Ch. 3 and 4

China is currently trying to move more people from the county into cities to help work on building the cities and getting them caught up with Western cities.  Making this happen is made possible because of the hukou system; this gives the government control of the amount of people given migrant permits.  To legally move somewhere, a person must have a migrant permit, or else they could be expelled from wherever it is they are trespassing.  Many people in the county are having their land seized, because they only lease their land from the government, to make way for factories and other commercial uses.  Most people are not being given enough financial compensation when this happens. Since the government actually owns the land, I suppose this is fair, although not being given enough money back for the land is not.  Because of China’s high population the hukou system does seem like it could help with property issues, otherwise it could be chaotic.  But I know I would not be happy having to live with their system.  Also, the idea of moving such a large amount of people into the cities makes me wonder if there will be enough people able to produce enough food and other agricultural goods.  

I found the section about how China’s pollution is spreading and hurting other countries’ environments the most significant part from Chapter four.  It’s pretty selfish of China to not only hurt its people, but also citizens of other countries that are stuck next to it and have China’s pollution forced upon them.  It’s bad enough that they are poisoning themselves, especially when the victims are unaware, for financial gain.  I’m not sure it this would actually work out, but one thought that crossed my mind is that in the long run it would be cheaper for them to follow China’s EPA standards than pay for later cleaning up their mess, plus any lawsuits and medical bills they may have to pay for from the people.  Maybe if the victim countries cut-off trading with China they would stop.  Either because they no longer have as many people to produce products for, or because they need their money, so they would then listen to their requirements on how the products will be produced.  This is a very drastic reaction and probably wouldn’t happen.  I doubt America would start producing or find new countries to get the many products we get from China just because of China’s pollution that get’s mixed into our West Coast’s pollution.     

Ch. 2

In chapter 2 Dodson explained that the Chinese middle class is anxious because they don’t feel like they have enough money for all of their needs.  There is not enough money to pay for their housing, medical expenses (especially because you have to pay a upfront no matter what condition you are in), and schooling for their children.  I thought that the remark, “…the larger and richer the Chinese middle class becomes, the less safe and more anxious it will feel” (page 30) was a little strange, I would think it would be the opposite; I can’t think of any reason for this logic other than more competition for little resources. 

I don’t really know much about real estate in the United States, so I was a little lost when home ownership was brought up, but it does sound like it would be very stressful to not have a mortgage, which only 20% of the middle class have. When minimum deposits were mentioned, I know the out-of-towners 30% and second home 40% is pretty high, but a 20% deposit sounds reasonable, maybe a little high.  I think that the 40% deposit on a second home is very reasonable in a county as highly populated as China.

I would have hated to have gone through the Chinese schooling system; to me, that sounds like the most stressful part of life mentioned in the chapter.  The exams sound awful, studying for hours each day for a year! It’s wasn’t surprising when Dodson mentioned how parents try to bride their children and their teachers so that they will get good marks, a lot depends on those grades! I thought that it was interesting that most people do not like the exam system, but don’t try to get it changed, if a parent in America didn’t like the way a school’s examination system worked their would be so many complaints! It’s strange that they don’t try to work together to try to fix it.

The health care system was probably the saddest part of this chapter; having to pay before you get treatment when in critical condition is just wrong.  I thought it was kind of nice that in communities people with the same health condition would put their money together to but a medical machine for the treatment of everyone, even if it is not exactly hygienic.

Overall, since China is improving, especially with their expanding economy, I think they have less of a reason to be anxious than Americans.      

ch 2

The first thing Dodson says about the Chinese bourgeoisie is that they have anxiety over losing all of their fortunes due to the government’s need for power. Dodson says that at anytime, the government could just issue a policy, directive, or decision that takes away all that the families have earned. The larger these “rich” groups of people become, the more the government will be influenced to take it all away from them. My reaction to this was complete shock. I had no idea that the Chinese government had power to do such things and I certainly had no idea that they would want to.

Another thing that Dodson mentioned the Chinese having anxiety over was their college entrance exam. I was also shocked by this considering he said that students were required to study 16 hours a day for a year leading up to the exam. I think this really creates a high anxiety for the students, considering their futures are on the line. I think it’s insane how much pressure is put on them, but it also explains why other countries, like China, tend to be much smarter. They learn to work hard for a better life. I definitely think this gives them reason to be more anxious than Americans. People in America don’t push students nearly as much as those in China.

Chinese also stress highly over healthcare, considering it costs them an astonishing amount of money just to pay a hospital bill. I think Americans complain about healthcare and wish it was free like it is in Canada, but reading this makes us realize how good we have it. Paying for hospital bills in America may be expensive, but it definitely tends not to be 90% of our savings.

I am really taken a back by all the anxieties China deals with. Honestly, the first two chapters of the book so far have given me the impression that living there would be nothing but anxiety and worry. In America, we want the rest of our country to succeed so that we can stimulate the economy, I can’t imagine a place where making more money would be something to worry over.

ch2 Dodson

The anxiety in China seems to find its root in the fact that it is extremely difficult to get into university and in order to get a "good job" and get into the middle class. Dodson starts this chapter off by describing an incident outside of his apartment when construction workers were tearing down peoples living spaces. Dodson writes, "It was during that clear, early morning I realized I had seen played out one of the greatest fears that China's nascent middle class harbors: a capricious, complete, and irrevocable loss of their newly acquired wealth and position, seemingly overnight. Their anxiety is increasing as growing numbers of the newly affluent take additional slices of a wealth-pie whose plate has a finite circumstance (27)". Seeing that the government has the control to tear down peoples homes on a whim and alter their lives completely, this has to be a main source of stress for the Chinese people. Chinese people can work so hard to attain just a small bit of wealth and have it taken away almost instantly. While many of the stresses that exist in China are similar to the stresses here in America, the one thing China has that we don't is a communist government. However, that is not to say that people here in America are not in fear of losing their homes overnight, it is just that the government here does not have such direct control over our individual lives. Dodson also points out that in 2009 in China the average mortgage was only 46 percent of the value of the property while in the U.S. homeowners were "leveraged as much as 75 percent of the value of their property". Another main point that Dodson brings up is the stress of getting into university, which I have previously mentioned. He describes a grueling three day exam that many students study up to sixteen hours a day for for up to a year preceding the exam. In America the admission process is undoubtably stressful, however, there is not, as far as I am aware, any three day exam to get into college. Dodson says that in China if they approached college admissions with things such as recommendations it could be too easily forged in China. Also, if students in China do not get into university, their chances of ever making it into the middle class are slim. While here in America it is becoming nearly impossible to have a "good job" with out a bachelors degree, or even a masters as well, there is still some opportunity to attend a vocational school, learn a trade and make a decent living. Even recent studies have show that trades such as plumbing and construction work are becoming very high paying jobs. Further, Dodson discusses health care and how many Chinese people have stress related ailments and no one is treated in China without paying upfront. In America, health care is a major issue but their is greater opportunity to be treated even if it means being in great debt later on. "As more individuals aspire to join chinas middle class and compete for a limited amount of property, university seats, jobs, resources such as food, energy, and water, the newly affluent will come under greater stress (43)". It appears to be within the way Chinas government, education, and social systems are set up that cause such great stress in China. This would appear to be very much the case in the United States. While it is undoubtably different in both countries, I would argue that citizens of both countries are stressed and struggling while there is a small upperclass that is thriving. Both countries struggle with education costs and admission and healthcare. I cannot say in confidence that in China they have more reason to stress because stress is a human emotion and is rather subjective. I believe that stress is relative to ones surroundings and standards of living that are normal to them. 

Chapter 2 Response

In reading Chapter 2, I was very surprised with all the anxiety the Chinese people have to go through in their society. Dodson first begins to state the anxiety that is caused by jobs, businesses, health, future opportunities, and lifestyle after retirement. Though United States also struggles with issues such as this, the vulnerability the middle-class and the rest of population faces on a daily basis is extreme. 

Dodson, explains the risk in being able to loose one's home overnight. Fortunately, in the US, we have an assurance and security within the ownership of our homes. I was blown away by the scenario Dodson witnessed and how the government brutally assaulted the young man who was trying to keep the government from destroying some property. It is hard to see things like this between authority and civilians in the United States. Dodson goes on to state, "The Chinese governments...singular in their obsession with control and self-aggrandizement-can at any time issue policies, directives, or decisions that wipe out the fortunes of families overnight." Thanks to strict policies enforced in housing, it is very rare for an individual to loose their home without a logical reason other than the government wanting to gain more power. 


Education is something that I've always considered extreme in China and in other Asian countries. I feel very strongly about getting an education and have high respects for successful individuals that also place an importance on being educated, yet the stress that Chinese students go through in order to make it in society is unnecessary. Being able to pass a test determines what their entire future may look like and I don't necessarily agree with that notion. Individuals should have the opportunity to work hard and get to where they want to in life through hard work and dedication not an exam. A test score can tell you many things of an individual, but it does not mean absolutely everything (something we see everyday at Columbia). Many successful individuals that are considered to be in the higher class have obtained wealth through means other than a test score. The education regulations in China show how extreme they are just by the way in which parents and students do irrational things just to pass the exam. Not only is it wrong, but it defeats the entire purpose of what a higher-level education should be. 

In regards to health care, I thought America was doing a poor job with this, but health care in China is doing much worse. Just as in China, health-care costs can completely ruin a family's wealth in the United States. The difference is that, the hospital isn't able to treat an individual unless the pay the cost right away. This is something that seems crazy to me, how can hospitals let people die right in front of them when they can do something simply because of the absence of money for treatment? I feel that improving the Health Care system first and for most will decrease a lot of the anxiety in China. 

The Chinese certainly have more of a reason to be more anxious than Americans in most of these situations. A great number of Americans also face the struggles the Chinese go through. This ultimately depends on resources and social class in America, but it seems like everyone in China has the stress of surviving in society on their shoulders. I feel like America does have less to worry about or at a less intensity because things tend to shift and change gradually in the US. In some way, we can say we have more security. 

Dodson Ch.3 & 4 Responses

Dodson Chapter 3 Response

From the information conveyed by Dodson in chapter three, I would say that what is going on in the property transfers is corruption and concern only for profit over people. Land that people have sunk their whole livelihoods into are being ripped from their hands in deals they hear nothing of until one day they are suddenly torn from their homes and expected, it seems, to be okay with it! Deals are struck in their names for money they will never see or hear of for a government official to just line his pockets. Multitudes are turned out and have little to no chance of fixing their broken lives. This is something I found utterly appalling to think of, especially as it is something that is government sanctioned! To think that many people live in such a way, that their home can be taken from that at any moment just by the beck and call of a businessman waving around big bills- that anyone would consider upturning so many for their own selfish gain- is unfathomable in my mind and heart of hearts. It was especially shocking when Dodson talks about when HE was being sold land where houses sat and people watched him. The seller waved his arm and pointed to places where people were presently living and told Dodson that "All of this could be his!" is something that I find extremely unsettling...As I read further and further into China Inside Out, the more I find myself believing that China needs some sort of reform in its approach to modernization.

Dodson Chapter 4 Response

Chapter four only pushed further my thoughts on China needing a new, better reformed way of approaching the 21st century. What stuck out the most with me was honestly the instances and statistics given in chapter four- the staggering numbers of deaths all by different kinds of pollution in China, as well as the fact that China thinks it is a perfectly well and legitimate sacrifice to be made in the name of modernization and expansion! To think that someone would visit another in their hospital bed (as cited in the chapter) and tell them that their illness that is really and actually due to some form of pollution poisoning was simply from a 'mass hysteria' is something I cannot very well swallow. It is something that concretes in my heart the nasty thought that the Chinese government cares not for expansion and modernization for the sake of its people, but for the sake of expansion and modernization alone as to seem 'on par' with other parts of the world. Even further unsettling is the fact that the people of China seem to be scarily accepting of this fate and these outcomes. All I find by the end of this chapter, staring at the death tolls wrought on China by its own hand is: is all of this death and destruction really worth it in the end? Is having large factories and big cities really worth trading the wealth that is the happiness and health of both its people and its land itself?

Ch. 3 and Ch. 4. in Dodson

In your own words, what is going on with property transfer in China today, according to Bill Dodson in Chapter 3?  How do you respond to his description of this? 200 words

What is the most compelling piece of information related to pollution in Chapter 4?  Why do you single out this information as most compelling? 200 words

Dodson Ch.2 Response

I believe what Dodson is saying about anxiety in chapter 2 of China Inside Out, is that it is beginning to go too far. That is, the people of China are becoming overly anxious, and it isn't good. Dodson proposes no solutions himself, but makes observation on stressful situations and seems to almost press for change.

The first great anxiety Dodson discusses is the uneasiness with keeping their homes and middle class status. The riot witnessed by Dodson himself shows that the people of China are very on edge...to the point where one man hijacked heavy machinery and destroyed a wall in protest! I believe that this, indeed, needs to be dealt with. My reaction is simply that this needs to be taken under control, and that the market needs to become steady and secure as to prevent greater and more chaotic consequence. In this respect, I admit Chinese have more reason to be anxious than Americans, as their market is much less stable.

The second great anxiety is education. The entrance exams are more rigorous, certainly, than any test I have ever take! The demand is high, and the risks people are willing to take seem much greater. This is a system that should not continue...But then again, I may be partial as I am a fan of the Finnish system of education. Chinese persons have more cause for anxiety here as well, as everything seems to ride on one test...and that, I feel, is way too much pressure for just about anyone!

The third is health care. This is something I found to be absolutely ridiculous! It seems in China, one illness can- and has- send people into poverty in an instant! Though we in America complain about our health care systems (still a fan of the Canadian free health care system!) this is much more ridiculous, as insurance seems to cover little to nothing and leave many people in the dirt! To know one sickness could take you and your entire family down is enough to make one...well, sick!

Observing these anxieties illustrated by Dodson, I honestly believe many people in China SHOULD receive some form of therapy, and I am thoroughly surprised by the fact it is considered shameful to do so! Indeed, were I to live with these strenuous possibilities, I think I would be seeing a psychiatrist on the regular!

Ch. 2 of Dodson

Please respond to what Dodson is saying about anxiety in the Chinese people in this chapter. First summarize his main points and then react to them.  Do you think the Chinese have any reason to be more anxious than Americans? Why or why not? 

Chp 1

I always knew about China's intense censorship of the internet. However, one new thing that I learned was that China had virtually shut down an area of land they said to be about the size of Alaska. China shut down the people's 'private' cell phone providers to keep the information of riots and protest violence and killings private from the rest of the world. The weirdest part of this section to me was not even the fact that they shut down the communications of the people as a way of censoring the people, but how. I was really shocked that China was able to shut down companies that are considered private in America. To my knowledge, companies like AT&T, Comcast, etc., are not in anyway under government jurisdiction as far as service. (Of course the legal things are under government law - but not the fact that the service itself is active.) Since the people pay for these services and private companies provide them - I found myself more angry that the government shut down a service they did not own or operate. 

As far as pornography on the internet – I guess censoring it is better than promoting it, but at the end of the day, I think people who want to see it are going to find it one way or another.

Finally, I liked how the chapter was broken into easy to digest parts – it helped me categorize and process the information much better than just one long chapter that talked about everything all at once. I feel that pulling out topics helps me focus my reading and comprehension and I enjoy reading things more that way when I don’t have to search around for the point to a writing.

Dodson Ch.1 Response

To be honest, I have little awareness about China and it's many policies. I was aware of who ruled and some of the rulings, but not all of them. This first chapter enlightened me on how the Chinese people utilize their freedoms, and how much value is placed on the internet. They even use the web to do sort of vigilante justice! It helps a country of so many communicate and spread out towards, what they seem to refer as, modernization. I found it slightly shocking (especially with the Human Flesh Searches, something that I see as both awe inspiring and frightful) but was impressed by how such a multitude can unite.

My thoughts on the pornography censorship is that, as described, it seems to be nothing more than a scam. Something the government may have concocted under a more moral guise in order to try and control something that is very volatile. It believe it to be difficult to do, and just a little silly to try, especially with the sheer multitudes of people and ways around the censorship. Grass Mud Horse was one way in which we see  the creative reaction the internet can present in response to the false censorship. I believe this to be a situation to be swept under the rug, unless the government intends on actually doing what it says it is, and taking into account its people while doing so.

As per how Dodson put together the chapter, I found it very well done. It gave a sort of natural flow to the thought which I can admire. Dodson covers the topic thoroughly considering the amount of space he used, and he still made the information very natural and kept it from becoming overwhelming. I enjoy how is both informative yet not an overly complexional read/

ch 1 dodson

I honestly knew virtually nothing about the Chinese government before reading Dodson. I was shocked to find out how they use the Internet. It seems to me to be a really negative environment. Although they are using things like The Human Flesh Search Engine to find people who have committed crimes for the greater good of the people, it just kind of strikes me as inappropriate and invasive. Such things should be the responsibility of the government. Maybe they should be spending more time solving crimes that have been put in the public eye than they are deleting pieces of their past and pornography – people are going to find pornography in some way anyways and it doesn’t affect others. I think the situations that are being put into the public eye could very well be ones that families might want to keep to themselves. I guess having help to find betrayers could be a good thing, but it seems to me like people are constantly wound up about things that are happening over the country and I feel like it gives a very negative outlook to the Chinese.

I’m really torn about the idea of censorship at this point. Reading the first chapter gave me the impression that everything that the Chinese are reacting to and seeing on the internet is really negative and I’m not quite sure how I would feel about that.

I am confused at what the Chinese government is trying to get at by censoring certain negative and controversial events because they are a part of China – a part of their culture and history. I feel like the people should be able to be aware of such things.   

My reaction to this chapter was that Dodson really just blatantly threw the information out there and didn’t really hold back, which I appreciated. I think the governments of other countries are things that we should be aware of, and I’m upset that I wasn’t already aware of how other countries, like China, operated.