In earlier posts , I try to answer why the American intellectual-class/tech-elite, like the intellectual-web such as on Hacker News and on Twitter, have such a fondness or affinity for the Chinese upper-class/educated-elite compared to the elite elsewhere in the world, like the British, French, or German elite. Why China?
Britain and Germany are much closer to ‘Western Civilization’ compared to China, which is of an entirely different category (Eastern Civilization). America splintered from Britain, with a shared language and religion, so why the interest or cultural connection with China? Why is news about China always going viral in America, but unless a monarch dies or is coronated, for all intents and purposes one of the most important and oldest extant monarchies and economies in the world may as well not exist?
Even if America for obvious historical reasons has always held some antipathy towards Britain, it does not answer why America’s elite have latched on to China. The most obvious one it’s a huge market. But also, the intellectuals and the wealthy typically set the cultural agenda. For much of the 20th century, this role was tied between Britain and America. Western Europe was a cultural superpower in the 20th century, such as the entire school of Continental philosophy, and of course James Bond, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. France and Germany produced some of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. The École Normale Supérieure, in France, was one such institution, where Foucault graduated.
The end of the Cold War and the rise of the U.S. tech and finance sectors, as well as changing music tastes (e.g. the rise of hip-hop and the decline of rock), saw the U.S. pull ahead economically and set the agenda culturally. Same for how the Ivy League and meritocratic post-war American schools (e.g. MIT and Cal Tech) eclipsed centuries-old European institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge. The same country that produced Alan Turing, dropped the ball on tech, and has regulated its tech industry, what little remains of it, out of existence. It’s little surprise the U.S. is a magnet for talent from the world over, where the infrastructure and cultire is more conducive to individual exceptionalism.
The last major British cultural export was Harry Potter, but America constantly imports its culture to China, such as blockbusters (with posters edited in accordance with the requirements of the CCP). The biggest American brands such as Disney, Starbucks, and Apple have long up shop. Kinder Eggs and breakage-prone luxury cars are the only notable European imports nowadays it seems. Sure, there is soccer, but this never caught on in America.
In explaining this connection, there are many cultural similarities between the U.S. and China, and likewise, dissimilarities compared to Western Europe. The smart, educated and rich in America can relate to the smart, educated, and rich in China, and same for the reverse, but such an intellectual and class connection is absent elsewhere. Similarly, there is no connection between the Middle East elite and the U.S. elite, or South America’s elite. Americans can relate to the industriousness of the Chinese more so compared to the culture of leisure of the French.
Britain does not even have an elite class anymore outside its monarchy and growing rank of geriatric rockers, compared to America’s vast academic, tech, political, and finance elite. America, like China, has a large, wealthy elite, like in tech, whereas Europe, as a whole, is more egalitarian, less entrepreneurial, and has a smaller or non-existent tech industry. Similarly, China has a large political and business elite.
Europe is seen as less competitive, whereas elites and their children in China and the U.S. are much more competitive, such as high-stakes admissions and standardized tests. This ‘striver culture’ does not exist in Europe as it does in South/East Asia or the U.S., the latter which also has a lot of immigrants from those countries, like in the Bay Area. Same for a more punitive justice system and ‘carceral state’ in the U.S. and China, compared to Northern Europe and its rehabilitative justice system and nice prisons.
Many on the so-called tech-right, especially Elon Musk, respect what they perceive as the efficiency and meritocracy of the CCP’s technocratic government even in spite of the lockdowns during Covid, which were overdone and useless. Or China’s strong placing in math competitions and academic excellence, but the rampant cheating or copying of IP are often overlooked.
Will Britain become great again? Until China meets a similar fate of decline, I am not optimistic. And even so, India or some other country may assume the mantle. The cultural differences between the U.S. and Western Europe are too great and irreconcilable. With the rise of Trump and the reshaping of the GOP, America is moving to the right, and is also leading the world in AI and other technology, whereas Western Europe is moving to the left and remains as stagnant as ever.