deepandthoughtful
I want to write something a little thinky... but at the moment, I'm drained. This will not be a kind weekend... Humanities formal, a movie night, and St. Patty's... all whilst trying to get all my essays done.
Thus being up this late.
A few thoughts I've been meaning to jot down... anyway.
A long time ago (as in, first year of University, intoxicated in my dorm room with some friends) I was chatting with someone about a myriad of topics relating to socialism and Marxism in general. I pointed out something that I was just pondering in the tub...
The Chinese experiment fails on many different fronts and has had an enormous toll on human life. But one of the core roots of the problem with socialism, in any form, being implemented in Chinese culture is that it is, at its heart, built upon a very longstanding tradition of gerontocracy.
On the sheer level of ideals... the socialist supposition of class equality clashes on a very basic level with an established order of the Chinese gerontocracy. In principle political change, that is... on such a level, is the realm of the young idealist. I can say with rather sincere honesty now that I was much more of an idealist when I was younger than I am now... cynicism sunk in over the years and I find myself feeling less compelled towards political change brought about by the masses.
Of course, that could be simply a function of our generation... we are certainly not living in an era where activism is as potent a vehicle for change as when it was a fresh notion (the 1960s).
Back to my point, however... 'respect for ones elders' in Chinese culture is effectively a political structure in itself, one ingrained into its very fabric. The onset of Communism has in no way changed this... in fact it has adopted it as a function of its government.
That is not to say that the young do not hold political power, in a sense, but it is to say that the aged hold political control, at least over its direction. The power of the youth, exhibited most flagrantly in the Tienanmen Square massacres, was quickly perverted by the gerontocracy to suit its own purposes, at least internally if not externally (after all, the concept of the Middle Kingdom, though unspoken, still exists).
It's not something that will likely change anytime soon. Just a thought. I'm going to catch a nap before I have to wake up and get cracking on my work.