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.