September 5, 2021

CAN'T HAVE A CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS WHEN THERE IS ONLY ONE:

China's Xi Jinping Thought curricula teaches students how to 'unmask enemies' of the state, author saysAuthor François Godement discusses the new addition to China's school curriculum with The World's host Marco Werman, saying it's a mix of different ideologies. (The World, August 26, 2021)

François Godement is the author of "Les Mots de Xi Jinping" or "The Words of Xi Jinping." He's also a senior adviser for Asia at the Institut Montaigne in Paris. He spoke with The World's host Marco Werman about the new curricula. 

Marco Werman: François, is there a way to summarize what Xi Jinping Thought is?

François Godement: Well, not easily, because it's a mixture of sometimes very personal aphorisms. But at the other extreme, it's literally a handbook on governance. Xi Jinping is a micromanager who touches just about every subject. There are already six volumes of his so-called works and speeches since he's come to power. At other times, it's very combative. As you said, it's very moral. And there's a mixture of Marxist communist ideology -- sometimes bordering on a return to Maoism -- but also conservative morals, which is much more akin to traditional China. And, of course, Xi Jinping's talent is to mix both in a kind of educative group that he has already imposed on the rest of the population.

No human society has ever expended so much effort to periodically drag itself backwards. 

Posted by at September 5, 2021 12:00 AM

  

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