China
The People’s Republic of China. I don’t give ’em much thought. But China keeps popping up lately, so I’m gonna share this stuff in a really shoddy, stream-of-consciousness-style post.
China Item #1: My older is building a model of The Great Wall for Multicultural Day at school. Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless had this to say: “Well, who’s making the model of the forced labor camps?”
Yeah, yeah, I know. But I mean, you know. The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world, so there’s no harm in learning about it. Actually, more’s the harm in the way a school will micromanage your time by dictating that your child accomplish time-intensive, yet mostly-useless projects which cannot be completed without serious parental intervention.
I could write a book on the harm in that.
Turns out that The Great Wall was mostly accomplished through forced labor anyway, so . . . our son is making the model of a forced labor camp.
China Item #2: Via Pileus comes news that the Chinese government recently restricted the use of time travel on TV shows. I guess they won’t be showing Back to the Future on Chinese TV anytime soon . . .
Although this type of “guideline” might have prevented some of the worst Star Trek plots from surfacing, you gotta wonder what the Orwellian Chinese State Administration for Radio, Film & Television was thinking on this one.
Obviously, they were thinking about how much they hate that weird time loop thing that inevitably occurs in a time travel plot–you know, the past ends up as contingent on the future as the future is on the past, and your linear-minded brain just has to deal with it.
China Item #3: Via Insty comes news that the Chinese real estate bubble may be popping. After watching this video at By Design’s place a couple of weeks ago, I am hardly surprised:
The experts and the central planners will sort out an economy quite nicely, will they not?
Also, the Great Wall didn’t work: the northern barbarians cut through it like butter and took over the country.
I understand that there are bodies of forced workers buried within the Wall. Now, there’s a hint for you for your younger son’s Great Wall project.
Ha! I didn’t know the Great Wall was a failure. LOL thanks heather.
Isn’t communism grand? People afraid to speak, people shuttled off so they can’t, others who think the government is not doing enough for them. What a life!
And when the housing bubble in China does burst – America, the debtor nation, will implode. Incredible.
I feel for ‘ya with the time-consuming, worthless projects FOR THE PARENTS. Was so happy when my son finally graduated to powerpoint presentations and learned his own way around the computer.
Oh, man, Freedom, isn’t it the WORST? How old was he when it shifted to power point? My older is in 3rd grade.
Middle School, around 6th grade. But believe it or not, we had to get the old poster board and glue stick out once this year for an 8th grade English project. He did the work, but being a boy (or maybe thinking it was a stupid project) neatness wasn’t his #1 goal, so I still supervised. At this age–and with the technology available–glue and posterboard are just so last decade! (Don’t I sound hip?-HA!)
No time travel programs on television? Well then the Chinese won’t be up on their quantum theory but that is fine with me, we’re short dilithium crystals. Lol.
Communism always destined to fail is no way of life. Everyone goes down the drain together. Unbelievable.
We have a time-consuming pre-school project due today. My 3 y/o is in pre-school part-time, which he loves, and which is a very good reputable pre-school. I had to do an “all about me” day for her, which included making a giant “All About Me” poster filled with pictures and info about her favorite things and activities which I was supposed to do with her input, of course. Incredibly frustrating for both of us because she wanted to do everything her way, and she’s very passionate about things, but I had to come up with something that kind of makes sense to an adult because her classmates’ posters are pretty legible. I’m glad it’s over.
And what would happen if a 3-yr old doesn’t turn in a project? It’s not like it’s going to affect her GPA or anything! HA!
No, but other kids’ parents came in and did their presentations, so I didn’t want her to feel left out. I thought about flaunting it, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was kind of manipulative of the pre-school. I came in, did my presentation and read a book. Basically I entertained the kids for 45 minutes (my daughter insisted on a long book).
Heavens, they start with this nonsense even sooner in San Fran, it seems. The kid not wanting to get in trouble or be left out creates a tension in that I hate. If the boys don’t drive me crazy this summer, I am totally opting out of this craziness next year.
Socialism is all for the working man all right. Geez. I’m still trying to get my mind around all of this. China produces all kinds of product which they sell around the world and which in turn brings in lots of money. They use that money to build big cities with shopping malls and luxury appartment building where nobody lives and or works. But the construction creates more jobs and makes their GDP look great. And???? What?????
Exactly.
Can I just say your son rocks! Building a slave labor camp for class is most definitely the beez kneez.
Speaking of required parental involvement, I have an anecdote to convey about my oldest daughter when she was in high school. Her teacher sent home a request that all the parents in the class add her email into their contacts then email her so she can have all of our emails. I promptly ignored it, until a couple days later when my daughter came to me exasperated because I haven’t done it yet. Apparently, the teacher was making it a gradeable assignment, and because I haven’t followed through, she was gonna get a zero. Needless to say, I decided to go ahead and give her teacher all the email info she could want, and then some. I tore into that lazy piece of crap like you wouldn’t believe (sometimes a good e-mail nastygram is very cathartic). Apparently, it did the trick, because the teacher emailed my back, very apologetic.
The end of the story comes about two years later, after my daughter graduated. For some reason, the topic of “the email” came up again, and she intimated to me the teacher actually read my email in class and apologized to the class and wanted them to tell their parents she was sorry! Jeez, talk about feeling bad about something after the fact, lol. Apparently, this was a pretty good teacher who just went a little awry in her thinking – I guess I woke her up a bit, but I still feel a little guilty, lmao.
As far as the time travel thingy. I wonder if it is geared more toward “alternate reality” and maybe it got lost in translation. Because if it is alternate reality, then they are trying to stifle the typical “utopia” we see in movies that implement that device. Can’t have the Chinese masses learning there might be other choices besides the Chicomms.
Oh that was an adult smart-*ss who wanted to build a forced labor camp, lol. My son is not quite that jaded . . . yet. Sorry for the mix up there.
Thanks for the story. Don’t you feel bad Fleece, b/c you helped both that teacher and a whole lotta other parents. When I’ve tried to rectify things at school, I have met with some success but also a great deal of defensiveness and irretractibility. Sigh.
Q: Why did the Chinese ban time travel on TV?
A: Because they can.
Mega! You still around? I need to come by yours and see.
Yeah, I am, thanks! I thought I’d take some time and wait for Barry to spread a little wealth my way. It didn’t work.
There is a certain irony in that video. It comes when they video the young couple so poor they cannot afford to have their child live with them. The fellow complains that housing is a basic human right, not understanding how such communist thinking created that mess.
Socialism has almost ruined our education sytem. Can you imagine what there system must be like?
50 percent down payment and pay it off in three years…Hmmm…what an interesting concept.
Mike