The Cycle of the Commons: China’s 75-Year Struggle with Shared Resources

 

The Cycle of the Commons: China’s 75-Year Struggle with Shared Resources

Since 1949, China has swung between extreme collective ownership and rapid privatization. While these phases look different on the surface, they share a common thread: the "Tragedy of the Commons," where individuals (or officials) exploit a shared resource until it collapses.

1. The Mao Era: The Tragedy of "No Ownership"

Under Mao Zedong, the state abolished private property, turning the entire nation into a "commons."

• The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962): When villagers were forced into People's Communes, the "Common Mess Halls" became a literal tragedy. Because food was free and "shared," people ate everything immediately. With no individual responsibility for the grain supply, the "commons" was depleted, contributing to the Great Famine.

• Backyard Furnaces: To meet steel quotas, people melted down their own tools and communal resources to produce useless pig iron. The shared environment—forests and timber—was stripped bare to fuel these furnaces, a classic destruction of a common resource for short-term political "gain."

2. The Deng & Jiang Era: The "Contract" Tragedy (承包制)

Deng Xiaoping’s Household Responsibility System (家庭聯產承包責任制) is credited with saving the economy, but it created a new version of the tragedy.

• Short-Termism: Farmers were given land on short-term contracts. Because they did not own the land permanently,they had no incentive to maintain soil health. They used massive amounts of chemical fertilizers to maximize yield before the contract ended, leading to widespread soil acidification and groundwater pollution.

• Village Enterprises (TVEs): In the 1990s, local factories popped up everywhere. Since the rivers were "common" property, every factory dumped toxic waste into them to save costs. The result was the "Cancer Village" phenomenon—the economic gain was private, but the environmental cost was shared by the public.

3. The Hu & Xi Era: The Tragedy of High-Tech and Urban Space

Even as China became a global superpower, the tragedy moved into new sectors.

• The Bike-Sharing Collapse (2017): Under Hu and then Xi, companies like Ofo and Mobike flooded city sidewalks with millions of bikes. Because the "sidewalk" was a common public space and the bikes were "shared," users treated them with no care, and companies over-saturated the market. This led to "Bicycle Graveyards" that choked public squares.

• The Real Estate Bubble: Local governments relied on selling land (a finite common resource) to fund their budgets. This led to "Ghost Cities"—over-exploitation of the land for short-term GDP growth, leaving a massive debt burden for the next generation.

Immortality Talk: Putin, Xi, and the Search for Longevity

 

Immortality Talk: Putin, Xi, and the Search for Longevity

During a recent military parade in Beijing, a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping was caught on a hot microphone, where they mused about the possibility of living to 150 years or even achieving "immortality" through modern biotechnology. This exchange highlights the global fascination with extending human life. Putin specifically mentioned continuous organ transplants as a potential way to live "younger and younger."

The Science of Longevity: Organ Transplants vs. Telomeres

The idea of using organ transplants to achieve radical longevity is largely considered science fiction. While transplants can save and extend lives by replacing failing organs, they are not a cure for aging itself. Organs wear out over time, and a transplanted organ will also eventually fail. A person would need an endless supply of compatible organs, and the rest of their body—including the brain, bones, and muscles—would still be subject to aging and decay. It's a bit like trying to make an old car last forever by constantly replacing its parts; at some point, the chassis itself gives out.

A more scientifically grounded approach to longevity is the study of telomeres. These are the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes that shorten with each cell division. When they become too short, cells can no longer divide and die, contributing to the aging process. Scientists like Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn have shown that factors like chronic stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise can accelerate telomere shortening. The key to longevity, therefore, may not be replacing entire organs, but rather slowing down the aging process at a cellular level by protecting telomeres.

The Legend of Xu Fu

This modern quest for immortality brings to mind an ancient legend from Chinese history. During the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, obsessed with living forever, sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on a quest to find the elixir of life. The expedition included a massive fleet and a legion of 500 youths (some accounts say 3,000 boys and girls). While the traditional story says these youths were a sacrifice or an offering to the immortals, a more cynical, and unproven, interpretation suggests a darker purpose. Given the recent conversation between Putin and Xi about organ transplants, one could invent a modern theory that these youths were not just companions, but a source of "spare parts" for the Emperor in his desperate quest for immortality. Of course, there is no historical evidence to support this idea; it remains purely a dark, speculative fantasy.

The parallels between the ancient Emperor and modern leaders are striking: both possess immense power and wealth, yet they face the same inescapable mortality as everyone else. Their public fascination with longevity underscores a universal human desire to defy death, whether through mythical elixirs or cutting-edge biotechnology.

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Here's a video on the Putin-Xi discussion about longevity. Putin says he discussed longevity, immortality with Xi Jinping. Putin says he discussed longevity, immortality with Xi Jinping • FRANCE 24 EnglishFRANCE 24 English · 15K views

Xi Jinping's "Community of Shared Future for Mankind": A Metaphor for Incoming Alien Civilizations?

 

Xi Jinping's "Community of Shared Future for Mankind": A Metaphor for Incoming Alien Civilizations?

Against the backdrop of current global geopolitical tensions, the deeper meaning behind Chinese President Xi Jinping's concept of a "Community of Shared Future for Mankind" has sparked widespread discussion. If we step outside traditional frameworks, we might boldly speculate: could this be a premonition—a hint that humanity is about to face a common challenge significant enough to unite all of humanity, perhaps even related to extraterrestrial life?

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The Potential Extraterrestrial Interpretation of "A Community of Shared Future for Mankind"

Imagine a scenario where humanity discovers alien life, but its intentions are unknown. This would compel all nations on Earth to:

• Integrate global resources: To confront the unknown challenge or prepare for potential communication, humanity would have to effectively coordinate and allocate all available resources on Earth.
• Engage in global collaboration: Competition between nations would become meaningless, replaced by close cooperation transcending national borders, ethnicities, and ideologies.

The consequences of such an extreme scenario would be profound:

• Unify human politics and resources: Previously independent political entities would be forced to coordinate at a higher level, with all resources serving the common goal of humanity.
• Forge a new level of "human community consciousness": Faced with a common external presence, humanity would develop an unprecedented sense of "we are one species."
• Shift to collaborative, not confrontational, technological development: To meet the alien challenge, humanity would develop "defensive and exploratory" technologies based on cooperation rather than confrontation, similar to current space exploration. This would spur breakthrough demands for new technologies.
• Drive technological breakthroughs and cultural transformation: Under immense pressure and a shared objective, human technology would experience a leap forward, while culture would undergo a profound transformation, shifting from internal conflict to external challenge as its primary driver.

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From "Conflict" to "Hope": The Dawn of a Post-Conflict Era

In such a scenario, the "alien threat" would no longer be an excuse to maintain old patterns of warfare but would instead become a catalyst for higher-level civilization cooperation. It could guide human society into a "post-conflict era," where stability no longer relies on traditional balance of power or deterrence, but on:

• Hope: For unknown exploration and shared progress.
• Responsibility: A collective responsibility for the survival of the human species.
• Existential Challenge: An external threat capable of uniting all internal contradictions.

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The Crucial Role of "Narrative Frameworks" and "Institutional Design"

However, everything hinges on the construction of the "narrative framework" and the logic of "institutional design" in response.

• Beware of an "Upgraded War Narrative": If we merely view "Earth vs. Aliens" as a new channel for reallocating military-industrial resources or a new trigger for fear, it would simply be replaying the Cold War or War on Terror script on a new stage. This would be a "same old wine in a new bottle" continuation of old logic, perpetuating systems of fear and control.
• Transform into an "Opportunity for Cooperation and Breakthrough": Conversely, if humanity can transform this "unknown" into a call for "humanity to truly transcend itself, integrate civilizations, and jointly face an unknown challenge," then it could genuinely become a "peace-oriented alternative" that breaks through the "Iron Mountain system" 

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Conclusion: Xi Jinping's Metaphor and Humanity's Choice

Therefore, Xi Jinping's "Community of Shared Future for Mankind," viewed from this detached perspective, might be more than just a geopolitical strategy. It could be a veiled prophecy about the ultimate challenge humanity might face. It poses a profound question: when humanity faces an existential crisis, will we choose fear-driven internal strife, or responsibility-driven cooperation, innovation, and evolution? This struggle over narrative design and institutional response logic will determine the ultimate trajectory of human civilization.