To me, I do not look to the American society as the more progressive society of the two. Although the American youths are gradually getting more interested in politics, they are doing so because of the difficulties that they are faced with currently economically. They are becoming more engaged in the American politics, where it is evident in the big increase in the turnout rate of the American youths where it is reported to be the second highest turnout rate, second to when in 1972, the first year that 18-year-olds could vote in a presidential election. Also, the percentage increased by 1-6% from the 2004 elections.
All these statistics shows that there is an increasing trend where the American youths are becoming more active and concerned with politics. However, I do not look to this as the progression of the American society as it is the debt crisis that is giving the youths a push to be more engaged in politics. In July 2011, 4.1 million of the youths in America were jobless. The youths became engaged in politics as they saw it as a way that the problem could be solved, where they can vote for the person whom they think can solve the economic problems that is haunting the current youths in America, as they are the ones who are taking its impact the hardest. Hence, I do not see this as a progression.
On the contrary, the Chinese youths are becoming more and more disengaged from politics and becoming more and more ignorant towards it. From the readings that we were given, I came to realise that the Chinese youths today, unlike the older generations when they were young, no longer take any interest in politics and find no urge to ask for a change from communism to the all attractive democracy. The reading made me realise just how ignorant the youths of China today are towards politics as in one the reading, the writer described that to the youths today, Nintendo Wii is way ahead of democracy on their wish list, which just shows how politics has slowly faded away from the lives of the youths. I believe that the main cause of this degradation is the result of the comfort that the youths today are enjoying from as China is fast developing and the youths are benefiting from it, hence they see no need to challenge the ruling party now as it is bringing riches to both the country and the people.
However, I see the Chinese society as the progressive one as from what I understand, all country will ultimately progress to a better political system as the people get more educated and more become engaged in politics. Communism will not last long in China as when the day that the economy slows down, communism will lose its charm to the people and will ask for a reform. Also, I do not think that China will follow America’s footstep in becoming democratic as the educated in China has seen all the flaws in the American system.
Many argue that the American system is a very good system as it is a check and balance system, where there is the republicans and the democrats. However, I find this system, like many others a very unproductive system mainly in two aspects. Firstly, the two parties always contradict with each other where they vote against each other’s new policies, where an example would be Obama’s plan on higher tax on the rich so as to transfer the wealth to the poor, and it is heavily slammed down by the republicans as they themselves are the ones who would be affected by it. Also, the American party in power and the president changes now and then which causes their plans to be affected hence it is impossible to implement any major change to the system as it would be affected when the president or party in power changes. Hence, I believe that China would strive for a political system which would be of a balance between the goods of communism and democracy.
All in all, I believe that China is the more progressive society of the two as it still has a lot of room to improve whereas America would be stucked at the same situation for many years to come.
(765 words)
Hi Chung Xian (Terry),
ReplyDeleteThis is a very reflective piece of work. You are very comprehensive in elaborating the progress made by the youths of the two societies.
However, you mentioned that the fact that more youths in America are taking a more proactive role in politics does not really show progress as they are forced by the economy. I would like to differ. In my opinion, this is exactly how progress takes place. We say a person is having progress when he is changing and improving for the better. In this case, the American youths are changing as they wanted to take on a more proactive role in the country's politics and help to make an impact on the country's future. No matter what is the reason behind this, this shows that the mindset of the American youths are changing, hence, progress.
Furthermore, you mentioned that the Chinese Youths are now more disengaged from politics because of the comfort that the youths today are enjoying from as China is fast developing and the youths are benefiting from it. However, the current situation in China is that Thousands of post-graduates in China are unable to find a job and many are getting jobless as soon as they finished university. We can infer that most of the Chinese youths' situations are anything but comfort. Those youths who are in comfort are those minorities that live in a wealthy family in developed cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Yet, the youths are still ignorant about China politics. I would like to post you a question as in is there another reason for the ignorance of the Chinese youths besides the blooming economy?
Anyway, still a job well done. Looking forward to your next post.
WenHan.
Hey Chung Xian,
ReplyDeleteI would say that this is a rather interesting view you have on the take of 'progress' in both countries, and your points were well-elaborated. However, I think that you did not clearly understand what 'progress' means. The notion of progress is the improvement and advancement in technology, science, and social organization, which inevitably produce an increase in standards of the human condition. Thus on your first point about that the youths taking a stand in the politics of America does not means that there is a progression in the politics of America. However, based on the notion, as long as the youths have stepped out and voiced their opinion, it is a showing of progression as unlike before when they did not participate in elections, they are more involved in it now, thus it is certain that there is progress, despite what reasons that results in the youths to be more involved in the politics of China.
Also, you said that 'all country will ultimately progress to a better political system as the people get more educated and more become engaged in politics'. I do not really agree with this as the education system in China is rather advanced, as can be seen from many chinese students topping the charts in national exams or tests. This shows that now, even with good education, the youths still do not want to take part in politics, and clearly in the future, they will also not be interested in politics as education gets better. However, it is actually the rural areas of china, which has a lower standard of education, where the youths want to take part in politics, but is impossible due to the communist government. Lastly, like Wen Han did, I would also like to post you a question: Do you think there is another factor that you can use in determining the progress of both societies?
Still, it was a good piece of work.
Cheers,
Hui Si Jian (10)
Hello Terry,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I’d like to say how much I appreciate this journal for its simultaneous depth and simplicity. You’ve aptly summarized the main malaise in America’s political system, as well as discussed the disparities in progress between the two socities.
I also like that you advocated a point of view that wasn’t very conventional. You said that China, whose Western areas remain dismally impoverished and rural, was actually more “progressive” than the US because of its potential for revolution and change. I feel this point is very valid, and you explained it satisfactorily.
Indeed China’s economic growth has long been suspected to be unsustainable. Right now its income is supplied by investment, as well its notoriously prodigal export revenues and manufacturing industries. Innovation, in comparison, is ignored, despite being one of the key driving factors of growth in a globalized, 21st-century world.
Another reason why China’s economic boom may crash and burn eventually is its massive appetite for natural resources. China’s now consumes more grain, meat, coal and steel than the US. The only resource which China doesn’t swallow up more of than the US is oil, according to environmentalist Lester Brown (http://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_growth_unsustainable_on_all_counts_must_change_economist.html). The ecological ramifications of this are self-evident, not merely in Beijing’s famously poor air quality.
One point which I will contend is your assertion that the US has made no progress because its youth are merely becoming politically active because their self-interest is threatened. In this case, your definition of progress should be the degree of altruism and selflessness in a society, that would cause people to fight for causes not their own. However, later you claimed:
“All in all, I believe that China is the more progressive society of the two as it still has a lot of room to improve whereas America would be stuck at the same situation for many years to come.”
This implies that you define progress as the potential for improvement. Your points are not exactly invalid, but it would help if you properly defined some terms.
In addition I’d like to say you seem to be rather too caught up with the fact that the youth are fighting for their own interests. Yes, true, but the point is they are fighting for a good cause. The American War of Independence started because a group of Americans felt that their interests were being threatened by British colonial masters. They were fighting for their lives. But that didn’t make their cause selfish – on the contrary America would barely exist now if not for their strife and anger. Would you say that, because they were fighting for themselves, they had not achieved progress?
I leave you to mull over this point and hope that my words have been of use to you.
Sincerely,
Joel Tan
In reply to Si Jian,
ReplyDeleteI would like to clarify my point that the educated in China would one day call for a reform. Firstly, if you look down at history, in the Tiananmen Incident of 1989, it was the students that stood up and called for a political reform and I believe that the force that drove those students to the streets would eventually also give a push to the current generation of both Chinese newly-graduates and students. As Wen Han has mentioned, many of the graduates in China today are faced with underpaid jobs or are even unemployed and thus if not much is done to address that issue, the youth would definitely bring issues out onto the streets especially if the economic starts to slow down.
Also, I would like to counter your point that the educated are not doing anything about the current ruling system and politics and would do nothing forever. If you have followed weibo closely, there are a lot of educated young bloggers who are complaining pretty much about everything in their lives and the percentage of these kind of people are not of only a minority. The youths in China have seen the example of how Libya fought for reform and as reported, the Chinese government are already taking measures and precautions so as to prevent similar things happening in China where they have stepped up security. The situation in China is like a balloon, the air keeps going in and we just have to wait for this point where the balloon is overstretched and it would burst, releasing everything in it, and it would be dead painful.
Sincerely,
Chung Xian
Hi Terry :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I would like to applaud for your effort to stand firm in your own point of view in this reflective journal. I like how this post reflects your true opinions rather than just merely stating evidence, statistics. With that said, maybe some statistics,evidence could be quoted so as to substantiate your point, eg. Youth's disengagement in politics in China.
However, I would say that your idea of how "Progress" is being determined in countries is not being shown explicitly in your writing. It would be great if you could explain how you determined progress in society is being measured, using it as a criteria. In this way, your points could link back to your main argument that China's society is more progressive than America's. Through your journal however, I was able to pick up how u define "progress". You define "progress" in a society as the room for improvement, room for an increase in people's standard of living.
Secondly, I would like to disagree that because of the wealth and comfort in the youth, the satisfaction becomes a barrier to the engagement in the politics. This is a false assumption and generalization that youths in China are relatively wealthy and have high material wealth. In fact, statistics show the opposite. UNICEF have shown that "16% of (China's) population below international poverty line of US$1.25 per day, 2008" (http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china_statistics.html). This evidence goes on to prove my point that not every youth, teenager out there has the material wealth and comfort, therefore it is wrong to say that the apathy shown by the youth towards politics is caused by their smooth-sailing lifes.
On the contrary, I would like to suggest that youths are unwilling to participate or engage in the politics because of the communist and "one-party" system in China. Events show that the CCP are not hesistant capture people who opposed the government and its policies. This events often strikes fear within the youths and in my opinion, it is the main reason why youths try to stay away from politics as far as possible.
Nevertheless, it was an interesting read with a refreshing view.
Chin Ann