Home of the free?

Today as I was riding my bicycle into town on a country road I came across a police car moving at an extremely slow speed, it had its emergency lights on. There were four men, all officers inside of the car, and the car was going slow enough that I was actually able to pass it on my bike. After a few minutes I felt a car slowly approaching me from behind, I knew it was the police car... I prepared myself for what would happen next, since I have had to deal with this a few times since arriving here. The cop car pulled up slightly in front of me, surely enough the officer riding shotgun peered his head slightly out the window. He looked at me for a moment, then broke into a goofy grin and shouted "HALLOOOU?!" The car moved forward at a slightly faster speed, fast enough to out-distance me, as in the back one officer punched another on the arm laughing and the driver patted his partner on the shoulder for a job well done.

"What's up guys... keep up the good work." Its easy to see why there are so many movie scenes where incompetent, arrogant cops get the crap beat out of them by heroes and villains alike.

One of the things that struck me as I was riding the bike afterwards though was thinking about the fact that the whole time that the cop car came up at me from behind I was never for one second nervous. I never once got that strange sick feeling that you sometimes get when you see a cop car while driving in the US, as you check every gage in the car to make sure that you aren't committing some kind of fineable offense. This is because over my time here I have come to discover that a cop car in China really has no significant meaning. The built in siren does give the cop car the ability to be louder than other cars on the road, but other than that, it really means nothing.

Chinese traffic is crazy, and it can be quite scary. There have been a number of times that I have been riding in taxis and have been nervous for my life. All of the sudden the taxi may approach a cop car from behind as it speeds along. At this point the American in me relaxes a bit thinking, "whew, there is no way this guy will continue to take the ridiculous chances he has been taking with a cop car around, safe for now at least," when all of the sudden the driver will whip across a divide into oncoming traffic in order to speed pass the cop car that has thoughtlessly been impeding his way. The officers in the car don't even blink, they take the next left hand turn and continue about their business. At first this was mind boggling to me, until I began to get used to it.

One of the things that this made me think about a lot was what we consider freedom. It is the basic notion by most people in the USA(myself included) that America is the freest country in the world, and that China is lacking in freedom, being dominated by an authoritarian government. Yet in some ways, life in China is freer than that in the US, it is just a matter of perspective.

Traffic rules are one example, though a dangerous one. And there are many more, in China there is no drinking age, and so it is normal to see 18-21 year olds drinking with their family at parties. It is possible for me in China to get a bus driver to stop for me at a place that isn't a standard bus stop if that is the more convenient place for me; I will even get a discount on the ticket since it's "illegal." People who don't have a huge amount of money are able to start up family business' to support their families, without having to go through all of the licensing regulations that United States business owners must go through, giving a small time business owner half a chance at success.

Now I am not saying that life is better in China than in the US, nor am I saying that the laws in the United States are illogical. I understand the reasons America has the laws that they do. But I think that its important to see that there are limitations to living in any country, and that freedom, many times, is simply a matter of perspective. China is often criticized for depriving its citizens of basic freedoms, yet there are times when I talk with students about certain laws that the United States has, and they are stunned to find that Americans can live with such strict law enforcement. Driving would be one example, along with some of the laws that United States has on child rearing and hitting children. The point here of the Chinese was not that hitting children was justifiable, but it just seemed so strange to them how American law enforcement could become involved with the internal matters of a family.

What China gets criticized most about is its lack of freedom of speech for the press and the citizens of the country. I also find that in my personal life I feel the dredges of the long arm of Chinese bureacracy. Entering and leaving the country can be difficult. If I travel anywhere I always have to bring my passport so that people can register me. I am unable to take part-time work in my spare time, because my contract explicitly states that I cannot.

What is the reasoning I am given every time I run into one of these inconveniences. Saftey!! I can't take another job because there are people who could "take advantage of me," (though I have been here for over three years now, and speak the language.) it is to protect me. Why must I register with a passport everywhere I go? So that someone knows the last place I was in case something happens to me. Entering and leaving the country is difficult to protect the citizens of the People's Republic. Censorship too is rationalized as being for the safety of the people. Disagreeable political content is censored so as to avoid any possibility of a small group of people upsetting the peace that this nation has worked so hard to construct. Sexual content is censored from movies because it is the job of the wise men( and they are men, believe me) in the government to assure that the younger generation is not led by scandalous(western*) sex scenes into temptation.

But doesn't this sound familiar? Why does America have the drinking age? For the safety of young inexperienced minors. Why does America have a stricter immigration service than China? For the safety of the Citizens of the United States. Why is Washington honestly considering allowing people to tap anyone's phone in the country? Safety!

I don't at all defend the actions of the Chinese government. Their censorship and limitations are maddening, especially as a teacher trying to work with students creatively. (It is also maddening when trying to watch satelite feed basketball games back home when the internet firewall won;t let me access NBA.com on that day) The thing to keep in mind is that this idea of freedom is a relative thing. What we condsider to be free is more what we become accustomed to through experience rather than a tangible phenomenon of FREEDOM that can be created.


Is the United States really a much freer country than China, as time goes on I think it is harder and harder to say. There are many rules here, but there are many rules in the United States too. The cultural, sociological, and demographic realities of this area will make some of the rules different than in the United States, yet similar rules everywhere exist, for similar reasons.

A friend of mine, Johnson(thats his first name, absolute stud), said to me the other day when we were talking about government censorship, "The Chinese people are used to it." This is probably not be a good thing, because ideally it would be great if change could occur, but the main idea that he conveyed was an important one. Johnson loves his country and is proud to live here. Though there are things about China that are not perfect, these problems do not in general effect the daily lives of the people in this nation any more than the problems of the United States effect ours. Most of the people that I have met in China over my time here are content to be living here and aren't living under the repressive regime the US media often paints China to be, for they don't feel repressed.


Are they happy? Aahhh that is a much deeper question which I am incapable of answering. But I would recommend going into any bar in upstate NY on say a Tuesday night, and you would probably hear alot of the same comments that you might find from people on the streets here.


*So often in conversations with my students and friends I am bombarded with the fact that lascivious western influence is contaminating the purity of the previously saintly Chinese people. This type of thought (remarkably unfounded when you look at the history of prostitution and multiple marriage in this nation, as well as all the health and psychological problems associated with sexual repression) is hugely difficult to live with as a young American man walking down the street with a Chinese woman. In the US, I am a nerdy looking white guy, In China, I am a sexual predator. Holla!