Absurdity, Allegory and China

Back in January I wrote a review of a Diane Rehm interview with John and Doris Naisbitt, authors of China’s Megatrends. I titled my entry The Empire from the Official Tour Bus. I won’t root it up again here, but if you are interested go have a look. It is not the least bit flattering

Mark. L. Clifford (h/t CDT) has a review of the book in this week’s Time: Why China’s Megatrends is a Disappointment. Clifford’s review won’t help the Naisbitt’s sell any books, though it may help it find it’s way to the remaindered bins a little faster, where you might be able to pick it up for kindling – as in ‘easily combustible materials to help jump start a sputtering summer barbecue when you come up short on liquid propellant.’

Ultimately, the one place this book should do well is China itself. The country’s leaders will hardly believe their good fortune at so totally blindsiding the authors, and the ever growing ranks of nationalists will lap up the endorsements of such a famous American commentator as John Naisbitt. But for everyone else, China’s Megatrends is puzzling and shameful reading.

Clifford’s conclusion after reading the book – something I just couldn’t do – is not that far off from my conclusion after having only listened to them for a 50-minute interview:

The Naisbitts are shameless self-promoters, which they are free to be in the west, though if they’d taken a more substantive stand that looked at China with a more critical and responsible eye, they would not now have access to the lucrative Chinese marketplace, which they are so shabbily kowtowing to. It is quite apparent that the view from inside the official bus is much more profitable than getting off and having a real look around. This is clearly a book that will get a lot of exposure in the state-controlled book market. Even the subtitle, The 8 Pillars of a New Society, panders to that market.