Preface
by Wang Huning
Wang Huning is a member of the Chinese pulitburo. He is widely considered on of the most powerful theoreticians in China, and works as head of the Chinese Policy Research Office and chairman of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.
In 1991 Wang Huning toured the US as a visiting scholar. He wrote a book about his experiences, called America Against America. Despite being subject to a lot of media attention some years ago, this book has never been fully translated.
In this chapter of America Against America, Huning describes his impressions of the American Heartlands. Some of the footnotes were taken from a partial translation of America Against America by the Something Awful user Kangxi.
PREFACE
In August 1988, I was invited to the United States for a six-month academic visit. During that time, I visited more than thirty cities and nearly twenty universities, took dozens of surveys from the government and private sector, and discussed the United States with a wide range of Americans and foreigners. I documented my daily discussions, outings, and observations, and from those experiences this book was born.
While it is clear that I studied and viewed American society as a tourist, rather than a researcher, I can say that in my visit to the United States I was there with a purpose: to get to know the most renowned capitalist country in a much, much more detailed and realistic way. That I should look at it as a history, a culture, a people, a set of institutions, instead of seeing it only through a few abstract concepts and dogmatic prejudices.
The fundamental purpose of this book, therefore, is not to describe the diverse cultures, the colourful landscapes, and the intricate movements that America contains, but to understand the political and social management processes of American society. Although the book attempts to cover as many dimensions and topics as possible, its analysis remains consistent throughout. The development and flux of a society is inseparable from its politics and the way it is managed. It can be said that the development of a society is a function of the forms of political and social management that are in place. It is difficult to analyze and understand the United States without this logic. By dissecting the multiple layers of society, I only want to answer a simple question: “Why is there an America?” This question is simple but, as I know well, far beyond my ability to answer.
The methodology of this book is to analyze American society using a framework of historical-social-cultural conditions without considering any of these factors in isolation. Social life, political life, and cultural life present an infinitely intricate and interwoven network. I am afraid that it would be difficult to analyze and look at any one of these issues in isolation or reductively.
The specific use of this method requires careful and vivid observation, documentation and analysis of all aspects of a society. That is why this book is more concerned with concrete portrayal and factual recording than abstract reasoning. Abstract reasoning can only be derived from observation and analysis of observed facts; for abstract reasoning to convince people, it has to be based on convincing facts. Sometimes people need to do work that provides the opportunity to think, not to conclude. Of course, the various real-life accounts in this book follow my thinking and conclusions, but I have also tried to make it an opportunity for others to think.
This book takes the United States as the object of analysis, because the United States, like China, constitutes a special phenomenon of the twentieth century, which can be called “The American Dream.” “The Chinese Sleep” is the question of why our ancient civilization with a history of more than two thousand years has declined in the modern era. Why is it lagging behind the industrial nations of the world? This has caused generations of scholars and scholars to ponder. America has a different dimension, and people wonder why this country, with a short history of only two hundred years, has today become the world's leading developed nation. I believe that scholars living in the twentieth century have a responsibility to study these two facts. By studying both countries I can better understand myself and the world, and better explore our path to national greatness.
“America Against America” is a rather koan-like title for a book. My intention with this title is to show that America contains contradictions that cannot be dismissed with a single sentence. In the old days, people had a dogmatic view of American society as merely the “exploitation of surplus value,” a “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie,” and nothing more. Now there is another extreme, some people imagine the United States as a paradise, rich and without flaw. In fact American society doesn’t match either of these descriptions, and often finds itself in in fundamental contradiction with them. There are strengths and weaknesses, and wherever strength can be found, weakness can also be found. America is a contradiction, it contains multitudes. This is what I mean by “America Against America.”
The more one delves into the study of America, the more one puts aside the map to explore the territory, the easier it is to discover the inherent contradictions within American society. As a scholar who studies society as an object of scientific research, one should not paint one’s picture only in rosy hues, and certainly not with only charcoal grays. Rather, one should objectively identify the good and bad of the society. In general, scholars should be critical of the status quo, this is the élan vital which drives social development. In the case of the United States, I hold such a critical attitude. It is worth noting that the mechanisms that exist in American society, both good and bad, are the product of the historical-social-cultural conditions of that society, that they exist only in that context, and cannot simply be applied to other societies. In this regard, it is not possible for different countries to simply imitate them.
America Against America shows the basic movements of a society. As long as there is a human community, it cannot be monolithic, and it is neither possible nor desirable that a society can be subsumed under a single given concept. America Against America is an attempt to reveal what factors in American society constitute the dialectical elements. There is no better way to describe America in a single sentence but “America against America.”
The United States is a large country. In this great country, one can give one image of the United States and one can give a contrasting image of the United States. It is true that many people living in this part of the world are rich, and more than a few are rich enough to own private airliners. The majority of the population can also be said to be living “comfortably”, and the average person's home is usually equipped with a small motor vehicle, for example. But if we say that this is America, we can also immediately paint a very different picture. At the University of California, Berkeley, there is an area known as “People's Park”. The so-called “People's Park” was originally a vacant lot on the Berkeley campus, but was later occupied by homeless people. When I was there, about a hundred raggedly dressed homeless people spent the night there every day, some with small tents made of rags, others with newspapers on the ground and sleeping on the floor. The dirty, filthy, listless appearance of these American people was not in any way in keeping with the American Dream. Every morning they were given breakfast by a church charity and the university swimming pool was regularly opened for them to wash themselves. On the evening of the day that George W. Bush was announced as the Forty-First President of the United States, I saw a number of homeless people sleeping under the doorways of the buildings lining Bush Street in San Francisco. Is this America? Isn't this America? I am afraid that this question has no simple answer.
The United States is generally considered to be a Western democracy, an exemplary Western democracy at that, and Americans are proud of it. The Constitution, electoral campaigns, separation of powers, citizen participation in politics, and so on shows an aspect of this system; but consider this, can any commoner really influence the politics of this country? My analysis in this book shows that the powerful groups which dominate American politics are above the common people. The constraints of capitalism and private property on political democracy in the United States cannot be ignored. Even American scholars have said that a political democracy cannot function properly when the differences in economic power are so great that one group can use non-political means to control the fortunes of another group. “A true political democracy must therefore involve the right of the governed to control economic policy through their representatives.”1 Economic decision-making in the United States is largely controlled by private consortia. Is this democratic? Is it undemocratic? I am afraid this question too has no simple answer.
Paradoxes like these abound. It can be said that the United States is a rich country, but it can also be said that the United States is a country full of poor people; it can be said that the United States is a Western democracy, but it can also be said that the United States is not very democratic; it can be said that the United States is a country with advanced education, but it can also be said that Americans are not extremely educated; it can be said that the United States is a country where equality is paramount, but it can also be said that the United States is full of inequity; we can say that the United States is a stable and developed society, but we can also say that the United States is a crisis-ridden society. My wish is to reveal the real America behind the imaginary America.
The United States is only one capitalist country, and as such, it does not represent all Western capitalist societies. I simply want to use the case study of the United States to contribute to our understanding of capitalism, and indirectly, to promote our understanding of socialism.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Marx and Engels declared in the Communist Manifesto: “The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers.” At the beginning of the century Lenin declared imperialism to be “degrading” and “corrupted.” After so many years, it must be noted that capitalism is still developing and cannot be underestimated. The criticisms and analyses of historical materialism are correct in the light of historical developments. However, the laws of the development of human society, as indicated by historical materialism, require the maturity of historical conditions. When these conditions are not mature, any subjective criticism is incompatible with the logic of historical materialism. For a long time now, capitalism has been rejected in its entirety, driven by ideological intensification. Dogmatism made it impossible for people to objectively and scientifically judge capitalist society, and resulted in a wholesale rejection of capitalism. The influence of “leftist” thinking, which is based on the class struggle, has also disturbed our view of the world as a whole and prevents us from learning from the advanced experience of other countries. Not only that, but it hinders people from correctly identifying and understanding the failures of capitalism.
Humans being human beings, regardless of the political system, there will exist contradictions, conflicts, and needs to resolve. It is useful to understand what methods different societies use to resolve contradictions, mitigate conflicts, and meet needs. If my analysis of these issues contributes to the development and progress of Chinese society, then I will have achieved my goal.
The first step towards knowing anything is to observe, and to describe it accurately, and then to analyze and evaluate it. This book is based on such logic. Although I cover a range of subjects, America is a large country, so I can only provide a limited glance at American society. With this in mind, I think that America Against America falls short on two counts.
First, this book is limited in its coverage and cannot possibly cover the United States in all its dimensions, so it must be acknowledged that there are limitations. While it cannot be said that my book adequately reflects the entire United State, it is sometimes said that “a leopard never changes its spots,” so my question is what “spots” can be found. I think I have found some, but not many. Luckily there is a lot of other literature about America that can make up for the shortcomings of this book.
Second, I analyze American society as a layman. While I have observed a number of things in passing, some of the data and materials, though sourced, does not meet the standards of rigorous statistics. I am afraid that some of the issues discussed may be subjective, or even erroneous. Therefore, I hope that people will read this book from a general perspective, rather than treating it as hard science. Besides, I do not want to torture the reader with too much analysis and theoretical ideas, as that would defeat the purpose of this book.
Finally, I would like to thank the many institutions and friends who have been instrumental in bringing this book to fruition and without whom it could not have been written.
The CSCPRC,2 which invited me to be a visiting scholar in the United States for three months after the delegation's visit, provided all the expenses; Fudan University, which arranged such a long period of time for me to leave my teaching job so that I could have time to study this topic; The University of Iowa's political science department, which hosted me for three months and provided me with all their research and office facilities; The Center for Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Michigan, the Department of Political Science at Miami University in Ohio, and the School of International Relations at the University of California, San Diego, all of which arranged short visits for me; and the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where I spent three weeks as a visiting scholar and was warmly received. Finally, I would like to thank the Faculty of Law at Keio University in Japan, where I spent a week gaining insight into the “Empire of the Sun” section.
On a personal note, I would like to thank: Ms. Virginia Yen of the U.S.-China Academic Exchange Council, who carefully arranged the planning of my visit; Professor Stavis and family at the University of Iowa, who facilitated my visit for three months in a way that no one else could; Professor Douglas Madsen, Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa, and the entire faculty and staff, who helped me overcome many difficulties; and also Professor Lucine Pye, President of the American Political Science Association, Professor Arnold of the University of Miami, Professors Oksenberg and Ken Lieberthal of the University of Michigan, Professor Rosenbloom of the University of Syracuse, Professor Mal Kahler of the University of California, San Diego, Professor Robert Scalapino and Giorgos of the University of California, Berkeley, Professor Kokubun Ryosei of Keio University, Japan, and others. They have given me invaluable help.3
I would like to thank my Chinese friends in the U.S. who have been living in the U.S. for many years and have enlightened me with many insights: Zheng Shiping, Shen Yi, Chen Feng, Gong Ting, Zhou Xueguang, Yu Xu, Wang Renli, Wu Danli, Lin Zhimin, Xu Huahua, Jin Ping, Gai Zheya, He Yufan, Yang Rijun, Huang Geng, Zhu Sheng, and many others. They live in different parts of the United States and all received me with perfect Chinese hospitality when I visited their homes.
I would also like to thank Associate Professor Ni Shixiong, with whom I spent a lot of time at Berkeley, for his sincere help. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ren Xiao, Qiu Kaiming, Yao Qin, Guo Dingping, and Ding Chunfang for their help in putting together the drafts of this book during the final finishing stages, and to Ding Chunfang for her careful proofreading of the entire manuscript. I am also grateful to all the staff in our departmental reference room and office, who are always so helpful.
I would also like to thank my wife, Qi Zhou, who’s help and support has made this book possible.
Wang Huning, April 1989
Department of International Politics, Fudan University
1Sydney Hooker, Reason, Social Myths, and Democracy, p. 286.
2The Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1966, jointly sponsored by the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council, in order to promote scholarly dialogue between America and China at all levels.
3Many people mentioned are China specialists. Douglas Madsen is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Iowa, but he was primarily a comparativist. Benjamin Stavis is a China specialist who has since moved to Temple University. Lucian Pye, of MIT, advised the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and served as acting chair of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Michel Oksenberg of Michigan was a Jackson Democrat who worked for National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in the Carter administration, and also played a major advocate for normalizing relations with China in 1979. Ken Lieberthal, also of Michigan, served in the Clinton administration and was a senior fellow at Brookings. David H. Rosenbloom was a scholar at Syracuse and is now a professor at the City University of Hong Kong. Robert Scalapino, at Berkeley, was a founder of the National Committee on US-China relations.
Tikhanov Library is an independent publishing company founded in Lund, British Columbia. To read America Against America and many other books, visit our website at www.tikhanovlibrary.com | Our catalogue includes books by Alexis de Tocqueville, Dmitri Alioshin, and Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, among other authors. We are constantly updating with new books and deals.