Jing Hu
World Views and Values
9/8/11
Self-reflection
Two years ago, I moved from China to New York, a move that has changed my life
dramatically in every dimension. During the first two years of my residency in New York,
hundreds of questions arose in my mind. Such as, why does American society seem to be divided
into different racial groups and why do these groups appear anti-social among one another? Why
do capitalist and communist societies dislike each other? Why do people think in one way and
speak in a different way? What is the effect of religion on society? Do terrorists call themselves
“terrorists?” Has the globalization of world economies actually increased the competence
between societies? From civil conflict in the Middle East to starvation in Africa, from ever
increasing costs-of-living around the world to political posturing between nations…the world is
complicated to me.
So the world is complicated – there are beautiful things that are part of our lives like nature, love
and humanity; there are also ugly things that are part of our lives as well, such as war, disease,
prejudice, and poverty. I feel a great mix of emotions ranging from misunderstanding, pity,
anger, inspiration, love and hope. When I was young, the world appeared to be full of flowers
and sunshine; I embraced my world with unconditional love and expectation, but over time the
negative aspects of the world seemed to wash away my naive perspective. When I was in middle
school there was a popular debate on whether human beings are born good or evil. In reality,
however, the question of whether people are born good or evil does not really matter, the fact is
good and evil both exist in society.
The earthquake in Haiti in year 2010 caused major damage – 316,000 people lost their lives and
one million were left homeless. Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid. In
year 2008 a disastrous 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan, China, claimed the lives of another
69,227 people. The whole country was in a state of shock – the atmosphere within the country
was one of sadness and despair. Many Chinese citizens were eager to donate money and
supplies; even children throughout China gave money for toys for the children affected by the
earthquake. China also received humanitarian aid from many outside sources. These acts of
humanitarian support demonstrated that human beings are caring, loving creatures when facing
such large-scale disasters. Yet, Nazism murdered approximately six million Jews during World
War II. The whole Nazi socio-political movement during World War II demonstrated the
extreme opposite characteristics of human behavior: violence, cruelty, inhumanity, and
prejudice. If World War II is considered history, then how do we explain the terrorist attacks in
the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001; the Bosnian genocide between 1992 and
1995; the invasion of Kuwait; and the war between Iraq and United States? Of course there are
reasons for wars, but why spend so much time judging which government is right, isn’t it more
important, or at the very least more humane, to consider the injustice of war in the context of the
defenseless civilians, the innocent people who lose their lives and suffer a wide range of social
catastrophes due to unnecessary wars. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “When will our consciences grow
so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it.” This quote echoes my
feelings exactly. When the day comes when all human beings on earth treat each other with
unconditional love, we will be able to live in a peaceful and caring globalized world – not just an
economically globalized one.
Two days ago CNN reported that four Los Angeles police officers beat a homeless man to death.
I could not find more details regarding this incident online, but just the thought of a homeless
man being beaten to death for whenever reason is an ugly truth to me, to the extent that it is
dehumanizing. A year ago I was in China walking on the sidewalk with my mother in a
downtown city; there was a lot of commotion not too far from us where a crowd of onlookers
was gathering. I could hear a lot of noise and a woman crying, so I decided to move closer to see
what was happening. I was curious what the woman was crying for and wondered if a car
accident had just happened. I walked up and squeezed into the crowd and I could not believe
what I saw. A few policemen were beating a man on the side of the street, a woman was hugging
the man, crying and trying to protect him. Then policemen pushed her away from the man and
threw him inside a police van like he was an object. I looked around and saw that nobody dared
to do anything. My heart sank, I was shocked and I felt sick for three days after witnessing this
incident. I am sad to see examples of violence like this happening everyday in our lives and I
hope that all people around the world will receive the opportunity for education, which may
increase their awareness of what is right and wrong, good and bad. I believe education and the
opportunity to increase one’s welfare will positively affect the rate of violence in the world.
Another sad reality in the world is poverty and imbalanced healthcare. According to World
Hunger Education Service’s World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics, there were 925
million hungry people in the world in year 2010; a child dies every 4 seconds from HIV; and
over 22,000 children die worldwide every single day from various other diseases or conditions.
These statistical figures truly raised my own awareness to the strife that other people go through
every day. I believe the world can help; if the global community were to truly commit to making
the world a better place for all of its inhabitants, as opposed to accepting powerlessness, we
could make a difference on these numbers. People just need to be willing to help and have the
faith that their input or involvement, as small as it may be, will have an impact.
Year of 2010
To me, the world seems to be just getting more complicated. The poor members of society
become poorer and the rich are too busy trying to maintain and enhance their wealth. The world
is full of complaining and blaming on top of everything else. Too many people appear to exhibit
a misanthropic outlook and detach themselves from society’s challenges. For instance, people are
suspicious of others’ intentions when someone is trying to help, and people are sometimes
reluctant to help out of fear of consequences. But I believe there is hope. Hope that people will
not use violence against each other anymore; a hope that children no longer die from starvation
and disease; and a hope that prejudice and discrimination no longer exist in the world.
This hope might seem too idealistic, but it is necessary if we are to refer to ourselves as civilized
and intelligent. In the story of The Cave, Socrates is talking to a man whose name is Glaucon.
Socrates believes that most people are living in a world of relative ignorance and that individuals
do not even realize that they live in this state of ignorance. Moreover, people are comfortable
with it, because it is all they know. But once we have the chance to see the truth and continue to
seek it, we will eventually face and accept it however painful the process may be; and once we
realize what is the truth we will not want to go back to the ignorance we once thought was the
truth. So like the prisoner released from the cave who had the chance to see the real world (The
Allegory of the Cave), if we are willing to see reality with our own eyes, then we shall feel the
pain and want to help the rest of the “prisoners” as much as possible to realize what their life can
be.