Baizuo — two syllable Chinese word packed with insight

Where have I been!  While I consider myself  fairly aware when it comes to political jargon even if I struggle with the usefulness of some of the catchwords like “gaslighting” , this one heretofore flew under my radar (more jargon).

The delightful word, of Chinese origin is  – baizuo –  pronounced as bīzwō (long i, long o). It has apparently been in the Urban Dictionary for a year or more and their definition is more succinct while consistent with others.

Baizuo(白左,White Leftists)is a popular Mainland Chinese term coined for a specific subset of Westerners who are despised by most Chinese for their pretentiousness, hypocritical behavior and an overbearing sense of entitlement.

Baizuos are mostly characterized by their heavy use of political correctness and double standards to covertly advance their own material or emotional interests at the expense of others, while claiming otherwise from a self-assumed superior moral position. Some are truly non-malicious, but are too naive or lack the worldview to provide useful opinions or solutions to real societal problems.

  • To describe the same people I just used the more general descriptive term “dipshit” 
  • Now we have a term suitable for less coarse company with more specific meaning,
  • Thanks to TN for sending it, along with the first graphic below
  • Comsymps try to pack a lot into the word bourgeoisie. Now conservatives have at least as sophisticated sounding sociological (and psychological) descriptor
  • Rush used to refer to the same people with the phrase “heads full of mush”.  The phrase was succinct but not as succinct as baizuo.
  • Go forth and use it with relish

Here is a wikipedia entry for the word along with some selected memes to illustrate the term and its target.  By the way, as I delved into the matter another word that popped up was “gutmensch“. It is a German term full of similar disdain directed at the same sort of people perhaps with more bite than “do-gooders” but neither as packed, red-pilled  and based as baizuo :-).

Wikipedia Definition Baizuo:

“Baizuo” is a popular political epithet commonly used on the Chinese Internet. The literal translation is “white left” which refers to western white liberal leftists.[5] According to Chinese political scientist Chenchen Zhang, the word “Baizuo” refers to those who “only care about topics such as immigration, minorities, LGBT rights and the environment”, but lack a concept of “real problems in the real world”. It is also used to describe those “hypocritical humanitarians who advocate political correctness just to satisfy their own sense of moral superiority”.[6][7] Some used this word to indicate those “ignorant and arrogant westerners” who “pity the rest of the world and think they are saviours”.[8]

History[edit]
The term baizuo was apparently coined in a 2010 article published on Renren Network by user Li Shuo, entitled The Fake Morality of the Western White Left and the Chinese Patriotic Scientists  . .  initially used as a general critique of certain socialist values in the American left.[3] No further use of the term is known until 2013, where it enjoyed prominence in the Chinese forum Zhihu through 2013–2015.[citation needed]

Substantial use in Chinese Internet culture began in early 2016, at first at MIT BBS, a bulletin board system used by many Chinese Americans, during the 2016 United States presidential election. Baizuo was used there to criticize the Democratic Party’s emphasis on the affirmative action policies perceived as discriminating against Asians.[9]

This term also gained some attentions in Germany and is used to criticize Angela Merkel’s immigration policies.[10][11]

The term has been referenced approvingly by American conservatives, including Tucker Carlson and Rod Dreher.[12]


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2 Responses to Baizuo — two syllable Chinese word packed with insight

  1. Leone says:

    How I love learning a new word!

  2. Hubert J Pries says:

    New word in my vocabulary which shortcuts the usual multi swear word description of these useless . . . damn, i was about to launch again.

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