True modernity in modern days
I had the occasion to travel through many large cities in western Europe and Japan recently, searching for the true meaning of modernity. The past three decades of reform and opening up have pushed China further up the Western modernization ladder.
Official assertions of not becoming totally Westernized notwithstanding, we are invariably drawn toward Western standards of living as defined by per capita GDP and lifestyle, so much so that the look of our cities and costumes, and our modes of transport show there is very little Chineseness left in the country. But we still feel we are not modernized, that is Westernized, enough. We still use the West's benchmarks to judge our life and society.
There is a growing frustration because we have realized that no matter how hard we try, we will never be truly modernized because we can never be truly Westernized. The Japanese have tried hard during the past so many years to modernize itself, and in our eyes (as well as that of the rest of the world) they seem to be extremely successful. In many fields such as robotics, consumer electronics and railways, they have even surpassed the West. After the global financial crisis struck, Western governments began talking about quantitative easing and "bad" banks. These are in fact Japanese inventions. But to the West, Japan is still not Western.
Then is Westernization with Chinese characteristics the right model of modernization for China?
First, we should know what is modern and what is Western? Are trams modern? We banished trams from cities because they were considered outdated. By blindly following the West, we started building light-rail systems in cities and around the country without realizing they were just the "modern" name for trams. In many European and Japanese cities, as well as in Hong Kong, century-old tram systems are still operating successfully. The modern light-rail system is a new technology, no doubt, to save energy. But what about the good old bicycles, which most of our cities gave a silent burial because they were deemed backward? The irony is bicycles are making a comeback in the West and in Japan.
Traveling in western Europe will prove there is no such thing as a unified West. The West is unified by the cultural tradition of the Roman Empire and Christianity. Traveling through Switzerland from Germany to Italy, the look and layout of cities will show the diversity in uniformity. The cultural differences become profound if we compare western Europe with central or eastern Europe.
If we leave the definition of modernity to Westerners, our struggle to achieve it will be like shooting at a moving target. Japan's experience shows that even if China followed the West's path, the West would never accept it as Western.
This means we have to redefine modernity or even forget the over-simplistic notion about it and set new objectives for our development. The new set of objectives has to be internal rather than external. A people-oriented philosophy should be a good starting point. We have to do certain things or adopt certain policies not because they are modern in the Western sense of the term, but because they would be good for our people.
For example, Western fast food should be restricted not because the West has just started the process, but because low-nutrition, high-fat junk food is not good for health. Most of the people in the West are addicted to cars. But that does not mean we have to follow their example. Hence, we should put an early brake on the development of our car industry, and start planning communities where 90 percent of long-distance travel is by railway and 90 percent of short-distance commuting is by bicycle or on foot, though no Western country, not even Japan, has achieved that. We have to push ahead because it is healthy, environmentally friendly and in line with our policy of a frugal society and a circular economy. Our aim should not be to build a modern society as the West sees it, but a modern society with Chinese characteristics.
We have to go back to the basic idea of modernity. Advancement of science and technology has empowered humankind to create a more people-oriented society. We have to see modernity as a continuation of the Renaissance. The Europeans got off to a wrong start because early industrialization was highly inhuman. That process continued until the adoption of socialist measures. Inheriting the Hellenistic and Roman traditions, the Europeans achieved internal modernity through conquests and colonization of other countries. It continued through hegemony over hard and soft power until the environment cried out for help and forced the West to follow a more humane post-modern society since the 1980s.
The essence of modernity is humanity. The existing Western model of modernity is something we cannot and should not follow. By going back to the basics, we will be able to find our path to a truly post-modern and humane society that will be the model for other countries searching for modernity to follow.
Chinese culture, with its rational Confucian ethical system - which is humane but without the accompanying imperialistic ambitions - is a good starting point to achieve a new model of modernity.
Or, should we go one step further and discard the outdated concept of modernity altogether, and just be progressive with a clear humane and harmonious objective?
The author is a member of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
(China Daily 07/23/2009 page8)
