Can’t help but comment on Dan’s comment on the Time story about Chinese 20-somethings and politics. I usually don’t write on this subject, but the Time story was kind of interesting.

The article essentially described several Gen-X types and how they are completely apathetic about politics. One conclusion the author makes is that therefore a push for political reform in this country may not happen anytime soon. I agree with this specific point, by the way.

Dan had two criticisms, I guess. First, that these people in the article were not representative of “China as a whole.” Valid point, and certainly true to the extent that any comparison of one of these kids and, for example, your average 90-year old dude on a bicycle is going to produce a lot of differences. Perhaps a better question, and probably what Dan was driving at, is whether the lack of political activism on behalf of these kids is representative of the population as a whole. My answer, however, is yes, but for different reasons. As is fairly clear in the Time article, these kids don’t care about politics because their lives are pretty good and have gotten better over time. No surprise there, the same thing happens in the U.S. - when the economy is good, politicians get re-elected (with some recent notable exceptions). For earlier generations in China, I have a feeling that lack of political activism relates to other realities, and not just “pocketbook” issues. As Forrest Gump would say, “I’m not going to talk about that any more,” and stop there before I get into some dangerous territory.

Dan’s second criticism was to question whether these kids will change their tune on politics as they get older. Generally, as people age and acquire assets, they are more interested in governments that can protect those assets. However, the Chinese government has been doing a very good job of supporting such activities in recent years, and folks that are buying property, cars, and other stuff certainly can’t complain about the government. Moreover, legal reforms from contract law to the new property law are supporting this sort of lifestyle as well, so this does not seem to be an area of much concern for the 40-something, wealthier demographic. What about other issues? As these kids age, will other things, like the environment, turn them into political activists?

It’s possible, but then we would have to get into a discussion of what political activism is. Expressing one’s opinion on the environment or energy policy is not necessarily being a political activist. Writing a blog about city planning and transportation, for example, is not quite political activism in my book, it’s closer to having a hobby. When I think about political activism, and I suspect Time and Dan would agree with me on this, I think about specific and sometimes organized criticism of the government, often going to who is in charge and how things are structured. If you look at today’s youth, some of them will talk about specific issues, but they are not going so far as to be political activists - Time got it right on that aspect. Other demographics are the same - some people get pissed off at land swindles or food quality or inflation, but they are not political activists, and no one I have talked to suggests to me that this is going to change any time soon, as long as the economy is OK.