During the past few weeks, we have seen thought-provoking and critical individual presentations by our fellow classmates, as well as active and constructive class discussions where we get to openly debate on a myriad of ideas and opinions, greatly enhancing and enriching our learning experience.
In our case studies, we have constantly touched on the progress made by both American and Chinese societies. Both nations have experienced groundbreaking changes during the past century as well as in this new millennium. One of the most significant and apparent progress has been economic progress. With the opening up of its economy in 1979, China has experienced rapid economic growth on an unparalleled scale, enjoying double-digit growth for well over a decade. With its GDP of more than US$8 trillion, China has overtook Japan as the world’s second largest economy, right on the heels of the US. On the other hand, the US has been mired in its gloomy economic recession and chronic unemployment, while having to face stiff competition from China. However, another equally significant progress, which has often been drowned out in all the hype of China’s rise to superpower status, is societal progress in both nations. Some of the markers of societal progress include gender equality, political involvement and education, which have been expounded on in our case studies.
It is no doubt that both countries today are experiencing an era of change. In America, Barack Obama, with his 2008 Presidential Campaign slogan of “Change We Can Believe In”, is currently serving his second term in office. His image as a young, charismatic and ambitious leader, the first African-American President in US history, has inspired a wave of optimism and political activeness particularly among American youth. On the other hand, Xi Jinping has risen as the leader of China’s fifth generation of leadership, succeeding Hu Jingtao. His call for renewed efforts in combating corruption, an open approach to governance as well as his coining of the “Chinese Dream”, has led to widespread optimism of further political reform and openness in China. However, it remains to be seen whether the hopefulness and expectation brought about by the leaders of the two most powerful nations in the world will continue to hold.
I shall explore the progress made regarding gender equality in both China and America. From family structure to education, workforce participation and political activity, women have taken part actively in historical advancements over the last century, with the dramatic transformation of the roles, responsibilities and expectations of women. However, it can be said that the present feminist movement in both countries have all but stalled.
In China, though Chairman Mao once said that women hold up half the sky, women in today's China find it difficult to venture further into the other half – the economic and political sphere. While women make up a large part of production-line workers in China's private industries, the giant state-owned enterprises, which form the core of China’s economy, are almost dominated by males. All members of the Politburo Standing Committee are men, while women are a minority in the National People's Congress. The one-child policy, introduced by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, gave women freedom from caring for large families, but has also caused pain and suffering in the case of forced abortions. In the workplace, many married women have to lie about their marital status to get or even keep their jobs. Many feel compelled to lie, out of fear of being sidelined by their bosses, clients and colleagues, who look down on married women as being less productive.
On the other hand, in America, as pregnancy is not considered a disability, employers are not obligated to accommodate pregnant workers. Thousands of pregnant women are hence pushed out of jobs they are perfectly capable of performing. Only about a third of employers allow at least some of their employees to work from home on a regular basis, with most women feeling that they do not have enough leverage to ask for greater rights. There are indeed some examples of exceptional female leaders such as Hillary Clinton, who has been one of the most powerful females in the world. She has advanced an explicitly feminist agenda during her time as Secretary of State, bringing women issues to the forefront of the international stage. However, she has been criticized by some as an openly feminist careerist who could never succeed without her husband's connections and advice. Furthermore, she represents but a minority of American women who are willing to speak up for their rights and push for greater freedoms.
Another important indicator of societal progress is political awareness. Though America and China have vastly different political system, the former being a multi-party system long held to be the bastion of democracy, the latter being essentially a one-party authoritarian rule, they suffer similar symptoms of widespread youth apathy. In America, though the public are more vocal in expressing their political opinions and a mature political citizenry is in place, the youth are more likely than previous generations to be cynical and apathetic towards politics. Their voting rates in both national and local elections have been dismal, and they are less likely to be affiliated with political parties. When they register at all, many simply categorize themselves as independents. Since Obama’s 2008 campaign, the political enthusiasm of youth have all but cooled, with about half of them saying the president has failed to change the way Washington works.
On the other hand, in China, today’s Chinese youth are characterised by their apparent political apathy. More than 20 years after the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square, they seem to care little about the student-led movement that ended with the massacre of hundreds. These youth cannot and do not want to participate in politics, which they tend to feel to be murky and detached from their lives. There is a feeling of cynicism that they can do nothing about politics, so there is no point of getting involved. Also, with a strong sense of self-preservation, they feel that speaking out engenders potential repercussions. Over the years sustained economic growth has provided the regime with its legitimacy. Instead of entering the obscure world of politics, the youth would rather focus on something practical that they are in control of, in this case, their individual economic success. Chinese youth are the main beneficiaries of China’s rapid economic growth, and as such, they are likely to preserve the status quo. With their pragmatic self-interest, they find no reason to challenge the state as long as they continue to reap the economic benefits. Furthermore, their reluctance to call for reform is driven in part by their reluctance to tarnish China's moment of glory as it looks set to become the new global superpower.
However, for Chinese youths disillusioned with the system, they can express their political views over the Internet. China's online population is the world's largest: 298 million, which is about the size of the entire United States. Thus, instead of protesting on the streets, the movement for the freedom of expression now happens in the blogosphere. The youth have constantly found ways to circumvent the Great Firewall, and the Internet has become a platform for them to voice dissent against the government, albeit discreetly and anonymously. Therefore, there is reason to be hopeful that the political apathy of the youth may well be a facade than the truth.
It is no doubt that both countries today are experiencing an era of change. In America, Barack Obama, with his 2008 Presidential Campaign slogan of “Change We Can Believe In”, is currently serving his second term in office. His image as a young, charismatic and ambitious leader, the first African-American President in US history, has inspired a wave of optimism and political activeness particularly among American youth. On the other hand, Xi Jinping has risen as the leader of China’s fifth generation of leadership, succeeding Hu Jingtao. His call for renewed efforts in combating corruption, an open approach to governance as well as his coining of the “Chinese Dream”, has led to widespread optimism of further political reform and openness in China. However, it remains to be seen whether the hopefulness and expectation brought about by the leaders of the two most powerful nations in the world will continue to hold.
I shall explore the progress made regarding gender equality in both China and America. From family structure to education, workforce participation and political activity, women have taken part actively in historical advancements over the last century, with the dramatic transformation of the roles, responsibilities and expectations of women. However, it can be said that the present feminist movement in both countries have all but stalled.
In China, though Chairman Mao once said that women hold up half the sky, women in today's China find it difficult to venture further into the other half – the economic and political sphere. While women make up a large part of production-line workers in China's private industries, the giant state-owned enterprises, which form the core of China’s economy, are almost dominated by males. All members of the Politburo Standing Committee are men, while women are a minority in the National People's Congress. The one-child policy, introduced by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, gave women freedom from caring for large families, but has also caused pain and suffering in the case of forced abortions. In the workplace, many married women have to lie about their marital status to get or even keep their jobs. Many feel compelled to lie, out of fear of being sidelined by their bosses, clients and colleagues, who look down on married women as being less productive.
On the other hand, in America, as pregnancy is not considered a disability, employers are not obligated to accommodate pregnant workers. Thousands of pregnant women are hence pushed out of jobs they are perfectly capable of performing. Only about a third of employers allow at least some of their employees to work from home on a regular basis, with most women feeling that they do not have enough leverage to ask for greater rights. There are indeed some examples of exceptional female leaders such as Hillary Clinton, who has been one of the most powerful females in the world. She has advanced an explicitly feminist agenda during her time as Secretary of State, bringing women issues to the forefront of the international stage. However, she has been criticized by some as an openly feminist careerist who could never succeed without her husband's connections and advice. Furthermore, she represents but a minority of American women who are willing to speak up for their rights and push for greater freedoms.
Another important indicator of societal progress is political awareness. Though America and China have vastly different political system, the former being a multi-party system long held to be the bastion of democracy, the latter being essentially a one-party authoritarian rule, they suffer similar symptoms of widespread youth apathy. In America, though the public are more vocal in expressing their political opinions and a mature political citizenry is in place, the youth are more likely than previous generations to be cynical and apathetic towards politics. Their voting rates in both national and local elections have been dismal, and they are less likely to be affiliated with political parties. When they register at all, many simply categorize themselves as independents. Since Obama’s 2008 campaign, the political enthusiasm of youth have all but cooled, with about half of them saying the president has failed to change the way Washington works.
On the other hand, in China, today’s Chinese youth are characterised by their apparent political apathy. More than 20 years after the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square, they seem to care little about the student-led movement that ended with the massacre of hundreds. These youth cannot and do not want to participate in politics, which they tend to feel to be murky and detached from their lives. There is a feeling of cynicism that they can do nothing about politics, so there is no point of getting involved. Also, with a strong sense of self-preservation, they feel that speaking out engenders potential repercussions. Over the years sustained economic growth has provided the regime with its legitimacy. Instead of entering the obscure world of politics, the youth would rather focus on something practical that they are in control of, in this case, their individual economic success. Chinese youth are the main beneficiaries of China’s rapid economic growth, and as such, they are likely to preserve the status quo. With their pragmatic self-interest, they find no reason to challenge the state as long as they continue to reap the economic benefits. Furthermore, their reluctance to call for reform is driven in part by their reluctance to tarnish China's moment of glory as it looks set to become the new global superpower.
However, for Chinese youths disillusioned with the system, they can express their political views over the Internet. China's online population is the world's largest: 298 million, which is about the size of the entire United States. Thus, instead of protesting on the streets, the movement for the freedom of expression now happens in the blogosphere. The youth have constantly found ways to circumvent the Great Firewall, and the Internet has become a platform for them to voice dissent against the government, albeit discreetly and anonymously. Therefore, there is reason to be hopeful that the political apathy of the youth may well be a facade than the truth.
Hi weicong, this is a very detailed and informative piece of journal entry and I throughly enjoyed it. You have identified a few factors to demonstrate the idea of progress in US and China- economic growth,progress of gender equality and societal progress in terms of political apathy among youths. I agree completely with you that " the present feminist movement in both countries have all but stalled.", maybe gender equality is really a utopian idea and is unattainable? Regarding the political apathy among Chinese youths, I agree that youths are concerned of reaping economic benefits and are thus less concerned about political developments in the country. I would like to compare youths in China and Taiwan. Recently, the death of a young conscript in Taiwan sparked mass protests in Taipei due to the inefficiency of the Ma Administration and the relevant officials for offering explanations and providing justice for the family. The sheer number of people present at the protest which was estimated at 250,000 — was unprecedented, but more importantly, the vast majority of them were young. As the Ma Administration continues to push through so many unjust and unfair policies, tension among the youths have forced them to protest against the government. I believe one reason why Taiwanese youths are more politically active is because they are aware of the power they have in influencing government policies. They seem themselves as agents for change, as having the responsibility to protect Taiwan's democracy. However,China youths do not think in this way as they are mostly preoccupied with upgrading themselves to survive in a highly competitive environment. They believe that it is impossible that their voices will have any effect on the government, so why waste time? I believe that this is greatly attributed to the Tiananmen Incident.
ReplyDeleteWeicong, thanks for the detailed analysis in your journal! It was awesome and I enjoyed it!
Thank you Chun Yi!
DeleteHi Weicong,
ReplyDeleteHi Weicong,
Your post is very detailed and informative. I do agree with you in the fact that there is political apathy among the Chinese youths. I believe the Chinese education system for such scenarios. In the recent years, the Chinese education system has gained a reputation of churning out students who study exceptionally hard to enter a good college and get a good job. Hence these students are the mere slaves of their textbooks and exam scripts, where most of them lack of their individual opinions. With a lack of individual opinions it is impossible for events like the Tiananmen Square incident to occur. Moreover, the youths put in a great deal of effort to ace heir college-entrance exams to enter a prestigious college, securing a bright future. The Chinese youths are hence unwilling to stage reforms and campaigns which might cost them their bright future.
Thank you Rixin!
DeleteHi Weicong, I am really enlightened after reading your reflective journal. It is very insightful and truly expresses your opinion on the issues in the USA and China. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and look forward to more of such great posts in the future!
ReplyDeleteThank you Wang Zhi!
Delete