In 1988, a young scholar from China visited the US, 30 years later, he would become the 4th most highly ranked politician in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Wang Huning\u00b2, visited over 30 US cities, over 20 institutions, think tanks and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He visited the US at its zenith, instead of the glistening skylines of New York or the glamor of LA, he saw deep, unresolvable conflicts within the American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wang Huning’s findings turned into the book “America Against America\u2074”. He identified the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lofty ideals of “liberty, equality and democracy” are in constant conflict with the historic realities of inequality, racial discrimination and special interest groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This gap between a “shining city upon a hill” and its actual social problems creates cognitive dissonance, social friction and periodic crises of legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conflict between individualism vs community manifests in weak social safety nets, challenges in fostering public consensus and the difficulties of mobilizing society for common goals beyond immediate self-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Purism and diversity vs national identity and unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
America’s strength as a melting pot of immigrants and subcultures is also its core weakness, how to maintain a unified national identity and political community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conflict between political equality and economic inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One person one vote exist along side vast wealth inequalities, often inherited for generations. Economic power in the capitalistic system translates into political power. Through lobbying, campaign finance, media ownership, which distort the democratic process and calls into question the genuine equality of political voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mechanics of democracy, stability vs inertia and gridlock. The US system of checks and balances federalism and a One Party Two Factions system is designed for stability and overt expressions of tyranny. However, it also creates gridlock and bureaucratic inertia and the inability to address long term, systemic challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The system often prioritizes process and opposition over results and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A classic problem of procedural democracy rather than actual democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Power of religion in a secular state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The formal separation of church and state coexist with a deeply religious society where faith is extremely influential in social and political life. Often overstepping by altering policies through puritanical interpretations of religious dogma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wang identified issues such as education, abortion and family values, as the core conflicts between religion and the secular state back in 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conformity vs the promise of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American society through consumerism and mass media creates deep conformity through trends and norms, despite the promises of individual choice and freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “freedom” to choose is channeled into commercial and standardized pathways, leading to a paradox where abundance and choice is limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most exemplified in the One Party Two Factions system of Democrat vs Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Change against tradition. America as a society venerates progress, innovation and the new, yet it is also deeply conservative, clinging on to historic constitutions, traditional values and established institutions. This tension drives both America’s dynamic adaptability and its often bitter cultural and generational clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s deeply impressive that a young scholar in the 1980s from a less developed China, was not blinded by the flashy lights of Manhattan, seeing right through the fundamental fissures within the American society, and accurately predicts so many unresolvable conflicts decades beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the US have anyone who is this well informed on China? No they do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n