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Can Sex Liberate Red China?
The Objectivist Center ^ | 12/8/2003 | Edward Hudgins

Posted on 12/18/2003 5:19:55 PM PST by RJCogburn

Communist China is experiencing a sexual revolution, and Beijing is not at all happy about it. Sexologist Li Yinhe believes that while less than two decades ago only 16 percent of Chinese engaged in premarital sex, today at least 60 percent do. One-night stands, urban bar scenes and open Internet discussions of sexual issues now are common among young people.

There's no mystery why the communist authorities are chagrined by this revolution. George Orwell's 1984 was published in 1949, the year the communists took over China. It depicted a future Stalinist regime in which sex, except for producing children, is prohibited and punishable by death. Imitating Orwell's nightmare, in Red China public displays of affection - even handholding -- were banned and romantic relationships could get one fired or worse. Clothing in Orwell's world is unattractive and unisexual. China followed as Orwell foretold - remember those Mao jackets? Unable to fight a totalitarian regime and secret police, a woman in Orwell's hell rebels by having as many pleasurable, secret sexual trysts as possible. China now is at that stage, though the rebellion is very public.

Why do the dictators in Orwell's fiction and in real-life China so fear sex? Some observers might maintain that in the case of China, the world's most populous country, anti-sex policies were a logical outgrowth of government efforts to end population growth through a one-child-per-family policy. But human beings are the ultimate resource, the creators of all other values. Only in a statist economy is the birth of a cow an addition to the national wealth but that of a human being an economic setback; in such a system everyone is supposed to take care of everyone else, so the more people there are, the greater the burden.

But the deeper reason for anti-sex attitudes, as Orwell understood it, is because sex focuses one's attention on one's own happiness and away from service to the political regime and "collective good." Sex can lead to the creation of a loving, private and exclusive world: one to which two lovers devote all their time and energy. In Orwell's anti-sex tale, the peoples' pent-up energies are channeled into regular hate rallies in which subjects scream themselves into hysteria at the regime's alleged enemies, achieving almost orgasmic release when giant pictures of Big Brother are displayed: a vision that presaged Red Chinese rallies with Mao-worship.

It is legitimate to point out that this rebellion is not without its adverse consequences. Not only is there the probable rise in sexually transmitted diseases - the safe-sex movement has not caught on yet in China - there is the danger portrayed by another great author, Aldous Huxley, in his novel Brave New World. In his seemingly kinder, gentler totalitarian society, individuals are required to have frequent sexual affairs with as many different partners as possible; going with the same person for more than a month is considered a perversion. Why? Because another way to degrade and thus repress individuals is to so trivialize sex -- and thus personal relations -- that it would be very difficult for an individual to form a deep, loving bond with another unique individual, to create that private world of shared interests, dreams, aspirations, personal flourishing and happiness. Of course, this is the nature of the moral challenge facing us in the West today.

It is understandable that after half a century of repression the sexual rebellion in China would swing past what many might consider a responsible use of freedom. Experimentation is no doubt needed before a happy mean can be found. But it is also interesting that while communist officials inveigh against the new freedom, they have not brought the full brunt of their guns and tanks to bear on the new rebels, as they did in Tiananmen Square. Perhaps they realize that so many resources would be wasted and so much blood shed in such an attack that the country's economy, to say nothing of its reputation in the world, would suffer. Perhaps they believe that, while undesirable, it is better for young people to channel their rebellion into sexual escapades than into politics, as they did in Tiananmen Square.

But it is difficult to close an individual's soul once he or she has tasted freedom. This rebellion, if it runs its course, will have political consequences that the communists will find difficult to stop. The rebels are rejecting not only communist asceticism but also the Confucian tradition that the communists use to disguise repression as social discipline. Hopefully the rebels will discover that Confucius, who is often called the Aristotle of the East, understood that true discipline and balance is needed in the soul of the individual, which will give that person the wisdom and courage both to fight for freedom and to best use that freedom in pursuit of his or her own happiness.

Copyright, The Objectivist Center. For more information, please visit www.ObjectivistCenter.org.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: china

1 posted on 12/18/2003 5:19:56 PM PST by RJCogburn
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To: RJCogburn
"It depicted a future Stalinist regime in which sex,
except for producing children, is prohibited "

Could Orwell have forseen some FReepers, sounds like it.

2 posted on 12/18/2003 5:23:46 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: John Beresford Tipton
Sex is terrific!

Within marriage.

3 posted on 12/18/2003 5:27:14 PM PST by onedoug
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To: RJCogburn
When I was in college, I heard a student argue that people discovering porn would undermine the Chinese dictatorship. I guess stupidity loves company. The author seems to think that decadent whores and whoremongers are going to be the harbinger of CHinese democracy.
4 posted on 12/18/2003 5:31:10 PM PST by Keyes2000mt (Pray for Rush)
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To: onedoug
Sex is terrific!

Within marriage.

Yeah, but it's kinda fun pretending you're not married once in a while! ; )

5 posted on 12/18/2003 5:57:49 PM PST by Prime Choice (Leftist opinions may be free, but I still feel like I'm getting ripped off every time I receive one.)
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To: RJCogburn

Anecdotal story.

As my company has a factory in an industrial park in Fuyong, I made some tender inquiries over a few Tsing Tao's (beer)with a guy who runs our operation(a Hong Kong Chinese guy). Now, we run a tight ship, and don't tolerate any of that, but he said that the dorms in the park are like fields of sheep for some of the guys that work for other companies.

Since you can't really hire men in China to do factory work unless it's "skilled or heavy labor", most of the workers in this park are women. I've been told "men are trouble". There are probably 3000 women(we employ about 120) and about 200 men. I'm told they generally run through the women like socks. Shrug...can't validate it...will inquire more on my next trip in Jan/Feb but there seems to be a sexual revolution(i.e. aids central) that no one wants to really talk about.



6 posted on 12/18/2003 6:03:15 PM PST by Malsua
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To: John Beresford Tipton
"It depicted a future Stalinist regime in which sex, except for producing children, is prohibited "

Control freaks are to be avoided, whether they be Stalinists or (insert outraged group here).

Control freaks are bothered by the idea that somehow, somewhere, people might be having fun, without their permission.

7 posted on 12/18/2003 6:04:47 PM PST by MonroeDNA (Soros is the enemy.)
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To: Keyes2000mt
The author seems to think that decadent whores and whoremongers are going to be the harbinger of Chinese democracy.

Well, they do undermine and destroy every system they proliferate in.

8 posted on 12/18/2003 6:06:35 PM PST by thatdewd
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To: MonroeDNA
"Control freaks are to be avoided"

Oh, yes.
Thing is when you're on thread and a control freak finds it, if he senses people just might be having fun, he rains all over the parade, and uses a ping list to have a swarm of like minded control freeks gather, like flys on shiite.
9 posted on 12/18/2003 6:08:25 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: thatdewd
Well, they do undermine and destroy every system they proliferate in.


Um, that would be pretty much EVERY SYSTEM.

The Chinese problem is the top heavy male/female situation,
they are ripe for a gay makeover.

Queer Eye for the Chinese guy!
10 posted on 12/18/2003 6:11:19 PM PST by tet68
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To: Keyes2000mt
"The author seems to think that decadent whores and whoremongers"...

Well, just going by what he says:
He nowhere talks about "decadent whores and whoremongers"
He does talk about recreational sex.

It is unfortunate that your experience with recreational sex might bring to your mind "whores and whoremongers." Not all women are, as they say, "pros".
11 posted on 12/18/2003 6:13:27 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: RJCogburn
According to what you mean when you say "liberate".

The so-called sexual revolution in the U.S. liberated the U.S. to the degree that before the sexual revolution we basically had two veneral diseases [stds]. Since being "liberated", we now have so many veneral diseases [stds] that even the doctors do not know them all.
12 posted on 12/18/2003 6:16:56 PM PST by sport
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To: tet68
The Chinese problem is the top heavy male/female situation,

snicker (I have a dirty mind)

13 posted on 12/18/2003 6:20:25 PM PST by thatdewd
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To: RJCogburn
Why do the dictators in Orwell's fiction and in real-life China so fear sex?

Same reason the leaders of authoritarian and fundamentalist religions fear sex.

14 posted on 12/18/2003 6:46:33 PM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: RJCogburn
"But it is also interesting that while communist officials inveigh against the new freedom, they have not brought the full brunt of their guns and tanks to bear on the new rebels, as they did in Tiananmen Square. Perhaps they realize that so many resources would be wasted and so much blood shed in such an attack that the country's economy, to say nothing of its reputation in the world, would suffer. Perhaps they believe that, while undesirable, it is better for young people to channel their rebellion into sexual escapades than into politics, as they did in Tiananmen Square."

Either that, or the politburo members are too busy getting laid to bother doing anything about it.

;-)

15 posted on 12/18/2003 7:04:59 PM PST by longshadow
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16 posted on 12/18/2003 7:05:36 PM PST by Bob J (www.freerepublic.net www.radiofreerepublic.com...check them out!)
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To: GovernmentShrinker
But the deeper reason for anti-sex attitudes, as Orwell understood it, is because sex focuses one's attention on one's own happiness and away from service to the political regime

You could insert "faith" for "political regime" and this sentence would remain true.

Fundamentalists, whether political or religious, really hate sex and are obsessed with controlling it because they sense, correctly, that erotic feelings and acts are a direct challenge to the control of mind and behavior which they wish to exert over people

17 posted on 12/18/2003 7:42:07 PM PST by WackyKat
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To: RJCogburn
China's didn't grow to have a 1.3 bil. and growing population by practicing celibacy.
18 posted on 12/20/2003 9:46:38 AM PST by taiwansemi
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To: sport
Actually, the only weakness in Orwell's 1984 was its sexual sterility.

Aldous Huxley got it right when he described a dictatorial regime where illicit sex was widespread and totally divorced from procreation. Such societies drift into despotism, but it's the "soft" type of despotism rather than the hard type. It's Sweden, with its astronomical taxes, wall-to-wall socialism, restrictions on speech and firearms, and conformity maintained by social indignation and intimidation.

So a sexual revolution in China might evolve them more towards that model. It's sure evolving us in that direction. As sexual "liberation" expands, taxes rise, regulations increase. guns become more restricted, and PC speech and behavior codes become common.
19 posted on 12/20/2003 9:59:21 AM PST by puroresu
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To: RJCogburn
Why do the dictators in Orwell's fiction and in real-life China so fear sex?

China's population grew by 700 mil. (more than 100%) over the past 50 years while the Communists were in power because Mao specifically encouraged Chinese couples to have 5-6 kids per family. He thought that any great country requires a large population. Indeed, it is because of China's large population today that everyone fears China's economic potential and future economic output. Even during the past 20 years when the one-child policy has been in effect, China's popultion grew by an additional 300 mil., which is bigger than America's entire current population.

20 posted on 12/20/2003 10:00:55 AM PST by taiwansemi
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