This blog is used for reflecting on the book “A Problem from Hell” and to turn in other assignments for University Seminar at Southern Oregon University.

Jun 3, 2016

Social Media Assignment #2

List your question

[Wherever you see text in square brackets like this, you should replace it with your work. In this case, replace this with your question related to the comparison of Trump to Hitler in popular media.]

In what ways could America’s governmental philosophy help the Chinese government get back to the way it was?

Initial list of codes, with definitions

[In this section, list all of the codes you came up with before reading the articles. For each code, write a definition — what it is you mean by the code used. Example:

SOURCE DOC: Active link back to original source material.]

- Criticism: the act of negative analyzing and expression towards something or someone based on their own beliefs or thoughts

- Contradiction: according to dictionary.com, it is “a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another”

- Godwin’s Law: an online discussion where any person can comment comparing someone or something to Hitler or Nazism

- Hypocrisy: the act of doing something wrong (example: a parent smoking a cigarette) while telling another not to (telling their kid not to smoke cigarettes)

- Aggression: “hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another; readiness to attack or confront” according to dictionary.com

- Tension: intense friction between two people or parties about each other’s opinions

Case #1: Title, Author, link

[Copy and paste the text from the case into this section. If referring to a video or audio, you will need to copy and paste the transcript into this space. Use Word’s Comment feature to highlight the text to which you want the code to apply and then write the code in the comment. Use comments in a different color to indicate memos rather than codes.]

China paper says rise of ‘racist’ Trump shows democracy is scary

Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, China’s Global Times reminded readers Monday. Now an “abusively racist and extremist”[SB1] candidate is on the rise in the United States, it says. Maybe democracy isn’t such a good idea after all.

In an editorial Monday, China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper used Donald Trump’s rise to gloat about the fault lines in the U.S. society and to argue that democracy was both a waste of time[SB2] — and downright scary.

From the rise of a “narcissistic and inflammatory candidate”[SB3] to the violence that surrounded his planned rally in Chicago, the paper said it was shocking this could happen in a country that “boasts one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems” in the world.

Fistfights between supporters of rival parties[SB4] might be common in developing countries during election season, it wrote, but in the United States?

Trump, it said, has opened a Pandora’s box.

The candidate’s supporters, it noted, are mostly lower-class whites who lost after the 2008 financial crisis. “The U.S. used to have the largest and most stable middle class in the Western world, but many are going down.”

China paper says rise of ‘racist’ Trump shows democracy is scary[SB5] — The Washington post”

Unwritten, but implied: the argument that China survived that financial crisis in much better shape, and its middle-class is rising.

Ignored: the argument that trade with China after it entered the World Trade Organization caused manufacturing jobs to hemorrhage from middle America, and the fact that China is still grappling with the delayed aftershock from the financial crisis, as its economy struggles under a growing mountain of debt.

But, back to the point-scoring.

Then, the paper described the emergence of Trump, “big-mouthed” and the “perfect populist”[SB6] to provoke the public.

“Despite candidate’s promises, Americans know elections cannot really change their lives. Then, why not support Trump and vent their spleen?”

The second big takeaway of the article: Democracy doesn’t get you anywhere anyway, so why bother?

The paper went on to argue that this election did raise some serious issues about America’s decline and hypocrisy. After noting the rise of Mussolini and Hitler, it said that most analysts believe the U.S. election system will prevent Trump from winning, so that “the process will be scary but not dangerous.”[SB7]

But even if Trump is a false alarm, his rise has “left a dent” and left the United States facing “the prospect of an institutional failure.”

The inherent instability of the democratic system is classic Communist Party propaganda and an argument that resonates with many people here: Indeed, it is one of the pillars of the party’s legitimacy in many people’s eyes.

Democracy is a mess — just look at India — and sometimes violent — viz. the Arab Spring. China’s history before the Communist Party came to power was equally messy. Only strong, purposeful and benevolent one-party rule can guarantee stability.

Of course, there are a couple of glaring lacunae in that argument” The most obvious being the tyranny and mass insanity unleashed by Mao Zedong, who killed tens of millions of his own people, (as indeed Stalin did in the Soviet Union). But hey, that bit of history is officially glossed over here.

The paper may have a point in that the rise of Trump — as well as that of Bernie Sanders — is arguably a reaction to the capture of American politics by big business and lobbyists, and the failure of globalization to deliver economic benefits to the middle class.

But is also ignores the fact that democratic “reactions” can often offer a (long and winding) path to democratic solutions, while dictatorships almost always end in chaos.

But back to the Global Times.

Finally, then, the paper had this message for the United States.

“The U.S. had better watch itself for not being a source of destructive forces against world peace, more than pointing fingers at other countries for their supposed nationalism and tyranny.”[SB8]

U.S. hypocrisy: It’s an argument that was also aired in a 45-minute documentary Sunday on party-controlled China Central Television. The Xinhua news agency said the program revealed the U.S. “double standards on human rights-related issues, whereby the U.S. pokes its nose into other countries’ internal affairs while leaving many of its own problems unsolved.” Quartz called it part of China’s escalating criticism of the United States. Last week, it noted, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations declared the United States too violent and racist to criticize others on human rights.”[SB9]

Case #2: Title, Author, link

[Same instructions as #1]

6 Facts About How Americans and Chinese See Each Other

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Washington this week to participate in a major global summit on nuclear issues. Xi will also meet on Thursday afternoon with President Obama. The meeting comes at a time of ongoing tensions between the two countries. The U.S. and its Asian allies continue to express concerns about Beijing’s aggressive posture in the South China Sea.[SB10] Washington would like to see Beijing put more pressure on North Korea to halt the development of its nuclear program. Xi’s crackdown on domestic dissent is drawing increasingly harsh criticism from many in the U.S.[SB11] And Donald Trump and his competitors have made the economic challenge from China a major issue in the Republican presidential primary contest.

As Pew Research Center surveys have shown, many of these tensions are reflected in American public opinion. Meanwhile, the Chinese public has its own complaints about the U.S. — in particular, most believe the U.S. is trying to contain a rising China[SB12] .

Here are six key findings about American public opinion toward China, and Chinese public opinion about the U.S.

Overall, Americans and Chinese do not have especially positive views of each other. In our 2015 survey, just 38% of Americans have a favorable view of China, compared with a global median of 55% across 39 countries. Only a slightly higher share of the Chinese public — 44% — give the U.S. a positive rating, in stark contrast with the global median of 69%.

On a list of possible issues with China, Americans are most concerned about economic issues, cybersecurity and human rights[SB13] . Specifically, the amount of U.S. debt held by China and the loss of jobs to China are Americans’ top worries, but cyberattacks and Beijing’s human rights record aren’t far behind.

Republicans are more critical of China compared with Democrats. From U.S. debt held by China to the loss of U.S. jobs and China’s growing military power, Republicans are far more concerned about these issues as a very serious problem than are Democrats. The exception is China’s impact on the environment, which worries Democrats more.

Many Americans think China will ultimately become the world’s top superpower, and most Chinese agree. Americans are closely divided on this question: 46% say China either already has or will someday replace the U.S. as the top global power, while 48% say this will never happen. However, 67% of Chinese think their country has supplanted the U.S. or will in the future; only 16% say it won’t happen.

Most Chinese think the U.S. is trying to hold their nation back. More than half (54%) of Chinese say the U.S. is trying to prevent China from becoming as powerful as the U.S. Only 28% say the U.S. accepts that China will become as powerful.

Young people in both countries express more favorable attitudes of the other nation. Americans ages 18–29 are more than twice as likely as those ages 50 or older to have a favorable opinion of China (55% vs. 27%). Similarly, 59% of Chinese adults under 30 give the U.S. a positive rating, compared with 29% of those 50 and older. And younger Chinese also find U.S. soft power more appealing — for example, 59% said they like American ideas about democracy in our 2012 poll, compared with 40% of the 50 and older group.[SB14]

Case #3: Title, Author, link

[Same instructions as #1]

Chinese Embrace America’s Culture but Not Its Policies

BEIJING — Wearing a hoodie emblazoned with an oversize American dollar bill, Zhao Yixiang sells an American brand of skateboards for a living and admires much about the United States, including its raucous rap music and tradition of unfettered expression.

“America is a country full of free speech,” he said at his shop in downtown Beijing. “You can say what you want, go where you want, choose your own lifestyle. I admire that a lot. But on territorial and military issues, we’re pretty far apart.”

“I think a lot of people in my generation think like that,” Mr. Zhao, 26, said. “We really like American culture, but we also like to have a government that doesn’t show weakness abroad.”[SB15]

As China’s president, Xi Jinping, wrapped up a visit to the United States with a speech at the United Nations on Monday, young Chinese citizens like Mr. Zhao present a quandary for American policy makers, who hope their country’s vast cultural reach offers a beachhead into making opinion here more receptive, if not sympathetic, toward the United States.

In some ways, American cultural influence reaches into China deeper than ever[SB16] . Despite censorship, restrictions on cultural imports and heavy Internet barriers, American television, films, music and technology are widely and avidly consumed. During his visit, Mr. Xi nodded to that influence, citing American authors, the popular Netflix series “House of Cards” and several Hollywood movies, as well as meeting with prominent business leaders from Silicon Valley.

Yet studies and surveys show that many Chinese citizens, including the young, remain wary of the United States and hostile to Washington’s foreign intentions, especially when China’s territorial claims and rising influence are at stake. China is not unique in that regard, but its increasing prominence makes the contrast between cultural attraction and political distrust especially stark.

“Even when you have cultural soft power and cultural attractiveness, that doesn’t mean that people identify with or support your policies,” said Xie Tao, a professor at the Beijing Foreign Studies University who studies public opinion and Chinese-United States relations.

Among his students, he said, “you can sense that the undergraduates identify with American culture — its higher education, basketball, so on.”

Photo

“But when you discuss American policy,” he added, “many people — many of the same people — are highly critical.”[SB17]

People here were subjected to Chinese news coverage of Mr. Xi’s American visit, which smothered audiences with images and accounts of the leader as a strong, poised statesman, winning the respect of President Obama, American tech executives and ordinary Americans.

“Chinese state visits to the United States are primarily domestic choreography for the Chinese public,” Professor Xie said. “This state visit, with the reception by President Obama and the U.S. media attention, is to show that he has international stature and deserves and receives respect.”

The promotional drive for Mr. Xi sometimes went to fanciful extremes. State news media likened the trip to Deng Xiaoping’s in 1979, which helped re-establish diplomatic relations. Foreign students were recruited into offering dewy-eyed praise for Mr. Xi in an online video. The newspaper China Daily claimed that a survey found that nearly 80 percent of American youths were interested in his visit.

It was too much for some Chinese, even those usually inured to high-pitched propaganda.

“A state visit to America is a major event,” said Mary Li, an English-language student at a Beijing university, who asked not to use her Chinese name to avoid getting into trouble at school. “But we know the United States doesn’t revolve around China. The pope was there, too, wasn’t he?”

But opinion surveys indicate that many Chinese people back their government’s views on international relations, even if they admire other aspects of American life[SB18] . Research by the Pew Research Center and other institutions indicates that admiration for American enterprise, and even some American values, is often mixed with wariness, especially of the government’s intentions abroad. (The surveys show that many Americans reciprocate.)

In the latest survey, based on polling this year, 67 percent of Chinese respondents said their country would replace, or had already replaced, the United States as the world’s leading superpower[SB19] . (In Western countries, many respondents agreed.) A majority, 54 percent, of Chinese said the United States was seeking to prevent China from becoming as powerful as itself.

“When you’re the big boss, you’re certainly going to try to keep us down,” said Dong Jianyan, a software programmer in his 20s. “But when it comes to our interests, we need to be strong. For example, on territorial issues, we need to be very firm.”

Distrust toward the intentions of the United States persists despite the popularity of American entertainment. Over the past month, the eighth season of “The Big Bang Theory” has drawn over 45 million views on Sohu.com, an online viewing service. “Furious 7,” the American action film, has been the most popular movie at the Chinese box office so far this year, narrowly beating “Monster Hunt,” a Chinese animated adventure, according to government estimates.

Such exposure may have some effect, at least on the young. In the Pew survey, 59 percent of Chinese respondents ages 18 to 29 had a favorable view of the United States, compared with 45 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and only 29 percent of those 50 or older.

“We’re too interdependent economically now to have major conflict, but political tensions are unavoidable,” said Susan Deng, 31, an office manager who said she visited the United States for the first time this year. She asked to use her English name in order to speak more candidly about politics.

“I’m very in tune with American values — the openness and individualism, unlike our collectivism,” she said. “But in geopolitics, each country will have its own position, and that won’t change.”[SB20]

Peter Hays Gries, a professor at the University of Oklahoma who studies the political psychology of China-United States relations, said a closer analysis of earlier opinion surveys indicated that many Chinese people “are socialized through the Chinese educational system to mistrust the world.”[SB21]

Chinese youth, he said, were “susceptible to arguments that Western countries don’t really care about human rights and democracy, but simply use these issues as ways to further insult and humiliate China.”[SB22]

Li Yonghong, a 28-year-old technician in northwestern Beijing, said his views on the United States were not the product of indoctrination.

“They’re certainly trying to contain us — that’s how big powers treat each other,”[SB23] he said. His enjoyment of American films and smartphones would not dilute his view, he said.

“Actually, this iPhone was made in China,” he said, taking one from his pocket. “On the big issues, China is usually right. That’s a fact.”

Full list of codes

[Add to your list of codes to include any new ones you added in the process, along with their definition. This section should have all codes used. All should have definitions.]

- Emblazoned: a design or advertisement on an object

- Raucous: creating a horrific harsh and loud noise

- Quandary: the indecisiveness of what to do in a tricky situation

- Sympathetic: according to dictionary.com, the “feeling, showing, or expressing sympathy” towards one another

- Influence: taking actions on something and inspiring others to take the same route you did on a hard position

- Prominent: important and/ or famous

- Stark: unkindly saying your statement (clear-cut)

- Diplomatic: “having or showing an ability to deal with people in a sensitive and effective way” (dictionary.com)

- Interdependent: when two or more persons rely on each other

- Indoctrination: a person teaching another person or group of people to agree on something they might disapprove of

- Dilute: adding water to a substance to make the substance more thinner

- Cyber attacks: a person or group of people overriding a device or network system stealing any information they want while destroying what they are hacking

- Superpower: an extremely powerful and dominant nation

- Narcissistic: owning an extreme interest in oneself and one’s physical appearance

- Inflammatory: an element that causes irritation on another surface

- Hemorrhage: “a damaging loss of valuable people or resources suffered by an organization, group, or country” (dictionary.com)

- Resonates: “produce or be filled with a deep, full, reverberating sound” (dictionary.com)

- Benevolent: well meaning and kind

- Lacunae: negative space between two things (unfilled, a gap)

- Bemused: to feel confusion or puzzled

- Exult: the act of showing happiness or exhilaration towards something or someone

- Condemnation: the act of showing very strong feelings of disapproving something

Categorize your codes

[Look at your list and categorize the codes. At this point, no need to include the definitions. Just put like codes together in logical categories.]

Category: Feelings: tension, aggression, bemused, exult, and condemnation

Category: Attitude: sympathetic, diplomatic, criticism, contradicting, hypocritical, quandary, narcissistic and benevolent

Category: Actions: raucous, emblazoned, influence, stark, interdependent, indoctrination, cyber attacks, Godwin’s Law

Category: Nature

Analyze patterns

Code Map

[Draw out how your codes are related to one another.]

Code Table

[Fill out the table, adding rows as necessary.]

Case Summary #1

Main themes, impressions, and summary:

[What’s going on in this particular case? What stands out from the codes?]

From the first article, China concludes that Donald Trump’s views on democracy are scary. Chinese social media has been commenting on how the United States candidate Donald Trump for president is an “abusive racist and extremist.” Summing up all of China’s thoughts on America, Trump’s comments are affecting the United States as a whole in a negative aspect. One news article however from America commented, “the U.S. election system will prevent Trump from winning, so that ‘the process will be scary but not dangerous.’” These opinions and remarks from the Chinese make me feel uncomfortable with this upcoming presidential election.

Explanations, Speculations, and Hypothesis:

[Look back at your memos. Include and expand on them. Just based on this case, what might be the answer to your research question?]

My research question is, in what ways could America’s governmental philosophy help the Chinese government get back to the way it was? From article one, China has strong opinions and hesitations on not wanting to have any correlation with America primarily because of Donald Trump’s comments and philosophies; that includes not wanting to share any official business with America.

Alternative interpretations and Disconfirming Data:

[What information from the case doesn’t fit in the possible answer above? What other ways might the data be interpreted?]

As of now from reading that article, China won’t want to have any close “friendship” with America. Due to Trump, China is threatened by him causing them to not want to have too close of a democracy like ours (i.e. parties running against each other when one party feels threatened by another).

Case Summary #2

Main themes, impressions, and summary:

[What’s going on in this particular case? What stands out from the codes?]

A couple possible reasons why America does not want to work with China more closely than we are is because one, the country owes China a lot of money, two, if the U.S. becomes any closer, most Americans and Chinese think China will become the biggest superpower, and three, more and more Chinese (between the ages of 18 and 29; the younger generations are influenced by America where the older citizens are not) are in favor of American views while the U.S. is lower.

Explanations, Speculations, and Hypothesis:

[Look back at your memos. Include and expand on them. Just based on this case, what might be the answer to your research question?]

Reflecting back to my research question, the polls, statistics and graphs show that America doesn’t want to have any closer correlation with China than we do now. However, more and more younger citizens (in the younger generations) are showing more interest in American political philosophies than the older citizens. In the future, China could adapt more American philosophies of how to run their country, though America doesn’t want to have closer relations with China in the fear of China getting superpower.

Case Summary #3

Main themes, impressions, and summary:

[What’s going on in this particular case? What stands out from the codes?]

A younger generation Chinese citizen spoke of how he and many more Chinese citizens value the idea and want to continue to America’s way of lifestyle as far as freedom, but keeping military and territory different than the U.S. Not only do Chinese people agree with those views, but also they are help supporting the government in keeping American political views away from themselves. In conclusion, China does not want American geopolitics, China wants to keep themselves as an their own individual.

Explanations, Speculations, and Hypothesis:

[Look back at your memos. Include and expand on them. Just based on this case, what might be the answer to your research question?]

China does not want any additional American geopolitics in their government.

Drawing Conclusions and Validation

Where do the case analyses agree? Disagree?

The case analyses agree in how both countries want to keep their geopolitics separate from each other and any other closer relations. From the three articles, I did not find many disagreements between the two parties, however, the only closest disagreements I did find were China’s and America’s views on holding more positive views of the other country; both the younger citizens in each country show more of a higher percentage, while the older generations don’t agree with the younger generations. Summarizing, both countries don’t have disagreements with each other, the older and younger citizens in both China and the United States might have clashing views in the future.

Did your hypothesis change between cases? How can it be changed to integrate those differences?

My hypothesis and research question did change. Originally, it was, in what ways could America’s governmental philosophy help the Chinese government get back to the way it was? Reading three different articles how China doesn’t want to have any of America’s geopolitics views, and America doesn’t want to have any closer business relations with China (due to fear of superpower). Now, my research question has been changed; what differences are there between China and America’s geopolitics, and why do both countries prevent from all similarities?

If you revised your coding scheme, apply it to the previously coded cases. What changes?

For the first Popular Media assignment, my coding wasn’t quite there, but this second time around, I had a better idea and an example to work from.

Look back at your coding chart. Do the patterns there agree with your analysis?

The coding table still does match with the analysis. The first article still had several counts of words that fell under the category of feelings because spokesmen had strong opinions on rocky political views from both countries.

Did you find a way to include all disconfirming evidence in your analysis? It should be accounted for in some way.

Yes.

Describe your answer to the question

[In this section, write a one-paragraph answer to the initial question you asked. Refer to evidence from your analysis.]

Having read all three articles, both sides, the United States and especially China shared similarities of not wanting to have any more “friendship” with each other. America is intimidated that China will become the superpower, and China wants to continue the lifestyle that Americans live though keeping the geopolitics out. Having learned about the fall of the Chinese government during the Chinese Revolution, their lifestyle and government worked really well before the war, got demolished, and is now more comfortable. I strongly believed that China would like to have some American government philosophies to help get back to the way they were, however after reading those articles, China in particular wants to continue to be their own individual country. In closing, I am interested in wondering what the differences are in the Chinese and American geopolitics, and why both countries want to prevent from all similarities.

[SB1]Godwin’s Law, stark, cyber attacks, condemnation

[SB2]Contradiction, superpower, condemnation

[SB3]Narcissistic

[SB4]Aggression, tension, condemnation

[SB5]Lacunae, condemnation

[SB6]Criticism, Godwin’s Law, stark, cyber attacks, condemnation

[SB7]Superpower

[SB8]Prominent, stark

[SB9]Criticism, stark, condemnation

[SB10]Tension, interdependent, condemnation

[SB11]Contradiction

[SB12]lacunae

[SB13]Tension, prominent

[SB14]Influence, indoctrination

[SB15]Sympathetic, diplomatic

[SB16]Influence

[SB17]Prominent, stark, condemnaion

[SB18]Sympathetic, diplomatic

[SB19]Influence, indoctrination

[SB20]Sympathetic, influence

[SB21]Tension, stark, superpower, condemnation

[SB22]Criticism, contradiction

[SB23]Superpower