What exactly are the "Ridiculous misconceptions"?
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I'll admit, I don't know much about China except through ~ a dozen Chinese people I've worked with over the years telling me horror stories about their homeland...Not one of them liked talking about it..I think they seemed to feel shame in not doing more for their fellow citizens before fleeing.
As you admit, you don't know much about China. Well, I don't know what stories you have heard, so I can't really comment on those, except it appears that everything you do know or hear is incorporated into a perception of China (and communism) that is acquired from the media.
For instance, "please ignore the communism" really means "please ignore the 'everyone's equal' economic structure." Everyone socioeconomically equal in China? Right... <_< And Iowa State is going to win this year's college football championship.
But of course, the media decided long, long ago that we'd teach everyone to associate "communism" with evil and generally bad stuff, so why bother correct the misconception that China is communist in any way other than in party name? China is not a media darling, and that's because of the nature of China-West relations. We're not political pals, so we are taught to fear, dislike, distrust. But why question it, isn't our media free and balanced? There's one big difference: Americans put a lot more faith in their government and their media than Chinese.
So cling to this dramatic painting we do, and we tend to let it color our world, and why not, because they tug so at our heartstrings? Who doesn't want to feel outraged against such dastardly words as oppression, aggression, repression, and so on? You're fine as long as you realize that perception (and not disinterested truth) is the game of the media, in *any* country. We in the US are not so high, honest, and mighty to be able to count ourselves immune from that.
Note that I'm not about to jump out and defend the Chinese government. I'm not going to make the claim that it's a kind government that looks out for its people, because that's not true. It cares about big picture stuff - image on the world stage, for instance - way more than the sufferings of the populace. For instance, in hosting these Olympics. It's a message - China wants to assert itself on the world stage, wants to gain a measure of international regard. But for the people of Beijing, all it is is months of ridiculous restriction as their conveniences are tossed aside to make room for this international glamor show.
And the life and opportunity in the US is simply much, much better than what China can hope to offer its average citizen. That's why so many want to come out, to immigrate to the US - to have a better life. What's wrong with their old life? Plenty. China's economy is growing, but for almost everyone it's a much tougher life. Most people are poor, with no way up. Corruption, especially by the rich business owners, is rampant. If you know the right people, you can have it good, but if you don't, nobody gives a damn how poor you are. Said rich business owners often exploit those who don't have anything. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" is just
staggering.
That's my point, basically. More than anything, people in China want a better life for them and their children. But, here in America we cling to the perception that everyone in China is a brainwashed dummy living in fear that Big Brother is going to whack them one if they dare say anything bad about the government, and they all so want a democracy. We imagine that it's kind of like 1984 over there. Well, it's not. Another thing we are taught is to be afraid, that China is a "dragon" and aggressive. Except China's not the one which has displayed aggressive, imperialistic tendencies in history. It's always been very self-centered, in a way; it doesn't see land and say, "Well, I want it." (Manifest destiny?)
No, it's not America. The government is a single party system, and just like the kingdoms of the past, it's interested in maintaining its power and control. (IMO, it goes WAY overboard in this category, but has improved in opening up a lot. We'll see how far that goes.) For instance: who dared say anything bad about their King in medieval Europe? It's kind of similar in America, actually, where the *very* prevalent dogma is that Democracy is the best system ever, and we can't believe everyone else isn't using it, and all alternative modes of government are heinous, base, evil. That's the gist of what we're taught and what the media and government reinforces, over, and over, whether or not democracy means freedom for everyone and whether or not it's good for all countries.
For example, take the current Georgia situation. Over and over again, we hear the same message from our government. The Menacing Tide of Russian Aggression is pouring all over this poor, sovereign (so was Iraq), FREE democratic state! A free, democratic state where a president wins an election with 96% of the popular vote. I don't really know if you can say who's right or who's wrong here. Georgia has its interests, Russia has its interests, the US has its interests, and that colors all they say or do. It's all political.
You're making it sound like
And you're pretending that it's the same government today as in 1989. Or the same government today as was during the Cultural Revolution, when the gov't decided, scholars are pansies, close all the schools and make thse people do some real labor. Times change. I'm not a fan of this one-party thing where it makes it really slow, hard, and awkward for people to admit, "Well, those previous leaders were really just horrible." But life in China is changing, the rising generation is going to have MUCH different outlooks than their predecessors, and we'll see how open China can become. I'm not holding my breath, though, because corruption and greed run rampant and show no signs of stopping.
I didn't mean to rant on this long. The bottom line is that this is the
Olympics - a time when politics should be set aside, and international and cultural boundaries broken down. That meaning is lost on everyone as all they care about is medal count and pride. Nationalism can be an ugly thing. Do you see how videos like this promote xenophobia? Anyway, that's why I was annoyed by it. Doesn't really give me hope for a peaceful world where people are united and understand each other.
