The bitterness and anger currently spreading online has drawn concern from many people. The driving forces behind such anti-government attitudes, especially when directed against local authorities, were complicated and varied, according to some scholars. They can stem from a lack of patience or perseverance, from the failure to treat people with respect and dignity, or from the lack of any hope in life.
Nearly every modern civilization welcomes critical voices, given people have the right and obligation to supervise and criticize the ruling party of their country.
However, even in places where nearly every single piece of harsh criticism is welcomed, people are still more willing to slam government for, mostly, no reason. Many choose to live their lives with hatred, not with reasonable minds. They vented their anger everywhere in order to attract blind followers.
They have no intention of solving problems when opening fire on the Internet, regardless of the negative consequences that might follow.
What's worst, when such attitudes perfectly matched the morbid psychology of the society, those irritable "opinion leaders" were hailed as "heroes" by the public. No government on the planet would give a green light to this.
There are mainly four kinds of people who have emotions characterized by criticism against the governments at various levels: First there is revulsion against society, generated when people choose to oppose national policies due to a collision of interests or their own moral judgment. It could lead to extreme activities like petitions or protest when the conflicts get intense.
Then there are group resentment over a particular event. A netizen might interpret an event from the perspective of his personal grudge to express his resentment, which may turn into group resentment across society. The resentment results from public discontent.
There are also social emotions that run in the opposite direction to national development. They don't appear to oppose national policies, but in reality the opposite of the nation's development direction, such as superstition, underground gambling or cults.
And finally, but most importantly, there are blind followers, who are in pursuit of novelty in life. For them, the only way to gain a sense of social belonging is to believe whatever they read online.
These widespread negative feelings correspond with all kinds of abnormal phenomenon that are plaguing our nation.
The popularity and notoriety gained by public clowns such as "Sister Lotus" and "Sister Feng" and the leaked pornographic pictures of celebrities best illustrate this trend. Values that are clearly against the Chinese mainstream are becoming more and more popular.
A market economy should always be firmly attached to a coherent legal system. But unfortunately for modern China, in which traditional values have been vanishing since the introduction of the market economy, the establishment of such a system has lagged far behind economic development.
For now, it seems like the modern money-oriented and anti-authority values have come out on top and the social structure and loyalty that were part of traditional values are tumbling. As a matter of fact, the so-called cultural integration, which China is experiencing now, has lead to diverse social values but only one of those could become dominant.
The modification of those ill-directed emotions needs the combined efforts of the nation's existing ideology and the self-discipline of the public. But most importantly, the government should remove social conflict and the absence of belief that have caused this instability.
As Chinese citizens, we should know that only the harmony and stability of China can be good for our lives and that each of us is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation.
The authors are a professor and a PhD candidate at the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn