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Hong Kong Legend Created by Baby Boomers|01周报

2020-06-07T09:38:32.727Z


In the US election in November this year, there will be a historic "veteran-level" duel. The 78-year-old Democratic candidate Biden will challenge Trump for re-election. No matter who is elected, they will be in office


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Writer: Contributing Writer

2020-06-07 12:00

Last update date: 2020-06-07 12:00

In the US election in November this year, there will be a historic "veteran-level" duel. The 78-year-old Democratic candidate Biden will challenge Trump for re-election. No matter who is elected, he will become the oldest American president in office. By 2022, Xi Jinping and Lin Zhengyue were only 69 and 65 years old, by comparison, they looked young!

Written by: Zou Chongming

Earlier, I saw long-lost Obama on TV, mocking Trump's performance against the new crown pneumonia. Although he is gray-haired and looks old, he must not forget that he is not yet 59 years old, nearly 20 years younger than Biden! Obama is also the only US president born after 1960 in the foreseeable future.

Whenever I talk about government leaders of different generations, I can’t help but think of the book “The Fourth Turning” by Neil Howe and William Strauss, meaning the United States since 1776 Founding a country, about every eighty years, there will be a major crisis that affects a period of time. The first three crises were the independence movement (1770s), the Civil War (1850s), and the Great Depression/Second World War (1930s). ). According to their theory, the latest crisis was the financial tsunami (2010s). Therefore, the author calls this era the "fourth turn."

Biden (pictured), a 78-year-old Democratic candidate, challenged Trump, a Republican. (Associated Press)

At the same time, a new generation appeared about two decades later, and eighty years happened to be the reigning cycle of four generations. They are in turn the founders, followers, rebels and patchers of the system. There is no doubt that the contemporary American system was created around the Second World War in the 1940s and 1950s, and was inherited by followers (such as Jensen and Nixon) in the 1960s, but has been questioned by the new rebels. Since the 1980s, social divisions have become more and more serious. In the 21st century, the crisis of completely breaking the old system is brewing.

According to the analysis of "Fourth Turn", the rebels and creators are the protagonists to reverse the fate of history, and followers and repairers can only be regarded as the supporting roles of history. The contemporary rebels are the baby boom generation (born in the 1940s and 50s), who grew up in a materially rich and prosperous world, but played the role of criticism and destruction. They have extraordinary dreams and ambitions and guide the social order to come back. On the contrary, Generation X, born in the 1960s and 1970s, has lived in the shadow of a baby boom all his life and can only do some repair work.

According to the author's ideas, Biden and Trump are both rebels, and Obama is only a repairer-no matter how outstanding the performance is, the latter can't turn the tide and can only do some repairs at best.

Changing to the situation in Hong Kong, just like the "generation theory" that everyone has discussed for many years, a theory that turns every 80 years is still applicable. Similar to the situation in the United States, Hong Kong’s political and economic lifeline is still dominated by baby boom elites, and Gen X has almost no role at all. As for generation Y, born in the 1980s and 1990s, many of them are also children of the baby boom generation, they play the most important role in countering those in power.

The political and economic lifeline of Hong Kong is dominated by elite baby boomers, and young people born in the 1980s and 1990s are the main force to fight against those in power. (Profile picture / Photograph by Zheng Zifeng)

Due to the economic take-off and rapid social transformation, the baby boom elite has emerged as early as thirty or forty years ago. Judging by the shape of the population pyramid, they are not only the first generation born and raised in Hong Kong, but also the most crowded generation. In the poor and difficult days after World War II, many people had the experience of "a family of eight with one bed." But the common experience of collective upward mobility also made them quickly out of the "house village" period. In the 1980s, the "Platinum Lift" song written by Lin Zhenqiang best captured the spirit of the times.

Even though the baby boom elite can get up to speed quickly, most of them are not self-made entrepreneurs. Unlike the founders of earlier generations (such as Mr. He Hongshen who just passed away), they lacked the domineering posture. With the opening up and popularization of educational opportunities, they have access to the best colonial training. The rapid expansion of government and corporate bureaucracy has created a lot of opportunities for promotion within the system, turning them into uncompromising "organisational man" (in terms of post-war American scholar William Whyte). The biggest advantage of the baby boom elite is that it is extremely rich (even on the surface) teamwork spirit and can accomplish all tasks assigned by superiors in a satisfactory manner.

Although the baby boom elites have already tasted their benefits in the Hong Kong and British era, they have never reached the peak of their lives. At that time, they were only destined to follow the technical expertise, and they only got a good opportunity to become the masters after returning. Therefore, the baby boom elite always hopes to "make new meanings" (Lin Xi's lyrics in "Queens Road East" in 1991), the fundamental reason is that they are not willing. Just like the dreamers in "Dream in Paris" (Betorucci movie in 2003), they are still full of youthful dreams and have to accompany Hong Kong through it-even this "City of Glass" (1998 Zhang Wanting movie) The last glorious road.

Mr. Li Pengfei, who has just passed away, has the courage to act as the first person in business. (Profile picture/photo by Yu Junliang)

I have to mention that Mr. Li Pengfei, who has just passed away, is the first person who has the courage to act as a political figure in the business community and defends his vested interests through his own efforts. Chen Fang Ansheng, who was in the government, did not give up much, and he sang against the boss everywhere. Not to mention Liang Jinsong, when promoting education reform and serving as the Financial Secretary, he is nothing like a bureaucratic figure. It was later discovered that I was shallow-sighted. Compared with the Trump-style character Liang Zhenying, Chen Tai and Liang Jinsong were quite gentle-but until June 2019, everyone must have looked dumbfounded-the most thorough and ultimate The rebels, named Lin Zheng Yue'e, took a while to slap Hong Kong's existing system and core values.

However, this has not yet reached the climax of the plot. What is truly eye-opening is that more than 90% of the baby boom elites, while rebelling, still do not forget discipline; on the occasion of the revolution, they are still full of team spirit and perfectly blend the two seemingly contradictory values.

Just look at the overwhelming wave of the "National Security Law" and say what it means to implement the "one country, two systems" principle, and what it says does not violate the spirit of the Basic Law. The propaganda team can be so neat and consistent, as if to hear the Red Guards calling slogans-no wonder they will be so lucky for a lifetime, from the 20th and 30th years of high speed to the 70th and 80th years, they can still fully utilize the residual heat and heat.

In contrast, Generation Y, discussed in the "Fourth Turn", is the creator of the future system of the United States, or the new establishment. They are still under 40 years old, but they will be the founders of a new system in the next ten to twenty years. They are exposed to information technology as soon as they are born, and they will probably be founders based on big data and artificial intelligence. They grew up in an era full of crises. They have long been endured by the sinister experience of the world, but they are the backbone of building a new grand vision.

(Profile picture / Photo by Zhang Haowei)

As for Hong Kong's "Generation Y-Founder"? They have also lived in the Internet world since childhood, but apparently have not yet found an effective way of organizing to show the possible blueprint for Hong Kong in the future. They can only be mobilized through social media networks, sporadic guerrilla warfare against the authorities. Compared with the well-trained elite team of baby boomers, they will inevitably appear to be scattered, and it will be difficult to become a climate for the time being.

The baby boom elite more than forty years ago also had a young and crazy student movement "The Red Age", which had a fierce confrontation with the British Hong Kong government, but they did not prevent them from quickly entering the establishment and becoming a rebel hidden in the system. . Gen Y (and even Gen Z) more than 40 years later, because of the drastic reduction in the speed of social mobility, it is difficult to have the opportunity to be promoted to the rank of administrative officer. But it is certain that they will still be the creators of the new system of Hong Kong in the future-the only requirement is that if Hong Kong still has a future.

Zou Chongming, Special Contributor, "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Other articles:

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[New Coronary Pneumonia] Will the epidemic threat repeat history?

【Phenomenon Analysis】The Crossroads of Anarchism

[Phenomenon Analysis] The big improvement potential of small changes

[Network Technology] From Digital Surveillance to Data Property Rights

[Collective Action] Leaving is a vocal spell

[Phenomenon Analysis] "Fear of losing" psychology like a curse urges Gu's children to win at the starting line

[Phenomenon Analysis] Can the life pyramid "rise"?

【Leadership Market】Government and Market: Let all be freer?

[Sharing Economy] From Bike Sharing to Smart Government

The above was published in the 216th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly News (June 1, 2020) "The Legend of Hong Kong Created by Baby Boomers".

More weekly articles:【01 Weekly News Page】

"Hong Kong 01" Weekly, available at major newsstands, OK convenience stores and Vango convenience stores. You can also subscribe to the weekly report here, or click here to preview the weekly e-newsletter to read more in-depth reports.

01 Weekly report Trump Li Pengfei Hong Kong version of the Basic Law of National Security Law

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-06-07

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