China’s economy has been progressing very quickly, with its
GDP increasing steadily over the years. However, it does not mean that the
standard of living of its people is increasing. Despite’s its booming economy;
I think that the society is facing the problem of unequal progress. In 2010,
China’s Gini coefficient reached 0.47, indicating a huge gap between the rich
and the poor. There are constant reports regarding exploitation of workers,
food safety issues; corrupted governmental officials and etc. These are signs
and evidences to prove that China’s moral education, living standard of the
lower income group and other areas are not keeping up with the pace of China’s
economic growth.
In order for China’s
society to progress even further, these problems need to be eradicated. First
off, the education system needs to place more emphasis on inculcating moral
values to the students. This is essential as many of these social problems
arose due to the degradation of moral values of certain people, like the Waste
oil incident (地沟油事件). From my
experience in one of the schools in Peking, the educators do make attempts to
promote values among students. However, perhaps due to the fierce competitions,
the school and students still focus mainly on academic work and often neglect
moral education. Furthermore, this school in Peking cannot be taken as a
representative of the whole education system in China. I am unsure about the
situation the many different schools spread all around China, whether they are
better or much worse.
The Chinese themselves are also doing their parts to minimise
the effects of these problems. One of the methods they used was using the 微博or twitter to spread and raise awareness about
the issue at hand. For example, the news of the overloaded school bus that
resulted in huge casualties spread very fast through the use of 微博, which caused a public indignation. This
pressurised the government to take actions to resolve the problem. Other than that,
the Chinese are also beginning to question the legitimacy of the CCP after they
have seen how successful the democracy in Taiwan is. This is a sign of China
progressing towards a democratic society which makes me feel glad. Since China
is one party state, the members of the party have numerous privileges and
rights. This will lead to rampant corruption since there is no one to monitor
the governmental officials. Quoting from Cai Ying Wen’s speech, “Taiwan must
have the voice of opposition”. Likewise for China, it must have an opposition’s
voice which can keep the power and privileges of CCP in check. This can help to suppress the corruption
among governmental officials.
On the other hand, the American society is quite different
from China’s. Its education system for example, is not as academic oriented. It
focuses on a holistic development of a student and areas like moral education.
However, people are now sceptical as to they begin to realise that there are
loopholes in the system, especially after they seen how the Chinese are doing
better in math, science and reading as shown in the PISA results.
The shortcomings of America’s political system are becoming
more and more obvious in recent years. During the economic crisis and Obama’s
term, there are several examples to prove the incompetency and inefficiency of
the current system. For example, many of Obama’s proposals could not be passed
down, and the debate about debt ceiling caused the problem to be dragged and
become more and more serious. I always thought that this kind of system was
almost “perfect” in a way, but now it seems to me that one party state is
better for this kind of cases. At least the country does not end up in a political
deadlock where the leaders cannot come to a decision.
I think that America is now at a stage where it is starting
to realise the shortcomings of its society. In previous century, it has made
admirable progress and became a superpower. But, they might have been too
complacent with the glories achievement they have had in various areas like
math and science which resulted dragged down the pace of progress. Complacency
is one of the greatest enemies of progress. However, with the rise of new
powers like China and India, America will feel the need to do something in
order to remain competitive in this globalised age where it is the survival of
the fittest. Having its position threatened by these new powers, I believe that
America will progress at a faster rate. However, that is under the condition
that its economy recovers. Only before the citizens have their stomach fed
before the whole society can progress.
