Apathy Is Not Moral Decay — It Is the Reflex of Obedience Under Tyranny
By Hu Lili Chief Editor: Luo Zhifei Translator: Lu Huiwen
The phrase “harmonious society,” in the Chinese government’s narrative, represents political correctness. But in reality, this slogan has been used to muffle countless cries of despair and to whitewash violence and apathy. It is not a vision of social harmony, but a form of political anesthesia—a spiritual castration of the people.
China today is anything but harmonious. Even “stability” is a manufactured illusion conjured by the state’s iron grip. What the regime calls “harmony” is in fact a forced, suffocating silence—an airless atmosphere created by suppressing criticism and choking free expression.
When a child lies bleeding on the ground and bystanders merely look away; when a woman is dragged and humiliated in broad daylight and the crowd says nothing; when a delivery worker collapses and dies on the street while the world walks past without blinking—these are not coincidences. They are the conditioned reflexes of a society trained into apathy. These are not isolated events—they are blood-soaked screams buried beneath the regime’s propaganda of “harmony.”
This chilling social reality is not the product of moral decline, but the calculated result of authoritarian engineering: a society where people no longer trust one another, no longer care about the world beyond themselves. This is not just alienation—it is a regime-designed pathology, forged through brainwashing, censorship, and fear-based punishment.
Yes, rapid urbanization and the relentless pace of life have widened social gaps—but the deeper problem is institutional distrust. Government power is exercised arbitrarily and never held accountable. Ordinary citizens have no avenue for redress. Inequality widens. Social mobility is blocked. The state media sings hymns of “stability,” while silence and despair fester in the streets. In such an environment, “Don’t speak, don’t stand out, don’t get involved” becomes the unspoken rule of survival.
What is considered “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”?
Posting a tweet. Speaking a truth. Filming a video.
You think you’re exercising a right? No—you’re threatening “stability.”
To the regime, stability means: the people stay silent, the truth stays buried, and society stays deaf.
Dissenters are criminalized. Facts are reframed as “isolated incidents.”
The slogan of “a harmonious society” has become a fig leaf for injustice and a diversion from accountability.
Let us be clear: apathy is not human nature. It is the byproduct of authoritarian rule. When a society sees every act of kindness as a threat, every moment of empathy as a risk to “social order,” it has already lost its moral foundation. Its “harmony” is merely the silence of despair—the pain of a people who no longer know how to cry out.
So we must ask again:
Who uses the word “harmony” to mask suffering?
Who uses “stability” to justify violence?
Who uses “the system” to smother the people’s cries?
The answer is as plain as day:
It is the Chinese Communist Party—monopolizing power, manipulating truth, and crushing public will.
If China is ever to move toward genuine harmony, it must take a historic step:
End one-party rule.
End the blockade on information.
Return power to the people.
Rebuild a system that truly belongs to them.
Only by dismantling this lie-built order can we create a real society—a society with flesh and blood, where people can speak, express, and help each other without fear; where care is not punished, and compassion is not met with danger.
Only when dictatorship ends will apathy retreat.
Only then will “harmony” cease to be a lie and become a living reality.
—— 从2024年诺贝尔经济学奖反思中国的未来
文 / 陆乾坤 《在野党》编辑部 责任编辑:鲁慧文
2024年诺贝尔经济学奖授予哈佛大学教授克劳迪娅·戈尔丁(Claudia Goldin),以表彰她通过历史数据系统性地揭示了制度、文化与家庭结构如何深刻影响女性在劳动力市场中的机会与薪酬差距。这项研究不仅拓展了我们对性别平等的理解,更深刻地指出:制度在无形之中,决定着人的命运。
这并非一项孤立的学术成果,而是在自由制度土壤上才能绽放的文明之花。在一个保障思想自由与学术自主的社会中,研究者得以追寻真实,公民得以表达意见,政府得以接受监督。“言论自由、信仰自由、免于匮乏的自由、免于恐惧的自由”——这些普世价值的实现程度,才是衡量制度优劣的真正标尺。
然而,今日中国层出不穷的社会悲剧,却从反面印证了制度失效的现实。
从“被自杀”的罗帅宇,到郑州村镇银行储户维权受阻;从“铁链女”事件真相被封锁,到异地公安跨省抓人、企业家被构陷的“远洋捕捞”式执法;从维权人士被非法截访,到外资大量撤退、青年就业失衡——这一切,并非偶发,而是中共体制内在逻辑的必然结果。
在一个权力不受监督、新闻不许质疑、司法缺乏独立、人民无法表达的体制中,不公正不是偶尔的意外,而是制度本身的日常机制。
戈尔丁的研究同时提醒我们:经济增长无法脱离制度设计而持续。当中国的宏观经济指标不断被美化,而微观现实却日益沉重;当改革承诺沦为口号,社会信任逐渐崩解;当个体因言获罪、因信仰入狱、因维权而消失……这不是现代国家的模样,更不是发展中国家应有的代价。
制度的深层代价,已在吞噬中国的未来:
外资出走,产业链重构,全球信任快速流失;
青年失业率持续高企,社会代际焦虑蔓延;
生育率断崖式下滑,人口结构陷入危机;
维稳成本激增,执政逻辑陷入恶性循环。
在这样的历史节点,中国民主党再度发声:
我们认为,中国不能靠更大的控制去维持虚假的秩序,而必须以更高的自由来唤醒真正的发展动力。我们主张:
保障言论自由,让人民说话,不再恐惧;
捍卫信仰自由,让思想多元,不再迫害;
重建法治体系,使人人在法律面前平等;
推动宪政民主,建立责任政府,制衡权力;
维护新闻独立,恢复真相的公共空间;
鼓励多党竞争,让人民拥有选择与参与权。
我们拒绝将发展仅定义为高楼林立和数据繁荣,而坚持认为:一个社会是否成功,关键在于它是否尊重个体的尊严、自由与选择。
中国的现代化不能止步于高铁和天眼,而应根植于制度文明与公民权利的深层基础之上。民主的价值,不仅是治理工具,更是一种生活方式。
我们也郑重声明:中国民主党不仅是历史记忆的守望者,更愿成为制度建设的参与者。我们不是为了推翻旧秩序而斗争,而是为了建设新中国的价值共识与政治未来。我们愿携手所有关心中国命运的公民,共同规划一个开放、自由、可持续的新方向。
“苟日新,日日新,又日新。”一个文明社会的进步,靠的不是口号,而是制度的日复一日更新。我们坚信:唯有制度归正,社会才能归心;唯有自由照耀,民族才能前行。
让我们不再沉默于恐惧,不再屈服于谎言。愿每一份声音都被倾听,每一份尊严都被尊重,每一个中国人都能在自由之光中昂首走向明天。
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