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Citizens of the empire at or near the peak of its influence always think that. And if your culture has been rolling along for 2000 years almost without interru

Citizens of the empire at or near the peak of its influence always think that. And if your culture has been rolling along for 2000 years almost without interruption, you might even be right. It's just patriotism. I expect Chinese people to be as proud of China as Americans are of America. Some will be more die-hard than others, and some will be more humble about it. All of my co-workers working in software are a lot more critical of our government and national politics than--to name near-antipodal opposites--some of my Trump-electing MAGA in-laws, for whom America is the paragon of nations that can do no wrong. Maybe you didn't talk to a representative sample? The actual best, smartest, and most sophisticated people tend to be much more cosmopolitan in their world view (and in their distribution). But they aren't always the ones driving the politics, or the ones exporting the cultural stereotype. Joe in the US idolizes the US, and Wei in China idolizes China. And to be fair, it is the most populous nation, with a rapidly growing middle class and developing high-tech manufacturing sector. While China hasn't ever been the center of the world, it has always been the center of east Asia.

iforgotpassword 9y ago
> Maybe you didn't talk to a representative sample? I did to some extend. Your initial post sounded quite stereotypical, like the typical communist gulag FUD you get from fox news etc., so I tried to give a counter example. Your follow-up however read much more insightful and I can pretty much agree. My impression was that it was mostly older people who believed in China being the undisputed number one for all time (after a quick recovery from the western take over), which I like to account to Mao's influence on their views and values. Younger people had much more realistic views, while I have to admit that it was mostly college students I talked to due to my lack of Chinese skills. But even if the less well-educated youth from some remote village is the prime example of a patriot not questioning anything the government does, is that really that different from here? In general I'm very curious what the next generation of Chinese will be like. There is such a huge clash in the current gen that's about to have kids, because many of the habits and ideas of the past generation just don't work anymore in the current Chinese society. This is just one of the aspects that make me wonder where the country as a whole is headed. It's moving so fast and unexpectedly that I don't really dare to take an opinion on whether China will "take over the world" or not and what this would actually be like for the rest of us. I see great potential for this to happen, but also lots of inner-political and social tensions that could have devastating impact on the country and throw it back again quite a bit.

iforgotpassword 9y ago

> Maybe you didn't talk to a representative sample? I did to some extend. Your initial post sounded quite stereotypical, like the typical communist gulag FUD you get from fox news etc., so I tried to give a counter example. Your follow-up however read much more insightful and I can pretty much agree. My impression was that it was mostly older people who believed in China being the undisputed number one for all time (after a quick recovery from the western take over), which I like to account to Mao's influence on their views and values. Younger people had much more realistic views, while I have to admit that it was mostly college students I talked to due to my lack of Chinese skills. But even if the less well-educated youth from some remote village is the prime example of a patriot not questioning anything the government does, is that really that different from here? In general I'm very curious what the next generation of Chinese will be like. There is such a huge clash in the current gen that's about to have kids, because many of the habits and ideas of the past generation just don't work anymore in the current Chinese society. This is just one of the aspects that make me wonder where the country as a whole is headed. It's moving so fast and unexpectedly that I don't really dare to take an opinion on whether China will "take over the world" or not and what this would actually be like for the rest of us. I see great potential for this to happen, but also lots of inner-political and social tensions that could have devastating impact on the country and throw it back again quite a bit.