Why Chinese So Scared of Covid-19

Today is the last day of 2022. Since the first outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan, in January 2020, the whole planet's been under the shadow of this virus for 3 years. All humans are suffered from the diseases, deaths, and chaos brought by it. But as a native Chinese and an observer of Chinese and other societies, I found some interesting things during this pandemic. Among them, the different attitudes toward this virus are especially worth investigating.

If you see enough street views in China and other countries, it's easy to find some differences. All people wearing masks, especially N95-like masks, even in the wild? No doubt, you're in China. Super long lines waiting for the nucleic acid test? China. Shopping rush for masks, medicines (effective and ineffective), food, water, everything needed for everyday life? Of course, you're in China. Looks like Chinese lives are destroyed by the virus, while in fact they're destroyed by the irrational fear of the virus.

Why Chinese, well, "normal" Chinese, are so scared of Covid-19?

People say the reason is propaganda. CCP drew a horrible picture of this virus to justify their lockdown policy throughout the country, to demonstrate their "social system superiority" and the decline of the west.

However, not all propaganda here in China takes effect. Why most Chinese buy this one?

Maybe the reason deep inside is the loss of the living philosophy.

Traditional Chinese believe they live in an endless stream of lives from their ancestors to their offspring, and offsprings of offspring. They won't disappear after death because they're not alone, but a part of the stream. They live everyday life according to the rules of their ancestors to ensure their connection with the stream.

However, this mantra didn't hold anymore in the Communism regime. Communists tried to replace Chinese philosophy with Communism ideology and failed. They destroyed the spiritual world of most modern Chinese, including intellectuals and elites. Turn it into a wasteland on traditional and Communism ruins. The only purpose of life is the life itself, and nothing else. The physical form of existence is all the meaning of life, rather than the contents in the life span. Anything other than living physically can be sacrificed, dignity, freedom, health, and justice. Ironically, after losing so many essential things in life, many of them lose their lives physically at the end of the pandemic.

To some pro-establishment intellectuals, covid-19 is a double strike both physically and mentally. In recent 40 years, they developed a theory (which I called it "domestic better" theory) as follows:

Compared with Westerners, we Chinese have less or even no freedom, like domestic animals. But my lord (CCP) is wise and powerful. On his farm, we enjoy a safer, richer, and more harmonic life. In the past 40 years, we developed rapidly from a poor country to the 2nd economic in the world. That proves freedom doesn't deserve the position the Westerners believe. At least in China living like a domestic animal is a good deal than the poor people living in the chaos in western societies.

This theory works well in the past years. until the pandemic. The reality shows that their lord can't protect them. I believe more and more people will wake up from their dreams. In this respect, maybe the pandemic can invoke enlightenment in China.