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Harvard Professor Niall Ferguson on China: Growing ‘Maostalgia’

Harvard professor Niall Ferguson, with his characteristic Oxford accent and straightforward candor, is now hosting a television program called “China: Triumph and Turmoil,” in which he will examine China’s rapid ascendency and what it exactly means for the rest of the world.

Harvard Prof Niall Ferguson on China: Growing ‘Maostalgia’

What are some of his preliminary findings? According to The Telegraph:

“Among his discoveries [are] burgeoning ranks of zealous young Chinese patriots who are marrying technological savvy and economic power with nationalist fervour…

‘It is one of our comforting and enduring myths that as China becomes more modern and sophisticated, more like us, it will come to adopt our values,’ he observes. ‘I’m not sure it’s going to be like that…’

But it isn’t just the young. For the new three-part series, he also found among older Chinese a growing ‘Maostalgia,’ a nostalgia for the era of Mao Tse-tung. In Western eyes, Chairman Mao is strongly associated with the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, but for many Chinese, he is the father of a modern, booming nation.

When describing the “tug-of-war” between China’s fondness for capitalist economics and its resentment of Western cultural hegemony, Ferguson concluded that, “The attitude is; if we make it economically, we don’t have to kowtow to you culturally.”

But with what some are calling unsustainable economic growth rates, is China even a threat?  Many have said not to worry, China will collapse under its own weight.

Ferguson is of a different mind.  “They face the challenge of managing a dynamic society and that is a real problem with real tensions. But I don’t buy the idea that China is about to implode or disintegrate.”  Rather, after exploring the nation’s copper mines in Zambia, he mused, “Maybe this is the beginning of a world empire.”

Ferguson has appeared several times on the Glenn Beck program.  Watch Glenn revel in Ferguson’s takedown of Mika Brzezinski, below:

Comments (46)

  • netmail
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 1:47pm

    Most noteworthy sentence? “Maybe this is the beginning of a world empire.” I sensed this possibility in 1971 on several trips to Hong Kong. How much more do I sense it today?? It’s palatable now.

    Report Post »  
  • LukeAppling
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 11:01am

    Having read many, many books on China by Chinese women and men who were raised under the Mao-LittleRed Book as gospel approach I can now know how China has been led astray with virtually no freedoms. The one-child policy has been a disaster for Chinese women and girls as well as an unintended consequence with a greatly disproportioonate number of men than women now.
    As the Chinese population becomes more familiar with true freedom hopefully they will rebel aghainst their leaders. In Esat Germany many of those people long for the safety of the government net because they are too lazy to work hard and succeed individually. The idea of Freedom and a republic is diificult after 100 years of strict dominance and zero decision making for the individual.
    North Korea, Algeria, Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia all are under the thumb of dictators where everyone feels threatened if they act without government approval.
    Sounds like a country where Sebelius, Napolitano, Emanuel, Holder, KIagan, and Obama would be happy doesn’t it?

    Report Post »  
  • sbenard
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 10:43am

    China’s economy is showing signs of implosion. Want to see the real China? Look at this video about China’s ghost cities! Unbelievable! There are many similar videos on Youtube.

    http://youtu.be/pbDeS_mXMnM

    Report Post » sbenard  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on March 12, 2012 at 11:21am

      One of the bigest things that China doesn’t do is…wait for it…MINIMUM WAGE. They are using the actual version of Capitalism to “get” us. The jobs-WE-just-won’t-do are un-proffitable and many won’t pay $8.00/hr for a $2.50/hr-job. As a kid in gradeschool, I worked at washin dishes/etc for about $1.25/hr on weekends to add to the very-small allowance I recived weekly. Other kids were constantly complaining about having too-small an allowance–mommy/dady-don’t-pay-me-enough!They EXPECT, w/o doeing anything to help at home. Chinese children are expected to help at an early-age…later they go-to-work to help their families, while they, also, learn music, a martial art. help at home, etc,etc… .

      Report Post »  
  • sbenard
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 10:34am

    Niall Ferguson has a new book coming out soon. He is one of the most insightful historians in the world today. His expertise is historical finance and economics. He is a conservative that often does battle with Paul “Crazy Keynesian” Krugman, Obama’s apologist at the NY Times. In his new book, he discusses how once-great empires collapsed very suddenly, contrary to commonly-held beliefs. He gives numerous examples, including the Roman Empire. He has been warning that if the U.S. doesn’t get its fiscal house in order soon, within the next year of two, we will face a collapse that is likely to end our dominance in the world and plunge us into a new Great Depression. We should listen to him.

    Report Post » sbenard  
  • 57states
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 8:01am

    China MAKES & sells JUNK!!!!

    Report Post » 57states  
  • socialism.rocks
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 4:28am

    this is a site they hope the blaze admins click on-

    its how they hack~

    derp a herp

    Report Post » socialism.rocks  
  • socialism.rocks
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 4:26am

    more nationalism in the left then the right-
    the right are infantile immature and dont see the big picture…they dont even understand how free-markets work free-markets is the value you put on wages or services… which republicans allow market manipulation
    but that is another story~

    globalization is going to be the biggest failure in human history…. coming the next twenty years… and people will turn on the republicans & merchant class & banking class for that manipulation

    Report Post » socialism.rocks  
    • Ron Staiger
      Posted on March 12, 2012 at 5:27am

      You should really start taking your medication again, your mental instability is showing!

      Report Post »  
  • Bill Burns
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 4:20am

    Let there be no doubt: Mindless Mika takes the prize for the most stewpit media type to ever live.

    Report Post » Bill Burns  
  • Thevoice
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 2:41am

    Look we Americans could collapse the Chinese economy in one day .All we would have to do is fill our baskets full of their junk in the morning and then return it all in the afternoon…

    Report Post » Thevoice  
  • pwatkins
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 1:25am

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/266837
    http://www.thomascrampton.com/people/mark-ndesandjo/
    Could this have anything to do with some of our China troubles and debt? Check it out Blaze.

    Report Post »  
  • TexBork
    Posted on March 12, 2012 at 12:17am

    Maostalgia is taking root in the left here in the US.

    Report Post » TexBork  
    • bement14
      Posted on March 12, 2012 at 12:39am

      At least the people in China have the excuse that they aren’t allowed to learn how terrible Mao was. Liberals have the information and apparently think that mass murder and disastrous economic policy are how we can improve this country.

      Report Post »  
  • Netsurfer2
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 11:33pm

    Let us remember that their people are brain washed into thinking the Mao made their country great, when it really was Dung who opened up the trade markets and freed the people into a more capitalist society! Mao had nothing to do with what made China great! Mao was a murderer, who killed millions of his own peoples and sent everyone to the farm fields to work for a bowl of rice every day! No one in China will ever tell the truth on this for fear of going to prison!

    Report Post » Netsurfer2  
  • Lord_Frostwind
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 10:00pm

    On the verge of greatness or cataclysm, sounds like the same story we got here.

    Report Post » Lord_Frostwind  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:33pm

    just think of all those new China-made Mao ornaments for obama’s last communist & muslim holiday tree at the WH..

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • Itsjusttim
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:44pm

    Of course, but this Professor wasn’t the first to say it because I was, as well as I said it 25 years ago, and heard only the sound of crickets. China is going to become an envious behemoth, and the Chinese are going to come and go through every nook and cranny, and under every skirt of every harlot in America looking for something they think is hidden from them. And that’s just one of many scenarios that will be going on simultaneously with other peoples. But hey America just worry about money, success and small or large businesses.

    Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:46pm

      You see America it’s because you have become like a female (because you do as the queen of Heaven) and China has become as the male, and China is going to sock it to you.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:49pm

      But not just the Chinese, but Muslims are going to sock it to America also. Everyone is going to sock it to America because America is a big balling whining female.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:56pm

      America is a big balling whining female where the girls aren’t taught to raise the boys up to their dads, no, they raise their sons up to some TV star, or to a romance novel. Females in America think husbands are something to be molded into a good husband, and if it doesn’t work then divorce them, because they didn’t search for a husband through the spectrum of having to raise the children up to the dad. Nope, America is one big Whore.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:00pm

      And the more and more Americans plead with each other to go back to what America once was and they whine shedding tears for America, the more and more America comes across to them as a pathetic whore.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • lukerw
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:02pm

      Yet, in Fact… Historically… Every Great Empire had is Highs and Lows… and when the Lows occurred, the neighboring Countries gathered together to ATTACK it. Egypt, Hittites, Assyria, Babalon, Medes, Persia, Greece, Rome… it is the same STORY!

      HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:08pm

      lukerw,
      Oh give me a break you know nothing any larger than your own nose. China and many more nations and peoples have been giving America financial orgasms for 50 years working Americans into a blind frenzy, and then a gradual lull to sleep after the climax while they continued to snuggle and rub Americas soft spots. You’re as blind as blind can be, and you know nothing of the spirit of nations. God’s been treading back and forth for the longest time, but you didn’t listen. Like I said ultimately the Lord who lives forever and ever has a lot of time, and doesn’t give one crap about individual nations.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:19pm

      And the thing people should be doing as individuals is getting right with God.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:23pm

      That’s why I have to chuckle at Atheists because all the while they bad-mouth religions, Atheism itself is a religion. Because everything they say religion is, they are. Atheists stick together supporting each other; nothing they say is original the arguments are thousands of years old; they try to keep their ranks from deciding to choose God, and they stir up troubles.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • 13th Imam
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:49pm

      So,,,,, you’re the Tim that everyone talks about. But did you predict that DEMOCRATS would mortgage our children’s future out to the Chinese , just to give the cash to their union buddies??

      Report Post » 13th Imam  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:43pm

    I wonder if women who were bruatally abused, have nostalgia years later of their abuser? I wonder if the Ukranians have fond memories of Stalin. Do you think the Polish Jews sit around and pine for the old days under Nazi Germany? I would gaurantee these people they are talking to were part of the upper clique.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • lukerw
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:54pm

      You have to live in a Country for some years before you can empathise with how they think. Many Germans, young and old, think Hitler was a Great Leader… as he solved Economic, Education, and HealthCare problems… and it was just the Americans that destroyed the Dream. Now, take this… and apply it to other Nations. Once, you idolize some Great Leader… and forgive his Sins… then all is Sinless & Good!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:16pm

      Lukew:
      Great analysis.

      What I think is amazing is how 20 years after Pat Schroeder was thrown out of the senate (she retired before she was about to be beaten), Coloradians don’t remember the damage she did to Denver or this state. So I can see what you are saying.

      And, since I grew up in the 70′s, I remember my mom driving around looking for a gas station that had gas, and would actually sell it that day, plus Washington state actually had a system in place that on certain days if your license plate ended in odd, you could buy gas and so on. That was under Carter. So looking at the same policies Obama is implementing, selective amnesia seems to grip the left. Soon, I fear, we will have ration books for the most basic supplies.

      I wonder if 50 years from now, they will be looking back and pining for the days of our “Dear Leader”, Obama.

      Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • lukerw
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 10:29pm

      Funny… We cannot Remember PAIN… as it is a Mental Protection… but this benefit is turned against us… for we tend not to remember the Bad, rather only the Good. And, our actual Leaders were never as great as they are praised to be… because of someone’s, or group’s. Agenda. The problem is… The Winners write the History Books.

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • lukerw
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:43pm

    The Chinese have lived for a Couple Thousand years +… under Governments of Total Dictatorship, which excluded Personal Freedom. This is the ingrained chacteristic of the people… the desire to be directed… where option only provide stress and confusion. This is also the Socialist MindSet… but, in the West, only characteristic of about 20% of the people. So, their experience with Capitalism drives them to desire a return to Maoism! Poor Bastards!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:42pm

    Ferguson deconstructed that tool Mika,it was amusing to hear that idiot get trashed.I‘m not excited about the chicoms becoming a ’world empire‘ to use Ferguson’s words, because they are after all very good at genocide.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
  • GoodStuff
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:35pm

    Mao killed 50-70 million Chinese…and yet, they worship him. Bizarro world.

    Report Post »  
    • marine249
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:50pm

      look at the left-wing nuts who worship b.o.

      Report Post »  
    • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:55pm

      They don’t worship B O, they just don’t bathe, B O is just a byproduct of their lifestyle.

      Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 9:07pm

      @Marine 249 – on the money; and I wonder how many US Citizens Obama and friends intend to kill off before their taste for blood comes to an end? 30-40 or more millions?

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • vox_populi
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 10:45pm

      @SNOWLEOPARD

      Fear not, comrade! When Obama is re-elected, I will ensure that all Blazers’ executions will be swift and painless!

      Report Post » vox_populi  
    • The Third Archon
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 10:46pm

      @SNOWLEOPARD {GALLERY OF CAT FOLKS}
      Umm…none. He’s probably planning on killing none, considering he hasn’t yet, and has shown no inclination to do so.

      Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • possom
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 10:57pm

      There‘s a fully functional concentration camp not 10 mi’s from my house see ya there folk’s I got top bunk!

      Report Post » possom  
    • lukerw
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 11:10pm

      I remember… Beck had a Tape… where an FBI undercover agent… to the WeatherMen (Bill Ayers)… where they accepted that 25 Million would have to be termanated.

      Rule #1: Never be Captured (Army Code of Conduct, 1961)!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • vox_populi
      Posted on March 11, 2012 at 11:48pm

      @LUKERW
      “Rule #1: Never be Captured (Army Code of Conduct, 1961)!”

      Oh good, we don’t have enough room in the FEMA camps anyway.

      Report Post » vox_populi  
    • progressiveslayer
      Posted on March 12, 2012 at 9:04am

      THE THIRD ARCHON Ever hear of Anwar Al-awlaki ? He was an American citizen murdered on the orders of our Marxist POS president.

      Report Post » progressiveslayer  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on March 11, 2012 at 8:34pm

    the truth is starting to leak through the dam….hooraaah!

    Report Post » Stoic one  

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