Evan Osnos portrays the myriad of faces that represent contemporary China, that range from strivers to survivors, dissidents to politicians, and the few and far in between that are actually thriving. Osnos portrays how China has engineered a relationship between an environment that promotes innovation within a system that shuns intellects. In the Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, Osnos sheds light on the underlying moral crisis that the Chinese people are experiencing through the “age of ambition” and how this impulse is unifying people from various strata. The beginning section of the book focused on the pursuit of accumulating wealth in China. Osnos opened with powerful imagery that depicted Lin Zengyi
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Osnos documents the case of the tragic death of the child Yueyue. Where it becomes a national iconic figure representing the failure of the Chinese government. The corruption of government officials all awhile “disciplining” and imprisoning journalists and artists who spoke out, followed by several accounts of government censorship of online content in an age of rapid file sharing. Thus creating what Osnos refers to as a “Choir of Soloists” where the public struggles to find a sense of individuality in a collective communist system. Osnos says in his own words that “when the campy Korean music video called “Gangnam Style” became a surprise hit—the most watched clip in the history of the Internet—Chinese artists complained that they could never have created it because the culture officials that preside over their work would never have permitted a silly spoof of Beijing’s high-living elite.” (P.320) Censoring online human expression was taking its toll on the progress of Chinese culture and understanding of themselves. On the other end, the access to western media and the increased education of urban youth created a sense of wide spread nationalism that Osnos described was sort of like a religion – but not the kind of nationalism that the authorities were always comfortable with. Osnos used an example of a commentator who wrote, “Our government is as weak as sheep!” The government permitted nationalism to grow at some moments but strained to control it at others.” (P.147) For instance the police allowed protestors to attack the Japanese embassy. The semi-censor ship of media and the pseudo-control of corruption created a conflict between nationalistic and individualistic views, contradictory concepts that are at the epicenter of the Chinese moral
Osnos documents the case of the tragic death of the child Yueyue. Where it becomes a national iconic figure representing the failure of the Chinese government. The corruption of government officials all awhile “disciplining” and imprisoning journalists and artists who spoke out, followed by several accounts of government censorship of online content in an age of rapid file sharing. Thus creating what Osnos refers to as a “Choir of Soloists” where the public struggles to find a sense of individuality in a collective communist system. Osnos says in his own words that “when the campy Korean music video called “Gangnam Style” became a surprise hit—the most watched clip in the history of the Internet—Chinese artists complained that they could never have created it because the culture officials that preside over their work would never have permitted a silly spoof of Beijing’s high-living elite.” (P.320) Censoring online human expression was taking its toll on the progress of Chinese culture and understanding of themselves. On the other end, the access to western media and the increased education of urban youth created a sense of wide spread nationalism that Osnos described was sort of like a religion – but not the kind of nationalism that the authorities were always comfortable with. Osnos used an example of a commentator who wrote, “Our government is as weak as sheep!” The government permitted nationalism to grow at some moments but strained to control it at others.” (P.147) For instance the police allowed protestors to attack the Japanese embassy. The semi-censor ship of media and the pseudo-control of corruption created a conflict between nationalistic and individualistic views, contradictory concepts that are at the epicenter of the Chinese moral