4 ms·
The concept they use is “social harmony.” This is a sort of shorthand for discouraging people from developing strong, dissident, aberrant or divisive politica
by netcan 9y ago
The concept they use is “social harmony.”
This is a sort of shorthand for discouraging people from developing strong, dissident, aberrant or divisive political positions. Discouraging people from taking on political identities in general, other than a unified chinese identity. Discouraging people from disparaging and/or distrusting the government. Keeping fringey social trends out of the mainstream.
If you think of how strong political identities are currently in the US, this is exactly what they are trying to prevent. They want to keep everyone on the same page in terms of political and social norms.
The skeptical take is that the CCP is protecting itself from popular and democratic revolutionary movements.
- mistermann 9y agoIt doesn't seem like a crazy idea to me at all. Nationalism and solidarity among citizens has always been a great source of unity in countries, but in the last decade or so it seems to become interpreted as a cardinal sin, and has has split several countries down the middle. If I was leading China I'd most definitely want to keep this sort of bizarre thinking out of my country.
- netcan 9y agoI didn’t mean that literally. The biggest idea that the CCP specifically wants kept out of China is open elections. Anti-nationalism is not really on the radar, and the CCP itself has some anti-nationalist roots from its Marxist heritage.
- mistermann 9y agoAnti-nationalism is synonymous with Nazism with many people in the west, and the west sets many cultural trends, I think it is perfectly reasonable for Chinese leadership to be cautious.
- siidooloo 9y ago? How is anti-nationalism synonymous with Nazism? The Nazis were the exact opposite. They were ultra-nationalists.
- perlpimp 9y agoChina will consider democracy only when the credit bubble pops which will delegitimize the Communist party. Tianamen square was at the inflection point when Investment flooded into corrupt post maoist china, democratic movement was everywhere but was quashed by increasingly belligerent communists apparatchiks.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoThe CCP has only been able to eliminate dissent by eliminating moral hazard. They promised that the bubbles won't pop, so when they do, it isn't going to be pretty at all.
- helloindia 9y agoHasn't happened in India, yet.
- coldtea 9y ago>The skeptical take is that the CCP is protecting itself from popular and democratic revolutionary movements. On the other hand, a country with 1.x billion people and several languages/ethnicities can become a huge hell-hole without social harmony. This "revolution" thing didn't end that well in Libya, even if they managed to get rid of the old leader. Same with the "democracy" that was re-installed in Iraq and elsewhere. So, one has to be careful what they wish for.
- justicezyx 9y agoI want to add that historically Chinese people (not the modern sense of china) went through brutal revolutions either started by powerful individuals or as grass root riots against the central dynasty. The lesson learned is clear, the people are suffering no matter what. So there is a strong sense to be stable for the people, even it means tolerates a less than perfect government.