The book Why We Have Confidence was written by Professor Liu Zhexin of Pudong Cadre Management College. I used to work with Liu Jiaoshou, and I witnessed how he devoted himself to the public welfare undertakings of post-earthquake relief and student aid in poverty-stricken areas. Out of deep respect and emotion, I picked up this book.
? At first glance, I thought it was a theoretical brochure on the tall. Unexpectedly, when I turned to 1 page, I was deeply attracted by the vivid content in the book and couldn't put it down anymore. The first two chapters, in particular, have analyzed why Europe has been divided for a long time and China has always been a unified country from a novel geopolitical perspective, which has inspired me. Among the theoretical propaganda books I have read, this book is the most popular, convincing and straightforward. It is not a political theory book, but a geography history book, because the views in the book are based on irrefutable geographical and historical facts. It is based on these facts that this conclusion is more convincing.
For example, in the first chapter, it is said that strong tropical cyclones in the northern hemisphere formed typhoons in China and hurricanes in the United States, but typhoons could not cross Eurasia and the European coast was calm. Therefore, Europe has been able to live by the sea since ancient times, taking the lead in opening up maritime transportation and developing production. If these two factors are combined, that is, the coastal peninsula lives by the sea and there are many islands, it means that Europeans basically live on peninsulas and islands, and the center of Europe has been hollowed out. Its strength is mainly at the edge, and the centrifugal force is greater than the centripetal force, thus forming a unique centrifugal force structure in Europe, and the result is to tear the center, and this torn central country is Germany that I have been longing for. Let's take a look at the history and humanities of Germany, which have also been confirmed one by one.
Throughout Germany's history, it can't get rid of two fates, one is the battlefield, and the other is the strategic buffer period. Germany is also the birthplace of religion, philosophy and music. Engels once said, "economically backward countries can still play the first violin in philosophy." Because the profundity of philosophy, like the sustenance of religion, is often accompanied by suffering. It is precisely because of this that once the Germans have the opportunity to look up, they will naturally think of unifying Europe. It is not difficult to understand why rational Germany will produce a crazy Hitler. This analysis really surprises me! In a word, the viewpoint of this book gave me a strong impact, and also gave me a brand-new way to think about future problems, which gave me reason to believe that geographical location and its objective factors such as climate and humanity can determine or subtly determine the fate and direction of this country.
China, by contrast. China is basically a mainland country, even if it has a coastline, it is full and there are not many islands, so it has formed a centripetal force greater than centrifugal force for a long time. The fertile soil on the Loess Plateau has laid a solid foundation for the agricultural development in China. With the development of agriculture, there are more people to feed, the social division of labor is gradually refined, and ideas are gradually enriched, thus slowly giving birth to the splendid culture of China for 5,000 years. Another factor that I didn't think of was China's hieroglyphics, which used shapes to express meaning. For China, which is a vast country with different sounds in ten miles, the stability and clarity of the meaning expressed by hieroglyphs also determine the fairness of text communication. Like Moline, it connects the hearts of the people of China. It also strengthens the centripetal force of China culture.
When comparing China and Europe, Liu Jiaoshou also used puzzle structure and concentric circle structure to illustrate the differences. The European jigsaw puzzle structure refers to the existence of parts before the whole is produced; After the whole disappears, some still exist. It is not difficult to understand the value orientation of Europe-there can be no Europe, but there must be Britain, and there can be no Britain, but there must be Scotland. China society is a concentric structure. Several circles are different in size, but the center of the circle is the same, and any two circles overlap each other-a small circle is a part of a big circle, and a part of a big circle is a small circle. "You have me, and I have you." If jigsaw puzzle structure is the inevitable product of long-term centrifugal force movement in Europe, then concentric circle structure is the inevitable product of long-term centripetal force movement in China.
For another example, Liu Jiaoshou also gives a strong response to the social statement that "China people have no faith" caused by gutter oil and tainted milk powder. He quoted Marx's Das Kapital and said, "There are six ways to mix sugar ... there are 20 kinds of bread, 23 kinds of soju, 24 kinds of flour, 28 kinds of chocolate, 30 kinds of wine and 32 kinds of coffee." The Englishman who is familiar with the Bible doesn't know that the bread he eats every day contains a certain amount of human sweat, mixed with pus, cobwebs, dead cockroaches and moldy German yeast, not to mention alum, sand and other delicious minerals. When westerners are doing these things, isn't the church door always open? It can be seen that such things as waste oil and poisoned milk powder are not necessarily related to faith. So, what does it matter? Liu Jiaoshou profoundly pointed out that it is related to capital! Any nation, in the era of crossing capital, will inevitably be alienated by capital. The difference is that whoever can cross this era faster can better control capital.
On the interpretation of China people's beliefs, Liu Jiaoshou also gave his own understanding in the book, which I found wonderful and agreed with. That is, although most people in China do not have a unified religious belief, most people in China regard "family" as the vertical boundary of their lives and "mutual assistance between countries" as the horizontal boundary of their lives. To sum up, "feelings for home and country" is the belief of China people, and it is also the way for China people to go beyond the limit of their lives. It is not a religion, but it is a true belief.
There are many such views and discussions. In this book, along this line of thought, Liu Jiaoshou also answered why China could not copy western democracy and why he insisted on the socialist road. Why can't we just say that China people have no faith, which has been popular in society since the temporary moral decline? The language is peaceful but conclusive, which fully shows the profound foundation, rigorous academic attitude and lofty feelings of a legal expert, a university professor, a practitioner who integrates knowledge with practice and a leader of public welfare activities. It is really worth reading!