Word: collectivist
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Throughout the communist era, the people of China have been told to think of themselves not as individuals, but as part of a greater collective whole. That's why the transition to a market economy is so challenging -- it tears down the collectivist social structure and forces more than a billion people to start looking out for Number One, with no safety net to fall back on. Not surprisingly, that prospect has created deep anxiety and uncertainty among many Chinese. But the dramatic flooding of the mighty Yangtze River in recent weeks has allowed Beijing to reassure citizens that...
...must serve in a kind of workers' army in which all get the same pay. In lieu of financial incentives there is patriotism and "passion for humanity." People marry each other only for the finest moral and physical qualities; the race has been "purified." A minor detail symbolizes the collectivist ideal: when it rains, canopies are lowered over the streets, replacing everyone's individual umbrella...
...challenges facing all these movements run far deeper than electoral miseries. The collapse of the communist regimes of Eastern Europe exposed the bankruptcy of the collectivist doctrines that lay at the heart of all socialist thought. "Socialism is a dirty word today," says French sociologist Alain Touraine. The French and Italian socialist parties are even considering changing their names to avoid the opprobrium that voters attach to them...
...pass the Freedom Support act, which will help ease Russia's transition to a market economy. Next, Americans should keep encouraging Russians, as they emerge from Sovietism, that a system of political accountability is better than any dictatorship; that private property is always a better hedge against poverty than collectivist social engineering; and that Russia's struggle to cleanse itself of communism is as commendable as Germany's exorcism of Nazism after World...
That also should enable Yeltsin finally to lift controls on prices and "privatize" state-owned property. To many Russians, that prospect is as appetizing as a large dose of castor oil. With everything in short supply, it is not surprising that the collectivist ethic has given way to the principle of every man for himself...