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NEXTChina '23 - The Mind of China w/ Iza Ding, Taisu Zhang, & Yasheng Huang, moderated by Kaiser Kuo, Sonic AI
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NEXTChina '23 - The Mind of China w/ Iza Ding, Taisu Zhang, & Yasheng Huang, moderated by Kaiser Kuo
Seneca Podcast
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Nov 12, 2023
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58:08
Interview
NEXTChina '23 - The Mind of China w/ Iza Ding, Taisu Zhang, & Yasheng Huang, moderated by Kaiser Kuo
From
Seneca Podcast
Iza Ding
(guest)
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Executive Summary
China is experiencing an 'age of malaise' as its 180-year quest for national 'wealth and power' concludes, leaving intellectuals and the state searching for a new grand narrative.
The country's economic slowdown, marked by severe youth unemployment (estimated between 20-46%), has shattered leadership's self-confidence and shifted the intellectual focus from seeking gains to preventing further losses.
In response to economic and political pressure, China's educated class is increasingly disengaging from public life, a phenomenon known as 'lying flat,' and has largely accepted the permanence of Communist Party rule.
Western analysis often misreads China by over-focusing on a small, marginalized group of liberal intellectuals, failing to capture the rise of populist anti-intellectualism and the pragmatic adaptation of thinkers working within the authoritarian system.
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The End of the 'Wealth and Power' Narrative
Economic Malaise and Intellectual Retreat
The Dilution of the Intellectual Class
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