Adventures in Guangzhou!

Democracy in China

"When people think about China these days, they see a country on the cutting edge of major changes â€" both economic and internal. Coming out of a 5000-year historical cocoon defined by many of us looking back at our early beginnings as a slave and feudal society, the idea of a democracy and the freedoms that come with it hasn't been something that China's despotic emperors wanted to encourage. As far as they were concerned, there was no civilization as great as China's and democracy could remain millions of miles away from their shores. But over the past 100 years, China has taken steps towards democratic reforms, which have caused the decadent feudal dynasties to collapse â€" the arrogance or their power peeled away.

Many outsiders automatically point to the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 as the turning point for China's democratic revolution when many students gathered first in the intension to cherish the death of the beloved Zhou Enlai. But it turned out totally different. Of particular interest were many handwritten poems that were posted there. On the surface, these poems could appear to a naïve observer to commemorate ancient events from Chinese history, but they actually expressed critical sentiments regarding those in power in China while allowing some distance to be kept between the protesters and the wrath of the government For example, one poem implicitly criticized Jiang Qing by attacking the Empress Wu Zetian, a 7th century Tang Dynasty empress who ruled after her husband died. Such a massive outpouring of sentiment alarmed the government. In an emergency session meeting, the Politburo in the Great Hall of the People just west of the Square determined to remove all the wreaths and poems. This was done that night.

But the fact is China's first democratic campaign came on May 4, 1919. Known as May fourth Movement or Wusi Yundong, it was the first mass movement in modern Chinese history. The student demonstrations represent the most visible events in a process of change. Intellectuals identified the political establishment with China's failure in the modern era, and hundreds of new periodicals published attacks on Chinese traditions, turning to foreign ideas and ideologies. The movement split into leftist and liberal wings. The latter advocated gradual cultural reform as exemplified by Hu Shih who interpreted the pragmatism of John Dewey, while leftists like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao introduced Marxism and advocated political action. The movement also popularized vernacular literature, promoted political participation by women, and educational reforms. And even as China becomes a major player on the world economic stage, many westerners are mistakenly informed that our country is inhumane â€" that the government doesn't grant freedom of speech and that it violates human rights. The West does not see the rays of democracy in China, only the cloud cover of the People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949. They see that the community owns the major resources and means of production, and there's no public voting in China, and students are pressed too much etc. -------all these gives them the impression that there's no democracy or human right here. We do admit that all the above are true, BUT- .

But democratic reforms truly are happening every day in China. The situation is different. And despite of this, more and more access to politics are being achieved, since government is reporting more and more about its work, and the impact of the Internet has caused the public to learn different points of view without simply accepting one way of thinking. All of a sudden, the customer's needs and individual's legal rights have grown alongside the rise in our economy. On the other hand, I think that the population can vote does not mean that the population has a "say" in government policy. True, the government must respect the population wishes for it is the who elect them, but how many times have we all seen American protests going on because the some of the populace is displeased with government policy? It is also true however that in a communist regime that the state is the media, the law and judge. But how many American politicians have their hands (stock, ownership etc.) in the media? How can we watch what goes on on CNN and not say that it has a republican bias? So as you can see, Communist and Democratic forms of government are very contrary to each other. As they both have benefits and disadvantages, people continuously argue over the superior choice, despite history.

But the question remains â€" will China ever be as democratic as America? Will the system that works well in a country where freedom has rung in people's minds for centuries, also work in China? I guess that should be questioned. We should take China's unique history and situation into account. While many Chinese are well-educated today, especially my generation, more than half of our population was brought up to believe that democracy was not the best choice for our country. Many are concerned that democracy threatens national unity. Maybe they are right. Maybe America's version of democracy won't work well in China, but that doesn't mean that China isn't continuing to take steps towards reforming our civilization."

Wow, right? I don't think most American high schoolers can think on that sort of metacognitive level. I find this btoh impressive and encouraging. If everyone can imitate this level of independent thinking, I think the future of the world is in good hands.

On a completely separate note, Johnny Damon to the Yankees?! Good lord, I leave the country for a couple of months and suddenly there's chaos. This is absolutely monumental and I can't fathom this kind of signing. I've always hated Damon but I guess I will have to try my best to like the idiot. We'll see. Besides that, the Wolfes arrive in China in less than 48 hours! Woohoo!