Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDutch
Europe went through the industrial revolution hundreds of years ago. Child labour, environmental damage, lack of housing and food standards, abuse of animals in cruel zoos and traveling shows were the norm.
China is going through this right now. They were an impoverished country, until all our demand for cheap goods in the West created this transitional period.
If you were to get in a time machine and go back to the industrial revolution you would see far worse things than you see in China today. This does not make it right, but does not make them a barbaric or lesser culture.
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I think you would likely see many of the same things as you see in China today. I think one of the biggest differences however would be the relatively slow speed of progress in the West of the past as compared to what is happening in China today.
China is progressing at an extremely rapid pace, and while it may be one thing to look at economic numbers, trends or news reports from afar to explain the rise of China, that kind of remote analysis misses the positive and driven culture there is in China now. Chinese culture right now has many sides to it that are quite inspiring, including the optimism that the country is moving forward, the dedication to moving up in the world and improving life as well as the phenomenal work ethic that there is here. There is so much growth, development and optimism about opportunity here in China. Of course not everyone is walking around with a smile on their face all the time, but there is a pervasive and growing optimism about the improvements in the country and the future opportunities there are here. At the same time, the country is not so far removed from its recent history as to have lost connection with the difficulties of people's lives over the last 60 years, yet the culture here is still so very willing to embrace change and development and growth. Looking at strict governmental structures from the outside or levels of corruption that still do exist may lead some people to think China is quickly advancing economically while lumbering along culturally, but it's simply not true. The pace of change here is very rapid both economically and culturally. Really, it's that cultural development that is going to keep China going upwards. It's an advantage China has over a lot of Western countries.