One thing I have learned from this chapter is how different cultures deal with different climates and geography. Maybe not learned, but gained a better understanding for how other countries can struggle. For example, looking at different underdeveloped countries that have less advanced technology are struggling. Like in Africa, there are some countries that still walk miles to get water from a river. These type of things make me thankful for our technological advances and how well we thrive as a country. One other thing I took from this chapter is how we try and control population growth. China took a big leap saying they had a policy of only one child per household. This is a wild theory to live by in my opinion. It also amazes me they were more harsh on girls when having children. This has definitely affected China and the population of males to female is not proportional. Do you think China was right in controlling the population so drastically?
Rachel Nehring says
Chase, I would have to agree of how big of a reality check I had when learning how different other countries operate. Having a population control I think could be beneficial sometimes, depending on your countries goals, but for China I would have to agree that things were a little extreme. While I was doing more research about the Philippines, they are actually trying to increase population to help their economy grow. One way they are doing this is by encouraging immigrants to move there for work, which is crazy because the U.S. has a very different perspective about immigrants. I feel like everything that different countries do today is a big part of where they came from. For example, the U.S. is very free because that’s what our founding fathers believed in. Whereas the Philippines has a very diverse country because Spain and America owned them at one point, but they have a lot of Asia culture which helps them be open to a global market. I think overall I learned just how big a countries history plays a role into their culture today.
Skyler Smith says
Chase,
I also found it interesting to learn about how China tried to control its population so drastically by creating a policy of “one child per household”. Growing up, I can always remember learning that “China only allowed you to have one kid”, but I guess I never realized that it was actually a true policy until now. In my opinion, it was not right for China to try and control their population so drastically. I understand that they have encountered several issues due to over-population that we have never experienced, but I also think that their “one child per household” policy has come back to hurt them in the long-run. As you mentioned, the male-female ratio in China is now not proportional, now causing them new problems they must find a solution to. It is definitely interesting to learn how different cultures try to control their population in different ways!