Comments on: Discussion Topic re: Public Radio Broadcasts on China http://calpolymbatrip.com/2006/china/public-radio-segment-discussion/ The MBA Graduate Program at Cal Poly Fri, 18 May 2012 15:20:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Steve Weston http://calpolymbatrip.com/2006/china/public-radio-segment-discussion/#comment-27 Steve Weston Sun, 19 Feb 2006 03:57:38 +0000 http://calpolymbatrip.com/2006/china/public-radio-segment-discussion/#comment-27 The broadcasts gave a personal element to the lives experienced by the Chinese people. Until this point, we have been hearing about China, from people that grew up in the U.S. and then went to China for some reason. The information the speakers from our pre-departure meetings provided explained mainly what China’s culture was like for an outsider looking in. The difference with these segments was that they were able to give a taste of what China is like to the Chinese across the country, not just in the coastal regions. A common belief for the Chinese appears to be a general feeling that the central government sets good policy, but that the administration at the local level is corrupt, and needs some form of checks and balances to correct. “Communism is dead as a doctrine,” although the Communist party has complete control. One of the interviewees indicated that they felt that a multi-party political system was needed to keep the Communist party in check, since there really is no regulation for them. He knows that economic development will not correct the system, and hopes that change will come to correct it. Another point made by this man was very similar to what Mr. Beard said that a Chinese friend of his once said, that people are becoming selfish and untrustworthy. Mr. Beard’s friend had in some ways desired the old way, when people weren’t so concerned with becoming wealthy. This man was likeminded, indicating that the system has bred a societal change characterized by the phrase “man eat man.” With economic prosperity come repercussions, such as moral decline, exemplified partially by the spread of prostitution in recent years. The broadcasts gave a personal element to the lives experienced by the Chinese people. Until this point, we have been hearing about China, from people that grew up in the U.S. and then went to China for some reason. The information the speakers from our pre-departure meetings provided explained mainly what China’s culture was like for an outsider looking in. The difference with these segments was that they were able to give a taste of what China is like to the Chinese across the country, not just in the coastal regions.

A common belief for the Chinese appears to be a general feeling that the central government sets good policy, but that the administration at the local level is corrupt, and needs some form of checks and balances to correct. “Communism is dead as a doctrine,” although the Communist party has complete control. One of the interviewees indicated that they felt that a multi-party political system was needed to keep the Communist party in check, since there really is no regulation for them. He knows that economic development will not correct the system, and hopes that change will come to correct it.

Another point made by this man was very similar to what Mr. Beard said that a Chinese friend of his once said, that people are becoming selfish and untrustworthy. Mr. Beard’s friend had in some ways desired the old way, when people weren’t so concerned with becoming wealthy. This man was likeminded, indicating that the system has bred a societal change characterized by the phrase “man eat man.” With economic prosperity come repercussions, such as moral decline, exemplified partially by the spread of prostitution in recent years.

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