Back home, especially in America, it can seem like everyone has a cause. People feel so strongly about their issues and causes that they advertise their beliefs on their cars, on their laptops, on their backpacks. You can save the environment, fight for gay rights, alleviate world hunger and build shelters for the homeless. You can be opposed to abortion, be for universal healthcare, a liberal, a democrat, a libertarian, and, what’s more, these things are an integral part of how people self-identify. Apathy is discouraged. As a society we’re encouraged to “get involved,” to “make a difference.” Even if you’re not into politics, you’re expected to believe in something -- maybe religion, maybe free love, maybe anti-consumerism – but you’re expected to care.

So it is surprising to many who are used to a land of causes and beliefs that Chinese people, who, afterall, have a political system that requires absolute loyalty, seem to not only have a shocking sense of apathy towards politics and religion, but also seem to embrace a sort of moral ambiguity in their day to day lives, where there is no set right and wrong, but rather a very large grey area; a grey area that makes allowances for a great many practices which should be considered blights upon Chinese society.

Chinese citizens have learned some harsh lessons on getting too involved. These days, political activism or being overzealous in one’s beliefs is seen as dangerous. In a post-cultural revolution China, enthusiasm is not always seen as a positive thing. Most Chinese people choose to focus their efforts on improving their own lot and leaving the big stuff to the big guys at the top. Speaking up doesn’t always bring good results, so why bother? Chinese people have learned over the years to be guarded with their thoughts and feelings, and with good reason. Afterall, there is money to be made, people are, by and large, fed and clothed and sheltered, and there’s no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Learning lessons the hard way

However, a lack of a social conscious has led to some problems in modern day China which is much discussed in Chinese intellectual circles. Corruption is rampant and while lip service is given to the idea of eradicating corruption, most people participate in some form of minor corruption sometimes without even realizing it. Parents hand red-envelopes to their children’s teachers in hopes that the teachers will give their child high marks or preferential treatment, and teachers, underpaid and overworked, accept these “favours” as part of the game. Degrees and doctorates from even relatively prestigious Chinese universities are undervalued because academic dishonesty is such a major problem that institutions outside of China feel they cannot trust a degree earned in this country. When a high school student is caught cheating, his teachers may try to cover up the incident for fear that the students’ cheating will reflect poorly on the teacher. While in the West most teachers abhor cheating on principal, in China cheating is only wrong if you get caught, and the disgust directed at the cheater is more likely directed at his lack of skill than the cheating itself.

However, a lack of clear convictions in modern Chinese society has led to a great many wrongs that affect much more than some kid’s grade on his chemistry midterm. The tainted milk scandal killed small children because someone, many “someones” in fact, cared more about making an extra kuai than about the fact that children could die. It never even occurred to those involved in the milk scandal that they could end up losing their own lives or livelihoods, so secure were they in the belief that no one would care enough to stop them. The Chinese environmental situation is getting worse by the hour because people are willing to be bought off, to look the other way, to give passing grades to failing factories. Corruption on the government level leads to Chinese tax dollars being wasted on banquets to wine and dine officials, on the bribes needed to green light projects which will lead to more embezzlement. Perhaps worst of all, human trafficking has not yet been eradicated in China. Every day people pass child beggars, thieves and artists on the street; their reaction is not one of concern, but one of disgust. They might spare a kuai out of a sense of guilt or annoyance, but rarely does one call the police or demand to see those kids’ ID cards.

Disempowerment vs. apathy

It is oversimplification, of course, to say that Chinese people simply have no beliefs or social conscious. It would be more accurate to say that Chinese people feel (rightly so) disenfranchised and disempowered. They feel that there is no point in having strong beliefs when a person can’t do anything about these problems anyhow. When a child no older than two years old came begging for change from me with no adult in sight, I suggested to my husband that we hail a cab, grab the boy, and take him to the police station, or, less dramatically, call up the PSB and wait for them to come out. He said, “What’s the point? Nothing will happen and we might invite trouble.” When foreign teachers catch students cheating, the administration is often not willing to cooperate not simply because they find cheating innately acceptable, but because the problem is so institutionalized that individuals feel powerless, and sometimes even afraid, to try and stop it. This phenomenon can be seen in the West as well: in America, people don’t vote because they feel like their vote won’t count, but in China the feeling is so widespread that it leads to a general sense of apathy and resignation about all sorts of societal ills.

It remains to be seen whether the post 1990s generation will be any more willing to take a stand against what should be plainly unacceptable in any society. Charitable causes are not common in China, but they are growing. Events like the Sichuan earthquake (and the small lives that were needlessly lost in many substandard buildings) and the Sanlu milk scandal have helped unite Chinese people in support of certain causes, showing that there is a social consciousness in this country, and that if enough voices speak out against a wrong, others are sure to follow.  
 

Related links
5000 Years of Chinese History: Myth or Reality?
The New Immigration Wave out of China: A Sign of China’s Failure?
How Social Trends are Fuelling Workaholism in China

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