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I find blogs like these rather impressive: long discursions on a topic of interest, as opposed to the snappy marketing pieces that I see much more often. Clearl

I find blogs like these rather impressive: long discursions on a topic of interest, as opposed to the snappy marketing pieces that I see much more often. Clearly the author is a dedicated researcher in his field. It's odd and ironic, but yes, the book has been repeatedly published in China and is widely available, even from a state-run bookstore. Perhaps this illustrates the point that, if you treat something like it ain't no thang, people don't notice and focus on it (the "forbidden fruit syndrome"). Or, alternatively, that most people don't care about political satire as long their lives are improving materially. A quote by Orwell from the article, showing his ethnic/national sensitivity in 1947: We all have these feelings in one form or another. If a Chinese wants to be called a Chinese and not a Chinaman, if a Scotsman objects to be called a Scotchman, or if a Negro demands his capital N, it is only the most ordinary politeness to do what is asked of one. The sad thing about this alphabet-book is that the writer obviously has no intention of insulting the “lower” races. He is merely not quite aware that they are human beings like ourselves. A “native” is a comic black man with very few clothes on; a “Chinaman” wears a pigtail and travels in a junk– which is about as true as saying that an Englishman wears a top hat and travels in a hansom cab. This unconsciously patronising attitude is learned in childhood and then, as here, passed onto a new generation of children. (The article explains that 'Negro' was a term of respect at the time.)

redthrowaway 12y ago
I have no doubt that if the Party thought people would draw a parallel between them and the Party in 1984, it would be banned. The fact is, China is nothing like Oceania, or even the Soviet Union. Certain political discussions are censored, but otherwise people have almost entirely free reign to live their lives how they see fit. The only state that even remotely resembles the world described in 1984 these days is North Korea.
- contingencies 12y ago
  The only state... I see many parallels in Singapore, the 'Disneyland with the Death Penalty'[1] where a carefully cultivated, ever-youthful cross-section of public workers (police, army, etc.) forcibly intrude upon the departing or transiting traveller even as they flee at the airport gate lounge. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Penalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Pena...
hcarvalhoalves 12y ago
Well, that's interesting. I wouldn't think of China as a prime example of an Orwellian state, but rather something out of Huxley's mind. China is capitalist, industrial, workers are salaried, the culture is material-focused, and more than half of the population is non-religious. Politically alienated rather than politically manipulated. Censorship is not based on hate speech, but justified as a way to protect the internal market, a capitalist and pragmatic view. That's "Brave New World" to me. A prime example of Orwellian state in my opinion would be DPRK, or Cuba, or what Venezuela is turning into. Two major points of "1984" are a population kept poor and hate speech.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  China has its Orwellian moments, just read the newspaper or watch the news inside the country, as do cuba and Venezuela, but none of those are Orwellian states. Spot on a about North Korea, Kim Sung Il must have read 1984 and used it as a template. Note, however, that North Korea is hardly the poorest state.
  - guard-of-terra 12y ago
    Outside poorest central asia and sub-saharan africa, North Korea is the poorest. Certainly was in 90-s. Now it's getting better thanks to small business, trade with China and limited agri reforms,
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      There are probably some countries in SE Asia that are poorer (New Guinea, Myanmar, Laos, maybe even Cambodia). If DPRK reunited with ROK (under the ROK government, of course), it would probably only take a generation or so to catch up to ROK. They have a culture of high literacy and industry, only their government is holding them back (less developed countries have much less to work with).
      - guard-of-terra 12y ago
        Even ex-DDR still did not catch up with the rest of Germany - and one generation did pass. And they were just 3x poorer, where DPRK is more like 15x poorer than ROK. I doubt that SE countries you listed lost 100k+ people due to hunger (in 90-s and 00-s anyway). Sure they are poor, but they can handle it better than command economy. They're used to be poor, not shocked by it.

redthrowaway 12y ago

I have no doubt that if the Party thought people would draw a parallel between them and the Party in 1984, it would be banned. The fact is, China is nothing like Oceania, or even the Soviet Union. Certain political discussions are censored, but otherwise people have almost entirely free reign to live their lives how they see fit. The only state that even remotely resembles the world described in 1984 these days is North Korea.

contingencies 12y ago
The only state... I see many parallels in Singapore, the 'Disneyland with the Death Penalty'[1] where a carefully cultivated, ever-youthful cross-section of public workers (police, army, etc.) forcibly intrude upon the departing or transiting traveller even as they flee at the airport gate lounge. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Penalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Pena...

hcarvalhoalves 12y ago

Well, that's interesting. I wouldn't think of China as a prime example of an Orwellian state, but rather something out of Huxley's mind. China is capitalist, industrial, workers are salaried, the culture is material-focused, and more than half of the population is non-religious. Politically alienated rather than politically manipulated. Censorship is not based on hate speech, but justified as a way to protect the internal market, a capitalist and pragmatic view. That's "Brave New World" to me. A prime example of Orwellian state in my opinion would be DPRK, or Cuba, or what Venezuela is turning into. Two major points of "1984" are a population kept poor and hate speech.

seanmcdirmid 12y ago
China has its Orwellian moments, just read the newspaper or watch the news inside the country, as do cuba and Venezuela, but none of those are Orwellian states. Spot on a about North Korea, Kim Sung Il must have read 1984 and used it as a template. Note, however, that North Korea is hardly the poorest state.
- guard-of-terra 12y ago
  Outside poorest central asia and sub-saharan africa, North Korea is the poorest. Certainly was in 90-s. Now it's getting better thanks to small business, trade with China and limited agri reforms,
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    There are probably some countries in SE Asia that are poorer (New Guinea, Myanmar, Laos, maybe even Cambodia). If DPRK reunited with ROK (under the ROK government, of course), it would probably only take a generation or so to catch up to ROK. They have a culture of high literacy and industry, only their government is holding them back (less developed countries have much less to work with).
    - guard-of-terra 12y ago
      Even ex-DDR still did not catch up with the rest of Germany - and one generation did pass. And they were just 3x poorer, where DPRK is more like 15x poorer than ROK. I doubt that SE countries you listed lost 100k+ people due to hunger (in 90-s and 00-s anyway). Sure they are poor, but they can handle it better than command economy. They're used to be poor, not shocked by it.