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Age Of Ambition Analysis

1100 Words5 Pages

The Story of Unbalance
The unbalanced political and economic development of China is the result of China’s Gilded Age, as understood in Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos. In contemporary China, the triad of fortune, truth and faith are colliding forces under the Chinese political landscape, where powers of aspiration collides with the power of authoritarianism (pg.7). The prosperity of capitalism using specialized zones is an example of unequal development of the rural areas, which leaves it to co-exist in the contemporary without equal resources to succeed. Osnos emphasizes that in China is made of two worlds, even though its one nation (pg. 25). Thus, this is just one reason that the outlook …show more content…

The rampant rise of capitalism has destroyed the “soul” of the country, as suggested by the last third of Osnos accounts. The people are willingly accepting of social impacts, including corruption on an overwhelming scale, if they are satisfied with their size of the pie as shown by stories like Han Han. He represents the Chinese, who lack in organization due to the threats of an authoritarian regime, but enjoy the “joys of skepticism” to empower them as individuals. Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual shut down by the state, sees the aftereffect of “the China miracle” aligning with “moral decline and squandered future” (pg. 158). Overall, Osnos revelations, especially to the western readers, is that China’s era of “Gilded Age” is full of uncertainties, especially with the large population that differs in opportunities, life chances and political …show more content…

Ji contradicts the expectations or the parallel that can be drawn about the youth thirty years ago, who led the movement of Tiananmen square in 1979. Osnos unpacks the actors of the popular rhetoric of China as global powerhouse by uncovering the new lived experiences of the Chinese citizens. By providing insights into the lives of the youth, Osnos adds to the literature significantly, as that demography of able bodied citizens have been the backbone of reshaping China since Mao’s communism. By understanding the cause of dissent or support of CCP through the eyes of the drivers of the future, China’s uncertain future can be at least understood to have potential of diversity. For now, the inherited disarray of tradition and the high presence of the state in everyday life decreases the authenticity of self-actualization for the youth. The outcome of such imbalance creates anxiety and desperation over identity. Thus, there is dissent or loyalty to achieve stability, which either way continues to provide legitimacy to the

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