天安门事件爆发的根由与当时的国际环境和中国的政治经济改革有着密切的关系。在国际环境方面，苏联和东欧共产党的纷纷倒台使学生对中国共产党治国方针产生质疑。再加上目睹西方的强盛、亚洲四小龙的迅速崛起，难免迫使学生视民主主义为改善国家现状的最佳途径。
中国的政治经济改革带来了许多社会问题。首先，自改革开放后，政治制度的不完整导致普遍官僚贪污的问题。其次，单位制的瓦解使得许多工人的“铁饭碗”破碎，落得在竞争激烈的就业市场中挣扎求存。他们失去了生活和工作的各项保障，陷入了紧张状态。再来，外资的涌入增加了市场就业竞争，外来的消费也导致严重的通货膨胀问题。最后，经济的改革并没有伴随政治改革，改革初期不完整的政治制度压制了人民的声浪。在被压抑的环境中他们寻求着宣泄管道。而胡耀邦的逝世成了一个大家聚集起来向中央提出控诉的绝佳机会。
总体来说，改革开放所带来的社会问题加剧了学生对共产党的质疑、对民主的诉求。纵观当时的国际环境，学生看到的是共产主义的种种弊端，认为只有颠覆性的改革才能制止社会问题越加恶化。参与天安门事件的学生和工人大多经历过文革，对共产主义不再抱有任何希望。邓小平起初落实的经济改革使他们憧憬着更好的未来。可是改革实行后随之而来的种种迅速变化、社会问题和人与人之间的紧张矛盾扩大了理想社会与实际情况的距离。被杜塞的言论管道更令学生无从宣泄他们不满的情绪。于是这群学生和工人只有越级，紧抓每一个能够表到自己声浪的机会，希望政府通过民主这途径正视、解决这些社会问题。然而，中央内部政治意见的分歧使得政治领袖无法及时有效地应对民众的愤怒情绪，酿成了六四事件的惨祸。
（682字，包括标点符号）
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
CH3291
多谢莫军师、李军师和蓝军师。
CH 3291 Contemporary Chinese Culture
Assignment 3
Name: Lim Shiyun
Tutorial Group: DO2
Title: Thoughts on “The Rigged Jiangsu Public Opinion Poll ”- Evaluating the implications of the “lying culture”. __________________________________________________________________________________
A newspaper article discussing the fakery of public opinion polls was featured in EastSouthWestNorth. Various reasons were stated to account for provincial grassroots participation in fabricating opinion polls. Firstly, direct monetary incentives were offered to those who fake polls results. Secondly, coercion was employed with those who fail to comply with fakery being threatened by provincial public security system. Also, officials steps in to offer benefits for those who were hardest hit. Finally, the citizens were promised improvement in living standards. Through such incentives and disincentives, the grassroots obeyed the orders yet eventually, turned against the government, voicing their grievances through the media.
Why are the leaders so keen in fabricating opinion polls? I would argue that one major motivation perpetuating such fakery is the incomplete bureaucratic structure of the Chinese government. The governmental structure propagates intense competition at the horizontal level (in this case provincial level) to outperform one another. This subsequently accentuates official’s tendency to produce fake results in order to please the central government and prove their capabilities. Moreover, with little check and balance in place together with a sustained culture of corruption and network, provincial governor perceives his probability of being discovered negligible. Furthermore, it has become a common practice, hence making it easier for them to rationalise their misgivings.
Meanwhile, the grassroots are both motivated and obligated to participate in fakery because of the short term incentives they are offered. However, bribery without tangible improvements in living cannot last. Upon realisation of how their communities’ interest is sacrificed for their governors’ political benefits, the grassroots became infuriated. Consequently, they sought platforms to release their suppressed voices. Theoretically, the bureaucratic structure disseminates instruction in top-down manner while garnering grassroots opinions in a bottom-up fashion. This gave the grassroots a stake in the country’s decision-making process. However, owing to poor check and balance in place, coupled with an immature bureaucratic system, their voices are often filtered and snuffed out even before they can reach the central government. With clogged channels of communication, central policies (created based on fake opinions) repeatedly present a wide gap between realities the grassroots face and what is done to alleviate their poverty. The implications can be mild (in this case complaints broadcasted by media tarnishing the credibility of the officials) or more serious: grassroots bypassing the provincial governments through protests and demonstrations in order to get their voices heard.
The “lying culture”, be it among the provincial leaders or the grassroots presents stark continuities from the past centuries of Chinese rule. This bandwagon phenomenon of faking results can be traced back to The Great Leap forward and even further back to the myriad of dynasties beyond. Yet to argue that it stems from the Chinese innate culture would be too essentialist. One has to take into consideration the massive population (amounting to more than 1/6 of world’s population) as well as the inherent flaws of the bureaucratic structure to rationalise the “lying culture”. Perhaps such culture could be countered by addressing the flaws of the bureaucratic system through establishing a check and balance system. More importantly, officials have to see beyond personal advancement within the political hierarchy while citizens have to see beyond short term monetary incentives. In other words, such phenomenon will only fade away with the rise of civic consciousness among BOTH the leaders and grassroots within the political structure.
CH 3291 Contemporary Chinese Culture
Assignment 3
Name: Lim Shiyun
Tutorial Group: DO2
Title: Thoughts on “The Rigged Jiangsu Public Opinion Poll ”- Evaluating the implications of the “lying culture”. __________________________________________________________________________________
A newspaper article discussing the fakery of public opinion polls was featured in EastSouthWestNorth. Various reasons were stated to account for provincial grassroots participation in fabricating opinion polls. Firstly, direct monetary incentives were offered to those who fake polls results. Secondly, coercion was employed with those who fail to comply with fakery being threatened by provincial public security system. Also, officials steps in to offer benefits for those who were hardest hit. Finally, the citizens were promised improvement in living standards. Through such incentives and disincentives, the grassroots obeyed the orders yet eventually, turned against the government, voicing their grievances through the media.
Why are the leaders so keen in fabricating opinion polls? I would argue that one major motivation perpetuating such fakery is the incomplete bureaucratic structure of the Chinese government. The governmental structure propagates intense competition at the horizontal level (in this case provincial level) to outperform one another. This subsequently accentuates official’s tendency to produce fake results in order to please the central government and prove their capabilities. Moreover, with little check and balance in place together with a sustained culture of corruption and network, provincial governor perceives his probability of being discovered negligible. Furthermore, it has become a common practice, hence making it easier for them to rationalise their misgivings.
Meanwhile, the grassroots are both motivated and obligated to participate in fakery because of the short term incentives they are offered. However, bribery without tangible improvements in living cannot last. Upon realisation of how their communities’ interest is sacrificed for their governors’ political benefits, the grassroots became infuriated. Consequently, they sought platforms to release their suppressed voices. Theoretically, the bureaucratic structure disseminates instruction in top-down manner while garnering grassroots opinions in a bottom-up fashion. This gave the grassroots a stake in the country’s decision-making process. However, owing to poor check and balance in place, coupled with an immature bureaucratic system, their voices are often filtered and snuffed out even before they can reach the central government. With clogged channels of communication, central policies (created based on fake opinions) repeatedly present a wide gap between realities the grassroots face and what is done to alleviate their poverty. The implications can be mild (in this case complaints broadcasted by media tarnishing the credibility of the officials) or more serious: grassroots bypassing the provincial governments through protests and demonstrations in order to get their voices heard.
The “lying culture”, be it among the provincial leaders or the grassroots presents stark continuities from the past centuries of Chinese rule. This bandwagon phenomenon of faking results can be traced back to The Great Leap forward and even further back to the myriad of dynasties beyond. Yet to argue that it stems from the Chinese innate culture would be too essentialist. One has to take into consideration the massive population (amounting to more than 1/6 of world’s population) as well as the inherent flaws of the bureaucratic structure to rationalise the “lying culture”. Perhaps such culture could be countered by addressing the flaws of the bureaucratic system through establishing a check and balance system. More importantly, officials have to see beyond personal advancement within the political hierarchy while citizens have to see beyond short term monetary incentives. In other words, such phenomenon will only fade away with the rise of civic consciousness among BOTH the leaders and grassroots within the political structure.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
纪录片天安門 六四事件 Tiananmen Square protests
中国的历史很沉重。
沉重因为血腥
血腥因为人性的丑陋和矛盾
血腥因为对理想不切实际的奋斗和追求
血腥因为崇尚英雄被浪漫化的形象
血腥因为流血才能在历史上留下痕迹
才能被同情
才能被悼念
可真真实实最悲痛、伤疤最深的人
何尝是从媒介、从学术界分析事件、甚至当场经历事件的人？
最悲痛、伤疤最深的
也许是事件中丧失儿女的父母。
只能悼念他们子女盲目追求民主涩果、
被美化、被浪漫化、被附上精神理想的所谓
英雄事迹。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ou2-Kv4UA&feature=PlayList&p=0938BF24000377A1&index=0&playnext=1
沉重因为血腥
血腥因为人性的丑陋和矛盾
血腥因为对理想不切实际的奋斗和追求
血腥因为崇尚英雄被浪漫化的形象
血腥因为流血才能在历史上留下痕迹
才能被同情
才能被悼念
可真真实实最悲痛、伤疤最深的人
何尝是从媒介、从学术界分析事件、甚至当场经历事件的人？
最悲痛、伤疤最深的
也许是事件中丧失儿女的父母。
只能悼念他们子女盲目追求民主涩果、
被美化、被浪漫化、被附上精神理想的所谓
英雄事迹。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ou2-Kv4UA&feature=PlayList&p=0938BF24000377A1&index=0&playnext=1
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
(My1510.cn) The "Bad Things" About Democracy. By Li Yehand. February 18, 2008.
The Reverend Yuan Zhiming once said something like this in a sermon: "Certain practices among the Christian churches in China are actually identical to the practices during the Cultural Revolution. Except for the fact that the former waved the Bible while the latter waved the Little Red Book, everything is the same." Therefore the lack of democracy within a church is not just a problem for the church, but it is an expression of a human problem in other domains. In other words, there is no fundamental difference between people's need for a "Christ" and their need for a "Great Leader." Both seek a powerful figure to adore and hand over their own "democracy" and freedom" along with their own unbearable anxiety altogether."
Friday, March 06, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)