Good and evil. Yin
and yang. Night and day. East and West. Yes, China and the U.S. are very, very
different from one another. For example,
in the U.S., people stop at a red light.
In Shanghai, the traffic lights are more like guidelines--pedestrians must
cross the street at their own risk, no matter what the traffic light says.
A lesson about work accidents and compensation really opened
my eyes to another, and in my mind, more important, difference.
One of the work accidents my students were to assess was
about a man named "James". James had
worked a long, hard day and was tired.
The floor had been cleaned recently, and the company had taken the
proper safety precautions by putting up one of those big yellow "WET
FLOOR" signs. However, James had
taken out his contact lenses because his eyes were sore. He missed the sign, slipped, fell, and hurt
his ankle.
"Who's to blame?" was the question asked in the lesson.
"Well-l," most of my students said. "It's James' fault, really. If he'd left his contacts in, he would've
seen the sign and been more careful."
American corporations
and insurance companies: *Applause and
cheering.*
"But,"
my students continued, "it's the law: the company should pay."
American corporations
and insurance companies: "Huh?!"
"Is that really the law in China?" I asked.
They all nodded--four different classes, about a dozen
different students. In their eyes, James
may have been careless, and the students even said he was to blame--but he was still at work. The law in China says this: Chapter III, Article 44: "No production or business units may, in any form, conclude agreements with their employees in an attempt to relieve themselves of, or lighten, the responsibilities they should bear in accordance with law for the employees who are injured or killed in accidents which occur due to lack of work safety." (Look for yourself at : http://english.gov.cn/laws/2005-10/08/content_75054.htm) In this case, the company had put up a sign, but James was still hurt at work. James probably wouldn't make the same mistake
twice, but while he recovered, his company would take care of him.
When I told my students that the situation in America would
be quite different--that there was no similar law, and that corporations and
insurance companies would do just about anything these days to avoid any kind
of payout--my students either shook their heads or gave me blank looks. To them, a company not taking care of its
workers--regardless of cost--was unthinkable.
For a country that constantly gets blasted in our media for
human rights abuses, I find this fascinating.
After all my travels in this world, I've come to value
American freedom and independence with a fierceness that most homebodies will
never feel. At the same time, there's
also the sense in America that the word "independent" is synonymous
with "alone", as in "You're on your own." "Pull yourself up by your
bootstraps! If you can't, you deserve to
die."
It seems to me that China is more of a "We're in this
together," society. Yes, I've only
been in Shanghai for one month, but I did live in China before. I remember what a big deal it was for my
family to live in Qinghai--how hard the Chinese tried, with what little
resources they had, to look out for us.
Everything from fancy banquets to accompanying us out of the country in
May 1989--right before the protests at Tiananmen Square.
Am I romanticizing China by saying they're a cooperative
society (at least more than America is)?
Perhaps. There is a value in
accomplishing something on your own: it
boosts your confidence when you know you can take care of yourself. But sometimes I wonder: Would it be that bad if Americans looked
after each other a little more? How much
would it really affect companies like Nike and Walmart if they took better care
of their workers? Is it that bad to get
help sometimes?
This is so cheesy, but I have to ask--I really want you to think
about this--If Jesus were in charge of Walmart, what do you think he would do?
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