China Inside Out, Response

I learned so much from this first chapter. It truly opened up my mind on how to look at the censorship in China. I knew it was an issue, but in reading this first chapter, I was able to look at how everyone reacts to the government’s control.  Since I did not know much about China in the first place, other than knowing they have become a leading nation in the world, seeing how censorship has affected the way people react has made me want to know more about this issue. It made me wonder how I would react to censoring laws if I were in the same situation. At this point, I do not quite know how I feel about the overall idea of censorship. Before reading this first chapter, I felt I had a very strong viewpoint of being against censorship. I am not for it at this point, but I my strong anti-censorship viewpoint has slightly diminished. Maybe it is the barbaric ways in which China has reacted to these limits or the way that the Chinese government has dealt with these issues. It is so incredible how the government is so fearful of their people gaining any influence from Westerners. Through censorship they hope to obtain the most power they could from the Chinese people. I feel that due to this notion, censorship has been a limit of power for China. It has had the opposite effect the government has wished for. As Dodson stated at the end of the chapter, censorship can cause China to loose international business, research, and innovative technological advancements. In regards to government censorship on the internet, I feel like it's a good idea. It limits the younger generation from getting access to any form of pornography. I feel like this is an issue in the United States that should have some form of censorship when it comes to young people. Dodson's way of putting this chapter together becomes very informational. It isn't quite like Boo's idea of narrative, which causes me to get lost around certain points. Overall, I feel like Dodson's method of putting together this chapter works for this specific topic.