The first version of this article was written after the first three months of being back in China after too long away. The version written then contained many immediate impressions and experiences, which I interpreted on the basis of extensive earlier research. There is an…
heh.
The whole section on optimism really hits me. Imagine feeling optimistic about the place you live, and where it's going. Must be like a dream.
everything in the United States has gotten progressively worse for as long as I've been alive, and for someone my age in China the exact opposite is true
Indeed, I think about this a lot actually. It's incredibly depressing to live in a society that's spiralling the drain. Basically, the best most people in the west can hope for is that things don't get worse at too fast a pace. This is the source of the nihilism we see gripping western society. There's no real vision for the future and no hope.