China's Morality Crisis

Carol Lee Hamrin wrote in her article that given China's power struggle, greed and consumerism, the country has ended up with "the worst of both socialism and capitalism."

Hamrin also wrote: "Endemic cheating in the education system and fraud in consumer products and services have prompted heated public debate on the Internet about the lack of integrity and honesty." (Carol Lee Hamrin, "Social Dynamics and New Generation Politics" in "China's Leadership in the 21st Century, The Rise of the Fourth Generation", Ed. David M Frankelstein and Maryanne Kivlehan)

She can't be more right, especially when she pointed to the "growing critique of the moral and emotional anarchy of consumerism."

Which is part of the reason why the authorities came up with several morality campaigns, the latest right now being the "ba rong ba chi" (八荣八耻) campaign, which aims to instill a sense of morality and civic mindedness amongst the Chinese.

八荣八耻 consist of :

以热爱祖国为荣, 以危害祖国为耻,
以服务人民为荣, 以背离人民为耻,
以崇尚科学为荣, 以愚昧无知为耻,
以辛勤劳动为荣, 以好逸恶劳为耻,
以团结互助为荣, 以损人利己为耻,
以诚实守信为荣, 以见利忘义为耻,
以遵纪守法为荣, 以违法乱纪为耻,
以艰苦奋斗为荣, 以骄奢淫逸为耻.

A rough translation - It is an honor to love one's country, serve the people, believe in science, put in hard work, remain united, help out one another, be honest, abide by the laws, but it is contemptible to harm the country, betray the people, to be ignorant, to enrich oneself by hurting the interests of others, to break the laws, and to be extravagant.