Confucianism

[Trevor Salyzyn]

I just read an article where a 19-year old girl in China jumped to her death to a cheering audience.

For anyone unfamiliar with Confucianism, it is essentially a religion of perfection. One is expected to master oneself, to live harmoniously with one"s family, and thus bring about a utopia. I don"t believe in perfection. There is no such thing as a perfect parent, child, ruler, friend, teacher, or student.

Because of this twisted desire for perfection, the Chinese state fails to treat madness as a health issue, but instead as a character defect.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

The Chinese culture causes madness, especially in women. Women are not only not valued, but in many ways, seen as a liability. Women are expected to work harder, longer hours. Female infants have been seen as such a liability that China's one child policy caused most female infants to be abandoned, often to just die in the gutters. Because this has gone on for so long, Chinese men are having difficulties finding wives, but still women are not seen as valuable. Chinese schoolgirls are regularly molested on subways on their way to and from school by Chinese businessmen, but they must pretend like nothing happened or else they will bring shame to their families. Of course they would clap for a female committing suicide.