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.
作者:王治水(国内中国民主党早期创党领袖) 编辑:熊小芳 责任编辑:鲁慧文
亲爱的海内外同胞们:
我们中国民主党人创立民主党的宗旨是建立一个真正民主制度的国家,以道治国。何谓道?我们认为,顺其自然规律治理社会就是道。老子说:“上善治水,水善利万物而有静,居众人之所恶,故几于道矣。”翻译过来就是:水的属性是趋下,最好的政治制度就像治理水一样,水疏导好了,万物得以滋润而繁茂;水平静,并且停留在人们不喜欢的低处,因而接近了道。孔子梦寐以求的理想社会就是:“朝闻道,夕死可矣。”历代的文人都苦口婆心地劝说帝王要爱民,但有几人能做到呢?历史上做得好的要算商汤和周文、武二王了。魏征在谏唐太宗李世民时说:“民犹水也,君犹舟也;水可载舟,亦可覆舟,民可畏也。”当时那句话是打了引号的,可见此话已留传很久了。孟子说:“民为贵,社稷次之,君为轻。”可是在明太祖朱元璋时期,他命令,任何书籍上决不容许出现这十个字。
纵观华夏历史,从秦起,就是一部几乎家天下的杀戮史,就是一部“狡兔死,走狗烹;高鸟尽,良弓藏;敌国破,谋臣亡”的血泪史。刘邦诛杀功高盖主的韩信;明太祖毒杀刘伯温;毛泽东弄死彭德怀、刘少奇等等,无一不是为了家天下的永续,但哪一个做到了呢?中共顽固元老陈云说:“看来还是把权力交给我们的后一代为好。”他肯定忘记了历史。秦始皇想要“一世、二世、以至万世。”仅仅只三十多年,便丢了江山。汉四百多年,晋一百多年,唐二百多年,宋四百多年,元九十多年,明二百多年,清二百多年,袁世凱八十三天,苏联七十多年。现在世上纵横比较看来,唯有民主制度才能长治久安。民主制度,就是我们老祖宗渴慕的道。
什么是民主制度呢?狭义地来说,民主制度就是民众真正当家作主或叫主权在民的制度。广义地来说,就是天下非一人之天下,非二人之天下;非一家之天下,非二家之天下;非一党之天下,非二党之天下。天下者,乃天下人共有之天下,唯有德才兼备者通过公平、公正、定期地实行竞选,大多数人表决通过者,才能荣居为为民众服务的总统宝座。总统任期只能一届或二届;四年或八年,五年或十年。这在制定宪法中必须是刚性的,决不能让任何总统多留恋一天。如果这点做好了,每一个公民都能竞选各级公职,那么,国家就能长治久安。
亲爱的海内外同胞们,中国只要实现了民主制度,一切问题就将迎刃而解。那时,我们可以聘请海内外优秀教师,并培训自己的老师,教育好我们的后一代。提高高国民道德素质和文化水平,一切为了民生,民众的生活好起来,我们也能过上欧美人那样体面的生话。
亲爱的海内外同胞们,民主制度是我们民众获得尊严与幸福的泉源。让我们勇敢地联起手来,摧毁反动的专制独裁制度,建立起真正的民主制度吧。唯有民主制度才能救中国。
专制独裁千载传,
至今亿众受熬煎;
江山代有英才出,
各领风骚十数年。
王治水
2025年4月6日
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