Real-Life Violence: Social Resentment and Collective Psychological Crisis

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[People News] In contemporary Chinese society, violence and hostility have increasingly become hard-to-ignore social phenomena. These behaviors are not limited to extreme incidents or violent crimes but have permeated every corner of society, becoming a norm for many people’s lives. From daily verbal conflicts to escalating social violence, these issues reflect a deeper problem—a lack of security and the resulting collective psychological crisis. The recent tragic incident in Zhuhai, where a driver plowed into a crowd, is yet another display of this collective crisis.

In fact, the 2013 film A Touch of Sin by Jia Zhangke eerily foreshadowed this bleak reality. Through four individual stories of violence, the film portrays the increasing violence in Chinese society. Spanning regions from Shanxi to Sichuan, the film connects different parts of China to reveal a nationwide portrait of violence. This violence is not only physical; it also subtly infiltrates people’s daily lives, emotions, and social relationships. Each violent act in the film is fueled by personal anger, dissatisfaction, fear, and despair, ultimately turning into highly destructive behavior.

The spread of social violence and increased hostility is directly linked to a lack of security. This lack of security doesn’t only refer to material instability but, more importantly, to psychological unease and anxiety. When people cannot perceive a sense of social or family security, their quality of life and sense of self-worth are severely threatened. This threat generates a series of negative emotions, such as anxiety, fear, helplessness, and anger, which lead to a collective psychological crisis. As economic growth irreversibly shifts toward decline, this despairing social emotion quietly spreads and permeates society, inevitably resulting in recurring incidents of social violence.

We must also recognize that, in today’s China, the interaction between state violence and social violence creates a dual pressure that contributes to the society's violent atmosphere. The intensification of state violence often acts as a catalyst for the spread of social violence. When the state uses administrative measures, laws, and coercive tools to suppress dissent, the desire to resist builds among individuals under such pressure and may eventually erupt. Moreover, when the state habitually relies on violence to address social issues, this example influences how ordinary citizens approach their problems. This vicious cycle not only intensifies the atmosphere of violence in society but also threatens national stability.

The recent series of violent incidents, marked by bottom-level mutual harm, serve as a warning of the potential trajectory toward violent revolution in Chinese society. Violence not only manifests in individual acts but can also escalate into larger-scale social resistance. Once violence extends from individuals to groups, isolated incidents can develop into collective violence that threatens social stability. In China, public dissatisfaction is evident in many areas: widening income gaps, entrenched social class divisions, and unequal distribution of education and healthcare resources—all of which exacerbate social tensions. Although many hope China can avoid a path of violent revolution, the reality may be unavoidable if current trends continue. Violence and unrest are not merely choices but inevitable challenges we will have to confront.

To address the rising violence and hostility, Chinese society urgently needs to rebuild trust and a sense of security. Only by restoring social trust can violent acts be reduced and the buildup of public discontent effectively prevented. However, structural issues like social injustice, lack of avenues for complaints, and limited outlets for public expression face significant obstacles in the CCP’s authoritarian system. In other words, the frequent occurrence of violent incidents today is closely related to the governance model and structure of the society and state. Unless China shifts away from authoritarianism and toward constitutional democracy based on rule of law, tragedies like the Zhuhai incident will only worsen.

(Adapted from Radio Free Asia)