High Life

30 品 “The Americans’ contact with the outside world is through the military. I don’t like that. I think America is becoming more militaristic. I would like to see that reduced, whereas I think China is not really militaristic. I don’t meet Chinese who want their children to go into the military. “Educated Chinese don’t see that as a path to power or success, which I think is good because the military is not driving the policy. If the military is becoming more influential, that is dangerous.” Hessler believes the 1990s was an open era for the US. Americans were not obsessed with the cold war after it was finished and 9/11 had not yet happened. Psychologically, Americans were more idealistic and felt there was an incentive to go abroad and learn. “Those of us who joined the Peace Corps did not do it because of patriotism or because we wanted to protect American values,” he recalls. “We were trying to learn. The best thing is for individuals to feel that there is an incentive. Right now, Americans want people to study Arabic so that the Arabs won’t attack us, but that is not a good motivation. It is fear. “The Chinese want to learn English because they want to better their lives. That obviously is more productive. It is an optimistic, open- minded approach.”