Resolving Collective Problems. an Example from China

Cultures that experience catastrophes with some frequency - earthquakes, hurricanes and the like - elaborate collective strategies to resolve their collective problems. These often survive from generation to generation and are incorporated within the cultural memory. These resolutions may be based on the modal personality of the group, what many social scientist refer to as "national character." In the absence of experience with specific problems, members of a group will probably use other predictable ways of coping with the problems based on the cultural personality of the members. This was evident during what the authors have chosen to call "The great Guangxi traffic jam." The responses of the Chinese are analyzed through comparison with modal behavior of Chinese in other, dissimilar situations. How people resolve collective problems depends, in large measure, upon the collective experience. In areas where natural disasters recur with some frequency ... ... typhoons in the South Pacific, hurricanes in the Caribbean, earthquakes in the Andean regions, tornadoes in the American midwest ... reaction is more or less predictable. It is based on past experience which has taught people the best and most efficient way to respond to the problem. Laura Thompson (2) pointed out that the actual victims need not have experienced the disaster so long as the occurrence remains vivid within the cultural memory. That is, it has been passed down in some detail directly from the past generation. The autonomous region of Guangxi, in southeastern China, is no stranger to typhoons and the resultant floods. The typhoon which occurred in July of 1994 is said to have been the worst in a century but while it caused widespread damage and economic loss, people know how to cope with such disasters. For some, that means helping the People Liberation Army -- which responds immediately and efficiently to such emergencies - to shore up levees, for others it may mean fleeing to higher ground. Because of the common reoccurrence of flooding in some areas, even "permanent" homes are often "makeshift" ... almost as easy to erect as they are torn down by the action of wind and water. Needless to say, most belongings are portable, not only because of the lower economic level of those in the wake of the annual monsoons but also to facilitate rapid evacuation. Guangxi Province was not, however, prepared to respond efficiently to a monumental traffic jam which occurred some three months later, during the weekend of October 1, the country's "National Day" celebration. Admittedly, for the Chinese it was probably little more than an "inconvenience," but gauged by standards of the Western world, it bordered on calamitous. Ironically, the traffic jam can be considered an aftermath of the July typhoon. During the storms and subsequent flooding, much of a new highway that connects the regional capital of Nanning with Beihai, an important seaport and tourist complex some 200 miles south, was destroyed, together with the rail line that joins the two places. These major arteries not only connect the two cities, but extend beyond provincial borders, traffic being funneled into them from neighboring provinces. The rail line was completely inoperative. The new highway, on the other hand, while under heavy repair, was passable. Admittedly, in many stretches only one-way traffic could pass and then only if construction was halted. Nevertheless, it certainly could have been used to relieve the excess pressure that built up on an older road that was the only viable means to vehicular communication between Nanning and Beihai. (3) As it was, all vehicles were detoured through an older, narrower highway of about 230 kms. in length, some 25 kms. longer than the new, but damaged concrete artery. A police guard was stationed at the junction where the two roads meet, just about 35 kilometers south of Nanning. Only "local traffic" - that destined to intermediate points (or vehicles of especially favored political cadre) - was permitted to continue along the "super highway. …