I need to be brutally honest...the main reason I found this course so appealing was because for the longest time I have been dying to learn more about the history and current events surrounding China. I have no doubt that by the end of this course I will be able to provide you with a better answer than what I will attempt right now...but here goes! :)
Of course, anything is possible...but, more than likely I do not think that a widespread and cataclysmic event such as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution could occur again in China today. The reason I doubt the recurrence of such an event is because of the introduction of the Internet and improvements in technology.
True, the Internet and advances in technology would be useful in gathering groups of rural farmers and unhappy workers aka 'the proletariat' together and informing the masses that in fact, a revolution was underway...but, the Internet allows for the too much freedom in regards to information and opinion. It would be too hard for the government to convince people to 'buy into' the ideas they were selling.
For example, the so-called 'first shot' at the cultural revolution was when Wu Han was criticized by Mao for his essay on Hai Rui. Han was supposed to make Rui look bad, but instead managed to praise him. Imagine how quickly this essay would have spread if it had been written in this day and age!!
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2 comments:
Cassie, I certainly do not presume to know what is or is not likely, but I am not as optimistic as you sound on this post (perhaps I am an ole fuddy-duddy anyway). The thing that strikes me about your argument is the severe control the Chinese government has over internet content in that country. They are fed government propaganda and have little access to anything counter. The volume and speed may have increased, but I observe no increase in humanity's level of perceptivity to having the proverbial wool pulled over their eyes. That's true even here in the United States. It's just processed differently since the internet. Steve
When we learned about the large posters that the students use to get their message out, I thought to myself, "Is this the first step in China to being a blogger"
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