporters, trying to make her story more mysterious. Using big journalists to attack smaller journalists, she has gained free publicity, which generates the sales of her CD rapi dly.

Still, many people are annoyed by Beijing Doll's shameless manipulation of the media. But she doesn't care. She tells Beibei, "I'm just trying to get ahead. I don't ever want to take crowded buses to work. That's all!"

Beibei asks me if sex and scandal can sell more newspapers than news of politics and social development. I tell her that I think the society is, unfortunately, really this shallow. She says she feels sad. But in a fleeting second, she probes the sensational singer, searching for an angle to keep her in the news. Fifteen minutes of fame can always be followed by another media campaign designed to recapture the audience. After all, Beijing Doll gives up her reputation in order to make money, not just for herself but for Beibei as well.