I propose that ant colonies operate more like communism than a monarchy. And that China’s society works more like an ant colony than a monarchy.
Others disagree.
Alexander Finnegan, a self-described J.D. Law and Marxist dude, believes that if ants were people, they would NOT be communists, but would instead be monarchists. That’s why the queen is called “the Queen.”
But digging down further into WHY she is a queen while all others appear to be subservient to the queen is the challenge.
WHY is she the queen? WHY are all others subservient?
In the case of the ant, the reason for the way ants govern is based on millions of years of genetics.
In the case of China, the form of governance is based on thousands of years of culture.
“Genetics” is the macro view of behavior – a much longer time horizon. “Culture”, by comparison is the micro view – a much shorter, though still long, time horizon. But they both have the same effect on the form of governance from the perspective of the much shorter generational view of humans.
Genetics (ants) and culture (China) have similar influences on their respective forms of governance. Both genetics and culture give the queen and the Party their importance and the workers their role in life – serve the queen/Party. 
But are they serving the queen or are they serving the colony? Are they serving Xi or are they serving the Party? What happens if the queen dies? The colony ends with the death of the last few worker ants because no new ants are being produced by the queen.
But…
While the colony ends, that is not the end of ants. If China’s Xi died, that is not the end of China or the Party. The only thing that happens is that there are no more Xi followers (maybe a few million worshippers for a time). Another leader arrives on the scene and the Chinese culture continues – just as other ant colonies continue.
Compare a Chinese leader to an ant colony queen. The queen is essential to the “colony” but not essential to ants. Xi is essential to Xi followers, but not essential to the Chinese Communist Party. Ants go on. The party goes on. The driving force – the force that gives both the ant civilization and Chinese civilization their role in life – their innate, visceral (like an organisms sympathetic nervous system) – is either genetics (ants) or culture (China).
The result? Both ant workers and China workers act as automatons, providing service to the colony (ants) or to the Party (China). In each scenario, they both create great civilizations, but at the price of individual autonomy, aka personal freedoms.
They both reflect the near perfection in working together as a unified force to create marvelous works, maybe even better and more efficiently than individual groups with more independent agendas can do.
Many folks today, like the good commie noted at the beginning, offer up the ant and China as the governance goal human society should aspire to. They believe it is the preferred direction of human evolution.
The rest of us believe that life is much richer and fulfilling with individual interests, skills, and aspirations tugging and pushing one another to achieve common goals.
2 comments:
Well, the author, having never been to China or lived among the Chinese, has an uneducated view about China in several regards. China’s middle class has continued to grow while ours is shrinking. The reason is because China does have entrepreneurs just as we do and those that feel more comfortable working in a group have found a home in profitable privately owned enterprises and SOE’s so they aren’t ants. I could easily move to China and get a job as an English teacher, but freedom does not mean I could teach LGBTQ+ sex or how to overthrow the government. As far as freedom is concerned I’m as free when I have visited and lived in China as I am here so I have no idea what freedom I’m missing. I will finish by saying people should not comment upon something they have no personal experience with only relying upon the racist words of others, biased media or corrupt politicians.
In the interest of full disclosure, the above comment was submitted by an individual who obviously holds China in high esteem and who believes China's form of government and culture are superior to those of the US.
Yes, China does have a middle class and entrepreneurs - given enough leash by the central government to remain productive - until they have a point of view at odds with the Party. People who for centuries have been immersed in a culture of "group work" and "group think" will obviously "have no idea what freedom [they are] missing."
The point of the "ant" comparison was not to disparage a people (ants are spoken of quite highly in the Bible) but to highlight the vast distinction between the culture and forms of government of China and the West. Note the use of the word "racist", above, just as the left in the US brandishes against anyone who disagrees with their point of view.
Other comparisons might be simpler and less offensive to those who don't appreciate ants:
* China: Top down; US: Varies between "bottom up" and "consensus."
* China: Much more highly controlled and regimented; the US: Much less so.
* China: Appearance of greater unity (real or "managed"?); US: Appearance of disagreement and great differences (much less "managed" characteristics of a democratic Republic allowing free expression well publicized and out in the open. Chinese apologists consider this a liability.)
* China: Intolerant of any religion or ideology that the Party believes may be a threat. US: Tolerant of dissent to a fault.
One current example of China's outsized authoritarian predisposition is their methods of suppressing COVID. The slightest outbreak leads to locked down apartment buildings and whole cities. I could imagine an ant colony doing something similar to a wayward ant or two.
There are many instances my friend, above, will point to where the productivity of the Chinese system is superior. And he is correct. China has demonstrated the organizational skills that enable it to excel at productivity - just like the ant that carries many times its weight in its genetically-imbued tasks. That is as much a compliment/asset of China as it is an insult to defenders of China.
As to never having been to China, my friend is correct. I have never been to the moon, but I understand its atmosphere requires a space suit for human survival. But my comparisons of China with the ant are not out of ignorance of China.
It should be instructive for my friend that among the many issues that breed dissention between the left and right in the US, there is a unifying set of beliefs among both left and right concerning China - to the point of near unanimity -, that China is:
* Intolerant of human rights - well known to both sides of our political aisle.
* A top down, authoritarian Communist regime
* Rapidly building its military power and influence in the Pacific to the point of becoming a threat to world shipping in the region and the balance of power in the world
* Growing its trade and economic advantage by relying on espionage or other unethical means of stealing US technology.
* Allied with the "axis of evil" including Iran, North Korea, and supportive of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.
All of these unanimously held concerns - also held by many foreign affairs experts who have spent many years in China - are under the direction of "the Party"; to preserve and enhance the power of the Party - as unified as an ant colony.
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