Unequal Wealth Distribution in China - Essay Example

Unequal Wealth Distribution in China Introduction China’s unequal wealth distribution can be associated with a number offactors. The first one is the rapid population increase that puts pressure on the few resources of the country. Also, a majority of the people in china are the young and middle aged children who are not productive; they are thus dependent on the mature working population. This means that each mature person has more dependants and thus the mature cannot invest in economic activities (Wang 27). The second one is the method of Property rights where the land was controlled and owned by the government. This meant that there was no competition in the production process. Government ownership of land also led to inefficient production which led to waste of resources. The last one is the economic collapse of 1970s and 1980s which caused economic decline that previously acted as a way of distributing wealth. Effect of unequal wealth distribution Unequal wealth distribution is the situation where the gap between the rich and the poor is reasonably large. The World Bank defines poverty as spending less than one dollar per day. This is a situation which is common with most people who are affected by unequal wealth distribution. In china, unequal wealth distribution has caused a number of negative factors in education, housing, transportation, employment, and human rights (Wang 43). Education Unequal wealth distribution means that the children of the poor parents cannot get a decent education. They thus turn to government school which are often crowded. In these schools, the government is not able to supply enough classes, teachers, and other infrastructure that are needed for a good learning environment. Public schools are also associated with adverse ratios all facilities which mean the children will not get the necessary skills needed to compete in the world. Therefore, the child will end up failing examinations and thus not proceed to the next level of education. At the end of the day, the child is left without education and thus end up poor as his or her parents. Lack of education will then drive the child to do other ill activities such as crime and drug abuse (Gollier 19). Housing The poor are often said to be living in informal settlement in most countries of the world. This is because they cannot afford the necessary material to put up a decent house. They also have no land where they can practice farming and put a decent house. They thus migrate to the urban centres to search for informal jobs. In urban centres, a decent house is very expensive which the poor cannot afford (Zhong et al 25). They thus turn to informal settlements which are often made up of temporary structures and in most cases they lack access to important social amenities such as sewerage system, water and electricity. Transportation The poor often lack means of transport such as cars because they lack enough money to spend in such facilities. Transportation is important today because it opens up other opportunities in life. In addition, the dwellings of the poor are often served by poor road networks that are not all weather. These roads become impassable in the rainy season (Wang 22). The lack of good road also denies the poor lack of opportunities to access information that might be far away. Employment In order for one to get employed he or she must have good qualifications, abilities and experience. People who are marginalised in term of unequal wealth distribution lack educational qualifications that can earn them an employment. Employment is a way of re-distributing wealth and thus the poor miss this chance (Tomba 16). Lack of employment is also brought about by lack of the necessary networks that can lead to a job. These are the characteristics that are associated with the poor. In addition, employment leads to a satisfied life; the workplace acts an avenue for human development and growth. The poor people miss these important opportunities. Human rights Unequal wealth distribution results in the subdivision of society into three groups of people. These are the poor, middle class and the rich. The poor lack access to institutions of justice such as law courts, religious services and counselling and guiding. They lack access to them because they do not have information about how they work and lack the necessary finance to access them. They are thus denied their basic human right such as the access to information, basic health care and security. Inaccessibility of these rights makes their lives more miserable (Price 16). Can someone who is denied access to these things even be considered a citizen? The lack of access to education, housing, transportation, employment, and human rights can happen because of various factors that cannot be solved using the current resources and technology. Therefore, a citizen who is not accessing any of these necessities should not be considered as non-citizen of china (Gollier 15). There are needs that are given a priority, for example by the Chinese government such as health. This forces the government to forgo investing that money for example in education and transport. The government of the People’s Republic of china cannot take care of the needs of all citizens because of the budget constraints. This calls for people understanding. In addition, the people should work hard to meet some of their needs without having to depend on the government. They can also partner with the private sector to, for example, put up schools, health facilities and roads (Zhong et al 9). How do sexual, racial, and class discriminations affect the patterns of consumption in the PRC? Sexual discriminations In china after the country became an economic system, women were often discriminated in terms of job opportunities because of the economic reforms that took place. This meant that women were not involved in major decision making processes of the country (Wang 18). This is not the best way to handle development issues because for it to be sustainable it has to involve women. Involvement of women in decision making assists women to learn how to govern their issues. Racial discrimination In china racism leads to the discriminated being denied job opportunities especially by white employers. Africans in China live uncomfortable live because of the racial abuse that they undergo. Chinese people also discriminate certain races of Chinese who have a light skin than the ordinary Chinese citizens are discriminated (Tomba 13). Racism touching on black people is often the most common in china. A lot of families in China are not expected by customs to marry a black person. Most of those who have tried are usually disowned by the rest of the community. It is also difficult getting an employment position if you are black.  The blacks are thought by Chinese as people who play basketball and who are violent. The Chinese also perceive all black people to be Africans. They are also tough toward Africans and they refer to them as “black ghost” or “old ghost”.  They also assume Africans to be very poor people and who have little money. The origin of racism among Chinese is because in between n the various ethnic groups of china, there is pronounced racism among themselves (Tomba 11). Class discrimination There are three classes of people in china. These are the very poor, middle class and the upper or wealthy. The poor or the discriminated do not have adequate money to buy everything they wish to consume. They at times lack the basic food requirement and also health care services. The poor, therefore, have low consumption patterns (Price 10). In addition, they consume other materials in very little proportions, for example, the have little access to government information, medical facilities and other social services. However, the poor in china are reported by various environmental groups to consume most of the forest resources such as trees which they use to make charcoal for sale to earn a living. In addition, most of the primary natural resources are consumed by the poor such as fish and wild animals. How popular culture is defined- and promoted in the consumption patterns of different social groups in China China has a very rich culture that attracts cultural tourists. This culture has been preserved for many years and continues to form important history of china. Chinese are deep rooted in their culture and thus the reason for their rich culture. There are 56 known ethnic groups in china and each is associated with its own culture. The Han Chinese group is the largest ethnic group and also has the most popular culture in the world. Traditional Chinese are known to cover a variety of practices such as food, dance, music and kung Fu. Each cultural region in china is divided into subcultures that are represented by certain ancestral items. These items are treated as very important commodities by that particular community. Other cultural attractions in china include fashion, architecture, music arts, tea culture and leisure. These cultures have taught the people of china to preserve natural resources and use them sustainably for the continuity of their culture. The Chinese culture of art relies primarily on natural resources such as stone and wood carvings and thus they have a reason to preserve. The cultures are also preserved by organising various cultural exhibitions that perform to tourists (Gollier 8). Works Cited Gollier, Christian. " Wealth Inequality and Asset Pricing. ." The Review of Economic Studies (2001). Print. Price, Victoria Curzon. "Economic Growth and Unequal Wealth Distribution:A Dynamic Approach." New Perspectives on Political Economy (2006). Print. Tomba, Luigi. "Creating an Urban Middle Class: Social Engineering in Beijing*." The China Journal (2003). Print. Wang, Jing. "Bourgeois Bohemians in China? Neo-Tribes and the Urban Imaginary." The China Quarterly ( 2005). Print. Zhong, Wei, et al. "WEALTH INEQUALITY: CHINA AND INDIA." India China Institute collaborative Project, Prosperity and inequality in India and China, 2008-2010 (2010). Print. Read More