This is the recipe that the Chinese government proposes to its officials. Li Ke-giang, the Communist Party's issue two, and Wang Oshian, the Politburo member in charge of fighting corruption, recommend reading The Ancien Régime and the Revolution. How did they come to this surprising conclusion? Who in Europe today remembers Tocqueville? Of course, there is no lack of references to Democracy in America in any serious analysis of American society, but hardly anyone takes into account The Ancien Régime and the Revolution. However, the Chinese government seems to see similarities between pre-revolutionary France, so masterfully portrayed by Tocqueville, and China today: selfish individualism; social atomization; the desire to get rich at all costs; the gap between the few rich and the many poor. The reading of the French classic would be a kind of notice for navigators.

The change in the leadership of the Party in November has caused a change in the official speech . The new strong man, Xi Jinping, has not tired of repeating that "if the problem of corruption is not solved, there will be the end of the Party and of the State itself". notice as forceful as unprecedented: never before has something like this been said from the highest written request of power. It does not seem to have helped to remove this cancer by hanging several thousand corrupt officials every year in crowded stadiums. We already knew in the West that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent. Corruption is spreading everywhere and politicians and civil servants are becoming accomplices of unscrupulous businessmen. Social inequality is growing rapidly: 1% of households own 41% of the wealth. The fruits of the policy of economic liberalization implemented since 1989, which introduced a certain capitalism and proposed to the population the goal of rapid enrichment, are now being harvested. In this way, public attention was drawn away from strictly political problems, since the Party does not intend to relinquish its monopoly of power. Nor is it interested in allowing the emergence and strengthening of what in the West we call a civil society. It is enough to see, for example, the viciousness with which it persecutes freedom of expression on the Internet and the iron control of the traditional media. No hint of political liberalization. Will this social model be able to function in the long run, with economic freedom and political servitude? Surely not, since freedoms constitute a block that is difficult to live separately; one pulls on the other. We shall see how long the disciplined Chinese citizens, educated by Confucianism in obedience to their elders and the authorities, will put up with this arbitrary curtailment of their rights.

Meanwhile, the official resource to Tocqueville, who is still a foreign author and, therefore, "barbarian", is striking. Reading a classic -nothing light, by the way- to learn from the experience of others and improve one's own government is a measure that could only occur to the Chinese. Some of this medicine would be good for our country. The economic crisis and political corruption overwhelm us. Political leaders set a pitiful example, embroiled in petty quarrels while the nation sinks into recession and despondency. The "and you more" becomes the figure of speech of more substance, and the intellectual effort is applied in any case to seek the most forceful disqualification of the adversary. We would all be much better off, starting with the political class , if we all spent some time reading the classics. The exchange of insults could begin to give way to a exchange of ideas. The language would gain in height and, situated on that plane, the expletive would become a foreign body, which would end up disappearing almost by itself. There would be no agreement on so many important issues, but at least we could discuss the different alternatives with serenity and respect. It would be worth a try. And if we adults felt incapable of trying this remedy, we could at least give it to the children: as always, we will end up at Education as a radical and long-term solution deadline.