China and America both face societal problems, in fact every country does. The only differentiating factor is how significant these problems are to the world. China and America are world superpowers dominating almost every other country in the world. They draw connections to many other countries in terms of partnership or collaboration, making societal problems in both countries more harmful and detrimental to the welfare of the entire world.
An example of China societal problem is corruption. In recent years, many Chinese officials and bankers have escaped prosecution by fleeing abroad with large sums of money. The Ministry of Commerce estimated around 4,000 corrupt officials have fled China with approximately $50bn. This does not merely have detrimental effects on the economy due to large amount of losses, but also reflects on an inefficient and greedy government that covets the countries’ assets. This then makes it very hard for the people to trust the government again, such as management the taxpayers’ money, because trust is like paper, once crumpled, it can never be perfect again. We don’t see the Egyptians giving Mubarak a chance after his doings. Even worse, the people may start to resent the government and may pull strikes to oust the government out, like in the Middle East. Surely, we do not want to repeat that devastation. Regarding this problem, I feel that there should be stricter legislation and constant monitoring by the UN and not increase the pay of officials. Increasing pay is just a temporary solution and has no guarantees, we may end up allowing these criminals to escape with more money, like Allen Kagina (URA) earns 28million yet is URA most corruption institution and Kale Kayihura earns 2 million, police 2nd most corrupt member. Stricter legislation includes the government to give an account for every sum of money they take or use, and worsen the punishment for these criminal acts. If we compare it to the past whereby embezzlement by officials was the worst crime a person can ever commit (worse than murder), the punishments are very scary, like mutilation by five horses, killing the whole family, skinned and burned alive(as learnt in China studies). This could evoke fear in the officials, making them think twice before indulging in corruption.
Another problem of China is their strong media censorship. China launched its great firewall, Golden Shield of China in 1998 to monitor and censor web materials that they feel will take a toll on their people’s mindset, making them go against the government. China then went on to block Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube etc… With all these international platforms, to interact and engage with other online users around the world, gone, the PRCs have lost much connection with the world. What China does instead is to re-create their own copycat network which the government will control what the people will see and will not. This form of isolation of information renders the people incapable of obtaining information outside their oppressive circle. This is very dangerous. Similarities can be drawn between the current situation in China and the Qin dynasty where none were allowed out of the country’s border. Other problems faced during the Qin dynasty also included that of constant invasion, as the people were unaware of the invader’s existence, until they were under attack. Similarly, present day China may lost touch with the world and may not be able to cope if ever faced with outsiders, and collaborations between countries may be in jeopardy. The government’s purpose for this oppression is very simple - controlling information makes controlling people easier. Therefore I propose that the government reach a compromise. Having the PRCs totally eradicated from the international circle may not be too ideal, may escalate to resentment and people not able to keep up with times. I suggest that government censor at most 60% of the information, still allowing the PRCs to have connection with the world, at the same time, will not cause the government o lose their power. Realistically it is impossible for China to free all information, so a compromise is better than nothing.
America tend to resort to violence very easily, feeling justified to use violence as a precaution, “safe than sorry” mentality. One million dead in Iraq, seems to be justified by the Americans who claim to feel threatened by weapons Iraq “contain”, without actual proof, although some speculate it is just a ploy to gain access to Iraq’s oil wells. They also feel justified breaking a 84 year old man neck just for clenching his fist. They claim he was a “threat”. This may escalate into Americans being violent for no apparent reason. Recently American troops were arrested for murdering Afghan civilian for fun and collecting trophies such fingers and skulls. Such signs do not come overnight but over a long period of frequent usage of violence. Therefore I feel that an effective way is to use campaign for “动手不动口”, a form of Chinese value.
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Hi Yu Xiang, I disagree with your point that China will lose connection with the rest of the world due to censorship, causing the people to not be able to cope with outsiders. The purpose of censorship in China is to prevent chaos, since China is such a large country. The government controls the censorship and will thus definitely make sure that enough information is given to the people to allow them to cope with outsiders. This is because these collaborations will ultimately affect China’s development and so China will definitely make sure that her people will be able to cope with people outside China. Also, the ancient example that you have given is thus not applicable since present day China does not cut off all connections with the outside world like ancient China when no one was allowed to leave the country. I also feel that your solution may not be practical. The purpose of censorship like I mentioned before is to prevent chaos. Thus it is not possible that the government only censors 60% of the information. This is because the 60% will still be made up of information which the government thinks may cause chaos in the country. Censorship cannot be measured by quantity. Censoring more or less information does not make a difference. Censoring the type of information does. What I suggest China can do is to adopt what Singapore does. The government censors some pornography sites but still leaves much freedom over the internet. Lastly, I feel that violence in America may not be due to parental control. It may be due to the pop culture as well. Much violence is portrayed in songs in America and this may be the cause of the violence. On a side note, it is 动口不动手 and not 动手不动口.
ReplyDeleteHi Yu Xiang, I like the way you pointed out that corruption in China is a major problem as it takes a toll on the citizens' trust and support for the government. I agree that merely increasing the wages of the officials is only a temporary solution as the root cause of the problem is still not solved, as there needs to be something to target their mindset and deter them from carrying out corruption, otherwise they must just continue to do it behind closed doors.
ReplyDeleteHowever, although I agree with your point that America is relatively a more violent country, I feel that the examples used in Iraq is not really a good reflection of the American society. In fact, some of these American soldiers in Iraq are found to suffer from mental problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and even mental breakdowns as a result of over-exposure to the war, which leads to them committing such acts. Rather, a better example would be the crime rates, with a 408.3 per 100000 population violent crime rate in America. Another example would be Central America and South America having the 2nd highest and 4th highest homicide rates respectively in the world.
I feel that overall crime rate would be a better example than individual cases, as China also has cases of citizens committing violent acts, such as the "attack spree" on rural schools in 2010 by Chinese farmers.
Another thing I would like to add is that I agree with your point on China's internet censorship being a problem, as I leaves the Chinese with little room for interaction with other countries in the online world. Furthermore, the Chinese citizens have already found various ways to by-pass the online censorship, affecting the overall "effectiveness" of the censorship system in serving its supposed purpose. This is also a cause of much unhappiness among the Chinese especially the youths who prefer access to social networking sites like Facebook. However, the government still has a right to monitor the online world and defend their ideologies from foreign interference if need be. Thus, I agree with your statement that the Chinese government should make a compromise in restricting its citizens rather than totally blocking them from online sites like Facebook, Twitter etc.