Chapter 3 Preface to the Chinese version

Wang Mengkui In the wave of rapid changes in today's world, the expansion of commonality and the publicity of differences are two parallel trends that go hand in hand.The popularization of new technological revolution achievements such as the Internet, the unprecedented convenience of transportation and communication, the rapid expansion of the unified market, and the formulation of more and more common rules of the game have severely impacted the traditional social economy and culture, and many things have shown globalization. Or the trend of integration.However, the development of this commonality does not erase the differences in the world; rather, the expansion of commonality is based on the existence of differences.Not only the inherent differences still persist, but also new differences are emerging under the new conditions.It is as big as the country's social and economic system, as small as the daily trivial living customs of the public.We still live in a rich and colorful world, and will continue to live in a rich and colorful world in the future.This is what I felt after reading this book.

This is a very insightful book.The author is a well-known opinion survey expert in the United States, has served many large companies, and has served as a strategic advisor to the President of the United States.His housekeeping ability to settle down is the analysis of many social phenomena in the United States reflected in this book.The author is not good at in-depth theoretical analysis, but with a unique perspective, extensively touches on fashionable topics in the predictions of American business society, and reveals many new development trends through the ever-changing American social life.Readers can see from this book how great and silent changes are taking place in American social life.The author's book is titled, but what is discussed is not trivial trifles, but, as the subtitle indicates, "the hidden forces that will determine the great changes in the future."The author is good at discovering the differences that have recently emerged in the tide of social life, seeing the subtleties of the work, gaining insight into the future development from the subtleties, and drawing out trends that people have never noticed, or have been touched by researchers from different aspects but policymakers have not yet attracted attention.Behind the written narrative and social survey data, there are often decision-making suggestions for entrepreneurs or the government, including some criticisms of the current problems of the United States.Of course, what this book discusses are not the so-called fundamental social and economic system issues, and we may not agree with all the author's views, but they are undoubtedly issues that have important influence on the country's social and economic policies and systems.Not only can you use this to understand the United States, but it is also helpful to foresee China, because some of the new trends in American social life revealed here have already been manifested implicitly or explicitly in our country. Premeditated.

China and the United States are very different.Different social systems, different historical and cultural traditions, and different stages of development.However, in terms of the breadth and depth of social change in China today, it is far beyond the reach of the United States, and probably surpasses most countries in the world.The reform of the economic system, the transformation of the economic development mode, the advancement of industrialization and urbanization, and the transformation of the urban-rural dual economic structure have brought China into an unprecedented social transformation.The neat and "uniform" social life is becoming more and more diverse.People's life, not only material life, but also the independence, selectivity, variability and difference of ideological and cultural activities are all increasing unprecedentedly.This independence, selectivity, variability and difference add to the more complex landscape as we often experience this change in very contradictory ways.Properly handling the relationship between generality and individuality, universality and particularity is the proper meaning of realizing social harmony.For the increasing and complex independence, selectivity, changeability and difference, we must first understand, learn to respect, and guide appropriately.This requires more in-depth and meticulous investigation and research. Only in this way can we accurately grasp the changing trends of China's social economy, politics, culture and social life at the present stage.This kind of research is not only useful to government policy makers, entrepreneurs and social science researchers, but also to readers from other social classes.It should be said that my country's statistical work and social survey work have made significant progress in recent years, but compared with the drastic changes in social life, they are still insufficient.We often stay at the level of abstract judgment and understanding, and pay little attention to the meticulous investigation and analysis of changes in social life, and it is these subtle changes that often indicate future development trends.This kind of work can enhance our observation and thinking about the subtle changes around us, and the investigation and analysis methods it provides are also worth learning.

The topics discussed are serious social issues, but the writing is vivid, the language is humorous, and witty metaphors are often interspersed, making reading effortless.Although there are many statistical data, they are only used to illustrate the problem, which can increase the credibility without being boring and cumbersome.This is also rare in similar works in our country at present.I read the manuscript with great interest and thought it would be helpful to Chinese readers, so I am happy to preface it. June 7, 2008