Ignorant, Indifferent and Apathetic. How Apt Is This Description of the Attitude Towards Politics Among the Current Generation of Youths in China?

Question:

Ignorant, indifferent and apathetic. How apt is this description of the attitude towards politics among the current generation of youths in China?

In defining the scope of the question, the term “ignorant” used herein refers to not knowing about political matters that one ought to know, while “indifferent” refers not being interested in something at all, and “apathetic” refers to not willing to make any effort to change the status quo. According to the TIME magazine article “China’ Me Generation” by Simon Elegant, China’s youths lack political ferment and are still at the phase of “Money does buy happiness”. So are the current generation of youths so ignorant, indifferent and apathetic as we think?

Firstly, the reason why Chinese youths are indifferent towards political matters would be due to China’s one child policy. This generation of self-centered and individualistic youths have their solipsistic tendencies encouraged by two excessively doting parents and four eager-to-please grandparents, a growing obsession with consumerism, the internet and video games. This era of Chinese youths live in an almost utopian environment relative to their predecessors. Having no financial and educational problems, these youths are preoccupied with preserving the status quo, such that playing video games take precedence over being involved in politics. With China enjoying unparalleled growth over the past years, youths are more interested in taking advantage of the current situation to become rich. According to BBC news, shopping has become a leisure activity in China. Their high standards of living have caused them to turn towards material pursuits, from consumer electronics to branded goods. A Chinese youth sums it up, “Politics doesn't pay. We must go to wherever that pays.” Knowing that their economic contributions empower them, these youths are very individualistic and obtaining material wealth takes first priority in their lives. Chinese youths today see no reason to introduce any form of anarchy into the society given that the government has been bringing them steady economic prosperity. Challenging the authority of the government might bring about economic turmoil which could compromise their interests and lifestyle. The government always makes decisions for the people; hence people are unwilling to stand up and try to make decisions for the country. We can see from a quote from an anonymous student “We all know that China’s political system is not good, but what is better?” With such a mindset, youths in the Me generation see no reason to interfere with political decisions of the government, much less to say rise against such an autocratic regime that has reigned for the past 60 years. So long as their individual interests are not compromised, we can accurately deduce that this trend of political stagnation among youths in China is to persist. Being comfortable with the current situation, politics seems to be of minimal importance to them.

Next, under the Communist party’s authoritative regime for the past few generations, alongside horror stories of the crackdown on student activists in Tiananmen Square in 1989, have convinced youths that there is little they can do to destabilize or challenge the power of the ruling party. Youths in China are constantly reminded of their repressive government and how proposing change and reforms would only result in severe ramifications brought down by the almighty iron fist of the communist party. The fate of political dissidents has made them cynical and skeptical of political change. The description of horrific experiences from the older generation has traumatized the younger generation, adversely affecting their view of politics and leading to political stagnation amongst them. Involvement in any political activity in China carries a certain level of risk. In 1989, around 100,000 youths and scholars nationwide gathered at Tiananmen Square in a pro-democracy and anti-corruption demonstration. Soldiers fired at the protesters and 3,000 lost their lives. Also seen in the “China’s Me Generation” article, this mentality is epitomised in an interview done with a wealthy youth in China, showing that not all youths are apathetic towards politics, but rather accept that they are incapable of advocating change to the current political system. They no longer think that there is any point in getting involved in or discussing politics. The Communist Party has previously persecuted political dissidents and this might have warned the general public to take note of what they say. The bloody Tiananmen incident has also taught the youth’s painful lessons; mainly political change is hardly attainable and going against the government would result in repercussions.

However, we cannot say that Chinese youths are ignorant towards politics. Political censorship prevents unapproved reformist, separatist, "counter-revolutionary" ideas from organizing themselves and spreading the contagious message. Threads discussing politically-sensitive issues on forums are removed within days. As seen from the quote of Chen in the article “China’s Me Generation”, he implies that since youths were unable to have a say in politics, there was no point in getting involved or knowing more about it. However, youths silence does not equate to acceptance of the governance. Moreover, an assumption is made here: the Chinese youths may be ignorant about politics in a sense that they do not write grand manifestos for political change, or take to the streets with banners. There are definitely other forms of involvement than thinking about constitutions, reforms and protests. In fact, they are actually enthusiastic and well-informed on political issues resulting in some very strong and critical views on the education, social and economic policies. Moreover, the very fact that young netizens create softwares to break the “Great Firewall of China” shows that they are not ignorant, conversely, determined to discuss sensitive political issues. Chinese youths also actively participate in online forums regarding governmental policies. It is evident from the many posts on various Chinese-operated forums that would talk about the social problems in the country. For example, there was once a thread titled “Tragedies in China” posted on the biggest forum in China, where it showed examples of real-life tragedies happening in China that had originated from the social problems in China. The thread had sparked a positive response, and an immense amount of forum-goers flocked to the thread and gave personal comments about China’s political flaws. Chinese youths also often mock their government’s policies. For example, 和谐, the buzzword that the Chinese government has created has been parodied to become 河蟹. The implications of this, in the shadow of the political apathy in China is that Chinese youths are not politically-ignorant masses, but just are unable to exercise their political knowledge on matters due to the severe censorship. Hence, political apathy should not be measured by the superficial level of public demonstration but instead by what is within the hearts of the youths. Political apathy among youths is really an intangible issue which cannot be evaluated by pure statistics as there are also many incalculable external factors involved that cannot be quantified or qualified easily.