Beyond privileges: New media and the issues of glocalization in China

Abstract

China and the West went in very different directions when their feudal systems ended. The former, in about 200 B.C., took the path to an autocratic monarchy within an agricultural system which featured autarkical small-scale farming, while about 500 years ago, the latter started its liberal democratic journey within a capitalistic system that challenged nature. Neither route had been traveled before. Capitalism depends upon new ideas, innovations, and creativity under the direction of the market. The survival of autarkical small-scale farming relies on nature, a zero-sum game. The autocratic monarchy adopted a bureaucratic system incorporating Confucianist thought and which was mainly open to Confucian scholars. Confucian doctrines encourage power-based privileges and discourage imagination that goes beyond zero-sum games. This chapter argues that the new media communication challenges the mentality of power-based privilege and the zero-sum game in terms of social networking, mobility, and creativity.