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The Sunday Paper – Rage Against the Regime? Risk of Job Automation and Political Attitudes in China

A sure sign a survey is reliable is a wide spread of responses. Stefan Pasch of the Goethe University in Frankfurt notes this when discussing the results of his work which involves asking Chinese people, in China, how they feel about their government (among other things).

If people were towing a Party-line or too afraid to be candid responses would be closely grouped; but in the work highlighted today they’re reassuringly spread out. Part of the success of the survey lies in the questions. A lot can be determined from asking if respondents feel ‘society is thriving’ or if there’s ‘confusion in society’ rather then being more blunt.

The main purpose of the research was to follow a thread, well established in the West, about the relationship between workers most exposed to the impact of AI and automation and political leaning.

Its a fact that in the advanced economies of the West, well established and exploited widely by politicians, workers most exposed to the effects of new technology, globalization, automation and etcetera tend to have more nationalistic/nativist views and favor more authoritarian leadership; but what of China?

Here’s the big surprise. Those same vulnerable workers in China tend to be LESS nationalistic and have less support for their government and are less proud of their culture and history than Chinese less exposed to (shall we call it?) the future.

What’s going on? Mr. Pasch notes the Chinese government in recent years have been encouraging nationalism/patriotism (perhaps?) in anticipation of the old societal compact between citizenry and government i.e. we make you rich, you don’t challenge us, changing.

The policy then of wrapping the government more explicitly in the flag may be backfiring as if you become frustrated with the government you’re bound to have trouble now with that flag. This indeed seems to be the problem and, it being so, presents the government with a serious problem.

In the West left-behinders have found leaders that have given them a voice. Thus a safety-valve that’s a hallmark of the Democratic Tradition seems to have been created and is working well (don’t believe me? It’s got to be better than civil war which might in the past have been the alternative).

The Chinese political system lacks the same political infrastructure though and what’s described here is an unhappy group in society who appear to have no leaders to represent them; and we know where that can often lead.

The paper is an easy read and useful insight into this issue and, by implication, others. It can be accessed in full via the following link Rage Against the Regime.

Happy Sunday.

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