The Western countries were the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and they were the first industrialized countries in the world. In fact, the industrialization of other countries, including China, is aimed at and standard for Western countries. To be able to develop like them and catch up with them is to achieve industrialization.
To fight the epidemic, there must be a series of medical supplies, from the entire hospital and ventilators to the detection kits and masks. In the early days of the outbreak, these medical supplies were in short supply, which was normal, after all, the country could not store everything in large quantities. But after a while, industrialized countries should be able to mass-produce these medical supplies. After all, this is not a high-tech product, no technical research, no intellectual property barriers, all that is needed is normal industrial production capacity.
What people did not expect was that the only superpower, the United States, the locomotive of European economic growth, Germany, the old power of Britain and France, etc., were invariably plagued by insufficient production capacity. The United States and Germany even disregarded decency to intercept and rob orders from other countries.
In contrast, in China, the supply was also tight at the beginning of the epidemic, but the domestic industrial system quickly turned, and what was missing was vigorously put into production and expanded. After a short adjustment time, all kinds of medical supplies are available, not only to meet domestic needs, but also to export a huge amount overseas to support countries in fighting the epidemic. Its scale is probably only comparable to that of the "arsenal of democracies" in the United States during World War II.
The availability of medical supplies is an important condition for the Chinese government to be able to "collect as much as possible and cure all that should be treated" and quickly control the epidemic. It is difficult for a woman to cook without rice. If there is a lack of necessary medical supplies, even the most skilled doctors can only decide which patients to abandon.
The fact is that the industry of Western countries, especially the manufacturing industry, has lagged behind in overall capacity compared with China. More importantly, the backwardness of the manufacturing industry is not actually the backwardness of the production level of the factory, but the performance and result of the backwardness of the overall social system.
A mask factory in China received government orders to increase mask production as soon as possible. Within two days, the bank sent in loans for production. Not only banks, but also all aspects of society have fully cooperated and fully supported, and there is no friction between the central and local governments, nor the constraints of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The factory only needs to solve the technical problems of expanding production. This is not just an advantage at the production level, it is an advantage in the overall system.
Western countries cannot rapidly expand production, and the problem is not only at the factory level, but also the lack and inadequacy of a variety of auxiliary supporting mechanisms.
The strength and leadership of industry means the strength and leadership of the national system and comprehensive strength. This was the case in western countries. While they became the world's first industrialized countries, they became the hegemons of the world and the examples followed by other countries. For a long time, their industrialization was looked up to and worshipped as a myth that others could never match.
Now, the myth is gone, there are only memories.
Like industrialization, modern medicine also originated in the West, so it is also called "Western medicine". The various components of modern medicine, including the hospital system, the scientific research system, medical equipment, medicines, surgeries, nursing, etc., almost all originated in the West. In fact, to this day, the most cutting-edge medical theories and technologies are still mastered and controlled by Westerners.
However, the purpose of medical treatment is ultimately to cure the disease and save people. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Western countries have lagged behind China, a developing country, in terms of the number of infections and deaths, and they have not been able to come up with special drugs and vaccines. Germany's performance was once better, but the stamina is insufficient, with a population of 80 million, and the number of sick deaths in China has exceeded 1.4 billion. The three words "good performance" are also difficult to say. As for the United States, forget it, don't mention it...
As the saying goes, it is the mule that is the horse, pulled out for a walk. Usually, the medical treatment of Western countries, all kinds of gorgeous and tall, let people awe-inspiring, look forward to it. When something really happened, I pulled out a walk, only to find that it was not a horse, but a mule.
In contrast, Chinese medical care, which has always been considered a dirt bun, has this time shown the world its ability to be super powerful and superior to any other country. In this regard, I have a special article analysis (), so I will not repeat it.
The point here is that, similar to the industrial situation, the poor performance of a country's medical capacity in response to large-scale public health events reflects not only the ills of the medical system itself, but the backwardness of a whole set of related social systems. In a nutshell, who the national health system is supposed to serve.
In this regard, the institutional choices of Western countries are very different from those of China. Usually, it is not clear which choice is more correct, but after the new crown fight against the epidemic, the meaning and consequences of different system choices are clearly seen.
As a result, the myth of Western medicine was shattered. In the future, they will continue to maintain their superficial tallness and continue to show us a dizzying array of advanced theories, cutting-edge technologies and advanced equipment. We, as for it, should not be proud and complacent, we should learn to be modest, but after all, the appearance of beauty after removing makeup has been seen, and when we see it, we can't forget it.
In modern times, China's understanding of Western countries has gone through a process.
At first, they thought that they were just strong guns, but gradually they found that the original social system of others was really powerful. Later, I further discovered that in fact, it is not only the social system, but also the culture of others. Later, I found out that the most powerful thing is religion. Therefore, many people "profoundly" advocate that Chinese only when the whole people believe in foreign religions can the country be truly modernized.
Onlookers looked at it coldly and knew that this was already in the fire. This pile of progressive "understanding" is actually building a myth that the West's lead is all-round and insurmountable.
One of the unsurpassable leads is that due to institutional advantages, Western countries have a strong ability to correct errors. If the government makes mistakes, under a large number of mechanisms such as Congress, opposition parties, media, NGOs, etc., it will be quickly pointed out, and then it must correct the mistakes as soon as possible, otherwise it will lose votes and step down.
This set of theories is logically closed and eloquent, the only downside being that this is not the case.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, China quickly completed the genetic sequencing of the virus and notified the countries of the world. Arrangements have also been made by various countries for the evacuation of aliens. Normally, they should also make various preparations at home. Who knows, not prepared at all! Countries have watched as precious time was wasted for more than two months.
After the outbreak also broke out in their country, everyone was dumbfounded. Ah, it turns out that the virus can be contagious!
It's not terrible to make mistakes, what we have to see is, does the ability to correct mistakes work? The answer is that their error correction ability is certainly not zero, but it is only a little.
First, ideological prejudice against China blinds them. In this regard, Congress, opposition parties, the media, and NGOs are blindfolded. So who else can be expected to correct mistakes?
Second, after the outbreak of the epidemic, some countries, all over the country, shirked their responsibilities to each other and threw the pot to China. The president scolds the speaker, the governor scolds the president, and the president scolds the media, the experts, the World Health Organization. It seems that it is really a perfect display of the balance of power, but when you look closely, it turns out that you are shirking responsibility.
The legendary balance of power and correction of errors, in reality, it turned out to be a mutual throwing pot. I wonder whether those who believe in the superiority of Western institutions, cultures, religions, and so on feel disillusioned.
It's just ugly to eat, it's good to be able to eat it. Throwing pots at each other and robbing other countries is not decent, but it is also possible to prevent and cure infectious diseases. But the problem is, if you don't prevent it, you can't cure it. I won't list those numbers. Behind them are all human lives.
In contrast, the Chinese government's ability to correct errors is much stronger than theirs. Strictly speaking, at the beginning of the detection of cases, the performance of the Chinese government cannot be said to be "wrong", but in the face of unknown situations. In the process of exploration, the Chinese government has shown extremely high speed of response and flexibility, making adjustments and improvements at any time, and making and implementing a series of major decisions. The performance of the Chinese government is mythical.
As for why under the supervision of a large number of mechanisms such as Congress, opposition parties, media, and NGOs, Western countries still lack the ability to correct errors, which needs to be studied by scholars. Of course, before studying, the myth should be thrown aside.
In the West, this in itself is a word for a common ideology and social system. These countries have strong commonalities in terms of race, language, history, culture, religion, social system, ideology and so on. After experiencing the hot war and the Cold War, it seems to be closely united. NATO, the European Union, etc. have demonstrated the unity of the West at the specific institutional level.
It is convinced that these countries, which have many commonalities, have come together beyond the stakes and are strategically indestructible, if not at the level of a unified state. Even if there is a contradiction, it is a small problem within people's homes, and it has nothing to do with you outsiders. After all, people are their own people.
But the unity of the West has been awkward in this outbreak.
In fact, although the epidemic is serious, it is not a catastrophe like the world war, the situation is still preventable and controllable, and countries cannot talk about encountering a catastrophe. However, in the face of such a small problem, Western countries have been flying in the face of great difficulties, and even take their neighbors as a barrier, and their ugly attitudes are full of ugliness.
Even between the traditional allies, Britain and the United States, they only achieved verbal support and did not fight each other. Compared with the unreserved mutual assistance between China's provinces, it is clear what the level of so-called Western unity is.
The severity of the epidemic in Europe is largely due to the lack of coordination and mutual assistance among countries and the inability to make full use of the resources available. The European Union, which has been painstakingly built for many years, although it will not fail, everyone has a shadow in their hearts. In the future, when we encounter an emergency, how we will behave, only God knows.
Even in the United States, the states are far from being able to support each other as the Chinese provinces. States are even scrambling to buy medical supplies at high prices. The federal government has stood idly by and rarely demonstrated strong coordination, organization and control.
Seeing this kind of relationship between Western countries, we are not only once again glad that our ancestors left us this unified big country. In the historical process of forging a unified country, we have paid a huge price and sacrifice, which has not been in vain, and is of great significance and great benefit. And those who have not paid these costs and sacrifices, for their so-called solidarity, we know what is going on, we know.
In the quiet days of the years, we see a large number of Westerners "people-oriented", and overflowing with love that cannot be concealed. Vulnerable groups were carefully cared for, social facilities were highly humanized, and the cruel death penalty was abolished. The love of people is everywhere. Offensive words and disrespectful attitudes are consciously restrained. Strangers on the street saw each other and smiled at each other. Gentleness and frugality have made it a reality in the West.
Not only for people, but also for animals, Westerners are also full of love. Not to mention treating all kinds of pets as guests, even slaughtered meat-eating animals, but also humane treatment, must take full care of their feelings and emotions.
All kinds of performances make us sigh. So humane, so loving, so civilized and advanced.
However, as soon as the epidemic came, the cruelty and ruthlessness of Westerners suddenly surfaced. Moreover, there is reason to suspect that all you see is the iceberg on the surface of the sea, and how big the iceberg under the sea is, I dare not think.
China is still not rich, but spares no effort to help the sick, including the elderly. We simply can't accept the idea that old people are waste, and it doesn't matter if they die." But many westerners who usually seem to be extremely loving, many people actually have this terrible idea hidden deep in their hearts.
Medical resources are tight, and it may be helpless to abandon the elderly. But a large number of nursing homes have gone unnoticed and left to fend for themselves in the epidemic. Is this kind of thing something that a man can do? Are the Western countries already so poor that they cannot afford to take care of these old people?
A group of people who usually have to care for animals, under the condition of obvious ability, allow many people to die. This kind of contradictory psychology and behavior is really difficult for us to understand and accept.
China's leaders say: What could be more important than the lives and health of the people?
Although the leaders of the Western countries did not explicitly say it, their actions made it clear that if they were to say it, all we heard was: Of course there is. The stock market, the votes, the profits of my friend's company, are all more important.
The beautiful words "people-oriented" are not invented by our Chinese, but we are actually practicing them.
And people in some countries perform "people-oriented" as a script, in order to create a myth that they will also be moved. In the future, there will be people who will continue to believe these myths, but there will also be people who will never believe them again.
It is said that Since ancient times, China's politics has been authoritarian, and the people are deeply servile and numb and ignorant. Enlightening the people, so that the people are no longer so willing to be slaves, and have a sense of citizenship that dares to resist, is the historical mission of Enlightenment.
Westerners, on the other hand, are proud citizens with a full sense of rights, and everyone has a "face that has not been bullied since childhood." They are jealous of the tyranny of the government, and their yearning and pursuit of freedom and human rights cannot be contained.
Look, the British bourgeois revolution, the French Revolution, the American Revolutionary War... The history of Western countries is a great history of people becoming more and more free.
It's so good to say, so good that it's become a myth. Then, then the myth is shattered.
The fact is that if the measures taken by several western powers to deal with the epidemic are changed to China, the Chinese people will absolutely not be acceptable! Whether it is herd immunity, selective abandonment of treatment, or blatant lying down to give up epidemic prevention, it is completely unworkable in China. The Chinese government doesn't even think about this and doesn't even want to mention it. For the Chinese government, the only option is to do everything in its power to prevent and fight the epidemic, and it cannot slacken off at all.
In the face of the unknown virus, the Chinese government has been the fastest in the world, but it is still widely accused of making serious mistakes and delaying the epidemic. Provincial officials were quickly replaced. Officials of the grass-roots government, who have not returned home for more than ten days, work the front line of epidemic prevention, are so busy that they are confused and dismissed on the spot because they fail to answer a few questions from reporters.
In sharp contrast, in countries that have suffered far more losses than China, handled much more poorly, and have been delayed tenfold and a hundred times more delayed, few officials have been removed from their posts so far. They wasted more than two months of time, which was tantamount to indirect killing, but who but the captain of the aircraft carrier was dismissed from his post and bombed home?
This kind of loose officialdom, we Chinese really stunned to see. And this kind of operation? And such an official? How did you put up with it? It's really good!
It seems that we really misunderstood them before. We think they are citizens whose rights are sacred and inviolable, but in fact they are obedient people who are like fake exchanges. Moreover, these obedient people have gone deep into the bone marrow and melted in the blood, to the point where things and I forget everything. If it weren't for the maverick nature of a country like China, everyone would really think that submissiveness is the natural state.
Looking back at history from this perspective, we realize that those revolutions in Western countries, except for the French revolution, which have some content, are not so much revolutions as coups d'état, and are not at all the revolutions of our China that have turned the world upside down and are now stepping forward from scratch. The revolution in Western countries is actually the change of power in the upper class, maybe it has moved, and a few people have died, which is a bit fierce, but it has nothing to do with the broad masses of the people. The broad masses of the people are watching the bustle.
The French Revolution, the popular participation is deep, the result of the elite insults and attacks for hundreds of years, to this day, is still considered to be a typical case of indulging the mob to destroy social order, often out of the criticism.
However, Chinese people are actually very revolutionary, truly untamable capitalized people. Chinese was taught from an early age: the people are the state, and the people are the state. The people are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of death. The prince will have a kind of feeling. Water can carry boats or overturn boats. In China's political tradition, the people's resistance has the highest legitimacy. The significance of the existence of the government lies in leading the people to overcome disasters and build a better home. No Chinese government dares to openly resist or ignore such missions and tasks. The people, not the government, nor the elite at the top, are the subjects and masters of the state.
It turns out that the truth is that under the myth of citizenship is only a group of obedient people who are driven to use and scattered people who live and die on their own.
The dissolution of a series of myths in Western countries is a good thing and helps us to recognize the real world. We have indeed been blinded by these myths for so long that we have forgotten that the real myths are here with us.
(Source of material / Pencil Economic Research Agency Editor / Chen Qian, produced by Rong Media Center, Jiangbei New District)