China's Cultural Security under the Influence of Western Consumerism
The attempts of western countries to split and evolve socialist countries have never stopped. Only after military and economic means failed, they found a more subtle and effective method-cultural infiltration in the field of consumption. Relying on various advantages of first mover and the exemplary role of the media, they try their best to set the western consumption pattern as the yardstick of a happy life, and package and sell the material products and cultural products wrapped in western values to China, so as to divide, weaken and transform the core position of socialist culture and undermine its construction. This silent cultural invasion will inevitably bring serious and even "functional" damage to the orderly operation and virtuous circle of China's cultural construction system.
(1) It is more difficult than ever to implant western culture by economic means and maintain the cultural security of China. Under the background of consumerism, the main way for western countries to invade culture is to implant their cultural values by economic means and infiltrate culture through cultural trade. Cultural invasion in the economic field with consumption as the medium makes it more difficult than ever to maintain China's cultural security. In fact, consumption and consumer goods do not involve value factors. The problem is that consumption in the context of consumerism analysis no longer pays attention to the use value of commodities, but pays more attention to the symbolic value and symbolic meaning behind commodities. Consumerism gradually shifts people's consumption desire to the coded commodity symbol value and its symbolic meaning, so people buy goods no longer just to obtain the use value of the goods, but to meet the "false demand" formed by the stimulated and inflated desire, and consumers continue to complete the cultural decoding and practical identification of the commodity symbol system in this "desire cycle". Compared with western countries' cultural products, knowledge and technology, China's cultural industry is still at a disadvantage, so western countries have the opportunity to implant culture by economic means. In this case, western values and lifestyles have become contemporary accusations of a happy life, and consumerism has quietly dissolved our national culture in the process. At the same time, with the gradual opening of information industry, information, film and television, and even media, consumerism is hidden behind advertisements. Through the role of media demonstration, people are advised or encouraged to consume a certain commodity, so that the selected western social values are digested and absorbed by the public again and again, thus successfully exporting their values, ideology and political culture to China according to their own designed or hoped model, and forming a cultural erosion of China. The traditional means of maintaining national cultural security in China have been unable to cope with the challenges from economy and science and technology, and are in danger of collective aphasia.
(B) the use of online media to weaken the socialist cultural identity of Chinese citizens: national cultural security is the deep theme of the national security system, and its important feature and condition is that citizens highly identify with the mainstream culture of society. In the real society, "cultural identity and integration ability make it possible for politics to overcome regional centrifugal force and surpass ordinary political organizations." An important manifestation of cultural security lies in the extent to which it enables people to form a highly consistent identity on national and ethnic issues. Only this kind of recognition can form effective integration ability. This integration ability is the expression of the degree of cohesion needed by a country's prosperity, and it is also the cornerstone of a country's security and stability. "[1] Under the influence of consumerism, western countries usually use the right to speak on the Internet to publicize their lifestyles, moral standards and religious traditions by creating international fashion and celebrity consumption demonstrations, which has seriously impacted and dispelled China's socialist cultural value system. At the same time, people who have accepted western cultural information for a long time will gradually be affected in their way of thinking and lifestyle, which objectively weakens our national identity with national culture. In today's China, as long as you pay a little attention, it is not difficult to find that once western festivals come, the media and the Internet will do their best to hype their own pages. There is no doubt that this practice has indeed brought certain economic benefits, and even eased the work pressure of consumers and brought them laughter. However, influenced by this western consumer culture, more and more people in China lose themselves when dealing with their own national cultural heritage, and China's excellent national culture seems to have no place in the consumer society, which makes them feel at a loss. Because this new way of cultural infiltration has strong concealment and rapidity, some people unconsciously distort and misplace their values. They began to "resist orthodoxy with skeptical eyes, deny ideals with mocking tone, treat life with a game attitude, and indulge themselves with revelry" [2] They regard money worship, hedonism and extreme individualism as their value orientation and life pursuit goal. This is extremely dangerous, which brings great hidden dangers to China's current cultural security. This cultural infiltration of consumerism will not only weaken China people's socialist cultural identity, but also destroy the spiritual strength and subjective personality needed by China's social development. Therefore, ideological infiltration in the field of consumption can not be ignored.
(C) Taking cultural trade as a breakthrough to vigorously promote the cultural export strategy, resulting in the reversal of national cultural identity: the development of cultural trade provides a rare "opportunity" for western developed countries to import cultural products to China. They take multinational companies as the forefront, vigorously promote the strategy of cultural infiltration, and let their own culture and values penetrate into China's immature cultural industries in the form of cultural trade. In the process of consumption, a large number of cultural products reflecting capitalist ideology will inevitably cultivate consumer groups with western cultural styles. At the same time, the standard material lifestyle of western countries will be systematically implanted into our culture with the consumption process of our citizens, and then digest our national culture. As French thinkers worry, "Through movies, people will gradually become familiar with American products, American lifestyles, behavior patterns and values … people will lose respect for their local culture and traditions". [3] To make matters worse, the entry of overseas multinational cultural companies into China will not only change the ideology, values and lifestyle of employees of subsidiaries, but also have a strong demonstration effect in society, leading to the increasingly "Westernization" of the lifestyle of Chinese citizens. Therefore, with the intervention of consumerism, "ideology has successfully conquered consumers, making people's consumption activities of goods become daily life practices that identify with ideology". Whether we admit it or not, this situation has become a grim reality that we must face correctly. Once the respect and recognition of local culture are lost, consumerism will inevitably lead to "people's convergence in aesthetic taste, lifestyle and even values, which will undoubtedly seriously impact national culture and national identity." [5] This reverse national cultural identity will seriously threaten the cultural security of China.
The Realistic Path of Realizing China's Cultural Security at Present
Under the influence of consumerism, China's cultural security has been challenged as never before. How to find a realistic way to maintain China's cultural security under the complicated situation is undoubtedly an important agenda for China's cultural construction.
(A) the establishment of a Marxist-led cultural United front to ensure the security of core values: whether we admit it or not, multicultural integration has become a social reality, and our social members are experiencing confrontation between mainstream ideas and multiculturalism every day. They are hovering between the two and experiencing painful ideological struggles. Obviously, it is impossible to achieve cultural security only by external prevention. Under the background of multicultural integration, how to uphold the leading position of Marxism and how to use Marxism to resolve the tension between various values has become the key to the problem. Many scholars have made useful discussions on the specific path to achieve national cultural security, but in a word, at least one thing is universal knowledge, that is, we must adhere to the right to speak and leadership of Marxism and establish a cultural United front led by Marxism. Of course, Marxism can never be an empty leader. Marxism must "squeeze out all irrefutable and reasonable elements from the led ideological system, integrate into the Marxist ideological system, and become a positive cultural force for building Socialism with Chinese characteristics". [6] In other words, adhering to the leadership of Marxism in cultural construction is not to absolutely exclude other cultures. Obviously, no cultural confrontation can achieve cultural security for a long time. To maintain the reasonable elasticity and tension of socialist culture, we should be "flexible, adaptable and inclusive" when explaining the obvious changes in external conditions ... so as to win the continuous recognition and loyalty of members. [7] Only in this way can we promote the innovative development of Marxist theory, enhance the appeal of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture, "respond to and balance the impact of western political value system" with excellent advanced socialist culture [8], and ensure the security of China's core values.