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Ultra-left and reactionary are often used as opposites, but extreme ideologies are never linear – they are circular. They all end up in the same place. Rigid. Sanctimonious. Intolerant.

— Gretchen Dykstra

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More quotes by Gretchen Dykstra

Feudalism? Sometimes it referred to the power of an all-mighty Emperor to distribute favors; sometimes it referred to peasants who had no land or power; sometimes it referred to a hierarchy of obligations and duties; sometimes it referred to the old thinking where women were subjugated to men.

Some cultural anthropologists posit that Westerners do the right thing to avoid feeling guilty, and Asians do the right thing to avoid feeling shame. If correct, it would explain the deeply ingrained aversion to a loss of face among Chinese people, as shame, unlike guilt, implies the public knows about the act.

China want desperately to be back in the center of the world. To that end, the leaders want and need something from all of you. The best way to get what they want is to give you what they think you want – to be first, to be special, to be individual. It costs them nothing to give that to you. China understands America better than we understand China.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Gretchen Dykstra (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.