From Washington Post, via MSNBC: “As a growing economy produces new wealth and a spreading middle class in China, the epochal Cultural Revolution has receded to the distant past in just one generation. The millions of urban youths who were forced to abandon their books and live their teenage years with peasants have grown into indulgent middle-aged parents, eager to spare their children not only the deprivation, but even the knowledge of what happened during those tumultuous years.”
“Partly out of embarrassment that they played a role in a discredited political experiment, parents from what has been called the Lost Generation have turned their offspring into the Coddled Generation. In the process, whatever lessons were to be learned from the political madness that seized China then have largely been lost on today’s students, who have grown up taking stability and economic well-being for granted.
The Lost Generation’s eagerness to forget the bitter past and concentrate on China’s material achievements helps explain why the ruling Communist Party retains its monopoly on power. Parents are focused on bettering their children’s lives and their children are living in a time of loosened controls and economic progress.”
