19
19
defi
ant urges in nearly all primates. In chimpanzees, it inspires a
wanderlust that forces some young females to leave the cozy family
they've always known and go off to make a new life for themselves
among strangers.11 In langur monkeys, it triggers a restlessness that's
much more to the point. Adolescent langur males kick loose the traces
of their childhood family life and cluster in unruly, threatening gangs.
Then they go on the prowl, looking for some older, well-established
male they can attack. The adolescents' goal: to dislodge the respectable
elder from his cushy home and take over everything he owns--his
power, his prestige, and his wives.12
As we'll see a bit later, humans are driven by many of the same
instincts as our primate relatives. Consequently, many adolescents of
our species also resent the authority of the adults over their heads. Their
hormones have suddenly told them that it is time to assert their
individuality and to challenge the prerogatives of the older generation.
Mao didn't address himself to the adults of China. Those
comrades saw the good sense of the officials who had shuffled Mao to
the side and focused on producing food to fill the stomachs that had
ached with emptiness for three long years. Mao turned elsewhere for
help in recapturing authority. He turned to the country's teenagers.
Mao started his campaign to regain the reins of China innocently
enough. Under his orders, the major papers began a literary debate.
They attacked a group of authors who called themselves "The Three
Family Village." These essayists were government officials, key figures
in the phalanx of bureaucrats resisting Mao's orders. One was vice
mayor of Beijing. Another--the editor of the Beijing Evening News--was
propaganda director for Beijing's Party Committee. A third was a
propagandist for the Beijing city government. Over the years, the
articles of these three had been regarded as entertaining diversions,
models of witty style. Now official editorial writers "discovered" that
the writings of The Three Family Village were hidden cesspools of secret
meanings. And what did those meanings amount to? An assault on the
sacred precepts of The Party.
<< < GO > >>
19
19
defi
ant urges in nearly all primates. In chimpanzees, it inspires a
wanderlust that forces some young females to leave the cozy family
they've always known and go off to make a new life for themselves
among strangers.11 In langur monkeys, it triggers a restlessness that's
much more to the point. Adolescent langur males kick loose the traces
of their childhood family life and cluster in unruly, threatening gangs.
Then they go on the prowl, looking for some older, well-established
male they can attack. The adolescents' goal: to dislodge the respectable
elder from his cushy home and take over everything he owns--his
power, his prestige, and his wives.12
As we'll see a bit later, humans are driven by many of the same
instincts as our primate relatives. Consequently, many adolescents of
our species also resent the authority of the adults over their heads. Their
hormones have suddenly told them that it is time to assert their
individuality and to challenge the prerogatives of the older generation.
Mao didn't address himself to the adults of China. Those
comrades saw the good sense of the officials who had shuffled Mao to
the side and focused on producing food to fill the stomachs that had
ached with emptiness for three long years. Mao turned elsewhere for
help in recapturing authority. He turned to the country's teenagers.
Mao started his campaign to regain the reins of China innocently
enough. Under his orders, the major papers began a literary debate.
They attacked a group of authors who called themselves "The Three
Family Village." These essayists were government officials, key figures
in the phalanx of bureaucrats resisting Mao's orders. One was vice
mayor of Beijing. Another--the editor of the Beijing Evening News--was
propaganda director for Beijing's Party Committee. A third was a
propagandist for the Beijing city government. Over the years, the
articles of these three had been regarded as entertaining diversions,
models of witty style. Now official editorial writers "discovered" that
the writings of The Three Family Village were hidden cesspools of secret
meanings. And what did those meanings amount to? An assault on the
sacred precepts of The Party.
<< < GO > >>