The Real Reasons For Ruling Class (and Corporate Class) Sinophilia
Niall Ferguson rightly worries about the ruling class’s infatuation with the Chinese system, and their clear desire to imitate it. Astoundingly, he fails to grasp the reason for this fanboy attraction.
Ferguson draws an analogy with Cold War I, during which he argues a process of “osmosis” threatened to make the US and the West generally more and more like the Soviet Union. But what is going on now is completely different. It is not an unthinking imitation driven by a need to compete, as in 1945-1991. It is a mixture of admiration (among the political class) and venality (among the corporate class). Yet Ferguson ignores these facts–which are far more disturbing than “osmosis”, which is an unconscious process. The ruling class’s affinity for the CCP model is anything but unconscious.
The West’s political class clearly envies the CCP’s autocratic powers, and strives to imitate them. This is most noticeable with respect to Covid policy, but it is not limited to that. Indeed, the political class fantasizes about using the extraordinary powers it seized based on the Covid pretext to reshape society generally.
The most forthright of the fanboyz is Canada’s effete Justin Trudeau–a perfect useful idiot for the CCP. He openly admires the Chinese dictatorship because, you know, it allows them to dragoon people into going green (amongst other things).
I could come up with other Trudeau examples, but I will spare you the torture of watching more of the twerp’s (cleaned that up) power worship/envy.
Although Trudeau is the most open in his admiration, it is clear that in the EU and the US the political class is itching to embrace China-like policies, whether it is massive “infrastructure” spending, draconian restrictions on liberty in the name of public health, or a social credit system (disguised, perhaps, in the form of vaccine passports or government cryptocurrencies which (a) China is racing to introduce in order to expand its social control, and (b) would almost certainly be non-anonymous to the government and linked with vast amounts of other personal information).
The Rosetta Stone to all ruling class policy initiatives is quite simple, people: you can make sense of any policy by asking what most enhances the ruling class’s power most, and deprives you of the most liberty and personal sovereignty. The ruling class envies the party/state power in the Chinese system, and hence is anxious to ape it at every opportunity.
That basic fact is missing in Ferguson’s article. Maybe it’s because he’s so embedded in the ruling class, although he from time to time takes contrarian positions.
Insofar as the corporate class is concerned, they are the 21st century version of Lenin’s 20th century aphorism about the capitalists who will sell communists the rope with which the latter will hang the former. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Slavering over the Chinese market, Western corporatists (I won’t say capitalists) are perfectly willing to countenance the enslavement of billions.
The ruling class and the corporate class crave power–the ability to control you, to coerce you. They see the power the CCP wields, and they want the same. Is not about emulating China to compete with China. It is about emulating China to emulate the domineering power of China’s political class. And to reprise Lenin again: “Who? Whom?” You are the whom.
This should be an obvious point, but Ferguson fails to make it.
The appropriate historical analogy here is not Cold War I, but the 1930s, when many in the Western ruling class openly admired the Italian Fascists, the Nazis, and the Bolsheviks because of the untrammeled power to reshape society that these malign movements possessed. The power to reshape society free from the resistance of the unenlightened proles is what the Western progressive political class desired, and desires, above all else. So they admired Mussolini then, and admire Xi now. Sinophilia (or more precisely, CCP-o-philia) is just the latest symptom of a very old disease.
These people are the enemies of freedom. They are your enemies. Respond accordingly.
Progressives have their hands on all the levers of power, Craig. They’re stampeding into tyranny. And half the population has been frightened into stampeding with them.
They’re in control of everything — academia, the media, every armed executive branch, and the military; everything except domestic firearms.
What do you recommend as a response?
Comment by Pat Frank — May 9, 2021 @ 6:00 pm
Ferguson is a tool. I’m not surprised he got the wrong end of the stick on this.
@ Pat. My goodness, what a sheep you are. Do you honestly expect Craig to spell out what he means? Use your imagination FFS – hows about joining the ranks of these shitposting arcadians and write something semi-controversial on a blog (I see Donnie is getting into this game. LOL)? Or you could go full Kazynski and go live in the wilderness and mail IEDs to your many, many enemies, remembering of course not to publish your manifesto just in case it inadvertently leads the authorities to you.
Comment by David Mercer — May 10, 2021 @ 3:31 am
Congratulations on achieving a new level of fatuous, David.
Comment by Pat Frank — May 10, 2021 @ 10:02 am
Here’s a revealing quotation from the Astrologer Royal at Imperial College (an epidemiologist who’s done more harm to the UK than the Luftwaffe ever managed).
From The Times (paywalled):
‘as infections seeded across the world, springing up like angry boils on the map, Sage [advisors to the UK government] debated whether, nevertheless, it [lockdown] would be effective here. “It’s a communist one-party state, we said. We couldn’t get away with it in Europe, we thought.” In February one of those boils raged just below the Alps. “And then Italy did it. And we realised we could.”’
There you are – they wanted to copy China and then the Italian example persuaded them they could “get away with it”. Pretty explicit I’d say.
Comment by dearieme — May 10, 2021 @ 10:52 am
Power worship.
But what else would you expect from psychopaths?
Comment by Ex-Global Super-Regulator on Lunch Break — May 11, 2021 @ 1:28 am
It is not that the ruling class is infatuated with the CCP, they are owned by the CCP. Feinstein, Salwell and others are just the ones that have been exposed.
But how many honeypots do you need to discover before you realize your ruling class has been compromised?
No one is looking at Gates closely, just accepting the suggestion that it was his involvement with Epstein that sent Melinda to the divorce lawyers.
Yeah, maybe so. But someone ought to investigate Shelly Wang, Gates’ Chinese interpreter for many years. In the last decade, Gates has made about a dozen trips to China. Rather regular for a retired guy. He has made some comments that the CCP socialism is better than capitalism, it will solve the world’s problems, etc., very complimentary to the CCP.
Shelly Wang went to Harvard, speaks seven languages, plays several musical instruments, and became a stewardess for Delta. Huh? Now, there is an interesting career path.
Maybe the Lolita Express business got to Melinda, I don’t know. But if Shelly Wang had a child fathered by Gates, that would certainly get to her.
Somebody find Shelly Wang and ask some questions. Meanwhile, don’t buy the click-bait Epstein story just yet.
Comment by Richard Whitney — May 12, 2021 @ 2:40 pm
The British ruling class admiration was for the Nazis not so much the Italian Fascists. And it split the toffs right down the middle
That was the driving force behind the effort to ‘persuade’ the King, Edward, to abdicate the throne. ‘Cos Wallis Simpson was truly in hock to the Hitler regime. Nothing to do with the Jews or the innate vileness of the Nazis, it was all about the threat to Empire, the balance of power in Europe and British naval supremacy that a resurgent Germany threatened.A Queen or consort that shared the nation’s secrets with Hitler could not be tolerated. Of course, the British toffs just loved the way the Nazis beat up Commies in the street, locked away the troublemakers in the first camps and restored law and order. They admired the way the Nazis re-energized the nation, got people back to work etc etc
What wasn’t there in the Nazi regime something that any red-blooded capitalist wouldn’t hanker for? Up to 1936 and 1937 at least.
Comment by Simple Simon — May 16, 2021 @ 10:39 am
The Navy is going full woke and teaching critical race theory to the fleet
Comment by Jeffrey Carter — May 19, 2021 @ 9:53 am
@Jeffrey. I know. Had dinner with my uncle (USNA ’64) and his roommate at Navy on Monday. They are beside themselves. The roomie (who retired as an O-6) is still quite active in alumni affairs and Navy issues. They both think the Academies are beyond saving and should be eliminated. The roomie says the Navy generally is rotten, and like a fish, it is rotting from the head.
Comment by cpirrong — May 21, 2021 @ 6:23 pm