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That's quite true. There is a stereotype the Chinese people passively obey the government, no matter what it does. But if you look at the history, that is not a
by woodandsteel 7y ago
That's quite true. There is a stereotype the Chinese people passively obey the government, no matter what it does. But if you look at the history, that is not at all the case.
In fact, from what I have read there is even a principle in Confucianism that if the people are starving and are in revolt, it means the government has mismanaged the country and has "lost the mantle of heaven" and should be replaced.
- pishpash 7y agoI like how all the keyboard experts pop out of the woodwork when it comes to China like for almost no other country, yet objectively they probably know the least about the country. Nobody has talked about the mandate of heaven for at least a hundred years, orientalist historiography notwithstanding. Historically, compared to other peer societies over the same periods, China has been very stable for long periods of time. It is only in the extremely myopic recent that the so-called "developed world" has seemed more stable and prosperous, and even that's highly debatable in aspects. On the other hand, when it does happen, rebellion or discontent for basic food safety reasons has no unique Chinese angle to it because it happens all the time all over the world, so I'm not sure what there is to gain by injecting something Chinese into it, except knee-jerk ideology.
- woodandsteel 7y agojustinzollars said that there is no possibility of a political crisis because it is a well-controlled authoritarian country, and then afterburner present some reasons why the government is afraid of one, and then I supported afterburners view. Your comment diverts the discussion away from this very important issue, which I assume was your intention.
- afterburner 7y agoSeems like you're the one arguing China is "special" in some way, while we're doing the opposite.