[LM_NET] January 13th at Tenafly High School, John and Doris Naisbitt and China's Megatrends

["DiGregorio, David" <ddigregorio@TENAFLY.K12.NJ.US>]

On January 13, 2010 (about 10:30 EST start) John and Doris Naisbitt will
be coming to Tenafly High School Library, NJ USA for a book talk on
their latest book; China's Megatrends. Also on hand to cover the event
will be C-Span Book TV.   We will accommodate about 150 as audience in
the library, broadcast throughout the school, over Channel 77, and over
the Internet at www.librarymedia.net <http://www.librarymedia.net/> .
You are invited to watch and participate.  There will be a generous
amount of interaction via Q & A.  We will take question from the
audience as well as call in questions. We will have a few advance copies
of their book on reserve in the library.  Their book is also available
at Womrath's in Tenafly http://www.womraths.com/  at a discount. Their
book is a fairly fast, high interest and very accessible read.  Please
see the complete press kit below.  

 

David Di Gregorio 

ddigregorio@tenafly.k12.nj.us   
Supervisor Library Media Services

Tenafly High School's 

Lalor Library Media Center

www.librarymedia.net <http://www.librarymedia.net/> 

19 Columbus Drive

Tenafly, NJ 07670

CELL: 201-696-8062

Office: 201.816.6617

Fax: 201-871-8509

 

 

 

 

John Naisbitt, one of the world's most visionary thinkers and
bestselling authors,

and Doris Naisbitt, Professor at Nankai University, portray a
revolutionary picture of a new China in CHINA'S MEGATRENDS, already a
bestseller in China and Taiwan.

 

" . ..  .a compelling story of a country that is maturing in hyperdrive
.  .. . A thoughtful, ambitious overview sure to be of interest to all
those curious about world economics."

-Publishers Weekly

 

" . . ..An intriguing look at the new China."

-Kirkus Reviews

 

"...the best explanation to date of the hows and whys of China's rapid
rise."

-China Daily

 

*        Is China a suppressing autocracy or a challenge to Western
democracy? 

*        Will it be only sustainable if it adopts Western values and
Western democracy?

*        Can China challenge the U.S. as the world's most competitive
nation? 

*        What is China's vision of its own future?

 

To find the answers to these and many other open questions was the
driving force behind the founding of the Naisbitt China Institute in
Tianjin by John and Doris Naisbitt in 2007.  Soon its 28 staff members
were monitoring Chinese local newspapers from all provinces in the
country, looking for patterns that would form the picture of the new
China. What the authors found was of much greater dimension and
importance than they had expected: China is creating an entirely new
social and economic system, a political model fitting Chinese history
and society-just as America created a political model fitting to its
history, society and values more than 200 years ago.  

 

With their institute and access to the leadership and the people, John
and Doris Naisbitt have a unique vantage point for observing China's
ideological, political, social, economic and cultural changes, providing
an illuminating view of a country reinventing itself on a scale and
speed never before seen in history.  Taking a thoughtful, even-handed
approach, this masterful work describes the eight pillars on which
China's new system is resting. 

 

The result is their profound, insightful, and carefully balanced new
book, CHINA'S MEGATRENDS: The 8 Pillars of a New Society
(HarperBusiness/HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN 13: 9780061859441; $27.99
Hardcover; On Sale: January 5, 2010).

 

As David Brooks recently said in the New York Times, "These days it's
impossible to think about America and its future role in the world
without also thinking about China":
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/opinion/03brooks.html
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/opinion/03brooks.html> ).  

 

Now more than ever, a comprehensive understanding of China is essential
for all citizens of the world, and CHINA'S MEGATRENDS is the one book
that delivers it. I look forward to speaking with you soon about
scheduling a review/feature in your publication or an interview on your
show.

 

 

      

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 

CHINA'S MEGATRENDS: 

The 8 Pillars of a New Society

By John and Doris Naisbitt

 

 

Megatrends, John Naisbitt's groundbreaking 1982 analysis of economic,
political, social, and cultural transitions in the United States, spent
more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list and became a
massive worldwide sensation, selling more than 20 million copies in
China alone.

Now John and Doris Naisbitt offer a groundbreaking analysis of a new
social/economic system on the rise with their new book CHINA'S
MEGATRENDS The 8 Pillars of a New Society (HarperBusiness/HarperCollins
Publishers; ISBN 13: 9780061859441; $27.99 Hardcover; On Sale: January
5, 2010), a riveting description of the economic, political, social, and
cultural transformation of the world's most populated nation.

Combining access and insight, the Naisbitts tell this dramatic
turnaround story from the inside-out as they investigate the creation of
China's new society on its own terms rather than judging it from a
Western perspective.  CHINA'S MEGATRENDS explains what enabled China in
only 30 years to go from an almost bankrupt, backward nation to become
the third largest economy in the world, beat Germany as export champion,
and test America as the most competitive. Initiated by Deng Xiaoping,
who combined political instinct and strategic planning, China has
reinvented itself as if it were a huge enterprise, developing a company
culture which fits the demands of the enterprise and its people on the
path to modernity and wealth.

A nationwide bestseller since its release in China, and just in time for
the West's enlarged awareness for the rise of the East, this book is
poised to make a significant global impact. 

Based on extensive research monitoring all of China's provinces and
in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, academics, politicians, artists,
dissidents, expatriates and others CHINA'S MEGATRENDS identifies the
eight core principles that form the bedrock of this new Chinese society:

*       Emancipation of the Mind: First and foremost, transformation
began by allowing people to reclaim their own thinking, from
indoctrination to emancipation. 
*       Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up: Critical to China's
sustainability is the need to find equilibrium in a new political model
the Naisbitts call "vertical democracy." 
*       Framing the Forest and Letting the Trees Grow: China's new model
includes an approach in which government frames national policies and
priorities but promotes individual contributions and diversity to bring
new policies to life. 
*       Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones: Thinking for the next
generation instead of the next election, the Chinese model encourages
experimentation, innovation, and risk-taking at unprecedented levels.  
*       Artistic and Intellectual Ferment: To create a harmonious
society and to mature China's vertical democracy requires spiritual
growth as well as economic growth. Artists and intellectuals are leading
the parade in cultivating minds and senses. 
*       Joining the World: As its economic growth continues to defy
expectations, China claims a new political role in the global community
that matches its economic power. 
*       Freedom and Fairness: China's foundation rests on finding the
right balance between what is economically possible and what is socially
desirable. 
*       From Olympic Medals to Nobel Prizes: After conquering the
position of workshop of the world, China is moving to the next level: to
become the innovation nation of the world. 

Driven by the need for sustaining its economic success, for further
social advancement, for a stronger voice in the global community, and
free of election driven considerations, China's leadership can think in
huge dimensions and set long term goals, key to the efficiency of the
government and fast progress. 

Most of those who look at China with interest, fear, reprobation,
courtesy, hope, or simple curiosity, see the future and sustainability
of China as adapting to the Western economic and value system, but
China, its leadership, and its people have their own goals. With CHINA'S
MEGATRENDS, John and Doris Naisbitt give readers a fresh understanding
of how China will not only change the global economy, but challenge
Western democracy by creating an entirely new social economic model. 

 

About the Authors:

 

John Naisbitt

 

Since its publication in 1982, John Naisbitt's Megatrends has become a
full-fledged phenomenon, with the book significantly influencing the
generation that would go on to steer China's meteoric ascent.
Megatrends reigned over the New York Times bestseller list for more than
two years; it has been published in 57 countries, and has sold more than
eight million copies. The Naisbitts cultural life and residence in
Europe and China keep them directly in touch with global conditions,
knowledge that is reflected in their books. A former visiting fellow at
Harvard University, and former visiting professor at Moscow State
University, John Naisbitt is currently a professor at both Nankai
University and Tianjin University in China, and serves as a
Distinguished International Fellow, Institute of Strategic and
International Studies, in Malaysia, the first non-Asian to hold this
appointment. He is the recipient of 15 honorary doctorates in the
humanities, technology, and science. 

 

Doris Naisbitt

Doris Naisbitt, an observer of global social, economic and political
trends, is the Director of the Naisbitt China Institute in Tianjin,
China, co-author of CHINA'S MEGATRENDS The 8 Pillars of a New Society
and professor at the prestigious Nankai University. From 2002 to 2006
she worked in close collaboration with John Naisbitt's public lecturing
in editing and translating his books and other works for the German
publishing houses of Hanser, Bertelsmann and Frankfurter Allgemeine
Buchverlag.  Doris Naisbitt has a distinguished career in publishing,
serving as head of the Austrian publishing house, Signum Verlag. During
her tenure she upgraded the company by acquiring internationally known
authors and establishing Signum as a player in the broader German
language, including Germany and Switzerland. She and John Naisbitt live
in Vienna, Austria and Tianjin, China.

Their website is: http://www.naisbitt.com/ <http://www.naisbitt.com/> .

 

CHINA'S MEGATRENDS:

The 8 Pillars of a New Society

By John and Doris Naisbitt

HarperBusiness/HarperCollins Publishers

On Sale: January 5, 2010

ISBN 13: 9780061859441

$27.99 Hardcover

304 pages

 

 

A Conversation with John and Doris Naisbitt, 

authors of CHINA'S MEGATRENDS: 

The 8 Pillars of a New Society

 

Q: Thirty years ago China was a third world country; in 2010 it will
become the second largest economy in the world. How did China come so
far, so fast?

 

A: In short: China went from indoctrinating to emancipating the minds of
its people. It created a nourishing environment for entrepreneurs. Deng
Xiaoping the father of China's reforms and opening up, reinvented China
as if it were an enterprise, empowering its people and setting clear
goals and frames within which they were able to contribute according to
their own abilities and talents. 

 

Q: How did China overcome the common thinking that capitalism and
communism with its controlling government do not go together? 

 

A: When China started its path to modernity it was China's Communist
Party and their leaders who led the transformation, and in the process
the Party and the government transformed. There is practically no common
ground with what we understand as communism, although the CPC still
holds on to the less than descriptive name. China has created a market
economy and to do so it had to decentralize, including the
decentralization of its leadership. Decisions are made within an
interplay of bottom-up initiatives and top-down directions. The
government sets the frame in which China's people decide their
individual steps. 

 

Q: The transformation you discuss in the book would not have been
possible without a mandate from Deng Xiaoping to essentially re-invent
China in many ways.  What is his legacy?

 

A: To open the minds of the people and the leadership to learn from the
best. He understood that China could only be sustainable if it would
switch from ideological thinking to practical thinking. Deng's
well-known aphorism that it "does not matter if the cat is black or
white so long as it catches mice" meant that it didn't matter if
something was capitalism or communism so long as it worked. He
established a result-driven mindset. Very early on he said: "We are
crossing the river by feeling the stones." Step by step, flexible to
changing conditions, allowing trial and error, he set the first and
decisive steps to economic growth and modest wealth. Deng Xiaoping is
the unchallenged father of China's reforms and great economic progress.


 

Q: You describe that China is creating a whole new social economic
system which you call "vertical democracy." How does it differ from our
model of government?

 

A: The Western Democratic model has a horizontal structure. The
population of a country, equally entitled, periodically elects its
political leaders. Simplified, Party A and B compete to get enough votes
to beat the other Party. In this process Party A works on making Party B
look bad and Party B works to make Party A look bad. Thinking is
election driven; the justification for governing is by elections won. In
the Chinese system the leadership is constant. Justification for
governing is by results achieved. The decision-making process is
strongly influenced by the dynamics of the top-down bottom-up interplay,
with the power of the bottom-up forces increasing. 

 

Q: Where is China headed?

 

A: China is creating an entirely new model that fits it own history and
thinking, just as the America did more than 200 years ago when its
constitution laid the ground for modern Western democracy. It took the
Western model a long time to mature. The same will happen in China. In
the Chinese thinking, the sustainability of China is not linked to
picking up Western democracy and Western values, but to create a
harmonious society with equilibrium between top-down directions and
bottom-up initiatives. We judge that China's new social economic model
is now only about one-third on the way toward its ultimate maturity.

 

Q: What should Americans know about China that they don't learn from
Western media? 

 

A: China has its own values and its own understanding of a harmonious
society. Vertical democracy fits to the Chinese thinking and the results
achieved confirm the justification of the leadership. As this model
allows long-term thinking it is extremely efficient, can swiftly change
course if necessary and try out certain models on smaller scale before
implementing them nationally. All of this increases competitiveness of
the country. Among other things, American should know that China's
economy is now 70 percent in the private sector. 

 

Q: Western journalism is practically united in its criticism of China,
particularly on the issue of human rights. From your perspective what
aren't journalists seeing and/or writing about?

 

A: While it is good to criticize China's shortcomings, reporting should
stay balanced and unbiased. The problem of seeing the real picture has
two sides: 1. China does not tell its own story well and it mostly
overreacts to criticism. 2. Western reporting is mainly based on a
Western view and linked to a Western perspective, judging China on what
the West thinks is right or wrong. The West needs to understand that
while China is a learning society, it does not want to be scolded by the
West. Like a family, who defends its children against external criticism
while aware of problems pointed out, China similarly defends itself and
claims the right to fix the problems in its own way.  

 

Q: What is China's highest hurdle in the shift from the workshop of the
world to a leading innovative country?

 

A: China's education system is exam-driven. Memorizing beats creative
thinking. Creativity is not highly valued in the Chinese school system,
obedience to authorities carries from respecting parents, to respecting
teachers and bosses and politicians. In science respecting other
academics leads to soft criticism and stands in the way of constructive
criticism. 

In rural China higher quality education is hardly accessible. As with
all countries in the kind of world we are living in today, the number
one economic priority for any government must be education. 

 

Q: How specifically is China poised to become the world's most important
player in the 21st century?

 

A: "The world's most important player is" yesterday's vocabulary. As the
world moves to one economy for the whole world, the economy of countries
will become so integrated that it will not be possible to determine the
old index GDPs. We will have to create new indices to judge the
importance of a country's role in the world.

 

Q: Can you shed light on China's diplomatic efforts and its role in
world affairs, especially its key relationships with the United States,
Russia, Africa, Japan, and Latin America?

 

A: For the first time in history the two most prominent nations will
have a friendly instead of hostile relationship. Their economies are
tied together and their common global is to keep up economic growth in
the worlds markets. In foreign politics China follows two key rules: Do
not interfere in internal affairs and invest in economic projects
instead of welfare projects. Sanctions and embargos hurt the people more
than their leaders. In Africa for example it is trading building
infrastructure against access to natural resources. China's view is that
economic progress will over time also improve political situations. 

 

Q: You refer in your book to the "the three forbidden "Ts": Tibet,
Taiwan, and Tiananmen Square. Why forbidden.

 

A: They are called forbidden because there is a common idea that you
cannot raise any question regarding those three "Ts" in China. Today
this is not true any more. We have had many conversations, with
politicians and others, about these matters and we have asked any
questions we wanted. When the West write about China the three so-called
forbidden "Ts" are in the center, although Taiwan's strong economic ties
with the mainland has calmed down political reporting. Regarding
Tiananmen Square it is often neglected that this happened 20 years ago
and China today is not what it was then. Tibet is a matter on its own.
Basically it is mystification versus modernization, and a PR genius
against very poor PR performance.  The West has created an unreal
picture of a Tibetan myth, highly supported by the popularity and media
skills of the Dalai Lama. Tibetans want to live in the 21 century. The
feudalism and serfdom of the isolated Tibet before the 1950s to them is
nothing to long for.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from CHINA'S MEGATRENDS?

 

To form a picture of China that is not colored by prejudice and
ignorance and to get some insight into the opportunities presented by
the extraordinary changes that are taking place in this country.  

 

 

 

David Di Gregorio 

ddigregorio@tenafly.k12.nj.us   
Supervisor Library Media Services

Tenafly High School's 

Lalor Library Media Center

www.librarymedia.net <http://www.librarymedia.net/> 

19 Columbus Drive

Tenafly, NJ 07670

CELL: 201-696-8062

Office: 201.816.6617

Fax: 201-871-8509

 

 


--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET
2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL
4) SET LM_NET DIGEST

 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/

--------------------------------------------------------------------