Clever observation on the parallels between the two systems. What do they have in common? Both are extending their wealth lead over the rest of the world, and wealth inequality is rising rampant within.
It often feels like the US and China are two sides of the same hyper competitive coin. Both societies are driven by a foundational myth of radical equality. Whether it's the American "all men are created equal" or the classic Chinese "王侯将相宁有种乎" (Are kings and nobles given their high status by birth?).
Because both cultures deeply believe that status should be earned, the competition becomes absolute and exhausting. And when the stakes are that high, you see similar structural cracks emerge, like for educational privilege, whether through legacy/institutional workarounds or social networks (guanxi). It’s the same social anxiety, just wearing different cultural clothes.
Turchen's overproduction of elites thesis applies.
Clever observation on the parallels between the two systems. What do they have in common? Both are extending their wealth lead over the rest of the world, and wealth inequality is rising rampant within.
It often feels like the US and China are two sides of the same hyper competitive coin. Both societies are driven by a foundational myth of radical equality. Whether it's the American "all men are created equal" or the classic Chinese "王侯将相宁有种乎" (Are kings and nobles given their high status by birth?).
Because both cultures deeply believe that status should be earned, the competition becomes absolute and exhausting. And when the stakes are that high, you see similar structural cracks emerge, like for educational privilege, whether through legacy/institutional workarounds or social networks (guanxi). It’s the same social anxiety, just wearing different cultural clothes.
I’ve always seen more in common between America and China. Unlikely, on the face of it, but the phrase “manifest destiny” comes to mind.