我在一個私人論壇中提到：

「某些外省人在潛意識中毫無根據(或莫名其妙)的優越感。」

有人對「優越感」一詞提出異議。以下是我的答覆。

First of all, I said "some". As long as there are someone who have the false sense of superiority, my observation holds. Whether these people are in their 20’s or 50’s is irrelevant. Secondly, you are absolutely right that I was talking about people in their 40’s and older.

To make a semi-formal discussion, I will present a simplified conceptual framework and a few personal observations.

To begin with, as far as I know, there are three conditions/processes which can shape or determine a person’s consciousness, namely:

a.  social existence,

b.  social construction, and

c.  personal experience and associated (personal) psycho-dynamism.

I left Taiwan in 1967, and therefore, I don’t have the first hand knowledge about the socio-economic development from 1967 – 1993 there. Based on talking with friends and general reading, it is safe to say the society in Taiwan underwent a transition from a semi-agricultural one into a industrial-commercial one. That event was propelled by several factors, including the invention of transistor/semiconductor and the subsequent blossom and spreading of related industries; the Vietnam War which made Taiwan an ideal R and R place for the GI’s as well as a logistic support and maintenance/repair base for the US military; and a booming construction industry among others.

For the purpose of analysis, I will separate the mainlanders immigrated to Taiwan starting and around 1949 into the first and second generations.

Comparatively speaking, the first generation mainland immigrants do have higher educational level and social status. Psychologically, it is much easier for them to identify themselves with the ruling group or class with or without any factual support. More ridiculously, in hinder sight at least, they consider themselves as “guests” and not as immigrants or settlers. All these three factors, among other conditions of their social existence, contributed to the formation of the false sense of superiority harbored by the first generation immigrants that I talked about.

Unfortunately, this false consciousness gets transmitted to their offspring, or the second-generation mainlanders, by the social constructing process. Although the latter had a very different social existence.

Due to the economic take-off in the mid-60, the educational level and social status of theso called "Taiwanese" are at least the same as if not better than the mainlander immigrants for the post-80’s generation. This explains why the mainlander immigrants in their 20’s or 30’s (the third generation which are not affected by their grandpa and grandma, generally speaking) do not have the false consciousness.

The false consciousness itself is O.K. at a personal level or being kept as a private matter. However, upon facing the incompatible socio-economic reality, some of the mainlanders, albeit a minority, would turn the false sense of superiority into resentment. Provoked by the TI ideology and discourse, these people will vent the resentment not only toward the TI crowd, which is also a small minority, but indiscriminately also against “Taiwanese” at large. That is when the false consciousness becomes ugly and poisonous.

Whether Mr. S has this false consciousness subconsciously is not for me to judge. I only stated my observation in general as an explanation for his comparing the Chinese ruling regime’s action against Chinese people with a foreigner’s similar action and somehow condone it. To me this is not acceptable.

Unless you can offer a rational explanation for his logic, I’m afraid mine at least is worthy of consideration. We should all look out for those shadowy or rather dark emotions, lest we make statement that inadvertently really hurt people's feeling and make a precarious situation even less manageable.

James