Dodson Chapter Four Reflection

I remember getting off the plane with my mom, taking my first few steps onto the Chinese soil.  It was so busy, and already muggy; it was only April, too!  What felt like a warm June day was present in those early spring days.  I distinctively recall that only after two hours walking around Beijing, my nose was completely clogged.  

In America, we consistently talk about global warming and treating the earth with respect.  This is frequently referred to as “going green.”  How ironic, I found it, that much of China, specifically that influenced by the government, does not have acknowledgment for the land in which they over-populate and over-use.  China is known as the country that squeezes all the value they can out of the resources they have on-hand.  

However, I found that I was very shocked at the disregard for not only the earth’s/land’s health, but also for the individuals that populate the massive country.  Even more horrifying was the disregard for the health of young people.  China, in continually pushing to be a great and powerful nation, should be on even higher alert to protect the well-being of these individuals.  

Dodson discusses two occurrences that shocked me more than any other.  The first was in his introduction, talking about the teenaged girls who worked in a factory with adhesives that, when walking through the factory, gave the author an extreme headache and episode of nausea.  These girls bent over the benches, assembling components of the manufacturing products with bare hands and no masks; exposed for who knows how many hours a day to fumes that would hit any other person who didn’t work their with a discomfort and sickness very great.    (Info taken from page 67).

The second incident Dodson reveals is that which occurred in 2009.  “thousands of dead carp suddenly appeared in a river near Shanghai, their death attributed to a lack of oxygen; 4,000 residents of the Inner Mongolian town of Chifeng became sick from an ammonia leak from a nearby pharmaceuticals factory; 1,354 children were diagnosed with excessive lead levels in their blood in Wenping, a township in southern Hunan province; and a smelting plant was finally closed after hundreds of children in northwestern Shaanxi Province became ill from lead poisoning from a local smelter.”  (pg. 70).  One last thing that I would just like to point out as being interesting, is that it is said that the media was all over these stories.  There were no press conferences with the government apologizing for not monitoring various plants that contain hazardous materials, no red cross.  America may not be perfect, but I know that if something such as this happened, Barack Obama, and any other president, would address it with urgency and care, and that is what just stuns me about China; the compassion needed is not present.

Chapter Three Reflection

In chapter three, Dodson discusses the transfer of land within China.  What the government would do is take the land from farmers, or peasants, and then use the property for commercial use, rather than for farming.  “After 2004, the central government froze all transfers of land slated for agricultural use to commercial use.  Land transfers were supposed to require approval from provincial or national level authorities, and auctions to make land sales equitable for residents.”  Dodson goes onto say that this did not happen, though, and that by 2007, illegal taking of land had become frequent (both quote and previous statement taken from page 58).  Many a times, it was not uncommon for families and businesses to not know that their land has been seized until the demolition crew showed up, knocking on their door.  

When reading this, I was at first confused, not understanding how “property transfer” came into play within the chapter.  However, as I read on, I eventually saw the major role it played.  I could not believe that such things happened in China.  As I drive down the streets of my hometown, I frequently see the foreclosure papers posted on the inside of screen doors that have sparsely been opened since the notice had taped up.  However, the fact that people’s homes and land are just destroyed without any future notice in China?  That is unacceptable and extremely inconsiderate.  No time to gather your things; nothing.  No wonder there is an uprising of anger among the Chinese people, I would be angry too if one of the few things I owned was pulled out of my grasp while I was not even looking.  

Chapter 4

What I found most interesting in this chapter is that fact that governments and businesses tried to convince employees that the symptoms of exposure to toxins were all in their heads. Tian Lihua had suffered temporarily paralysis, dizziness, and then fell unconscious during work at a factory that produced raw chemical materials. When she woke up in the hospital, government officials said it was all in her head. She was the source of the problem, but 1,200 other employees were hospitalized with the same symptoms… hardly in her head. I don’t understand why the government and these businesses are so willing to put their employees at risk, other than the fact that they are very selfish and only looking for the profits of such business. In the end, it will only end up hurting everyone. It can be seen by the thousands of carp found dead, the thousands of children suffering from lead poison, and thousands of locals and employees falling sick that the government and employers need to stop being so selfish. I singled out the selfishness of employers because I have never seen or heard of such blatant cover up with poor business operations and health and safety. It blew my mind that these people were willing to put people, children, and their country at risk. 

Chapter 3

Property transfer in China is very complicated at this time according to Bill Dodson. Basically the people who build and construct these multi-million dollar neighborhoods are not living there. They are pushed to the outskirts, into the countryside. They are only good for their manual labor like when “America needed immigrants from Europe to build its cities and workers from China to construct its railroads.” (Dodson 48) Workers cannot stay in cities without special temporary permits, without these permits they can be kicked out at anytime by officials. Security will keep people, peasants, from entering and looking into these magnificent cities that they helped construct. However, by 2030 China hopes to move all its citizens into cities -- that’s nearly 400 million additional people being placed into already populated cities. The majority of commoners believe that things were better twenty years ago when everyone was the same. Now, there is a great barrier between peasants and the rich. I think that this is very unfair to their people. I think that the solution is just to make sure that everyone has a fair shot and there is no reason whatsoever for someone to be banned from an area because of their class. I try to compare China to America and I don’t think we are much better. We have a great gap between our rich and poor. We ask them to leave public areas sometimes as well, even though they could be someone who helped make our cities.

Chapter 3

The property transfer going on in China today is the Chinese government's way of legalizing their theft of their citizens’ land. The government has declared all land outside city limits as their own to negotiate deals with companies as they choose. So if, by chance, they get a decent offer by a commercial company looking to develop on land occupied by current citizens, then the government has authority to transfer the tenants elsewhere and hand over the land to the developer without giving the knowledge to the tenants. I am deeply aggravated by the happenings of land transfers. It is not right, in any way, that the government is able to conduct business like this and still get away with it. I feel infuriated for the Chinese citizens who are held in their homes by law and then suddenly have that all taken away from them without notice. Like Dodson said when he was offered the chance to take land, if he didn’t, the next developer would. The fact that the government is that willing to hand over the property of real, living people who have built homes and lives there is just repulsive. I cannot believe that these land transfers are somehow legal.
Haley Martin

Dodson Chapter Two Reflection

It seems that the anxiousness in China erupts from the lack of stability in society.  A theme within this book seems to be that there is no legitimate foundation for these people to build their lives upon or to depend on.  That can be a pretty scary thing, especially for a people whose government is constantly subject to unannounced change.  However, although just about everything in daily life spurs an episode of anxiety within the Chinese population, there are four main causes of stress.  These include, but are not limited to, owning a home, educational costs, competition for retaining a job, and lastly, the overpriced and overstretched health care (pg. 27).  

Concerning the owning of homes, there is much concern as to the lack of buying going on in China.  As it states in Dodson’s book, China Inside Out, the renting to buying of homes ratio is at 1-to-400 in some cities, and internationally at an amazing 1-to-200 ratio (pg. 31).  Because housing costs so much in comparison to the annual salary of most middle class families, the comfort of having a home to call one’s own is seriously in jeopardy for Chinese families and households.  However, one must find it interesting that the government does not pay much attention to the unattainable goal of owning a home within China, until the numbers of families renting, compared to purchasing, is at a dangerously extreme ratio number.

Although extremely stereotypical, when one sees an Asian individual studying, they are most likely considered smart and very academically inclined.  This sort of “racial profiling” is not without reason, though, as within the book is is shown that Chinese students are extremely applied in their studies.  The author talks about a university exam that spans out three days, in order to see how smart certain school-aged adolescents are.  If completing the exam successfully, both the kid and their family have a chance to be pushed higher on the socio-economic ladder (pg. 31-32).  I cannot decide whether I agree with the opportunity for an adolescent to be rewarded in such a way for academic success.  On one hand, the opportunity to help one’s family must be so hopeful, while at the same time, perhaps, putting too much stress on the young individual.  Through achieving this goal, the student is able to get their foot in the door, so to speak.  However, paying for this education can be costly.  I keep on reflecting on the scholarship and financial aid I was given.  I definitely think that there should be more of this available to students in China.

Along with schooling, retaining a job and supporting the needs of one’s family, specifically concerning their health, is quite a challenge in China.  As stated in China Inside Out, “In 2006, a single average hospital admission at a state hospital cost 12,650 yuan (US $1,870), which is about 90 percent of the average Chine family’s wealth.”  As one can see, the imbalance of income to hospital costs is outrageous.  If this were the case for most American families, the U.S. would be a seriously screwed up country to live in.  And honestly, people would, and do, not stand for it in America.  Just reading about China allows me to see how much aid we really are offered.  Don’t get me wrong, we have our problems too, perhaps almost too much is given out in the country I live in for free, but at least there is a government who wants to help, not hurt.  That is the overall impression I get from this chapter: that I am lucky, and that some serious change needs to occur over in the East.  These people work so hard in so much; providing just about every product for the rest of the world, and receiving only deception and secrecy, as well as little protection, from their government.  They need better living conditions, and more rights.  No wonder they are so anxious, for it is only a natural reaction that when you live in an unstable environment, you yourself will also end up being unstable.  In China's case, these instability is expressed in the form of anxiety, and that needs to change.

Dodson Chapter One

A few (and by a few I mean almost eight) years ago, my mother and I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to and through China to finalize the process of adopting my sister.  We were there for two weeks.  While I went through the country from Beijing, all the way to Hong Kong on our last day, I was able to witness the aura of control over the country that would not seem to relent.  While talking to our guide and translator, Lisa, my mom discussed her faith, at which Lisa said that she, too, was also Christian.  Quickly, she flashed us a pink, wire-wound style cross that hung around her neck on a single black cord.  However, she quickly put it away, saying that if any authority saw her with it, she would be put in jail, and who knows what else.  I remember that I was so startled by the severity of a simple necklace and a personal faith.

While reading chapter one of China Inside Out, I was not necessarily surprised or found out anything that I was too “shocked” by, but my awareness was definitely heightened by the examples given.  For instance, how blatant the official was after attempting to shove a little girl into a restroom for sexual assault.  I felt sick.  Then he decided he could pay his way out of his wrong-doing?  I just did not understand.  Another part of the chapter that I enjoyed was the grass-mud horse.  I thought the term was clever and I almost felt proud of the people for taking a minor action to bend the rules.

As far as the pornography is concerned, I felt that it was not really “banned” as much as used as an excuse to attack every individual on the web who they did not agree with.  During this section of the chapter, a man by the name of Wang Zhaojun (p. 16) is mentioned, stating that there is a “right to free speech” within the Chinese constitution.  I was surprised, because I have always felt that China was the complete opposite, while in reality officials and the government have merely been twisting the rules and filing bogus lawsuits, etc., to be able to arrest the people of their choice.  I feel that the banishing of pornography was just used as another way of bending the rules, rather than actually following through with the cleaning of erotic material on the internet.

I cannot decide whether I enjoyed, or partially disliked, the way that Dodson assembled this first chapter.  I feel that he, at times, would spit out too many facts, and would sometimes almost become irrelevant.  I am not saying that his information stated is not useful, but rather some of it was not needed to get his point across.  I did, however, really enjoy when he used stories or legal cases as back-up to his point, and told of these events and/or individuals in a narrative type of writing.  When Dodson wrote more creatively in a “story” like format, I greatly enjoyed the reading.

P.S., I'm sorry this is so late, Mr. Salovaara.  My book just came in the mail from Amazon yesterday and I have been reading to catch up.  The rest of these responses will be posted before the end of spring break.  Thank you so much for your flexibility and giving me the idea to order it for much less off of Amazon.

See you Tuesday!

"China Inside Out" Chapter 4

The environmental concerns that Dodson presents about China in his book “China Inside Out” are really disturbing to me. The sheer disregard that the government and its environmental agencies have for people and environment is shocking to me, and very draconian. Even before I read Dodson’s words comparing their policies to the Industrial Revolution, I was thinking about how it compared to the Industrial Revolution and the filthy conditions that led to health hazards for many citizens. The most compelling information in this chapter to me, however, was how the Chinese government wrote off complaints from the Jilin Connell Chemical Plant. I find this interesting because, according to Dodson, health experts assured workers that their sicknesses were “all in their heads: the convulsions, the vomiting, and the temporary paralysis” and they told patients to “’get a hold of their emotions’” (Dodson 69). These kinds of sicknesses are not caused by mental problems, but when patients are told by health experts that it’s all in their head, it is what they have to believe. What it really is, though, is health experts sweeping the issue under the carpet so that the government cannot be blamed for a lack of safety regulations on chemical factories. This complete disregard for Chinese citizens is shocking and shows just how much the government cares more for power and money than for its citizens.

Dodson Chapter 4 Response

The stories of pollution issues in China really shook me to the core when reading Dodson’s Chapter 4. I was totally unaware of the situations occurring. There was one story specifically that he told that really affected me. In 2005 in the Guangdong Providence of China, the government was forced to cut the tap-water supply to tens of thousands of people for more than a week after a state-owned smelter discharged tons of the industrial chemical cadium into the Beijiang River. I think it is egregious that a company would think it is okay to damage the Earth this way. Also, I cannot imagine what it would be like to have no running water for over a week! That would be so miserable, I don’t know how I could handle that. Especially because it was done due to an ignorant companies decision to harm our natural resources and lack of care for the population of China. Imagine not having water for just one day. We couldn’t cook, grab a glass of water to drink, shower, or anything! That would be so miserable! And the Chinese people were forced to do it for over a week! This information for me was the most prominent thing I took away from Chapter 4 because I really put myself in the situation, and I can’t imagine what that would be like because of pollution.

Dodson Chapter 3 Response

Dodson explains to the reader that because the Communist Party represents the people of China, they assume that they have control over the land that the people own. Because of this, China doesn’t really have complete private land ownership, or any laws to prevent the government to control it. Instead, the people lease land for around 50-75 years, and the land outside of the cities is considered to be agricultural land. The main problem discussed in Chapter 3 is that the government has been transferring land that is supposed to be used for agricultural reasons, over to commercial use without asking or consulting with the tenants. There are rules set in place that they must go through national level authorities to get approval for such thing. However, local government and property developers have found ways around that to seize the land without proper approval. On top this, local officials often pocket most of the money and cheat the tenant out of their profit.

Personally, I think this is very wrong. Some people work really hard to be able to afford land and luxuries in general. It is not fair that someone has the power to rob you of that, and then not even have enough respect for you to make a small profit for you.

Dodson--Chapter 3 and 4 Response

So far in Chapter 3 of China Inside Out, Bill Dodson discusses the hardships and everyday struggles of China's migrant workers.  The migrant workers, which is considered China's low class system, are the dependents of China's infrastructure and economic development.  On page 62, Dodson makes an excellent account, "The big difference between Western and Chinese labor models of urbanization is China's own underclass is Chinese.  The singularly defining feature of China's modernization are the Chinese migrants who have filled the same position as the Turks in Germany, the Algerians in France, and the Mexicans in the U.S."  It's kind of ironic that the Central Government identify as Chinese, yet they seem far from it.  Because they are rural migrant workers, urban city dwellers cast their identity as worthless and so their treatment becomes harsh and unfair.  Entering the city like Shanghai is similar to illegal immigrants entering the U.S. for work, but the migrant workers rights and freedom is more barred.  The Chinese government, believes in a corrupt system that makes the hardship on Rural Chinese citizens more separated and unfair.  Rural citizens go as far as hiding their education from the government because they fear a system that directs their life and, ultimately, direct's their motives on getting proper education opportunities, financial benefits, and social power.  Rural immigrants are basically considered the immigrants in China and they have to do whatever the government orders them to do for money that wouldn't even be able to support their homes and families.

As I read, it seems like the Chinese Government is getting worse and worse.  Not only are their actions are corrupt, but they are careless of environmental dangers to Chinese citizens.  In chapter 4, Dodson discusses how factories are environmentally unstable and cause major health risks to nature, animals, and the Chinese people.  I wouldn't consider the government being clever with constantly targeting low class Chinese dwellers with environmental risks.  The government and power heads are twisted and it's foul that they would treat the natural environment and its dwellers as the victims in their economic development.  What's the point of prospering business and trying to bring up a high reputation like the Western society by harming, moreover, killing people to do so?  Dodson writes that, "The Chinese leadership is fully aware of the damage its bid to remake Chinese society is causing the geography of the land and the health of people....the country is moving from a humiliating and poverty stricken nineteenth century into a proud and prosperous twenty-first century..." (84).  It's crazy what one or a group would do to prosper and even wicked and selfish for them to feel humiliated and poverty-stricken.  The cancer villages are more than humiliated and are suffering more than from poverty.  They are ill-stricken from hazardous chemicals and toxins and they don't have enough social and political power towards the government to change their cruel methods.  As with reading through the other chapters, the government are aware of many illegal and corrupted actions going on in China and they have this burning competing fire to be the most successful in the world.  They go to such means to punishing citizens by costing their jobs or having them serving time in prison if they were to tell the truth but the government will take any action to keep the truth subdued and confidential.  Because they avoid national media attention and create false lies to cover up truthful information, there's nothing the citizens can protest or fight for.  What will it take for the central government to realize that "Modernity, greater wealth, and the respect of international community" (85)  is only causing their own nation great social, physical, and environmental disaster?  Being modern doesn't mean you should be unfair and corrupt, let alone make you lose sight of righteous culture.  But how do you tell that too a crooked powerful government who only believe in their own concepts?