Chinese vs. American Political Philosophy

The general political philosophies of China and the United States, focusing primarily on China.

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0:00 The Basics
2:23 Confucianism
04:24 The CCP
7:46 The Left and the Right
10:27 Linear vs. Lateral Thinking
19:14 War
20:52 Outro

Sources:

The Analects: Confucius
The Art Of War: Sun Tzu
The Governance Of China: Xi Jinping
The Selected Works Of Mao Zedong: Mao Zedong
On China: Henry Kissinger
The American Political Tradition: Richard Hofstadter
China In The 21st Century: Jeffrey Wasserstrom
The Party: Richard McGregor
Culture Hacks: Richard Conrad
Has China Won?: Kishore Mahbubani

[realryanchapman]

Many are questioning the 'rule of law in the USA' section of this video after the July 1st 2024 SCOTUS ruling, which said that presidents are presumed to be immune from prosecution for official acts as outlined in the constitution. Frankly I don't disagree. It does seem to throw the concept of rule of law in the USA into question. We're in an unprecedented moment in American history, and the best I can say here is that we'll have to see how it plays out in practice.

It also occurred to me that I should clarify what I meant at the end, saying 'the basic story of China is the story of a country that's kept to itself.' I was feeling pressure to wrap up the video and was probably too brief there.

1) I was referring to the last, say, 2000 years of Chinese history, roughly since China unified under the Qin dynasty.

2) That's a relativistic argument, saying that China has been remarkably nonaggressive considering its size and power throughout history. China has, throughout most of those 2000 years, mostly kept to itself. It has been aggressive on occasion, particularly to countries bordering it, but those instances are rare when comparing China to other great powers. Also, like I said in the video, that might be changing. China might be becoming more aggressive in the 21st century. That's yet to be born out in a hot war, but many argue that we're seeing signs of it. Hopefully that added some clarity and nuance.


Lastly, if you're wondering why I didn't cover Legalism in this video, I saw that as being one 'ism' too far for an introductory video. The basic dynamic between Legalists and Confucians was that Legalists tried to push China towards a country governed by law (though this never translated into rule of law, where even the highest political authorities are constrained by law), and the Confucians tried to push China in a direction where elders and leaders ruled via their discretion, not law. Influence from Legalists meant that China had a fairly strong legal tradition from fairly early on, but never rule of law, which is still true to this day. In hindsight, I probably should have cut about a minute of 'linear vs. lateral' and added a little section on Legalism.

- Ryan

[AlanCurtisdds]

Don't be embarrassed to promote yourself! You're awesome (researched, well spoken, without being overly emotional) The world needs more people like you!

[royzed]

Really great content. We have an old saying here in China "当局者迷，旁观者清" can be loosely translated to "the chess player cannot see the whole view, while the bystanders are capable of having a better take". Sometimes we need other perspectives from people from different cultures and political atmospheres, it helps us grow!

[thehowietan]

At long last, a video about the subject without preconceived notions of what is correct and what is wrong, but purely as an exploration of what is.

Well done!

[keanutrias]

After the recent Supreme Court decision for executive immunity, 7:10 did not hold up very well

[River-ovni]

Such a well-made video. Its rare to see a Westerner who actually tries to understand the Chinese and their way of thinking, and not just blindly criticize and regard them as a threat. The world would be a much better place if people are more educated and more understanding to different cultures and values.

[dumbbell]

As someone who teaches Chinese language, I find the lateral thinking part is reflected in the language itself. Chinese languages (regardless of regional varieties) rely heavily on context. In European languages, a verb as simple as it is, can carry a lot of information. For example, "to go" is the infinitive form, it only bears the semantic meaning. No other information can be extracted from it. But when you conjugate it, like "goes" you instantly know when this action happens (present), how many people are doing the action (only one and it has to be the third person). English is one of the least "flavourful" ones, comparing to Spanish, French, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, German etc. If you add Latin to that mix it is even crazier. But in Chinese languages, a verb is a verb. No tense, no number, no subject-verb agreement. If you ask how do you know when the action happens? You will get this answer "depends on the context." "How do you know whether it's a he or a she?" "Well, from the context, duh?" "How do you know that the person means 'to cause' and not 'faeces'?" "Again, from the context! Why would faeces suddenly appear in a sentence about good news and excited?"

Kidding aside, it is very true that there isn't any inherent dualism or dichotomy in Chinese culture. Things are never either back or white. This extends to the our inventions. Why invent so many different knives when you can have one that does everything? Why invent so many pots and pans when a wok can do all those things just fine? Why have a dessert fork, dining fork, salad fork, pitchfork when you can have a pair of chopsticks? Because in the end, if you only allowed to choose a wok or a pan, wok can always accomplish more. When asked is a wok a pan or a pot? The answer is always "it depends."

[ehdjytq]

What an excellent video....especially the linear and lateral thinking explanation. The Chess vs Go comparison. The extractions from "The art of War"
You truly have insight.

[levispurgeon]

Well the whole no one’s above the law part doesn’t apply anymore as of today

[coalsell]

I am a Chinese who both absorb from not only east but west, I read the ancient classics of both in China and West. Your observation is so detailed and you unveil the nuances between China and USA, thank you for making this video.

[obsidianstatue]

To understand Chinese politics you need to understand "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" So what are the CHINESE characteristics to socialism?
To put it simply, it's a combination of Confucianism and Legalism (surprised the video didn't even mention Legalism, which is just as important to Chinese politics as Confucianism)
Confucianism relies on people knowing their place to attain social harmony, but of course that is not always the case, So Legalism uses the Law to MAINTAIN social harmony, so the aim is the same as Confucianism, but the method is different.
Legalism is realist thinking, Confucianism is Idealist thinking
Mao's social campaigns often uses Legalism to attack Confucianism. Fun fact, Mao is a great admirer of Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of China that instituted Legalism to China in 221 BC

Although the description about Deng's idea of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" is well explained, but it does NOT explain the entire implications of it. Due to the ambiguity of Deng Xiaoping on Laws rules and pretty much everything, has led to massive problems of corruption and nepotism. Where unwritten rules or unspoken laws might be prioritized over actual laws.

Xi Jinping, on the other hand hates these unwritten and unspoken rule and laws, If he wants to extend his terms, he does not do what Deng did, which is to pull the strings behind the screen and PRETEND not to be in power, Xi could easily done that without touching anything, HOWEVER, that would continue the cycle of nepotism and corruption.

Some say that Xi is power hungry for doing it, but I beg to differ, Xi is not Mao and never will even if he tries, Mao can turn on the Party, but Xi is no where near as powerful, he is a product of the Party, So what he does MUST have the general blessing of the Party, and the way I see it is that his term extensions were agreed upon by the Party to fix the problems the Party and the country might have.
To extensively reform China, and the Largest political party in the world is no easy task, and 10 years is nowhere near enough.

So, my prediction is, the before Xi Jinping retires, he will institute a more rule based power transition, due to his disdain about unwritten rules and retired Party elders engaging in nepotism.

[lashagon]

What a great effort you bring in your videos. Such complex things explained in such ease and brief. Continue enlightening us

[elijahjaegar]

My placeholder comment! Keep up the good work!

[chininhk]

British/Australian here who spent nearly 30 years living in Asia, nearly 20 of those in China. Love your channel; always learning something new. Unfortunately, due to ill health, I'm retired and living on a disability pension, otherwise I would happily support you on patreon. Keep up the great work and if I'm ever in a position to donate to a channel, yours will be the first 👍

[tianyichen]

As Chinese, I’m amazed by the accuracy, objectivity, and depth of this video. Hope can see more videos like this.

[MinEpiphany]

Thanks for taking the time to make these. It's rekindling my interest in these topics

[cojoandrew-elyd]

Good video and nice, calming voice. Very often I go to sleep listening to you. Thank you for your work and time!

[Hans-qiwq]

Brilliant content. It's so rare to find a Westerner acknowledging the fundamental but equally valuable differences between US and Chinese political thinking. Bravo!

[jys]

Really impressed with this foray into understanding the differences. I observe these gaps in understanding all the time, unfortunately even amongst most of my foreign policy peers who only frame society and history in a linear/vertical way.

[DanielRojas-pfpw]

Seriously very well explained. I love the diversity of the sources and the manner of explanation. Thanks and keep these videos coming!