These economic freedoms have fueled an extraordinary economic growth. For people who support economic improvement, freedom, and human rights, the recent improvements are stunning. These same changes have also brought serious problems. Some people have gotten rich, and others have not or have even gotten poorer. Rural areas have not benefited nearly as much as urban areas, and even in urban areas, economic change has brought unemployment.
Older people are far less able to take advantage of new opportunities than young people.
For some old people, the new poverty, new institutions, and new culture are disorienting. This general process is common in other countries, but perhaps the speed and scale of change has been greater in China in the past decade then in many other countries. There are signs of personal and social stress. In early March, a man was angry at his wife and her family. He blew up five apartment buildings, killing 108 people.