While doing research, two surveys of people from various countries caught my attention.
One survey was about individual awareness of protecting the environment. The survey, conducted by the British company Ipsos MORI, under the sponsorship of Tandberg, (a communications corporation) indicated that consumers in China and Australia willing to use earth-friendly products outnumber those of other counties. Seventy percent of Chinese and 52 percent of Australians surveyed said that they would first purchase green products or use services from environmentally conscious companies. The survey also revealed that, even more than other nations in Asia or Europe, Chinese people are more inclined to work in companies that have a better reputation for protecting the environment. On the basis of this survey, China leads the world in conscience in this matter.
The second survey tracked 85 countries for many years. The data was compiled in a book entitled, "Changing Values and Faiths—A Survey of 85 Countries on Values: 1981-2004." One subtitle is "Using Position to Accept Bribery Is Never Justifiable." Data collected from China revealed that in 1990, 86 percent of those questioned had never believed that corruption was justifiable; in 1995, the figure rose to 90 percent; but in 2000, the number dropped to 83 percent. Statistically, the poll shows that the Chinese have a very low tolerance for corruption. By contrast, in some developed nations, such as France, the tolerance for corruption was quite a bit higher than it was in China. For instance, in 1990, only 63 percent of the French questioned said they never believed that corruption was justifiable, and in 2000 the number was 67 percent.
But theory needs to be put into practice. By way of inference, the results of the two surveys indicate that China should lead the world in protecting the environment, resulting in less corruption and a cleaner environment in China. The reality, however, is the opposite. The ecological environment in China is now on the verge of collapse. The Chinese, while supposedly strongly predisposed to protecting the environment, do not even have food quality assurance; and food chain poisoning is prevalent, due to highly contaminated land. The political corruption in China, like a cancer in the nation's body, has reached the point of rattling the government's credibility, and challenging the legitimacy of the communist rule.
I do not believe that the survey results are due to the fact that the Chinese have become habitual liars under the pressure of totalitarianism. In the present political climate in China, views concerning the environment and corruption in such surveys are credible, and there is no rationale for respondents to lie. The only logical explanation for the alarming contrast between the reality in China and its people's values lies in the split personalities of Chinese citizens, which is clearly reflected in how people in China view corruption and their code of conduct. There is significant evidence to support that, when there is no opportunity to benefit from corruption, Chinese people tend to hate corruption. However, once they have an opportunity to gain from corruption, people's behavior becomes identical to the corrupt officials whom they despise. The instances where some "heroes," who became famous through their staunch fight against corruption, later became corrupt themselves, is supportive evidence. The fight against corruption for them was merely a ladder used to climb to power.
Admittedly, change in values as a result of change in status occurs in all cultures. But China has a unique social situation. I recently talked with someone who had been jailed in China for political reasons. He spoke of a "prisoner mentality," which offered me food for thought.
He told me that he had been in the same cell as various corrupt officials, and found that they were quite obedient in front of prison guards. According to his account, every day, these jailed officials wrote repentance statements that were highly critical of themselves and reduced themselves to worthless beings. But the moment they faced other prisoners whose status was not as high as theirs, they would "pull rank"—put on airs and act like they were important. Such shifting of roles from slaves to masters often occurred within a matter of seconds. This phenomenon is widespread among prisoners, although ordinary inmates don't have much opportunity to play the "master." At the end of our conversation, this man concluded that in every Chinese, three personalities coexist—tyrant, mob, and slave, each character taking on its role, as the occasion requires.
This is an in-depth analysis of prisoner mentality of the Chinese in the specific scenario of prison. I was prompted to speculate on how such a mentality evolves. It is true that, prior to 1949 quite a number of Chinese did have traces of split-personality, although it was not as serious, let alone as widespread as in China now. It was not until Mao's era that brutal political persecution rallies became a factor in everyone's daily life. To use a metaphor, Mao had turned China into a huge prison, where his close followers became prison guards. In order to survive the rallies, the "imprisoned" Chinese had to turn themselves into two-faced individuals. Those who found it hard to adapt were victimized. Such ordeals that change a man into a demon are often seen in the memoirs of condemned "rightists" of the period.
I dare say that the totalitarian political system established by Mao has combined the major elements of both imported communist totalitarianism and traditional political dictatorship, with the consequences to Chinese people's psyches being far more detrimental than they were in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, or other former communist nations. Every Chinese citizen has been victimized by this system, and in return, the system has been saturated by this prisoner mentality.
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