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Early criticisms towards the "one child policy" dating back to the 1980s and
before were (like much of Chinese intellectuals) member to a continuity all
the way to the current criticism. In this regard, it was not the criticisms
that were changing, but the propaganda in which they were espoused. The 198
0s and onward were times of first economic bloom and then a little bit slowd
own in the early of 1990s. There was a generational change in the citizenry
of the Chinese state. The people making these criticisms and those hearing t
hese criticisms had changed.
Based on moral grounds, one of the most nebulous criticisms but
perhaps one
of the most poignant was the idea that there was some sort of an atomizatio
n of society and social responsibility (specifically the women's right) thro
ugh the actions of the large welfare-system as paternal giver unto the needy
masses. The moral implications of this are many including an
alienation of
fellow citizens based on suspicions of usury of the one-child-policy. Yet, t
he ideas the reciprocal responsibility and obligation to fellow citizens, so
central to the idea of a "cruel force abortion", were perhaps being undermi
ned by the theoretically lugolous . When the country takes over the role of
the provider, many would argue, the interactions of individuals is removed f
rom the personal and so too goes the feeling of mutual obligation.
Another criticism levelled at the time would be the draining of the
private
sector and problems for the "Gender Role" in a public sector dominated Chin
a. The reality of this criticism, according to the new demographic research,
does not seem to stand up in practicality. In fact, the public sector and i
ts stability of gender demographically seemed to be a buffer to many fluctua
tions in the future of China. Moreover, among other things, it provided lowe
r costs for the committee of birth-control employees, as the Country had alr
eady trained its citizens to such a high and rigid standard with regards to
the one child policy.
The criticisms might then move on to the idea of a decreasing
incentive to
the number of working class population and in many regards this was somewhat
true. Those who were very old did not have as much incentive to go to their
work, as the benefits for pension-pay were installed. This might also have
lowered the threshold whereby people considered themselves too old for work.
The incentives to take low wage jobs were low since unemployment insurance
was so comprehensive, and this also meant that the time people spent between
jobs was also lengthened. Old age benefits and an increasing life expectanc
y (thanks in part to welfare state health provisions) meant that more and mo
re still productive citizens who had made considerably good wages through th
eir life were retiring earlier and living longer. This brings about the mora
l questioning of whether the enjoyment of an active retirement life should s
upersede the productivity and vitality of a nation.
As the one-child-policy in the theories and policies of the
government was
being finalized and perfected - finished, if you will - there were charges b
eing made that it was still somewhat of a failure as there was the continued
persistence of gender inequality in China. This was most apparent from the
Communist party critiques based on "China's over-population" which owned suc
h a high percentage of industry or wealth. Now, the welfare from the over (o
r even illegal) population had become a common heritage of China and no part
y would discard it wholesale; not even the right was prepared to do this. Ye
t, the Chinese Communist Party themselves found that while they were heraldi
ng the completion of this kind of welfare, their commission investigating th
e issue reported back with only one chapter on successes and eight on the fa
ilures of said welfare state. Many memberships of Chinese Communist Party an
d many common Chinese citizens were moving to the right and considering the
idea that they had only been treating the symptoms of one child policy, bein
g not brave enough to confront the cause: this policy itself. The visible ri
se in spending while the actual programmes of birth control remained unchang
ed was emphatic evidence that could support such a conclusion. On the other
side, some policy-makers began to suspect that their right leaning political
colleagues had been correct and that these birth control programmes had bee
n destructive to society in some other way.
It serves well to illustrate further the change that had occurred.
Continui
ty had been a prominent pattern for Chinese politics and policy until the un
dermining of this in the 1980s. In some ways, China was one of the only nati
ons in this planet to maintain such continuity. The two revolutions (the Gre
at Cultural Revolution 1966-1976 and the Great Reform 1978…) had seen China
through as one of the least involved, as their population growth kept them
stable throughout and at a distinct advantage after the World War II. With t
he onset of the 1970s, both world economic uncertainty and internationally f
lavored social movements provided the context for extremist criticisms in ma
ny governments worldwide. This was no longer a situation of war in which it
was crucial that the nation stood strong against outside military threats, b
ut rather a survivalist economic situation peppered with challenges to socie
tal values. Greater feelings of empowerment by female citizens and a growing
immigrant population caused greater plurality in the issues deemed signific
ant.
This change leads directly to the conflict of individual freedoms
versus th
e collective responsibility, and it is also directly related to a new egotis
m versus the old solidarity. Cultural pluralism had strained the ideas of co
llectivism and solidarity - the "One Child Policy" became untenable when the
people were no longer a stereotypically knowable entity. The people had bec
ome atypical and individual leading to many new options for this country's f
uture warfare system: increased means testing and bureaucracy, cuts in servi
ces for all, increases in decentralization, or even privatization. With cont
inuity disrupted by plurality of the people, there became multiple avenues t
o the future instead of a common "Birth Control". |
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