While it is true that there is no such thing as a perfect political system, some forms of social organisation clearly possess greater resilience than others. This current epidemiological catastrophe is clear evidence of the implicit failures of authoritarian information control.
The mechanical, austere logical function of authoritarian states generates deep fragility in their capacity to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. The aspirational “strength” of hyper-surveillance and information control systems is simultaneously their (unacknowledged) critical weakness. If this information had been broadly disseminated from the outset, longer-term adverse consequences may have been alleviated – both for China and the world.
I wonder how strong cultural memory is and what the long-term consequences for China will be. An ongoing draconian control of people and information is (ironically) very likely a factor in the amplification and exacerbation of the Novel Coronavirus spread and mortality rates. Widespread anger over the punshment and silencing of the emerging hero Dr Li Wenliang is telling.
Is it possible that the Coronavirus could be the sub-microscopic bug that shakes the Chinese political juggernaut to it’s core? Chinese culture and history is at least 4,000 years old…
Daedelus Kite 