 |
Other Rivers: A Chinese Education Peter Hessler Peter Hessler （narrator） |
这次是听何伟自己读的他的新书，标题讲的是中国教育，主题线索是他《江城》年代的教学以及那些学生的后续现状、2019年在四川大学的教学经历、以及2019年他带着自己的两个双胞胎女儿在中国的入学经历。在此期间，他在中国经历了疫情、封城、远程上课等等。谈的不仅仅是教育，也有很多其他方面的对中国生活、文化和政治的观察。
简单记几个让我印象比较深刻的内容
- 一些现在和20年前他教书的对比，比如现在入学率更高了但是政治宣传含量一样高，两个时代的学生的不同之处
- 学生自述的在警局的一天
- 学生翻墙必修课，在课堂上的分享
- 何伟帮中国讲了不少连我也不相信的好话，比如疫情期间不用data control，腾讯不愿意政府也不用
- 比较皮毛地讲到一些内卷involution，他给出的定义是Involution refers to a point at which intense competition produces diminishing returns.
- 最后一章更是有不少赞美中国的地方，也有此书出版出来直接打脸中国官员的地方（关于不让他继续教书，当面一套说辞背后一套说辞，fact check的时候又全盘否认）
Is it the Orwellian version of bureaucracy or is it Kafka? He said, I think it’s usually Kafka, where the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. I suspected that the Party’s instinctive tendency toward the ?? may have been one reason it had lasted so long. In a true technodystopia, where life was shaped entirely by the great firewall, the surveillance cameras and the face scanners, the system would have felt unbearable. Certain specific parts of society, like the oppressed Muslim residents of Xinjiang had reached this point. But for the majority of Chinese citizens, the system still wasn’t soul crushing. And there were clear benefits. Like in the second phase of the pandemic, even some of the kafkaesque moments were part of what made China Human one.
In the end, the Chinese government’s performance with Covid could be divided into three phases, each with a different lesson. The first phase in Wuhan reflected the shortcomings of a heavily censored media as well as a system in which local officials were inclined to cover up problems. The second phase showed more positive aspects of the Chinese bureaucracy. During this period, the longest of the three, the government developed a coherent and effective nationwide strategy, which benefited from decades of improvement to the educational system. In retrospect, it had been my family’s good fortune that we happened to be in China during this time. It also turned out to be our good fortune that we were forced to leave before the third phase. By the end of 2021, it was clear that Zero Covid was much less effective against the weaker but more contagious Omicron variant. Nevertheless, the government failed to adjust and many cities, including Chengdu, suffered long lockdown counts. Children in most parts of the country studied remotely for weeks at a time. One lesson from this final phase was a reminder of the system’s rigidity and its tendency toward kafkaesque bureaucracy. But it also showed what happens when too much power is placed in the hands of one individual who ignores strong evidence and good advice.
何伟的书给我的最大的感受是真诚，没有什么潜在的动机，是在很真诚的想要了解和讲述他身边的人和事。每每到何伟把自己的学生自己写的信或者文章读出来的时候，我都有一种想哭的感觉。有这样的记录者太好了，要是他能记录到2022年的上海封城、教育机构清理、房地产泡沫、裁员大潮就好了，就差那么一点点时间竟然发生了那么多的事情。我现在越来越觉得《Years and Years》里面的“一元T”理论有道理了，有中国特色的市场经济的加持下，真的解释了很多中国现在正在发生的事情（pdd的崛起、roi的要求和解决方法、用工业油罐运食用油等等）。这些说到底就是中国特色资本主义下的囚徒困境啊，学生时代我觉得囚徒困境是无解，现在觉得其实是有解的，即使资本主义设定下的人类再贪婪，不要相信资本主义不就好了，有更多元更开放更包容的价值观不就好了？