Go East, Young Man
Last night we went out to dinner and the Oriental Wife struck up a conversation with a young couple with an infant child at the next table. They were quite friendly and very interested to hear that we had just moved back from China.
"We've been thinking about going over there and checking it out," he said.
"Oh yeah?" I replied.
"Yeah. You know, I love America, but it's getting really hard to live here with the politics, you know what I'm saying? It's getting harder to be proud of being an American, you know what I'm saying?" he said.
Actually I don't know, but I just nodded and replied, "You should definitely go check out China."
In fact, I think everyone who thinks America in 2006 is devolving into fascism and authoritarian rule needs to go live in China for an extended length of time. China is a wonderful, vibrant, exciting place, with endless variety of people and places. Many Americans go there and love it. I sure did, especially on my first trip in 1991.
It's also a place where the central government is strong enough to choke off public dissent and maintain a veneer of national unity, yet weak enough to be unable to rein in local officials that do a far more effective job of abusing the people through taxes, corruption and outright thuggery than Beijing does with all its tanks and paramilitary forces.
It's a place where the court system and legislature is completely beholden to the Communist Party, which in turn is beholden to its newly wealthy and ambitious members. That means if a party member who runs a power company wants to build a new generating facility on some farmland, well, he's going to get that land even if he has to shoot those pesky villagers to do it.
There are Americans for whom this is all a sideshow. A good American friend of mine is a successful businessman there. He thrives on change, on dealing with problems, on trying to make something work despite the odds being against him. He's brilliant and ambitious. He also had to essentially give the police a cut of his business so they wouldn't shut him down. You see, he doesn't actually have the right to be there and do what he does. He does it with the leave of the police.
A strange thing happens to many Americans living in China. They find themselves defending America against the numerous misconceptions of the country that abound even among the most educated and highly read Chinese people. "Isn't it true that everyone has a gun?" "Aren't you afraid of being shot?" "Why did America back South Korea when it invaded the North?" "Why does America support Taiwan when it's an inseperable part of China?"
It is accepted as an unquestioning matter of faith that the U.S. intentionally bombed China's Belgrade embassy in 1999, and that the U.S. spyplane was violating China's airspace in 2001. While you can easily find Americans who might agree, you can ask 100 Chinese their views and be lucky to get 1 or 2 who question the government's official stance of those incidents.
So, to anyone who frets that America is a fascist state, or stifles free speech, or is jingoistic, I heartily recommend an extended stint in the Middle Kingdom.
After all, if you're American and hate President Bush, why, just wait 2 years and you'll be free of him.
That's a privelege the Chinese don't enjoy.
"We've been thinking about going over there and checking it out," he said.
"Oh yeah?" I replied.
"Yeah. You know, I love America, but it's getting really hard to live here with the politics, you know what I'm saying? It's getting harder to be proud of being an American, you know what I'm saying?" he said.
Actually I don't know, but I just nodded and replied, "You should definitely go check out China."
In fact, I think everyone who thinks America in 2006 is devolving into fascism and authoritarian rule needs to go live in China for an extended length of time. China is a wonderful, vibrant, exciting place, with endless variety of people and places. Many Americans go there and love it. I sure did, especially on my first trip in 1991.
It's also a place where the central government is strong enough to choke off public dissent and maintain a veneer of national unity, yet weak enough to be unable to rein in local officials that do a far more effective job of abusing the people through taxes, corruption and outright thuggery than Beijing does with all its tanks and paramilitary forces.
It's a place where the court system and legislature is completely beholden to the Communist Party, which in turn is beholden to its newly wealthy and ambitious members. That means if a party member who runs a power company wants to build a new generating facility on some farmland, well, he's going to get that land even if he has to shoot those pesky villagers to do it.
There are Americans for whom this is all a sideshow. A good American friend of mine is a successful businessman there. He thrives on change, on dealing with problems, on trying to make something work despite the odds being against him. He's brilliant and ambitious. He also had to essentially give the police a cut of his business so they wouldn't shut him down. You see, he doesn't actually have the right to be there and do what he does. He does it with the leave of the police.
A strange thing happens to many Americans living in China. They find themselves defending America against the numerous misconceptions of the country that abound even among the most educated and highly read Chinese people. "Isn't it true that everyone has a gun?" "Aren't you afraid of being shot?" "Why did America back South Korea when it invaded the North?" "Why does America support Taiwan when it's an inseperable part of China?"
It is accepted as an unquestioning matter of faith that the U.S. intentionally bombed China's Belgrade embassy in 1999, and that the U.S. spyplane was violating China's airspace in 2001. While you can easily find Americans who might agree, you can ask 100 Chinese their views and be lucky to get 1 or 2 who question the government's official stance of those incidents.
So, to anyone who frets that America is a fascist state, or stifles free speech, or is jingoistic, I heartily recommend an extended stint in the Middle Kingdom.
After all, if you're American and hate President Bush, why, just wait 2 years and you'll be free of him.
That's a privelege the Chinese don't enjoy.
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