For reference: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_house" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_house</a><p>Quick summary: Back when they took their communism more seriously, the PRC abolished property rights, so it was common to get property for development by simply eminent-domaining the residents off the land, usually with a "fair" compensation. Property rights are sort of entering the scene now, and it's still controversial whether someone is allowed to benefit from a rise in their property value. This, obviously, makes for a certain amount of tension between developers building a strip mall over an old neighborhood, and the one family in a one-room shack in the middle of an ongoing construction site who refuses to sell.
There was a discussion here recently on the Chinese perspective of Avatar:<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1039121" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1039121</a>
It also happened in "Up."<p>Houses in a small "village" I used to live in in china are being demolished... probably for factories. They aren't even compensating us because we can't "prove" ownership, since they didn't have "deeds" back when my parents lived there.<p>I'm not really complaining, since I don't live there, and don't want to live there (the houses were basically brick with cement), but it does have some sentimental value.
If you think this doesn't happen in America, please read up on the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Yards#Controversy" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Yards#Controversy</a>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Develop_Don%27t_Destroy_Brooklyn" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Develop_Don%27t_Destroy_Brookly...</a><p>The whole premise of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's argument is that the Government is taking from one private owner and giving to another. The argument is that eminent domain should only be used for the Government, not to benefit a for-profit company.<p>It's a little too late now, since Ratner has already bulldozed the neighborhood, effectively ruining it before the argument can be settled in courts.
It will be interesting to see if the "People's" government will try to limit viewings of the film; if not countrywide, then at least in certain areas. Wouldn't surprise me at all.
<i>We suspect that neither Mr. Cameron nor 20th Century Fox (a sister company to this newspaper) had any idea of the effect their movie would have on the other side of the world.</i><p>While Cameron probably did not predict that exact scenario, I find it hard to believe that he did not see the parallels between the film he created and what's happening <i>right now</i> all over the world as first-world countries continue to exploit the third-world at the expense of those living in it.<p>In this situation it's only slightly different as the conflict is within the country itself. It's not surprising the film resonates strongly with those humans who find themselves in the same shoes as the Na'vi.<p>See: "The real Avatar story: indigenous people fight to save their forest homes from corporate exploitation"<p><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1222-hance_avatar.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1222-hance_avatar.html</a>