David Brooks at the New York Times wrote a column more than a year ago, “The Dictatorship of Talent”. He characterized the Chinese political system as a form of “meritocratic paternalism”. … [Read more...] about Is Chinese Meritocracy a Viable Alternative to Western Democracy?
Friday Musings on China's Bad Press in the West
I have been thinking about two questions about China's image in the Western Media (AKA "international public opinion"). Question 1: Why is China portrayed as either collapsing ("this time it's over for China", "chaos") or menacing (the "China threat") so prevalently (despite notable exceptions)? Why these particular traits? Question 2: How should the Chinese (在朝和在野的中国人) react … [Read more...] about Friday Musings on China's Bad Press in the West
Cultural Differences: Can American Workers Compete?
With the Big Three US auto makers begging the US government to bail them out of bankruptcy, there have been many images on TV and in newspapers of American auto workers at the production line. I watched closely and unconsciously compared them with images of Chinese and Japanese workers, mostly from the same media outlets. My brain computed a couple of differences between images … [Read more...] about Cultural Differences: Can American Workers Compete?
Dealing with the Activist Scoundrelism of the West
Throwing a shoe at Wen Jia Bao created very little arousal among the Chinese. Time has changed since the Olympics. One Chinese commenter on MITBBS was concerned about how the shoe-thrower walked out of the building on his way to jail bare-footed, in the snow falling in London at that time. Did the police lend him a shoe to remedy his uneven legs? … [Read more...] about Dealing with the Activist Scoundrelism of the West
Chinese elitism versus American parochialism (aka Sarah Palin-style "democracy"): Musings on how different political systems function. Part I: The Chinese story.
Prologue: On my last trip back to China I brought back some reprints of Republican-era books. The following musings are based on my hasty reading notes. Abstract: The Chinese society functions well when the stuff of its elite works. The American society functions well when the stuff of its elite works and is embraced by its masses (which is far from automatic). The challenge … [Read more...] about Chinese elitism versus American parochialism (aka Sarah Palin-style "democracy"): Musings on how different political systems function. Part I: The Chinese story.