Pre-Shanghai Banter, as I wait for the plane to take off.... damn these delays!

The irony of it all, or perhaps in paradox; referring to me sitting into a first class seat, sipping champagne before a pushback, reading the National Post, at ease because of my seating assignment, more suitable than what would be a horrible nightmare: getting the middle seat between a screaming baby and a smelly old guy.
The irony of course, is that I'm just a lowly airline employee and in a financial and social sense totally undeserved of a trans-pacific flight in first class; I certainly did not earn this seat, and am paying roughly 1% of what a paying passenger would; I thought of the similarities between me, a low-paid airline employee with a few perks that I can use to differentiate myself from the people at the back, who are most likely better off financially than I; and the history of Shanghai, a city rooted deeply in colonialism, capitalism, and creating divisions based solely on nepotism. It also made me think hard about China and its position on the globe, its history, and something I only vaguely understand, which is its own empire being the subject of European colonialism.

What I have in common with the old English louts of pre-communist Shanghai - using my "connections" to travel and live in luxury, and the old English way of treating Chinese like pack mules on their own land. Surely a humiliating exercise for the Empire of China. Both I and the English louts of the early 20th century possess decadence unfounded; the Chinese are not some savage tribe, but a civilization older than Christian Europe, a society which developed sophisticated culture and technology centuries before the white-faced Europeans even entered its own dark ages. Unfounded decadence - this is what we have in common, the old English and I.

China is a looming spectre - a ghost that you see in your dreams, but never takes over your life as you expect it has the power to do. It is like a storm in the distance, hanging ominously over the landscape but never truly affecting it. China is the superpower that hasn't been, or may one day be; it would be a force to take over the world, with a massive population, rich culture, and huge manufacturing base - as second-class peasants, trying to join the elite club of rich folk but lacking that "something" which would bring it completely into the fold. Nothing separates me from the people in the back - the same for China and its colonialists. It was merely bad luck and acceptance that servitude would suffice, that created the two tier colonial society of Shanghai. And the loss of a few wars. And a monarchical system that already infused in Chinese peasants that servitude under someone was the best they could achieve anyway.

So goes for China and its desire for the elusive grail of international approval; rightfully China points out that other empires that the world has endured during its own time have been just as disrespectful of human rights as China, if not more, but perhaps China misses the point. Other powers fear China and the path it wishes to take - China does not wish to win by playing inside the rules; it desires to rewrite the game entirely. Thus, international distrust of the empire, and how it may redraw the world order. Recognizing this, western countries keep China as a sort of slave: a manufacturer of low quality goods, a master of its own domain in many ways(being the far east) but still a step below the societies of the White Man. Perhaps China wants another rebellion, and sees itself as the proletariat seeking to overthrow the sophisticated autocracy; but the flaw in this plan is perception.

Communist China is not a society of obedient cheap labour; but it acts like one. It refuses to dish out the charisma necessary for its inevitable rise to true superpower status; and, refuses to listen to the advice of others for managing its own affairs. So it comes off as the unstable servant, unwilling to change clothes and join the White folks at their colonial abodes. It is not that the Europeans and Americans are any better, but our world has accepted that it is so. It is like me on this flight - nothing separates me from the folks in the back, except an inside track. Solving this conundrum is to solve China's road to success; a success on the world stage that is long overdue.

Into Shanghai



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* A full account of my visit to this country is available in my yet to be published book, Means To An Exit. If you are an agent or publisher and would like to receive an outline and manuscript, please Contact Me.