ch 6 & 7

Dodson begins chapter 6 with a personal story, which he often does to do to begin a chapter. Chapter 7 starts with a story as well, it seems like it could have been a story that he heard from someone who experienced the event first hand because it was so descriptive that it almost seems like Dodson had been there as well.  I think he uses stories like these to get the reader hooked into the chapter and to give them an idea on what topic the chapter will cover.  These stories then transition into the research and specific events, which he uses to give more detail on the chapter’s topic.  In chapter six he switches back and forth a little bit between these two styles, but most of the writing is on his research, not narrative stories. Chapter 7 is similar to 6 only there are fewer personal stories and more facts; this seems to be the arrangement that Dodson usually uses for writing in this book.  

Dodson Ch.6 & 7 Responses

Dodson does seem to fall into some semblance of a pattern in his writing in chapter six. Most evidently it seems, that in this specific chapter, he seems to be flowing through specific, personal accounts of his to set the scene, and then begin to detail the more general facts he has researched that connect back to the events he has witnessed or been apart of. This is most noticeable when he is talking about the Chinese Wedding industry; Dodson first tells us about his experiences and then speaks of general information.

This back and forth does seem to continue into chapter seven, however it does seem to fade off as it progresses into just plain researched facts. It becomes less personal as the chapter goes on, and more about what truly and concretely is in relation to the subjects he goes over in this chapter.

I assume the reason Dodson writes in this fashion is to provide, with his personal stories, a sort of backdrop for analysis of the facts he is about to discuss with us. This way, we are able to connect back as we actively read the facts he has given, which I found to be an effective strategy of conveying information.

for Chapters 6 and 7

What is the pattern of different kinds of writing you see in Chapter 6?  I'm thinking along the lines of general/specific/personal/researched as some kinds of Dodson's writing--but if you identify others, or identify them differently that's fine--how would you describe the pattern of variation in this chapter?

Is a similar pattern evident in Chapter 7?  Explain how so, or describe how the pattern of different kinds of writing changes in Chapter 7. 

chapter 5

As always, I’m shocked to read what I’ve read about China. I feel like the government is definitely corrupt in the things that are and are not putting regulations on. If they spent more time on regulating their environment and resources and less time on production, I think their country could be a much better place. However, they produce the majority of what we use in the United States, so being shocked by the fact that they have to use resources is kind of ironic when we are the ones stimulating the concept. In all reality, I feel like China is going about using their resources in a way that most other countries around the world do. They plow through their resources carelessly, just like we do in the United States. If we really stepped back and read a book about how the United States treats their environment, I would predict having the same sort of reaction. Comparing the two in terms of how much damage they’re doing on the environment isn’t fair because we rely on China for basically everything. We hardly produce anything in America and we certainly don’t have as great as a population as China. I think Dodson’s prediction for China is pretty accurate considering it’s almost impossible for China’s ways to change, just as it is for the rest of the countries around the world. I definitely think Dodson’s prediction is true for the US. All of the countries have used up an extensive amount of their resources and have polluted what’s left. People in the United States are certainly more aware of environmental problems than they have been in the past, but that doesn’t mean that they are doing anything to change it. We may have the advantage of thinking along more "green" terms, whereas China is currently in the mindset that they are meant to "conquer nature".

Chapters 3&4

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


Property transfers in China are just that. There is no real payment, no real resolution for the people, they just get their property pulled out from under them. Something I found very troubling was the live sentence in China. This means no moving and no chance to advance in society at all. This goes back to the other economic hamstrings place on the Chinese people, but this also effects them socially. It rips parents away from children and vice versa – leaving the whole family unit in taters. This creates a weaker populous that is always depressed on a very basic emotional level. Furthermore, the Chinese government or building officials will then sell what is not even theirs to sell right out from under a Chinese family. When Dodson discusses his dealings with Chinese officials about where to build new buildings, the Chinese official gestured to a row of occupied houses and told Dodson he could have it all. If Dodson had decided to take the space, the entire row of Chinese families would have been displaced without question, hesitation, or pay. Plus, these families do not even own the land they live on – it is only leased to them for a number of years. That raises another question; exactly what do the Chinese people HAVE. This sounds like a ‘Capitalist Pig’ kind of question, but really, what do the Chinese people own? They do not own their own home. Most probably do not own cars – this means that unless they have a mattress full of money they have almost no assets to speak of. Assets would, in the United States, allow them to do things like borrow money against their already purchased things – since those things would be worth money. As it sits now, the Chinese people do not own anything, making what could be their greatest bargaining chip literally worthless.


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 I think the most ridiculous thing I read about was the health issues related to the pollution and how the situations were handled. I simply cannot fathom how these people were literally being poisoned – some of them by their own companies – and then hung out to dry. There was a case discussed about one lady who was hospitalized along with one thousand others, and then told that their illness was not real. They imagined it. All one thousand sick and hurt workers imagined their illness. The company told them that if they denied that they had imagined it then the company would cease all medical treatment (let me reiterate how no one who was hospitalized could have ever paid for treatment on their own) and the employee would be let go. The absurdity of this situation is unfathomable. The people in China have completely no rights over their employers – much less the ability to protest what is being done to their environment -which, I’m sure, makes their living spaces much less enjoyable, if not totally unlivable. As if hurting the environment was not enough, the factories are dumping waste directly into rivers which leaves many families without water for days on end. This will only make people sicker, as they are not even able to drink fresh water with any certainty on a daily basis.

Chapter 2

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? 

Dodson talks about the limitations of the middle class in China as stresses for the people as a whole. First, he talks about the middle class's lack of power. They do not have power to move, or even hold onto belongings or jobs with any amount of certainty. Furthermore, the Chinese people are not allowed to move up from poor to middle class to upper middle class with any ease. The changes are difficult and frowned upon by the government. This creates a tension in the homes and the economy at all times.

Next, Dodson talks about the education system. First of all, with education costs growing, most are not able to attend even a small school, much less a university. The education system leaves students in a constant battle with their peers for the highest seat in the class. After that, the students are required to take an obscenely rigorous exam. This exam then allows them to enter a college, but they are usually restricted by area – with the best schools being in certain cities, which may or may not be where the student is from. Never the less, the students are still stuck where they started out – this could make them less likely to find a job later.

Next, Dodson talks about the lack of jobs available to students. After completing their time at the university, students might not even be able to find a job after they graduate. With the lack of jobs, students are left over qualified for work and not able to repay their families who had to sent them through school. This leaves the next working class jobless and unable to support anyone at all.

Finally, Dodson talks about healthcare. He says that usually officials are paid off to serve the people, and if you have no money, then you will not be helped. This means that one broken bone might take food off the table for a week or a month. This leaves the Chinese people who come down with a real illness unable to find or pay for treatment. If they die, then they will also leave their families unable to support themselves in the dead loved ones absence.

All in all, I think that Chinese people are much more anxious that Americans. The things being limited by their government are rights here in the United States and we might argue about them, but we do not have to fight our government for them on a daily basis. Our system of economic flow makes it much easier to succeed though hard work, rather than the Chinese system which makes people work hard and stay suppressed. I feel that Chinese people have every right to be anxious as they have no recourse and no solutions that they can manage on their own.

Dodson Ch.5 Response

My response to China's use of natural resources is one, as per my usual reaction, of slight shock. It is something that makes me hang my head low for poor Mother Earth who is suffering because of the way the Chinese (and just about everyone else, really- but I am focusing at the group at hand, here) is treating her. Even the US has standards set that we generally adhere to, and we are some of the biggest wasters of resource out there, as much as it hurts to think! I honestly wish China would have started going in a different direction, a la Norway with 99% of their energy being clean in conjunction with other high standard environmental policies. It is difficult for the US to go in this direction because our framework was built on what we have now, and we are too far in debt to fix it seems to be the common complaint, but I do sincerely wish China would have just BEGAN on the right foot.

The only possible errors I see in Dodson's assumptions for China's future is the same one I see in any assumptions made about the future of the world: that we simply don't know what's going to happen. Sure, we plan based on past trends, statistics, and et cetera...But I believe we should plan this out and compute this data to show us the worst possible scenario not because I am pessimist, but so we are all prepared for the worst. That includes Dodson's projections about China's future. I think it is very important to have a plan for the worst that can happen, so the worst isn't as devastating when it potentially hits.

As per whether Dodson's reasoning applies to the US- I really think it does. We, too, need to reconsider the impact we have on our planet. I believe that we need to start to give back to the planet and protect it, just as it has given to us and done all it could to make our own lives better. Whether you see it as a living thing of its own or just a floating rock in space, we owe it and the creatures living on this Earth that at least. After all, the Earth is not for us alone, but our children and the creatures who coexist beside us. Human ingenuity will not keep us going if we don't do anything with it and find a way to save our Earth. We can remain in denial, but we will end up just like China if we continue to treat our land the way we do.

All in all, Dodson has made me reflect not just on how China and ourselves treat our environment, and about how we all do. I suppose we all have "the appetite of a dragon".