Stumbling Blocks

Flames and Riots!! No, I’m not talking about Paris in ’68 (or 2005, or 1780 for that matter). I’m talking about the Olympic flame and Chinas brief but calculated hatred of all things French. No doubt if it were not for their own skyrocketing bread costs, the people of the PRC would have been smashing baguettes underfoot. Being a westerner I am both proud and horrified by China’s reaction. I congratulate the people on the people for organizing a boycott of Carfour (France’s Wal-Mar. I pity them really; they can’t even avoid protests in China). On the other hand, I’m horrified that people of China are grossly unprepared to enter into a discussion of world events. The people I work with are managers in global corporations (HSBC, Mitsubishi, etc), yet some suffer from a narrow mindedness that prevents any positive discussion. I’ve spoken with a few students about it (we’re very much not supposed to) and though most realize the world is big place with real problems, some don’t! Among those that don’t there are unique and different reasons than I am used to among people. They are:

‘The Truman Show’ Effect – In this movie, Jim Carrey lives in a world made for him by a ‘benevolent’ TV show director, never knowing there is a larger outside world with different ideas and opinions. People in China often end up like Jim Carrey, unaware not just of the other arguments, but unschooled in the philosophy and logic required to understand these arguments. Perhaps it is rooted deeper than the government, with the history of Chinese Philosophy vastly different from our own, but without any education in rational discourse (why study debate when there can be none?) the people are left to accept what they are told and never question it. Just like Jim Carrey.

The ‘Terrible Two’s’ Effect – At one point or another in our lives, most of us were two years old, and if psychiatry and biology have anything to say, we were probably miserable little children to be around. Two year olds are old enough to be conscious of themselves, but lack the consciousness to be fully aware of the feelings of people around them. This isn’t to say that Chinese people act like two year olds all the time, but when asked ‘are there problems in China?’ they respond with ‘my family is good, so no.’ How can one persons family be an adequate sample size for a country of a billion? When confronting a student with the issue of human rights violations in China, I’ve been told, “but the people are happy, so why not leave us alone?” It’s as if they refuse to accept that people are suffering in their country because they themselves are not suffering.

The ‘Hey, Scientology Might Be Right’ Effect – I don’t think a spaceship full of aliens blew themselves up with a bomb and that their souls inhabit human beings causing sickness and death, but I can’t prove it’s not true or convince a believer otherwise. In much the same way I cannot prove there are human rights violations, much less that the government is stifling their subjects thought development to someone who doesn’t want to believe it. The best we could do would be to agree to disagree, but just like with a Scientologist, it’s not an option.

The ‘Nationalism’ Effect – China is more nationalistic than the United States, and that is saying something! In my opinion Nationalism may be the single most devastating force in the world. Nationalism is a rallying cry and a fire starter. The people of China make no distinction between the government and themselves, meaning when the world media says, ‘China prohibits free speech, they are repressive goons’, the people see it as a personal attack on them. While teaching I asked for examples of things that could happen to someone which would make them have a bad day. One of the common responses was, “the world hates the Olympics.” When I reminded the student that doesn’t make them have a bad day the same way loosing their wallet would they chided me insisting that any slight to China is a slight to them all!

There you have it, four damaging effects on the discourse of thought in China. Perhaps someday after the government releases its grip on information we can have meaningful discussions. Until then we’ll have to deal with dumbfounded looks of distrust when the world suggest something bad happened in China in 1989.