It was an early afternoon and one of my colleagues were chanting about how China is now much better than the US because everything is so easy; so easy in a brave new world.
This almost sounds like an echo. One after the other, they all say the same thing, in different forms. One would explain how free delivery is faster and more reliable, another would tell me how Facebook or Google are useless anyway because some Chinese clones do it better. At the dawn of the coronation of a new emporor, I can only be a humble spectator of the biggest waste in History. All the signs were in front of our eyes and, just like all the other authoritarian regimes that spread during the 20th century, people let their tyrants emerge and dominate without saying a word.
It was summer 2016. I was having lunch with my colleagues in a typical Silicon Valley style start up kitchen. The fridges were full of hispter-style atlernatives to Coke and other organic snacks. It was a hot day but the AC were keeping our hoodies on. Someone was ranting that Spotify is bad and how a Chinese clone was much, much better, because it had more features and, of course, more Mandarin songs.
I remember that the discussion led us to cover more topics. And because Chinese engineers like to eat together, so they can speak Chinese, I quickly found myself surrounded by an army singing all the arguments about the greatness of China.
At one point, somebody even said “maybe a decade before, people in China would still dream to come to work in the US. Now, everyone is going back to China. Even the salary is better. And you get so many services you can’t even imagine here”.
Another one added: “I got a friend of mine, he went back to China a year ago and raised $10MM for his start up”. I asked then what that start up was about and all I got was a very high level bag of generalities. What was clear though was that “he raised $10MM”.
Some threads were ironic. We literally worked in an internet company built by people who helped to its development but my colleagues were arguing that it is somehow ok, or even better, for the Chinese government to censor it. “The Chinese versions are better!”
No. And that isn’t the point.
Of course, none of them listened.
Over the years, I heard all these chants about the glory of China from different Chinese communities. Few weeks ago, my partner, who was born in China and recently went working in Shanghai, was trying to convince me to follow him. “The logistics is amazing. They can deliver anything for free, even when you purchase something for few RMB. Oh, and you can pay with wechat everywhere. It’s great.”
And the bad news came. Xi Jinping is pushing to change the constitution so he can stay on the throne forever. The population was in shock and it was too little too late. Already, the national media was censored. A list of forbidden words is growing larger and larger everyday. Even the letter “n” is now removed. At that pace, the dictionnary of forbidden words would be thicker than the dictionnary itself. And if this looks like a bad parody of 1984, what it is really happening is the realization of Aldous Huxley’s worst nightmare.
Timothy Snyder wrote 20 suggestions in his book “On Tyranny” to keep ourselves away from tyrants.
Do not obey in advance
Defend institutions
Beware the one-party state
Take responsibility for the face of the world
Remember professional ethics
Be wary of paramilitaries
Be reflective if you must be armed
Stand out
Be kind to our language
Believe in truth
Investigate
Make eye contact and small talk
Practice corporeal politics
Establish a private life
Contribute to good causes
Learn from peers in other countries
Listen for dangerous words
Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
Be a patriot
Be as courageous as you can
China has long traded its freedom for a piece of safety and short term comfort. A piece of safety in a virtual reality of exceptional, yet almost permant, terror that is depicted everyday in Chinese state-owned media. A comfort implied by purely materialistic benefits implied by cheap labor combined with low social protection and massive climate debts.
Words are censored. Definitions are confusing. The elegance of old traditional Chinese is long forgotten, ashamed, lost. The birthplace of some of the most important philosophers is now producing PhDs like clones out of a factory. The youth is armed of functions and inorganic, full of ambition for money and glory, empty of dream.
The little bit of chaos where greatness sprouts is slowly replaced by an authoritative and certain stability. A stability that for many would confine them in their routine.
As I wrote, I realise that “On Tyranny” may or may not be available in China. But how many would read it? When is the time between PUBG and self-adoration on WeChat? What is choice is left when it isn’t in the 10 movies that will change your life-you won’t believe the number 6. And who got the money to pay for books when there are tons of counterfeits goods to purchase on AliExpress, directly avaible on a spying Huawai phone, and delivered same day by mordern slaves?
We can be upset all we want about the tyrants. But people get the government they deserve.
Timothy Snyder wrote “if none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny”. China, prepare to live in a brave new world.
