Swedish author Niklas Hageback provides an insightful analysis of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in his new book The Downfall of China or CCP 3.0? Hageback has an extensive background in psychology, working with behavioral finance, and modeling irrational collective behavior at tier-one financial institutions and consulting firms, such as Deutsche Bank, KPMG, and Goldman Sachs. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years giving him a unique perspective on the problems facing China today and making him eminently qualified to write this book.
Hageback analyzes whether the Chinese Communist Party will face an impending downfall, or if it can yet again manage to transform itself radically and weather the storm. He concludes that, ideologically, the CCP has implicitly declared itself bankrupt, having abandoned communism. It has transformed into a nationalist, quasi-fascist state, a reality that is proving highly detrimental for the country it claims to glorify. In light of its mishandling of the Coronavirus situation, its international relationships have become severely strained. Drawing on his extensive background in psychology, Hageback points out that, “the weakness for any political movement firmly grounded in materialism is that they cannot deal with existential matters, such as the prospect of an afterlife. It can only offer materialistic solutions, aworker’s paradise of sorts. It becomes an inherent weakness when a political ideology tries to replace a religion. By default, it always fails to meet mankind’s perpetual spiritual needs, which explains the relatively short lives of political programs versus the millennia longevity of religion. So, despite the increased crackdowns on religious activities in China, they still grow amongst a population that has been denied spiritual values for a couple of generations now, through the different nominations of Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, or Falun Gong.”
All of this, Hageback concludes, leads the party to feel threatened by its own shortcomings. Its repression of alternative lifestyles and views, adding to the stereotyping and stagnating of its citizens, implicitly discourages its citizens from undertaking any innovative endeavors that the economy so desperately needs to progress further. The inherent weakness of totalitarian regimes such as in China, Hageback points out, is that “they cannot tolerate anyone to be different and original, and to ensure that no one deviates from a certain standard, an enormous control apparatus has been developed, costing several percentages of GDP, leading to a noted loss of productivity and a hindrance of the facilitation of creative and innovative endeavors.”
Despite this, the author is hopeful about the future of China. He points to the resiliency of the Chinese people, who have survived extended periods of duress, and concludes that they will also survive the reign of the CCP when the regime ultimately collapses.
The Downfall of China or CCP 3.0? should be ready by anyone interested in the complex problems facing Chinese society and the outlook for the future of that great nation. Published by Gaudium Publishing, an imprint of Histria Books, The Downfall of China or CCP 3.0? is available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook., and is available from all major booksellers. Niklas Hageback’s other books include The Death Drive: Why Societies Self-Destruct, also available from Gaudium Publishing.
1 comment
A very interesting analysis of what is going on in China today.