Reflect on the societal problems faced by China and America.
Today, I will be reflecting on China's problem of corruption and America's problem of having low quality teachers. I chose these two problems because I felt that they were the most important. The government decides the laws passed which directly affects the economy and society while education is the foundation of economic success.
I feel that China’s problem of corruption can be solved through the following ways. Firstly, China should have a stricter selection process for their political leaders, possibly more emphasis on their attitude and personalities. This way, the chances of having a corrupt leader can be reduced. Next, I think that China’s government should not have the lack of transparency that they have now. There should be such a rule where they must be open, communicate and account for what they are doing to the citizens. This way, corruption cases can be reduced as people in the government will be afraid to be involved in such cases because they have a higher chance of being exposed, now that they have to account for what they are doing. Furthermore, I feel that there should be more stringent investigations on the political leaders, to the extent where it might intrude their private life. This way, corruption cases can be greatly reduced. Some may say that intruding one’s privacy is too much. However, I feel that one being a political leader, should be a role model for everyone in that society and it would not be a problem for him/her to be investigated if he/she has a clean record and nothing to hide. Furthermore, that information about their private life can be kept a secret and be censored from the media if one is unwilling to reveal them. In conclusion, I feel that it is mostly the government’s duty to solve this problem as the problem itself is its internal problem. However, citizens also have a role to play in selecting those better and more worthy leaders for their country. This can be done by considering harder and thinking wisely with no bias before one votes for anyone.
Without such corruption cases, there will not be the creation of faulty policies that do not prioritize the people and mismanagement of public funds where most of it become black money which goes to foreign banks or is hidden, contributing nothing to China’s economic growth. Thus, corruption is a serious problem in China that needs to be solved.
America problem of the low quality of teachers can be solved through the following ways. Firstly, the moral standards of students should be improved. Too many American students bring guns and drugs to schools and are rude to their teachers. This will deter people from being teachers as it threatens their safety as well as giving them higher stress levels. Then, only the lesser-educated people who need jobs, and can’t find better ones, will be hired to fill up these roles. Then, the quality of the teachers will decrease. Thus, the moral standards of students need to be improved as this will ensure the safety of the teachers and also reduce their stress levels. Furthermore, when students show good attitude and respect towards teachers, the teachers will take more pride in their job and work harder and be even more efficient. Secondly, teachers should be valued more in America. Most Americans aspire to become doctors, businessmen or lawyers in the future as these are the best paying jobs. Few wants to become a teacher due to the high stress levels and relatively low pay.
Then, most of the higher-educated people will take on one of the three careers above and few will actually be involved in education. Then, the quality of teachers will be low. Thus, teachers need to be valued more. This can be done either by increasing the pay and standards of being a teacher or respecting them in the society. This will attract higher-educated people to become teachers and also motivate other teachers to improve and upgrade themselves. The role of education is very important in any society as it trains students who are the future workers and leaders of the country, equipping them with relevant skills and preparing them for the future. Thus, education is directly affects the economy and politics of the future and improving the quality of teachers needs to be done in America.
(735 words)
Dear Jinhui,
ReplyDeleteI feel that your suggestion on choosing the leaders more stringently would not work out as corruption is rampant in the government. Leaders are chosen by other leaders in China, and if the original leaders are corrupt themselves, they would only bother about whether the new leaders they bring into the government can benefit them.
Moreover, you mentioned about having a rule for leaders to be more accountable for what they are doing. However, I feel that this would again not solve the problem. Firstly, the rule has to be set by the government, and if the leaders are already corrupt, why would they want agree to have such a rule to be passed? Secondly, even if the rule was successfully implemented, the accounts given to the citizens can be altered by corrupt leaders.
Furthermore, you stated that citizens “have a role to play in selecting those better and more worthy leaders for their country”. I feel that this solution is not workable in China since the leaders are not elected by the people, but rather chosen by existing leaders.
In my opinion, the way to solve the problem is to tackle the root of the problem, which is the moral degradation of the Chinese leaders. A possible solution is to introduce Confucius’s teachings to the government, convincing them that it is necessary for them to be morally upright and just people. I feel that this solution is more likely to work out than the superficial solutions you proposed, which do not tackle the underlying problem.
I agree with your point about improving the moral standards of the students in America. One of the factors which discourage Americans from being teachers is the fact that students do not give teachers the due respect they deserve, in my view. Classes are usually rowdy and students usually move around during lessons. However, I disagree with your viewpoint of the lack of security in schools. In my opinion, the whole of America is at risk since people are allowed to bring guns around with them, and not just the schools. Therefore, any person of any profession may be attacked, and teachers are not the only ones at risk.
In addition, I agree largely with your point that “few wants to become a teacher due to the…relatively low pay”. This is a very practical problem and the situation has to improve in order to attract teachers of better caliber to join the profession.
I agree with your point about the role of education to a large extent. However, I feel that you could have mentioned that education can aid social mobility. Currently, America faces a huge challenge of income inequality, and many Americans are stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty. The only way for them to break free is to receive good education and find a decent job in the future. Therefore, I feel that you could have mentioned this point as well.
All in all, I feel that your first point on corruption in the Chinese government had numerous logical fallacies, and thus did not manage to convince me that your solutions were viable. However, your second point on the quality of teachers was rather well-explained and they solutions raised may actually solve the problem.
Regards,
3S129
Dear Jin Hui
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting point that the investigation of an officer’s behaviour has the right to intrude his private life. All along the way, it is a controversial issue, but I do not agree with you that it is suitable to do so. According to Chinese law, everyone has the right of privacy and everyone is equal before the law. The officers should not be exceptions simply because they are leaders. Also, it is not realistic to conduct the investigation as the number of officers is large in China. I think an alternative way of it is to let the officers claim their assets annually, as some presidents in the West have done. It seems also to intrude privacy, but as the officers are paid by tax, which is from the masses and should be used to benefit the masses, it is not privacy because of the connection with the public. It may be a good way as they are under the supervision of the masses and thus the honesty of an officer can be tested.
Do you agree with my opinion?
Huiyao
29/3/12