comment on "My personal experience about America after immigration to America" wrote by a Chinese immigrant in the US

I read an article about a Chinese immigrant's opinion about China(My personal experience about America after immigration to America). Undoubtedly, the phenomenons covered my this immigrant existed in every corner of China and it also represented a conflict in most oversea Chinese's minds. Although the author tried to avoid an impression of his disgust of China, the readers are very likely to think about that. I agreed with the comment by shuiqin that this article uncovered a myriad of bad things common in China, but it didn't go more further to analyze the cause of these phenomenons behind the scenes.

I am trying to analyze its causes. For one thing, the aftermath of the culture revolution and all kinds of political movements are still lingering in many people's minds. Fear are rooted in people and make them extremely alert to the outside. Although the government had revalue the culture revolution, the deep fear still don't go away. Except personal attack, Chinese traditional culture was completely abandoned by so-called class struggle. In the times when Confucian was no longer respected, how civilized would regular citizens be? Although economical reform are performed for two decades, the Chinese still don't find something to believe in. Maybe some will say the thinking of peasants, I will argue that this kind of thinking will just make people a bit mean but not alert always. Others will say materialism lead to degradation of people. I will argue this point is shallow. To some extent, the government and the whole system made people alert. Abuse of the parents will make children deviated from normal. In the same way, unreasonable political system will twist people's values.

As regard to the solution, I think it is necessary to rebuild the modern Chinese culture. It must not be a copy of the west culture. Instead, it should make the best of the merits of all cultures, avoid those uncivilized aspects, create a values fitting the thinking of Chinese, and popularize fundamental education and advocate the new values. On the other hand, the government should change its position against the people, become more open-minded and receive the investigation of the people. If the dialog is smoothly built and the public trust of government improves, the distrust and alert between the people will also be mitigated.

Any discussion is welcome on this topic.

与“移居美国后回头看中国，我的真实经历”作者商榷

刚看了一篇文章移民美国后回头看美国，我的真实经历，我想该文揭示的现象是不容置疑的存在与中国的每一个角落，也反映了大多数海外华人的矛盾心态。尽管作者试图表现出“儿不嫌母丑”的心态，但读者很难不想到反面。我同意水清的评论，该文确实道出了现在中国存在的普遍恶象，但缺乏深度，没有分析这些恶象背后的起因。

我尝试说两点：首先当然是因为文革以及类似的种种整人运动，余波未息，恐惧已经深深扎入人心，由此导致对外界的极端戒备，尽管国家已经对这段历史已经重新评价，但不足以消除这种深深的恐惧；除了武斗导致的恐惧以外，中国人的传统文化也彻底被所谓的阶级斗争破坏殆尽，连孔圣人都不再圣了，有能要求老百姓圣到什么程度？即使经济发展几十年，但中国人的精神家园仍然是一片荒芜。可能有人会说道中国人的小农思想，但我觉得小农思想顶多使人小气一点，但不至于处处警惕别人。也可能有人说是拜金主义导致道德沦丧，但这只看到了表面。其实源头在于政府，某种程度上政府以及整个体制造成了人们的警惕。父母对孩子的恶语相加会导致孩子的心灵扭曲，变态的体制同样会导致人们的价值观扭曲。

至于解决办法，我觉得在文化领域有必要重建中国现代文化，不是全盘西化，而是扬长避短，融合中西，创建一种符合中国人思维的价值观，并普及基础教育，弘扬新的中国现代价值观。另外，政府必须从根本上扭转传统的官民对立形象，而是必须以一种更开放包容的心态，接受人民监督。如果通畅的对话渠道得以建立，政府的公信力得以提升，势必会缓和人民内部的不信任和互相警惕。

English translation of this blog: comment on "My personal experience about America after immigration to America" wrote by a Chinese immigrant in the US

the dacaying of China

Almost every month some grieving news would be highlighted on newspapers and Internet forums. Death toll caused by weak security measures in some mines, poisonous foods are common cases. Sometimes I have became dumb about the bleak society of China. I think many Chinese have the same idea as me. We have developed a cynical distrust of it. In name of people, government have done a lot of things against people. It's a society lack of trust and basic social morals. Government try to hide truth which may aggravate the fury of the people. Government destroy the basic rights of living of people at its will. Companies and businessmen try hard to make money by as many means as they can even some of them are harmful or deadly to people. Many doctors, who are always called the white angels, stoop to receive bribery, become oblivious of diseases and pains of people, just act with disregard of human life. It's a decayed society.

Every Chinese may ask a question: why are we here? I think the basic reasoning is that it is too hard to live in China. People had gone through several couples of years of poverty after the foundation of China. Thereafter, as soon as one had a chance to make money, they will make the best of it. They became into the most selfish economic animals. Although traditional family ties are still strong, conventional ethics and morals are shattered. In the end, the convention are given up but new belief had not been found. It seems that money becomes the only idol of most Chinese after 20 years of economic reforms. Another reason is that the fears brought about by those revolutionary movements and political prosecutions are still lingering in many people's minds. Fears give rise to distrust. People are always alert against each other.

Then another question is, what can we do to stop it? For one thing, we should reexamine our traditional culture. We can't totally abandon it without any reason. Instead, we can try to blend the merits of tradition culture with western ideas. Only fusion can rebuild the values of Chinese people. Neoconfucianism is such an effort. For another, government should take responsibility of making a just evaluation for any prosecuted in movements. However, based on popular distrust against government, we can't expect too much from it. The hope lies in each people and their children, lies in the awareness of the sad situation and the will to fight against it. Even most of us are brainwashed by the education system imposed on us by the government, I think most of us will realize the situation in the end.

Sometimes I begin to think that, the government is naturally antihuman. Maybe in the beginning when the government is set up, it represent most of the people. But afterward, it changes to only represent some special interest groups. According to a poll, even in the US, only 17% of voters say the federal government represent the will of American people，and 67% of them believe that federal government had became a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interest. Those advocates of the democracy of the US should be aware of this fact. It is not reasonable to oppose one system of government and support another. It is not kind of either-yes-or-no logic. I think there is no perfect government. However, people should struggle to make it better as possible.

about the freedom of the press

Recently I saw some film about journalism. All the president's Men is about watergate scandal in which two journalist in the Washington Post strove to trace the dark business behind the election and finally President Nixon was impeached and gone down. Good night, good luck is about McCarthyism in the 50s of the US during which CBS stood out to reveal the unjustness of McCarthyism. These two films are about politics. Another one is about public health. The insider is about a lawsuit against a tobacco company. A TV program producer made great efforts to find witness and produce program to support those injured in the lawsuit. A conscientious chemistry scientist ever working in the accused tobacco company, as an insider of tobacco business, cooperated with the TV program producer to provide effective testimony for the lawsuit in face of great pressure. You can see them by the references below this blog.

Actually I'm more stroke by "The Insider", because this one is pretty much focused on individuals, while another two are mainly about the roles of mass media (newspaper,TV channel) in politics. It is no doubt that mass media are powerful in spreading and influencing public opinions. However, because its intimate relationship with advertisers, independent opinion is very rare in them and some of them even side with a party and oppose another. So, in most cases, mass media stand on behalf of some kind of interest groups rather than real public opinion. On the other hand, the characters in "The Insider" are individuals and emotional struggles in revealing the dark side of a giant business are depicted in details. For anyone in journalism, this kind of emotional or moral struggles are very common. This film is successful in describing the emotional conditions of journalist and regular citizen in the progress of becoming a muckraker.

Actually when I saw them, I can't help thinking about the condition of journalism in China. Although the press got more freedom in recent years compared to the 80s, the censorship in journalism is still strict. The freedom of speech and press is literally in the Constitution, but it never has been enforced. On the contrary, many hidden rules are in effect in journalism and many topics are forbidden. How the constitution is ridiculous! What's more worse is the censorship of the Internet by national security services. Many articles including sensitive words are isolated from Chinese netizens by a powerful national firewall. I think the voices asking for freedom will be more and much louder, so the conditions will improve gradually.

I shall give my respect to any journalist who hold a professional conscience and dare to reveal the inconvenient truth. They disclose the dark side of society and offer real information for the public. To some extent, they act as a watchdog of the society.

Another point I want to say is that, some left guys are still thinking in a cold war way. One of their points is that those asking for more freedom in speech are traitors or lackeys of the west. All they said is about personal attack rather than specific debate. This kind of thinking doesn't make any sense. Joining in a debate and trying to solve the problems are a more reasonable and realistic attitude.

reference:
1. All the president's Men(Chinese title:惊天大阴谋)
2. Good night, good luck(Chinese title:晚安，好运)
3. The insider(Chinese title:局内人)

Does Fahrenheit 911 imply a new trend in documentary?

Fahrenheit 911 is not a new film, but I never have time to see it. I thought it is about politics so it must not be objective. I didn't want to get involved in that kind of swamp. However, this film is a Cannes Festival winner, which make it more accessible to the public. I don't know if it would have been forbidden in the US, if the film didn't win such a prize. Anyway, I saw it.

It is clear that this film is about politics of the US. I think it is not necessary to mention those shots in this blog. There are a lot of reviews and critics about it out there.

There was no such a documentary in the film history that could be so sensational. One of the reward presenter had ever said that this film is chose not because of politics but its artistic skills. It is a conventional view that documentary should be about the facts and be objective. Obviously this documentary perfectly blended traditional features with entertaining elements. However, I think this film appeared less impartial rather than objective. Anyone can feel the obvious political stand against Bush in it. Maybe this kind of controversy is what made it so popular.

One of the point in the film is the opposition of the war against Iraq. However, the war is approved by the congress which represent most US people. So if the war is not the will of the US people, we can conclude that there is something wrong with the congress and also the whole system of government. On the other side,the US government is considered the best government in the world so far. We can only conclude that the Iraq war represented the mainstream of public opinion. I think this is also a kind of tyranny of the majority, against the outside not the inside. If we think about McCarthyism in the 50s which was accused by the justice, I can't help thinking that the justice is only for the US people.

In fact, I heard of some kind of so-called liberal wing's opinions, like that US is a country with the most intensive sense of mission or salvation. Of course people holding such opinion think Iraq war is justified. I will say such opinion is totally bullshit. If these guys were Iraq people, they would not think so.

Actually I was deeply struck by the scenes of a mother of a US soldier who was dead in Iraq war, as sad as when I saw the film Nanking. So, I think the war is war. It is brutal. It is antihuman. The history of human civilizations are still short compared with the evolution history. Maybe it is too short to see its perfection. Maybe after a long time like several tens of thousands of years, human at that time will think us barbarian and not civilized at all although we are so proud of modern science and technology today. Maybe they will think us ridiculous. Why people are still fighting each other while there are more important thing to do to sustain our existence on earth?

dystopia books

Recently I read something about politics, including those famous but deported poets and writers in Russia, documentaries about demonstrations in China, and also some films of dystopia.

Many renowned poets and writers were deported in Soviet Union. They are considered as dissenters at the time of Soviet Union. Deport of dissent artists is an unique feature in the history of arts of Russia. Most of their writing are fierce critics of autocracy of Soviet Union. Solzhenitsyn, the conscience of the Russian people, is one of them in the 20th century. The Gulag Archipelago is a elaborate writing about labor camp in Soviet Union. I have to say, if I have time to read this great novel, I can debunk the mystery of its equivalents in China. I think this kind of device is very common in eastern autocratic countries. Actually, I know some Chinese books are forbidden in mainland. I can't say these books are all the truth, but they definitely include some kind of facts which government don't want citizens to know.

What's the most ironical thing is that, as a persistent defender of democracy and human rights, the United States became notorious for its oversea prison and all kinds of atrocity against so-called terrorist whom they alleged. A documentary "The Road to Guantanamo" revealed the illegal detention and brutal mistreatment imposed on three British muslin who was going to Afghanistan to provide humanistic help for refugees. It is obvious that those claimed themselves human rights defenders adopted double standard on behalf of themselves. Maybe their thinking is: all people are equal, but we are more equal than others. I don't mean to justify similar issues in China by scorning other countries. All those kind of issues are equally unreasonable and should be abolished.

I recommend some books which are often called political fables to everyone who want to understand politics in depth.

I gave video links of the three books here:
1. Fahrenheit 451
2. 1984
3. Animal farm