The United States and China

[hifiguy]

Last edited Sun Jul 7, 2013, 09:07 AM - Edit history (1)

I am currently visiting the Hangzhou area of China for a few weeks as an orientation for my upcoming job as marketing director for a German based/owned high-end audio company that manufactures in its wholly-owned Chinese facility.

Prior to coming here I did some thinking about the US and China. They are in one crucial way far more alike than they are different.

In China there is one de facto political party and it is called the Communist Party.
(Let us leave aside that the Chinese regime is not recognizably communist in any way.) On its left wing are moderately liberal reformists, on its right are the hard-liner authoritarian assholes. The one thing they all agree on is that the basics of the system have to remain in place.

In the US there is also one de facto political party. It can be accurately named The Money Party. On its left wing are moderately liberal reformists that are known as "Democrats." On the right wing there are hard-liner authoritarian assholes. They are known as "Republicans." The one thing they all agree on is that the basics of the system have to remain in place.

US Republicans might be in some ways worse in many ways than Chinese authoritarians - there are, after all, about as many hard-line Maoists in the Politburo as there are left-handed heavy metal guitarists - because they have to impose their psychotic, Cro-Magnon Jeebus drool and old testament lunacy on even the simplest and most straightforward of issues.

So what's the difference? The Chinese don't bother trying to hide what their system is by wrapping it in ludicrous - and blatantly, glaringly, obviously FALSE - platitudes of the sort 'murkans throw around on the Fourth of July (and which the 'pukes and Faux Snooze blare 24/7/365). The Chinese system is what it is and they don't try to make you think it's anything else. Take it or leave it, no one is trying to say it's something other than what it is. I'd rather deal with a system which doesn't try so hard to trick you into believing things that are such utter and transparent lies.

And the English language news channel here (CCTV) is very good, BTW. Clearly modeled on the BBC and many of the on-camera people are Brits.

ETA: at least in China there is the eternal Confucian system of ethics, which have survived for more than 2000 years, that should prevent them from being infected by the Ayn Rand virus. And, per a NYTimes article, the Chinese powers that be are quite concerned about the socially corrosive effects of gross economic inequality. Is there one high profile US politician who is concerned AND trying to do something about this issue other than Bernie Sanders?

[siligut]

1. So are you enjoying living in China?

How is the air quality?

[hifiguy]

2. Just arrived a couple of days ago for

my orientation. Air quality where I am - Fuyang City - seems fine, and I have bad sinuses. You do encounter some very weird smells occasionaly when out on the street, but they pass quickly. Traffic is terrifying, I will grant you that. Food, on the other hand, is delicious, plentiful and inexpensive, and I am referring to the local stuff, not chains. People seem generally nice. What makes me feel odd is that I seem to tower over most of the locals and I am only six-one. I am getting a small taste of how Andre the Giant must have felt.

[siligut]

3. Oh, yes, the traffic

Traffic signals are only a suggestion in China. I understand about feeling different. I am a blond, green-eyed, freckled-skinned female with an hourglass shape. Children stared at me gape-mouthed and wide-eyed everywhere I went in China. It was charming really. However, I was also generally selected for extra pat-downs, and in my group we decided it was probably due to my figure.

[hifiguy]

4. I was introduced to the ubiquitous electric scooter

yesterday and followed a guide from the company to the factory, which is about fifteen minutes from where I am staying. Where there were actual traffic lights people did stop and go in accordance with the red lights. But there are very few traffic lights and everywhere else it is everyone for themselves and the gods against all.

The horn is the only thing used for signaling, and it is used with the sort of reckless abandon the US Air Force demonstrated in dumping Agent Orange on Vietnam 45 years ago. The scooter lanes - which were everywhere - were a reassurance, but a small one. I managed to get there and back without dumping the tatty scooter or getting killed. And I thought drivers in Paris - the most homicidal I had previously seen - were bad!

Staying alive in traffic is my #1 priority for the next six weeks.

Lordy lu, there are more trucks of all kinds in these parts than anywhere I have ever seen.

[siligut]

5. I remember seeing trucks made by Volvo and Mercedes

And they drive bumper to bumper, but I never saw a car accident. Congrats on your success with the scooter, good luck on staying alive.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

6. Hi Neighbor, I am next door in Suzhou. I hope you enjoy Xi Hu. I did when I went.

Some of what you say is true.

Wait until October 1st for National Days and all the quasi-patriotism will come out.

CCTV English (Ch. 6 I believe) is good, just plays new 80 times a day.

It's weird that I feel I have more freedoms here in China after five years than I would in the US now. their restrictive internet policy is negated by a good VPN.

I don't use their stupid website (weibo, ren ren wang, sinablog) so I don't care. But it is not Maoist China of Zhen Fan and the Cultural Revolution. It isn't even China if 1989.

Enjoy Hangzhou, It's nice. I hate the train station (old, dirty and falling apart).

[hifiguy]

8. I heard somewhere on the 'tubes that a huge new

train station is opening in Hangzhou. In fact I think I saw it when driving through the city. It sure looked new.

Good to know about the VPN, which I am going to ask my tech-wizard German boss about. I need certain things on you tube - pro wrestling and My Little Pony for two. Yes, I have weird interests.

I don't doubt that the Chinese, like every other nation on earth, have their chest-beating moments. It comes with being a nation. The omnipresence of such "WE ARE THE GREATEST FOR EVER AND EVER" day in and day out 365 days a year seems to be uniquely American.

I do wish they would get a handle on the concept of American toilet paper though. The bumfodder here leaves something to be desired as it comes in tiny little Kleenex-like "rolls."

I will be getting out to see a lot more starting tomorrow when the boss gets back from a hi fi show in Kuala Lumpur.

This is a very interesting corner of the world, and that's putting it mildly. I look forward to making its acquaintance. Gotta start studying Mandarin when I get back to Minneapolis in August.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

10. Okay, let me help you quickly.

WWE and things like that you can get on chinese websites. Sohu I believe will work. I watch Big Bang Theory on Sohu. Learn these website:

youku.com
baidu.com (Chinese google with a video function)
funshion.com
sohu.com

My Little Ponies you're on your own. That shit, at least to me, sucked when I was a boy. Like Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite and Pippy Longstocking. . .Can't forget that sugary shit Care Bears too.

Toilet paper: Carry baby wipes instead. I do. Works better.

We are the greatest: The regimentation here starts early. Trust me, they think it, but they are not so open about it because of the Chinese idea of modesty.

[hifiguy]

13. The new Pony is snarky, smart and funny.

It was developed by a gal who was a writer and artist on The Powerpuff Girls, a show known for its snark and jokes aimed at a much older audience. This is pretty much the same thing. The animators stuck pony versions of the guys from The Big Lebowski into the background of a couple of scenes, which should tell you all you need to know. I am an animation geek.. What can I say?

Will write down those websites, check them out and bookmark them immediately.

NFL football is also a must for me, and I doubt that will be any harder to get than Big Bang Theory.

Thanks for the advice, it is MUCH appreciated.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

15. You can get Gameday here if you want it. . .but there are free streams too. Just not high quality.

[hifiguy]

16. Not a gamer.

Just an old goat who has never been able to resist a clever and well-done cartoon.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

17. You said NFL. You can go to NFL.com can get that system. You can pay online.

Credit card or Alipay through your bank card. unionpay.

[hifiguy]

18. Excellent!!! n/t

[David__77]

7. I think your characterization of the CPC is incorrect.

"On its left wing are moderately liberal reformists, on its right are the hard-liner authoritarian assholes."

The left wing, in fact, is comprised of those that want to maintain or return to socialist policy, including the dominance of the public sector. The right wing is comprised of liberal reformists that wish to impose capitalism. Both are "authoritarian" in the sense you might describe it. Otherwise, your point has validity...

[hifiguy]

9. I was a little buffaloed by how to describe left and rightI

I always identify reactionaries with the right, having grown up in the US.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

11. The flaw in your argument is not understanding that China has always been authoritarian

It's normal as sun rise. The dynastic cycles, the Republic era, the Communist era.

My wife and I got into a discussion about dissent being disloyalty. She agreed. I asked what should you do to people who dissent. She said "execute them."

I looked at her and said what if you disagreed with a new order. What if you were part of the KMT after the Communists came in? Would you warrant your own execution?

She actually said "you need to do things to control the population and keep them supporting you."

My mouth dropped. Well, she thought that before. She's changed her mind since. This was two years ago.

China loves its brutal tyrants. Always has. Qin Shi Huang and the Qin Dynasty was brutal. . .and he is almost Godlike status. So is that Heir Chairman. Hell, Chiang Kai Shek is lionized on Taiwan and he was a brutal authoritarian military dictator.

[hifiguy]

14. Perhaps it has something to do with the

chaotic eras in which regional warlords ran rampant. Better one institutionalized central tyrant than dozens of random local ones. More predictable that way, I guess.

[dipsydoodle]

12. We get CCTV News on satellite in the UK - on Sky.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCTV_News

Virgin Media has got it on their cable too.

[hifiguy]

19. Self-serving kick for the morning gang