Hello everyone, I am Anthony
Welcome to my channel

Today's video
Let us continue to analyze the hedonic mechanism of Chinese society.

In the previous video
We discussed
Why pretend to be a leader's inspection short video
Very popular on the Chinese Internet

And mentioned
Many humors popular in Chinese society
There is such a commonality
That is to watch the weak in the face of power
Emotional breakdown, revealing instincts
Conditioned reflex

for example
Seeing someone in a panic when being inspected by the leader
Panic look

For example
Some parents
Likes to make children cry by scaring them
Then I feel happy and funny

This Chinese humor pattern is unconscious
Even the protagonist himself may not be able to notice
The source of laughter

We also concluded:
This kind of humor
First, China is a country with tight power relations.
A society with strong hierarchical relationships

Everyone has experienced
Awkward and tense moments facing authority
But due to the criticism of the bureaucracy
It is unspeakable
Plus people want to avoid feeling vulnerable.
So people naturally developed a parody of authority.
As a pressure relief valve for serious life
and a subtle rebellion against the power system

When you see others experiencing anxiety on your behalf
You will also feel a sense of release

So, watch the power in action
It has become a kind of enjoyment mechanism in an authoritarian society.

Another pleasure mechanism we are going to discuss today is
It’s also about power
That is through the discourse of power rules
Or unconsciously identify with power to relieve anxiety

Before the video starts, let me say
If you have anything you want to discuss with me
And consulting topics
You can contact my email to make an appointment

So let's get back to our topic today.

Interest in this topic
Originated from my observation of the Chinese Internet

This phenomenon often occurs on the Chinese Internet:
A blogger published his
Analysis of the dark side of Chinese society
For example, revealing certain interest chains
or analyzing government policies and objectives
Or criticize some social injustice
Or pay attention to the survival difficulties of certain lower-class groups
etc.

Such voices can often be seen in the comment section:
Be careful
I'm really afraid that one day you'll be gone.

If the blogger is overseas
Just remind him to be careful when he returns home.

Some people will say: I really want to give you a thumbs up
I'm afraid the blood will splash on me.

Other netizens will use this sentence pattern:
For example, "You are now dissatisfied
What do you want to do in the future?
I don’t even dare to think about it.”

This is a tone that simulates the tone of those in power.
Of course, in a joking and exaggerated way
Implicitly expressing dissatisfaction with power

Some netizens would say
"You might as well put it more clearly"

This is also a classic group humor.
That is, everyone knows what to say.
What can't be said
Use this sentence
More of a joke about the language environment
Rather than really asking the other party to speak more clearly
Thereby achieving a tacit effect

Have to admit
These words clearly contain dissatisfaction with power.
And the satire and ridicule of the speech environment

However, when we re-examine such words
I can't help but think
Remind others to be careful
Be safe
What's the point of this reminder?

Its entire meaning seems to be just to remind the author
What you wrote goes against the official will.
It's a terrible thing

But this doesn't need any reminder
The author can write such an article
How could it be possible not to know this?

So this comment seems
It is communicating
In fact, it is more like a self-talk

Here
There are things that the parties themselves are not aware of.
That is to speak and exaggerate
The omnipotence and terror of censorship

Even in a joking and teasing way
However, in the subconscious
He still sketched out such a picture
Censorship Power
Not only can it quickly identify and detect
Every intention of opposition
And will impose the most severe punishment on such opposition

But
This is seriously untrue.

First, the power of review
Accurate identification is impossible
Every intention of opposition

Although there are keyword filtering and manual review
But language itself is creative.
People are always able to invent new metaphors, homophones, and aliases
To circumvent censorship

Moreover, the complexity of natural language
Make a positive energy word
In different contexts
It is perfectly acceptable to express opposition and sarcasm.
Even manual review may not be able to judge

And the power of censorship is not monolithic.
It is not a system of unified action and information sharing.
It is composed of numerous institutions, departments and companies
A makeshift team
Have their own interests and goals

Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Zhihu
This social media platform
The censorship targets of the police and the Cyberspace Administration of China
Not consistent

The police are concerned
Does it affect the stability of the real order?
For example, the police somewhere
Very sensitive to negative public opinion involving the local area
But for criticizing certain systemic and global issues
I may not care

The central government
It may allow negative local news to be discussed publicly.

Corporate censorship goals
Mainly for commercial considerations
Minimize the risk of being fined.
Avoid government pressure

Because government censorship is an individual strike
Strong but limited coverage
It’s impossible to monitor everything

The platform is the first line of defense for speech
This means that platforms can often be more aggressive than governments
It can be done by algorithms and manual
Batch Filtering

This results in a wider scope of censorship than the government
And will preventively delete posts

Most importantly
Not all statements that go against official will
will be hit hardest

We can roughly strike down speech
Divided into online punishment and offline punishment

From light to heavy, they are: post deletion, ban, account suspension

Offline crackdowns include so-called tea invitations
That is to ask you to promise
I will no longer say such remarks.

The most serious is detention.

Apparently
Offline punishment is more lethal
But the cost is higher

The scope of platform review is broader
But the punishment is relatively small

The platform will conduct strict self-censorship
This is of course very bad.

But from another perspective
If you publish content on the platform
And was seen by netizens
This is actually
On the contrary, it is not easy to suffer the most serious blow.

Because the really sensitive content
You basically can't send it out.

What you can publish
It is unlikely to be the most sensitive

Many netizens seem to have acquiesced
As long as you publish comments that do not conform to official intentions
The most severe punishment will be triggered
Mistakenly thought that "as long as the post is deleted
The person who posted it is in danger.”

But the fact is
Most posts were deleted
Just because the platform doesn't want to cause trouble
It does not mean that the government will pursue the poster

Overall
We can find
The power of censorship is a very complex one.
A flawed system

It is not a tireless
An almighty being with unlimited powers

Therefore, reminding the other party without distinction
Be careful, be vigilant, and try your best to exaggerate
The terrible consequences of speaking and speaking
Even if it's just a joke,
Not only is there no help
And objectively
Strengthens the omnipotence and unchallengeability of power
Thus in another way
Strengthening the existing ideological framework

It seems to criticize the injustice of power
But it also reinforces this fatalistic tendency:
That is, opposition is futile.
Anyone who opposes will be thoroughly defeated.

Not only does the speaker not really rebel against anything
Not even making myself a
Independent subject "appearance"
Express your ideas clearly

They seem to be expressing some kind of dissatisfaction with power.
But this dissatisfaction
But it is presented in the form of "repeated threat of power"
In the end, no independent voice was formed.
But let yourself
Fully embedded in the logic of power

So how do we understand this psychological mechanism?

This involves us
That is in a society with unequal power relations.
Unconsciously speaking of the existence of power
It is a way to escape anxiety
It is also a source of pleasure

As Zizek says in
In The Sublime Object of Ideology:
The function of ideology
Providing us with an escape from a traumatic
The core of reality

Trauma is something that cannot be symbolized.

Symbolic and linguistic things
For example, in an authoritarian social environment
People cannot understand the official discourse
Finding a way to talk about fear
Unable to predict when it will hit

We encountered some bad things together.
Because the symbolic order doesn't allow people to discuss
This unsymbolized fear
It became an invisible ghost
A disturbing
But the cracks are unspeakable and unpredictable

This is when the ideological illusion comes into play.

It closes wounds and fills holes
Make people believe
Society is predictable, understandable, and controllable

Even if this ideology is oppressive
But what is really scary is chaos and disorder

Therefore, people are more willing to accept
The illusion that power is omnipotent
Because of this
At least
It can give them some kind of understandable "certainty"
That is, by imagining that all resistance will be defeated.
By constantly talking about the most terrible consequence
To gain a sense of control and stability over reality

Symbolically taking control of the situation
This is a false fantasy
But it can make up for the anxiety of uncertainty in reality

result
Even though the government controls
Not absolutely omnipotent
Not all critics will be purged
But these comments are repeated by repeating "you will get into trouble"
"Goodbye Warriors"
This is equivalent to putting these people in advance
Pushed into a symbolic death

Let everyone default:
Any criticism will be suppressed

In the end, even without so much repression
They have been "dead" in the social context
Individuals can also be silenced by self-censorship

Thus, the reproduction of ideology is virtually completed.

We discussed above
Speak or exaggerate the terrible consequences of power
Psychological mechanisms to relieve anxiety

Another way to relieve anxiety
is
By speaking out some unspoken rules of authoritarian society
Or survival wisdom
Gain a temporary sense of intellectual superiority

In the speech
The person feels that he is one with power
Rather than standing against power
Get the secret pleasure

Chinese costume drama
It is more suitable to provide this sense of superiority

for example
There is such a clip in the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty"
Nian Gengyao as a general
Lead his men to meet Emperor Yongzheng

Yongzheng asked these generals to take off their armor
The generals were indifferent
Nian Gengyao gave an order
They did so immediately.

So Yongzheng was very unhappy
Later, he wanted to kill Nian Gengyao.

Another very similar plot
It is from the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang"
Zhu Yuanzhang and Lan Yu walking and chatting together

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked Lan Yu's followers to leave.
The follower agreed superficially
But still follow closely
He did not retreat until he heard Lan Yu's order.

So Zhu Yuanzhang said in a weird tone:
Your orders are more effective than my edicts.

Later, Lan Yu died miserably.

This kind of plot is unique to autocratic empires
The logic is that all land under heaven belongs to the king
Everyone is essentially a slave of the emperor
No one can be allowed to share the emperor's power

However, in the comments section of these clips
Many people will constantly analyze
These generals and their subordinates are too ignorant.
It's just a way to kill yourself

Also analyzed a lot of workplace psychology

Actually
When they were studying these "survival wisdoms"
It's very pleasurable

As a spectator with a God's perspective
They knew the emperor's intentions.
I can also see the mistakes of ministers and generals.

therefore
They think it is clear who has the most power
So I feel that the people in the story are very stupid

When people are keen on analyzing "Who is more knowledgeable about politics?"
Who can better guess the divine will?
Their entry point is often the emperor
Rather than the executed officials and subordinates

This substitution
It is an unconscious recognition of power.

It seems that as long as I learn these rules
To survive better in reality

But in fact, the wisdom of this internal struggle
Under an authoritarian system
An inefficient and short-sighted survival skill

This
A military system where everyone obeys one leader
It’s also quite inefficient

for example
In the highly centralized Song Dynasty
The central government tried to prevent local rebellion.
Greatly weakened local autonomy and combat capabilities

As a result, the Song Dynasty did manage to centralize military power.
But it collapsed in the face of the Mongol invasion.

In contrast
In medieval Europe
Due to the more centralized military model
and independent defense system
As a result, feudal Europe is more centralized than Asian countries.
Better able to resist Mongolian attacks

So we say
In an authoritarian society
Some seemingly harmless and neutral knowledge and discussion
actually
Still serves to rationalize the power structure

It's more like a mindless entertainment.
and psychological massage
That is to make the audience feel that they can see through everything.
This eliminates the absurdity and violence of power.
Make it easier for people to accept it psychologically

That’s all for now on the topic of power and pleasure.

This video is based on Foucault's "Abnormal Man"
and Zizek's The Sublime Object of Ideology

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