The Chinese Dream More Exciting Than the American Dream

Decline of the American Dream, Rise of the Chinese Dream

The Chinese dream and the American dream include aspects of both personal life and politics. Regarding the personal life aspect, the two dreams are quite similar, with people believing that their lives will become better through honest labor. Over the past 30 years, Chinese people have realized these dreams in numbers greater than the total U.S. population. With respect to the political aspect, however, the Chinese dream and the American dream differ significantly. In the American dream, the people are encouraged to define their own meanings of democracy, freedom and human rights in order to realize personal satisfaction, while in the Chinese dream, the concept of “national prosperity and revitalization of the happiness of the people” is emphasized. The road China takes today is the best path to achieving that dream.

The problem is that the American dream faces many challenges today. Over the past 20 years, the income of a majority of Americans has not increased but instead decreased. Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz assessed that even with signs of economic recovery, the size of the current U.S. economy is 15 percent smaller than in 2008 before the financial crisis. He believes that GDP is not a good measure of success and that a more relevant indicator is household income. Today’s median income in the U.S. is even lower than that of 25 years ago in 1989, and the median income for men working full time is no higher than that of 40 years ago. Stiglitz wrote that “perhaps 100 years ago, America might have rightly claimed to have been the land of opportunity … but not for at least a quarter of a century.”

In contrast to the continual decline of the American dream, the Chinese dream is showing a tremendous upward momentum. The Chinese dream has been more exciting than the American dream. Based only on consumerism, the majority of the Chinese population has in fact experienced a wealth revolution in the past 20 years. If a Chinese immigrant spent the last 20 years in the U.S., returning to China today, he would be shocked and feel the tremendous change in the fates of the two countries. This trend does not seem to be slowing down.

A recent poll confirms my analysis. The Pew Research Center conducted a poll in 2013 indicating that 85 percent of the Chinese population were “very satisfied” with the direction of development of their country, compared with 31 percent of Americans sharing the same sentiment toward the U.S. The British group WPP released a report titled “The Power and Potential of the Chinese Dream,” suggesting that “the appeal of the Chinese dream will exceed the American dream in the future.”* More than a third of the Chinese people surveyed deem the U.S. as today’s “ideal country,” but this view is limited to the present. Forty-two percent believe that, in another 10 years, China will become the “ideal country.”

The American Dream “Betrayed” by Capitalist Dominance

A more serious issue explores whether there are problems with the political aspect of the American dream. Donald Barlett and James Steele, both Pulitzer Prize winners, published a book titled “The Betrayal of the American Dream.” In it, they described how the quid pro quos between American politicians, the government, the wealthy and the big corporations have disrupted the foundation of the American dream and, consequently, gradually diminished the opportunity for success for ordinary Americans. The American government lowered taxes for the wealthy, believing that they would create a large number of jobs in the U.S., but this scenario basically did not happen. The rich have not shown much enthusiasm in reinvesting their profits within the U.S., but instead are transferring even more money to the Cayman Islands and to other tax havens.

In fact, the U.S. should reflect on its own political problems instead of tirelessly promoting its political model to the world. Those who are familiar with the political system of the U.S. know that American democracy has basically been kidnapped by various organizations and special interest groups. “Separation of powers,” once the pride of America, has become today’s synonym for the government’s “powerlessness” or even “political paralysis.”

From a broader perspective, the limitations of American separation of powers originate from its inability to escape the control of capitalism. In other words, separation of powers is merely confined to political institutions. Outside of this political arena, the strength of capitalism seems to be able to avoid many of the American institutional arrangements. A good modern political system should be able to achieve a balance between the political, social and capitalist forces at a larger scale. The American dream is “betrayed” by capitalist dominance, disrupting the equilibrium between the three forces.

Outlook of Chinese Dream Even More Exciting

A landmark event of American capitalist dominance was the 2010 Supreme Court decision on unlimited campaign contributions from corporations. Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson exclaimed, “Western-style elections are a game for the rich.”** Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to also eliminate a cap for campaign contributions from individuals, with American democracy becoming completely money-driven. Even the right-wing Senator John McCain was worried and predicted that “there will be scandal.”

In contrast, the political, social and capitalist forces under the Chinese model are in balance. Most notably, the relative strength and neutrality of the Chinese political force, while under the necessary constraints of the social and capitalist forces, have the ability to roughly maintain its own jurisdiction while leading the social and capitalist forces. This is one of the main reasons that China has experienced a successful rise over the past 30 years. From this, we can infer that if China and the U.S. continue down their respective paths, the prospect of most Chinese people realizing their dreams would be better than most Americans. In other words, the overall outlook of the Chinese dream is more exciting than the American dream.

* Editor’s Note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.

** This quote is actually from Li Pen, a leading figure in China’s National People’s Congress, and was merely repeated by Harold Meyerson.