I received the following comment on my previous “China/Ant” blog from a friend who has been to China many times and believes its culture and form of governance are superior to that in the US. My reply follows his comment:
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.
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.
As to never having been to China, my friend is correct. I have never been to the moon, either, but I understand its atmosphere requires a space suit for human survival. 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 dissension between the left and right in the US, the same dissension does not exist with regard to China - with the possible exception of the Biden family and his close cohorts who are subject to corrupt Chinese influence peddling.
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 carried out under the direction of "the Party"; to preserve and enhance the power of the Party - as unified as an ant colony.
Regarding being unaware of “freedoms being missed” in China, it should be obvious that 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 occasional visitor or foreign national, likewise, will be made unaware of missed freedoms to help assure the aura of freedom.
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 versus West.
Note the use of the word "racist", by the commenter, above. This is used in exactly the same manner as the left in the US brandishes the words “racist”, “bigot” or “-phobe” of every sort against anyone who disagrees with their point of view. Why can’t we discuss differences between cultures and forms of governance without name calling?
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 cheer leaders 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 – with the recent exception of collusion between big tech and our government to silence conservative discourse or legitimate medical opinion.
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 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-infused tasks. That is a compliment/asset of China but is apparently an insult to China fans.
That productivity is the point of my ant analogy: The culture of a nation, like the genetics of an ant, can be a unifying force for producing great things in great quantity while remaining oblivious to the freedoms being missed.
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