China Youth Daily Cao Min Cao Bao 3 days ago
Don’t regard great critics as enemies of the country. Source: China Youth Daily
A critic means a lot to a civil society.He can help alert or avoid possible policy mistakes, and can also offset arbitrary and aggressive decisions caused by too much convergence of opinions.Even the existence of such a critic is itself a criterion for judging whether a society is enlightened.Don't regard great critics as enemies of the country.
On August 13 (2010), American heavyweight scholar and MIT professor Noam Chomsky received an honorary doctorate at Peking University and delivered a speech. Only after careful identification and comparison with each other can we figure out what this 82-year-old man has brought us. As a famous linguist, philosopher and political commentator, or as he likes to call it, an intellectual, during his short trip to China, Chomsky expressed his understanding of current affairs in China in a hoarse and deep voice, and continued his old tune of criticizing the US government. He brought a whirlwind, and in addition to the cheers of the intelligentsia, the People's Daily also published a report on this, saying that his popularity "exceeded that of the head of state." Chomsky is world-famous for his "dissident" attitude. His criticism of the US government has remained unchanged throughout his life. He once compared the US government to a "hungry wolf" or "the world's largest terrorist organization." He even attacked the "democracy" that Americans cherish most, calling it hypocritical. These criticisms did not cause him much trouble; on the contrary, they won him an outstanding reputation. He was named by the American media as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world today. If Chomsky has brought us useful enlightenment, it does not lie in his view itself, but in the posture of this view: the critic.Whether we are willing to admit it or not, an unavoidable fact is that qualified critics and a tolerant attitude towards critics are resources that our society urgently needs at the moment.In the current development stage of rapid changes and troubles, the lack of qualified critics, or the lack of a tolerant attitude towards critics, will bring endless consequences.It is the bounden duty of intellectuals to maintain a skeptical and critical attitude, because intellectuals enjoy the "privilege" of knowledge and have the professional ability to deeply analyze things.In his view, intellectuals always face two choices:Be a royal scholar who bows to authority, or be an independent critic.He believes that choosing to become a critic, although he may encounter troubles in the present, can ultimately enable intellectuals to avoid the judgment of history and morality.(Perhaps it is based on this view that Chomsky has become a permanent opponent of the US government.Even in his speeches during his trip to China, he would occasionally turn the conversation back to the “government” on the other side of the ocean.）
It is necessary for China’s intelligentsia and even society as a whole to examine these remarks, which are somewhat unfamiliar to us, and gain useful thoughts from them. Our society has historically lacked collective thinking about “criticism.” Both critics and those being criticized need to learn something from the message Chomsky brings. For those who seek to use their criticisms to bring about small or large improvements in society, it is not difficult to learn from Chomsky's strong and insistent stance. Often, all they need is a few sharp words and a good dose of courage to turn into an omnipresent opponent. However, one question they need to think about is: How to make their criticism sincere and gain logical power, so that their opponents have to face this criticism? While Chomsky made various criticisms of American society and government, he admitted in his heart that the United States is still the greatest country in the world. His criticism of the United States is not so much a kind of hostility as a kind of recognition:A person who is willing to devote his whole life to criticizing the shortcomings of a country may be the best way for him to express his love for this country.
Ancient and modern history has repeatedly proven that great critics are often great patriots. A critic means a lot to a civil society. He can help alert or avoid possible policy mistakes, and can also offset arbitrary and aggressive decisions caused by too much convergence of opinions. Even the existence of such a critic is itself a criterion for judging whether a society is enlightened. Today, although criticism exists in many areas of our society, in some important areas, especially among intellectual groups, the role of critics is increasingly scarce—and quality critics are even rarer.
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Machine-translated from the Chinese original 中国青年报：不要把伟大的批评者，当做国家的敌人 (published 2020-02-21). WeChat original ↗