Controlling a Nation. Good, Bad, or Necessary?

China's still a little backwater compared to the States. China may be godless, but just replace the word "religion" with "tradition", and its no different than most of the mid US. A lot of Chinese men hold an animosity towards foreign men especially. The society's still repressed, and jealousy quickly sprouts when a repressed public meet one more liberated and happy. Women here are moving forward more quickly than men because liberation in their case means escaping a male dominated society. While most are good and kind men, there are western men take advantage of this deceitfully, coupling the resultant anger in the population of lonely Chinese guys.

The cultural revolution left the boomer generation here with much less education than the preceding and following generations and the boomers outnumber the latest generation by 2 to 1 (due to the one-child policy). The cultural revolution, if you don't know or don't remember was one to re-instill purity in the Chinese nation, much as Hitler wanted to re-instill purity in Germany, except the Chinese were more successful and Mao is still seen as a hero by many. Even those who think that what he did to the country was wrong dare not say he was a bad man or even that he wasn't a hero, not for fear, but for the constant infusing of doctrine and dogma into their education and media.

Right and wrong are very fuzzy ideas here. Much like Americans, they have a sort of moral laziness, and rely on someone else to define right and wrong for them. Americans look to the bible. Chinese look to tradition. In both cases, the government is controlled by and controlling those answers that are given to the public, one openly and obviously and the other less openly, but still obviously. Luckily for both governments, people like to live with their eyes closed and sales-figures in rose-colored glasses have not dwindled in a long time.

Might makes right in China. As a large part of the population is very far from wealthy and struggles daily, being overworked and severely underpaid, they see the "clever" ('clever' is the Chenglish word for deceitful and crooked) businessman as a sort of hero, a role-model for their children. In Shanghai especially, money is king. The social requirements for a man to get married are A) he must own a car, B) he must own a home, C) he must have a "good" job, supposedly something with decent pay and a future. This norm is followed in zombie-like fashion without question or thought, and the rare sub-population who defies these ordinances are seen as dirty and westernized. The result in Shanghai is a population of young men who expect to purchase a bride, and therefore a population of young women who sell themselves as little more than lifelong prostitutes.

China's official policy on foreign people is to welcome them and support them. Bring in business. Infuse China with wealth and power. All the while, the Chinese media, which I remind you is completely government controlled, constantly portrays "foreigners" (not foreign people, political correctness is a long way from coming to China) as morally corrupt, wild, and dangerous. This is to keep them separate, instill a fear and hate of "foreigners" while supporting the using of the resources and opportunities they bring. The result: patriotism and national pride are as rampant in China as are racism and bigotry.

Why instill a population with such contradicting ideas? Simple. You cannot control a nation with tradition if the population sees outside liberal cultures and societies as more desirable than their own, and as a result of China's "clever" education process, you will be hard pressed to meet the Chinese person who will not tell you of their pride in China's 5000 years of history and culture. The fact that said history was rife with civil war, brutality, and oppression need not enter their mind. Chinese do not see themselves as individuals, but rather as parts of groups, so to question the history or culture of China is to insult their very being. I advise others to tread lightly in this subject.

Controlling a Nation. Good, Bad or Necessary? I don't know...

I'll make this a multi-parter. Too much to write in one sitting.

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