We will see if starting the year with these city wall shots has any symbolic significance, though, if we take Hu Jintao at his word there is a good chance they will. See here [China's New Cultural Revolution], here and here. These ideas taken together with those outlined in the following article [Global Unrest: How the Revolution went Viral] point towards a world where modern cultural revolutions – and probably not just those outlined above – clash, or clash further. Economies across the world are struggling, the environment could do with the clock being turned back on it, and unemployment is rising everywhere. Public spending – certainly in Europe and the US – is being cut, and there are less and less opportunities for young people: graduates and non-graduates alike.
Many are seeing life, in both economic and spiritual terms, as offering fewer and fewer chances of growth and stability than was even experienced by their parents – which is not how it is supposed to be. It does not get any rosier if we consider Paul Mason’s conclusion to his above essay (‘How the Revolution went Viral‘), where he compares the technological freedom and revolution of today with the period that preceded the Great War of 1914. Mason does, however, see hope in these networked communities being able to highlight – and potentially counter – today’s cases of authoritarianism and brutality. I will flesh out my thoughts on some of these things in another Note and when I do I will tap into my own high levels of hardwired optimism - and then we’ll see where we can go.
Additional Articles on China Cultural Wars: Beijing’s ‘Culture War’ Isn’t About the U.S.—It’s About China’s Future (The Atlantic) / China’s Culture Wars (The New Yorker)/ How To Lose A Culture War (The Useless Tree)
Ps. It is cold up on the wall this time of year but still worth a wander with a camera.
西安