Reflective Journal 4

It is no longer uncommon to see rioting people in China. Or in America, for that matter. The anger against land seizures. The resentment of the 1%. Both point to fundamental and potentially fatal flaws in Chinese and American society - increasing anger, be it from disillusionment with the government or from social polarisation.

A number of factors contribute to the state of affairs in China today, namely, labour discontent, social polarisation and disillusionment with the government among others. Migrant labourers are very discontent with their wages and the second-class treatment they receive in urban areas. Most Chinese feel that only a trickle of China's spectacular economic growth falls to them; and it's not fair. Government corruption, in the forms of land grabs, cause people to either get angry or lose hope; both ways, the government finds a rioting crowd in their ever-growing mountain of problems to address. Top it all off with the Internet, which has allowed people to fuel each other's rage, eventually causing the fury to boil over, and China has a serious problem.

Such an acute anger shown by the Chinese is difficult to control, but last year, analysts noted that the rioting in China has not only increased in amount, but was also more confrontational, and better organised. All of which spell trouble for the Chinese government in ensuring its continued economic growth.

Perhaps the most immediate and striking solution would be to give the people whatever they want. And the thing is, some of their desires are not actually so hard to grant; freedom to organise, and basic rights to pensions, education and healthcare. The Chinese government could consider loosening the grip on their stronghold a little, and they probably would surprise themselves. Even giving citizens more of their share of the economic growth could contribute back to the country; a domestic market would be developed for self-reliance. Of course, the flip side is that people will keep on demanding more and more, until what's left of China resembles America. Joke. But anyway.

Other desires are not so simply granted. Such as tricky situations about restoring previously wild borrowing in China. Because of the impact on the global economy a move on bank lending might have, there will have to be some sort of a compromise between governments and the people about loss of jobs in China. People will need to accept that there is not going to be any form of restoration of their jobs, and will have to return to their rural homes. And on the government's part, more effort can be put into investing in the rural areas, and more can be done to improve the living conditions in rural areas. The word here is decentralisation.

Now for America, the social polarisation poses more of an issue than do the rest. The recent Occupy Wall Street movement, where the rioters angrily demonstrated their unhappiness that the 99% were not getting the bulk of the wealth, and coupled with the laxer income tax imposed on the richer people, it is quite obvious why these people are angry. Almost 50% of healthcare spending every year comprises the richest 5% of the population. Whereas the lowest 50% spend about 381 times less than the top 1%. How fair could that be?

America, being a welfare state, should be able to look out for all its people, but instead, from the example of healthcare, how are the people fairing? Poorly. Food Inc. shows how the poorer population have trouble turning away from cheap junk food to more costly and troublesome healthy home-cooked food. And there Michelle Obama is on her campaign against obesity. In my opinion, America needs to solve the root problems, and others will follow. Like Lee Kuan Yew once said, Westerners have the idea that if you solve things at the top, the things at the bottom like a magic trick turn out fine, but things don’t work that way, and has never proven to.

Follow Warren Buffet's advice. Tax the rich, and help the poverty break from their cycle of poverty. Robin Hood is no longer just a game; it's a necessity for America to make its turnaround into the global stage. Once the issue of social polarisation has been eradicated, the anger will diminish. More educated people come out ready for the workforce, and less people do drugs, commit crimes. Keep with this virtuous cycle and eventually, America, hopefully, can become a welfare state to learn from.

Although China and America both seem to face the same problems, there is no doubt that the approach has to be different when solving issues in each culture. Cultural differences still have a say. Just because people are in trouble doesn’t mean they are willing to go against their values.

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