Look into the Problems Facing China through the Analysis of the One-child Policy in China
Introduction
As time goes by, the problems facing China have changed a lot. And from the nineteenth to the current centuries, the conditions of China have transformed. Therefore, the comment of Bertrand Russell is not valid for the current society any more. This essay aims to look into the problems facing China through the analysis of the one-child policy. By analyzing the one-child policy in China in the context of Bertrand Russell comment about “the problems facing China”, the writer draws his own conclusions.
Brief Introduction of Bertrand RussellThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
Bertrand Russell was very famous for his mathematical logic, and his work had great influence in the western countries. He was an outstanding political activist, mathematician, feminist, Nobel laureate as well as philosopher.
Bertrand Russell made a great contribution to the fields of ethics, social philosophy, political philosophy as well as the philosophy of science. He also worked on the questions that are part of cognitive science nowadays (Odell, 2000).
He was once invited to as a foreign scholar to lecture in China. He came to Shanghai in 1920 and was regarded as the second Confucius (YANG 1921; Russell 1968).
Problems Facing China in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
It was known that China went through the drastic political as well as social changes in the early twentieth century. Therefore, there were a lot of problems facing China at that time.
As to the political changes, there were many respects to tell. After 268 years of turbulence, the rule of the Qing dynasty was broken up. Then, the Chinese people were ruled by a few powerful warlords. The warlords were always supported by the western countries, and the Chinese people suffered a great disaster because of the struggles between the different warlords.
During this period of time, the changes in China’s political situation, society as well as economy had enhanced the demand for knowledge of the history of foreign nations (Xiang Xiang, 2009). Therefore, in 1922, Bertrand Russell made a claim that the cultural questions were the most important both for China as well as for the human beings.
There were great changes in the politics as well as society in China after 1949. Chinese history had experienced several important periods. People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, the Cultural Revolution occurred during 1966 to 1976, and after 1976, China carried out the policy of reforms and opening up which was the time of development as well as recovery.
Problems Facing China NowadaysThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
In the current society, China has a lot of problems, such as the environmental problems, population problems and food security, etc.
Nowadays, the environmental problems are of great importance. There are various kinds of environmental problems, such as the pollution of water, deforestation, desertification, climate warming, insufficiency of water, over-fishing, pollution of arable land, and so on.
It is said that China has 22 percent of the global population. However, it only has 7 percent of the arable land of the world. Therefore, the food security becomes a serious problem which should be paid attention to.
Analysis of the One-child Policy in China in the Context of Bertrand Russell Comment about “the Problems Facing China”
Because of the rapid increase of the population, the arable land as well as water in China had become much scarcer than before. Therefore, it was necessary for the Chinese government to take some measures to control the increase of the population.
The population of China was so large that the Chinese government had to attempt to control its growth. The population explosion in China had brought about a lot of problems, such as a large number of people were out of employment and a lot of people suffered from hunger because of the food shortage. The problem of unemployment had become more universal, and there were no enough room for so many people to live in. Therefore, it was necessary for the government to establish a policy which could limit each family to have only one child.
The one-child family policy was introduced in China in 1979. It was mainly designed for the people who lived in the urban areas where the residents had the stimulus to have small families. The Chinese government carried out the one child with exceptions policy in the rural areas of China, which referred to the enforcement officials often had two or three children in their families. The one-child policy had a profound effect on Chinese family life. What’s more, this policy also makes the families invest more heavily in childrearing (Bian, 1987).
The one-child policy also has some disadvantages. For example, the one-child policy results in the increased gender bias (Greenhalgh &Li, 1995).
With the development of the society, the problems facing China has changed a lot. The Chinese government has made the one-child policy according to the actual situation of China nowadays rather than the needs of nineteenth and twentieth century. The major contradiction of our society has changed.
Conclusion The Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
It is known that the population explosion has caused many problems. Consequently, it is necessary for the Chinese government to take some measures to control the population in China. In this case, the one-child policy is feasible.
Nowadays, tremendous changes have taken place in China, such as the political, economic as well as the social conditions have undergone huge changes. The principal contradiction in the society of China has also changed a lot. The economic development has become more and more important. Therefore, the comment of Bertrand Russell is not as valid as in the old days.
References
Bian Yanjie. (1987). A preliminary analysis of the basic features of China’s single-child families. Social Sciences in China 8: 189-209.
Greenhalgh, Susan & Jiali Li. (1995). Engendering reproductive policy and practice in peasant China: for a feminist demography of reproduction. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society Spring 20, 601-641.
Odell, S.J. (2000). On Russell. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Russell, B. (1968). The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell: 1914-1944. Boston: An Atlantic Monthly Press Book.
Xiang Xiang. (2009). World history studies in twentieth-century China. Chinese Studies in History 42(3), 57-96.
YANG Duanliu. (1921). Lousu xiansheng quhua ganyan (Some Thoughts on the Occasion of Mr. Russell Leaving China). Dongfang zazhi (The Eastern Miscellany) 18, 7-12.The Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
|