Comments on: To-Do Lists Around the World

By: Keith Cody

Keith Cody — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:06:23 +0000

The list of dominantly domestic issues is the same all over the world –”Make my life better” — All politics is local.

If you look at the 4 most import things on the to do list, only one has a nationalistic goal. See if you can find it.

education reform (5)
protect the environment (5)
Improve standard of living (4)
take back Taiwan (4)

Despite the fact that Taiwan is an independent country (and a US ally) in the world setting, it is not to China. Sometime in the future, Beijing will have an answer for the Taiwan question and it will probably not be pretty. I think it will be in about 50 years, when America can no longer afford the worlds largest military.

By: Fred S.

Fred S. — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:27:23 +0000

These students could benefit from an “International Business Tour.” Most of their concerns are focused on issues they have seen or feel a direct connection with. This is not surprising, however. Most students around the world would say similar things about their own countries. If this same question was asked to these students 5 years later, I would suspect more globally focussed concerns. 18-20 is an age in these students lives when they are just beginning to focus their worldview more globally.

Of the items on the student’s list, I am glad to see a concern for the environment. The “Canary Coal Mine” blog states “the typical American consumes about eight metric tons of oil a year, or its equivalent in coal and other fuels. In China, per capita energy consumption stands at 1.2 metric tons!” This will become a larger issue as more chinese people are pulled out of poverty and develop America’s addiction to energy. I am glad these chinese students are aware of the environmental impact they are capable of if not dealt with

By: Ashley Tyra

Ashley Tyra — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:44:49 +0000

I think it is a normal tendency to focus internally when asked a question about your country. It does not surprise me that the students’ responses talked about improvements that they can relate to. Protect the environment, improve standards of living, help the poor, give more funding to education, to scientific research, and to health care—all of these are responses that could come from almost any country. If American students were asked the same question, I believe the answers might be similar to those given by the Chinese students.

“No one ever asks us what we think.” The fact that students are concerned with improving their country is a good sign. It is important to first realize that there are issues that need to be addressed domestically, and maybe once some of these issues are being tackled, China can set their sights outward.

By: Georgia

Georgia — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:16:53 +0000

I feel if the same question (with some modification) was asked to American students there would be a lot of overlap. As said, “maybe people are just people.”
The students realized chose concrete examples that brought up key issues, like taking back Taiwan. This was one of the most voted upon topics and it shows the continued resentment with the separation in the new generation.
With the air pollution that surrounds these students it would be more surprising if protecting the environment wasn’t an issue. I would imagine that it would be hard choosing between raising environmental conditions and industry increases. I feel like many people perceive the Chinese as not caring about their environment, but it really isn’t that simple. When the United States was going through its industrial period we didn’t have fully developed nations peeking over our shoulder and shaking their heads.

By: Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:37:54 +0000

I am actually quite surprised of the diversity of statements but very few even mentioning life outside of China. I have to wonder what the responses of students in our country would be. Would there be more focus on global aspects, or would the responses relate mostly to domestic issues as well? My guess is that we would be just as self centered, though other countries may be mentioned due to troops being stationed abroad.

Perhaps a follow question is warranted, “What would be your priorities regarding other nations and foreign relations?” It would be interesting to see a sample of those responses and how they relate to the answers given to the prior question.

By: Daniel Fleek

Daniel Fleek — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:22:07 +0000

I am impressed by this list since most of all the things listed had to do with improving the condition of living for the poor. This shows that these students are very aware of the current situation in China compared to developed countries like the United States. Also, I was happy to see the environmental concern topped the list since they were about to hold the Olympics.

Their students strong opinion to take back Taiwan shows me the tension that still exists between Taiwanese and Chinese. This was surprising since there were two students who wanted to improve diplomatic relations with Japan, who I thought Chinese did not like at all. Even though Taiwan and Chinese share many similarities in their culture, it was interesting that these Chinese students felt strongly to take back Taiwan instead of working with them which they showed they would like to do with Japan.

By: Kevin K.

Kevin K. — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:23:48 +0000

I think the best observation I can make on this post is the fact that the list features more breadth than depth. Like Amico says, most of these notions of change exist within China’s borders and not its role on the national stage.

In this vein, it is interesting to note that most of these suggested changes are about China improving itself — albeit rarely touching on democracy. Nonetheless these students recognize China has a lot of work ahead of itself. Rather than thinking their country is perfect, or taking the ignorance is bliss approach Americans like to associate with citizens living in countries labeled as communist, China’s brightest recognize that their leadership is not perfect and that they as the next generation have the opportunity to influence the path their country will take.

By: Charles Dornbush

Charles Dornbush — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:12:29 +0000

I was surprised of the wide array of suggestions that these students had. From one class over twenty different issues were raised. I would expect if the same question were asked in an American classroom, there would be fewer issues raised. This shows that China has many issues that are on the mind of Chinese students.

One surprising result was how many students were concerned with the environment. This is good for America and all developed countries if some feeling for environmental protection already exists in China.

Another large part of the responses were related to giving more money to education or to reforming education. I would expect this to be true in a sample of college students. There are also many responses calling to invade Taiwan, suggesting that there is still much nationalism in China’s colleges.

By: Vladimir

Vladimir — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:40:56 +0000

A better question may have been: “What three things would you want the president to have on his to-do list?” This would have eliminated the low priority items as well as a conflict of interest. Would a Chinese president really have making the country more democratic on his to-do list?

After reading about China’s per capita GDP and the average factory workers’ salaries, I’m not surprised that “improve the standard of living” was a top priority, especially if the students were comparing China’s standard of living to that in Europe or the United States. I also expected “protect the environment” to rank near the top. I’d like to see where environment would rank in a longitudinal survey. Would it have been on the to-do list ten years ago? I didn’t expect education reform to rank so high. I wonder how many middle-aged adults would put this on the to-do list.

One of the difficulties in interpreting these results is the mixture of the influences of youth and environment on the answers. I’d like to see the results for other age groups.

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:07:52 +0000

I would say that his last comment is the most true, that people are just people. It seems that the comments, for the most part, are similar to what you might see here in the US. It doesn’t seem that there are any recurring themes that would make someone notice a huge glaring difference in perspective in China’s worldview.

Most people want change for the better. But most people are not willing to make a sufficient personal sacrifice for that change. That said, most people are not afraid to make others (i.e. vote socialistic) sacrifice for that change. Irrespective of if you are Chinese or American, few realize the cost associated with the things they want.