Sinica Podcast Yascha Mounk on China and Western Liberalism
Sep 17, 2025
Yascha Mounk, a political scientist and founder of Persuasion, shares his insights on China and the challenges facing Western liberalism. He discusses his immersive experiences learning Chinese and the strengths and weaknesses of China's technocratic society. Mounk delves into demographic trends, the limits of China's soft power, and media narratives surrounding the nation. He explores how China’s rise intersects with domestic polarization in the West and emphasizes the need for nuanced understanding rather than simplistically framing China as an enemy.
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Learning Chinese Through Cab Conversations
- Yascha learns Chinese partly by talking to cab drivers to get varied accents and real conversations.
- He finds cab rides more useful than classroom practice for comprehension and cultural insight.
High Modernism Delivering Unity And Costs
- China blends high-modernist state projects with real gains like infrastructure and a national lingua franca in Mandarin.
- These centralizing projects produce efficiency and cultural unity but also trade-offs and downsides.
Growth's Mirror: Work Ethic And Burnout
- Strengths like intense work ethic and meritocratic drive are tightly linked to social costs like burnout and 996 culture.
- The same cultural traits that fuel growth also produce pressures that generate social dissatisfaction.
