Day L45-49: No Hope

You'd hopefully think it could take take less than 20 years of living in China to understand something fundamental about dictatorships: those in power use hope as a weapon to manipulate the people in slavery under their control.

Either I'm extremely slow to understand some basic concepts about how dictators work or I now have a far deeper understanding than most people. Whatever the case, quite likely both, it has been absolutely vital to keep records and find a way to use all this information going forward.

Everything about this lockdown is straight out of a classic dictator playbook. You can think of them as bullies as that's who they are. They find ways to both give false hope and crush it at the same time to those they rule. It is just like the classic abusive toxic relationship where the one in power goes around making promises that things will get better. We've all heard it before: "Oh I really didn't mean what I said honey, I'm sorry. This is something I will promise to change for next time, just trust me". When that doesn't happen, the abuser makes up another excuse. As for the victim, she (or he, don't be fooled that women can't also do this) thinks it's true, maybe the guy will really change. Of course he doesn't. On and on this goes. Over time the victim loses hope and a condition emerges known as learned helplessness.

Here's how it works in the lockdown context.

Another thing it took me a long time to figure out is that China does not operate on a rule of law as they claim. Instead it is rule BY law. When an emergency occurs, or the government deems something as an emergency, then the law goes out the window. It becomes emergency decrees and brute force. Don't believe me? Look at those illegal green fences that went up literally overnight.

My wife even said, as a Chinese citizen, that the people are charge are animals and treating their people as such. Well what can I say, she is right.

The way I've always looked at it is that if the law doesn't apply to those in power then it doesn't apply to me either. In this case, if they're going around making arbitrary rules than I'll just not follow them. But of course with these things you need to be smart about it. In this case I started going out for walks late at night after the hazmat suit ghostbusters people went off shift at 7pm. As time went on I started sneaking out of the compound, and hopping over the barriers to make it happen. It was easy enough because the main guard couldn't care less and was often sleeping. One of my friends took it a step further and cut a small hole in the main compound fence. He would hide in the bushes first and go out periodically.

It means nothing. None of this ended up being followed and could be changed on a whim.

After another such walk around the compound I came upon this in the newspaper:

Shanghai will gradually restore the offline operations of its malls, markets, eateries, hair salons, and other business from Monday [May 16] to guarantee basic supplies to its citizens, the city's vice mayor said on Sunday. The principle is to open in an orderly matter with limited movement and effective control and classified management. Strict covid prevention and control measures will be implemented. The number of visitors will be limited, with separate entry and exit channels at the re-opened shopping complexes, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, and pharmacies.

What that means in practice is anyone's guess. Still, at least trying to be optimistic I figured this might happen in future:

To exit and enter the compound we'll need to scan a QR code that registers location and time etc..
Location codes similar to this will be needed to enter businesses and workplaces, get on the subway, and so forth. Not sure how this works for biking. Are there going to be checkpoints on the street for this as well?
Mobile covid testing stations will be all over the city and you need a 48-hr test for practically everything, it is built into the location code.

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