I HATE the use of the word "neocon" in the title of this article as it attempts to contort these issues through the prism of American politics with a connection that is tenuous at best. However, the essay represents a significant truth - totalitarian states have supporters. I've encountered young Chinese nationalists, too.

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of M.I.T.’s Media Laboratory and one of the early ideologists of the Internet, once predicted that the global reach of the Web would transform the way we think about ourselves as countries. The state, he predicted, will evaporate “like a mothball, which goes from solid to gas directly,” and “there will be no more room for nationalism than there is for smallpox.” In China, things have gone differently.

I think things have gone differently in America. The Internet has brought massive domestic political polarization by enabling echo chambers and eliminating former barriers that kept the ideas of kooks to niche circles. The Internet is more free but the people have yet to learn what attitude is required to handle it. And in the broader world, the end of the Cold War puts America in a position where "critical thinking" is automatically equated with disdain for what America represents. We're "the man" and our present misadventures in due process, checks, and balances are no help. This is sending gobs of young people into the welcoming arms of various totalitarian ideologies. Behold the Orwellian rationalizations of 21st century fascism:

“Because we are in such a system, we are always asking ourselves whether we are brainwashed,” he said. “We are always eager to get other information from different channels.” Then he added, “But when you are in a so-called free system you never think about whether you are brainwashed.”

Our minds are free because we live in a system of thought control! Its the thought control that enables us to think freely!

“Do you live on democracy?” he asked me. “You eat bread, you drink coffee. All of these are not brought by democracy. Indian guys have democracy, and some African countries have democracy, but they can’t feed their own people.

“Chinese people have begun to think, One part is the good life, another part is democracy,” Liu went on. “If democracy can really give you the good life, that’s good. But, without democracy, if we can still have the good life why should we choose democracy?”

Because if its not democracy, then you didn't choose it, of course, but more importantly, because this attitude is immoral. I really think this statement translates to "We're willing to support leaders who commit atrocities in our name because we think they are going to cut us in on the spoils." Thats deeply evil.

Letter from China: Angry Youth: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker