For PART I of this post, click HERE.
For PART II of this post, click HERE.
At the end of a pier in Brooklyn, New York, a man in a blue uniform approaches a boisterous man holding a can of beer, concealed in a brown paper bag.
Light from what locals call “the capital of the world” reflects off the waterway, illuminating the two men. Tattooed men with overly tight, low riding pants smoke cigarettes as fisherman watch their static lines fade into the reflection of Manhattan. No one seems to notice the two men.
“Sir, you can’t drink that here,” says the uniformed man.
With an authoritarian voice that only a practiced police officer could have, the man holding the brown bag turns around and yells “Do you know who I am?” Brooklyn’s hipsters, fisherman and those who happened to be on the pier still don’t look over.
A lot of jokes start this way. But this is no “what does one cop say to the other cop” joke.
In fact, this isn’t a joke at all. Just a 3-minute interaction in New York City which ended when an on duty cop decided it wasn’t worth arresting an overly intoxicated off duty cop, who claimed to work for New York City’s homicide department.
This would never happen in China. Cops might argue and fight but they would not be fighting in this situation because its not against the rules to drink in public places. Ask anyone who has spent significant time in China — if you find yourself in the situation where an overly intoxicated Chinese man has become boisterous or offensive, the best thing to do is often give them another drink; otherwise, things could get messy …
But we have lots of rules in America.
Don’t go to too fast. Cross the street in here, but not there. You have to be this old to do this. In Barre, Vermont “All residents shall bathe every Saturday night.” In Little Rock Arkansas “Dogs may not bark after 6 PM.” It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street and driving on a sidewalk would probably cause you to lose your license.
In many ways, its actually ironic how many rules exist in the land of the free, and how in China — in many ways, anything goes. In the authoritarian state, rules don’t exist, while in the democratic state — moving furniture during the wrong hours could get you a ticket.
A friend of mine who owns a bar in Beijing, simply rents a small room where he has refrigerators full of beer and bottles of home made (quite possibly dangerous) absinthe. He sells food when he feels like it. There is no liqueur license above the bar, a health inspector has never come by and although he does pay taxes in some form, they don’t go to the central government directly.
Another friend, owned so many cars — his assets turned into a rental business. There is no insurance involved.
While this irony exists, on the opposite end huge injustices obviously still occur. However, from the perspective of those who I have seen this trip in the United States, people seem to think China is a place where no one has control over their destiny and speaking up will get you arrested. In some ways, the freedoms associated with American’s constitutional rights blind them from other parts of life where they have lost control of their destiny.
We have a free press, but for most Americans public transportation isn’t available to get to work. Its ok to own a gun, but its not ok to start a bar without permission from a dozen government entities.
While these metaphors, inconsistencies and oddities exist on both sides, in the United States I have been constantly asked questions about freedom in China. Is China still communist? Do Chinese people know their Internet is censored? Does China have a president? Can you access Facebook in China? Are you worrying about getting arrested? Can journalists actually report on news?
While many of these questions are interesting, more of them than not revealed to me the many misconceptions American’s have about China. China might be making headlines, but I’m not quite sure understanding is really there. Instead a rather an unsettling fear of China’s rise to power, seems to linger from eras past.
One Response to “An expat visits his own country – Part III”
jen says:
When I had some family visit me once, they were shocked by how unlike a police state China was, how much more life on the street level looks more like anarchy than anything else at times.