Abstract
With the events in Hong Kong in 2019 to 2020, it is clear that the “one-country-two-system” is no longer working as it should. Under the sovereignty of the largest remaining totalitarian state, this chapter will first argue that, apart from the undermining of freedom, rule of law and basic human right, the biggest danger of totalitarianism to Hong Kong is the jeopardizing or even destruction of the mutual trust in the civil society. It then moves on to show that totalitarianism, communism in particular, is a form of nihilism in the Nietzschean sense that “the highest value devalues itself, the question ‘why?’ finds no answer”, and will go through texts from Karl Marx and Sergey Nechaev to Hannah Arendt to illustrate this point. It will then analyse how this process of destruction is happening in Hong Kong in the form of what we may call, in Harvel’s term, “post-totalitarianism”. Finally, using Hegel’s theory, it will argue that the civil society can act as a bulwark against totalitarian state by championing arete as the common good.
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Notes
- 1.
thestandnews.com. (March 02, 2015).
- 2.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism, (San Diego: Harcourt, 1968), p. 309.
- 3.
KSA 12, 9 [35], (27), p. 350.
- 4.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848), part II: Proletarians and Communists, p. 237 in: McLellan, David ed. Karl Marx: Selected Writings (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 221–247.
- 5.
Marx, Karl. Critique of Gotha Programme, p. 564, 565, in: McLellan, David ed. Karl Marx: Selected Writings, pp. 564–570.
- 6.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt, 1976), p. 306.
- 7.
Marxist Internet Archive, Sergey Nechayev, “Catechism of a Revolutionary”, https://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/nechayev/catechism.htm
- 8.
Hegel, G.W.F. Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaft, in: Hegel: Werke in 20 Bänden, bd. 10, (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1970), § 503, 513, pp. 312–3, 317–8.
- 9.
Hegel, G.W.F. Philosophy of Right, §158, tr. S.W. Dyde (New York: Dover, 2005).
- 10.
Hegel, Philosophy of Right, §180.
- 11.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism, pp. 326–340.
- 12.
“Racism row: British university apologises to Chinese students for exam cheating warning”, South China Morning Post (16 Jan, 2019); “When US universities stop admitting subpar Chinese students, the cheating will end too”, South China Morning Post, (18 Mar, 2019).
- 13.
“Why Sweden and China have fallen out so badly”, BBC News, (26 September 2018).
- 14.
Hegel, Philosophy of Right, § 185.
- 15.
Havel, Václav. The Power of the Powerless in Open Letters: Selected Writings: 1965–1990, tr. Paul Wilson. (New York: Vintage, 1992), p. 131.
- 16.
“A mixture of gullibility and cynicism had been an outstanding characteristic of mob mentality before it became an everyday phenomenon of masses. In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and nothing was true... The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world – and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end – is being destroyed”. Origins of Totalitarianism, pp. 382–385.
References
Arendt, H. (1968). The Origins of Totalitarianism. Harcourt.
Havel, V. (1992). The Power of the Powerless in Open Letters: Selected Writings: 1965–1990 (P. Wilson, Trans.). Vintage.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1970). Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaft. In Hegel: Werke in 20 Bänden, band 10. Suhrkamp.
Hegel, G. W. F. (2005). Philosophy of Right, §158 (S.W. Dyde, Trans.). Dover.
Marx, K. (1990). Critique of Gotha Programme. In D. McLellan (Ed.), Karl Marx: Selected Writings (pp. 564–565). Oxford University Press.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1990). The Communist Manifesto (1848), Part II: “Proletarians and Communists”. In D. McLellan (Ed.), Karl Marx: Selected Writings (pp. 221–247). Oxford University Press.
Nechayev, S. Catechism of a Revolutionary. Marxist Internet Archive. https://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/nechayev/catechism.htm
Nietzsche, F. (1967). Nachlaß 1885–1887, Kritische Studienausgabe (KSA) 12, 9 [35], (27) (G. Colli and M. Montinari, Ed.). de Gruyter.
Racism Row: British University Apologises to Chinese Students for Exam Cheating Warning. South China Morning Post (2019, January 16).
When US Universities Stop Admitting Subpar Chinese Students, the Cheating Will End Too. South China Morning Post (2019, March 18).
Why Sweden and China have Fallen Out So Badly. BBC News (2018, September 26).
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Cheung, D.T.L. (2021). Totalitarianism, State and Civil Society: The Case of Hong Kong. In: Cohen, R.A., Marci, T., Scuccimarra, L. (eds) The Politics of Humanity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75957-5_9
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