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Journal on Kwame Anthony Appiah’s talk in Examined Life Tianran Cui

I specifically chose Appiah’s argument to talk about because of my Chinese background and the more intense international affairs going on under the outbreak of COVID-19. I will only refer to my experience and understanding within the last five years, since I don’t think I had opinions that are rational enough before that to be considered in this argument. But be alert: I might be subjective at some point in this journal, because I’m so mad to see that some media reports had severely betrayed journalism to serve political purposes(however that’s not what I mean to talk about).

Since the fall of 2016, when I went to the US as an exchange student, I started paying attention to the Western media. What I often notice is that the Western media tend to interpret all news relating to China negatively, and a common argument they like to make is that our government takes away citizen’s rights and freedom unlike democratic countries. The western media picture us as people who blindly follow the country’s leader and obey the government instructions with no independent thinking, and use immigrants who think western countries are better than China in all aspects as evidence to show that Chinese government controls the citizens and people are suffering but do not dare to speak. At the same time I’ve seen news and reports describing Chinese tourists as rude, loud and dumb, but willing to spend lots of money. (I have to mention the CNN reaction to the terrorism in Hong Kong. The reporter is so irresponsible and anti-humanity to call it “a beautiful scene”. But look at how they reported things happened in Catalonia. Damn those politicians. ) At the same time, the news and reports about the United States we have seen on Chinese media are often somewhat negative as well. A lot of them are bad news and the criticism of the US media and actions trying to influence other countries’ politics. You can see the strategy here: the western media like to criticize China on politics, by encouraging separatists and misinterpreting Chinese society; while Chinese media (mainly targeting the US) selectively reports the issues and crisis in America, and criticize the U.S. on dishonesty and excessive interference in international affairs. (Ever since Trump started the trade war, I don’t think I have seen any positive reports about the US in Chinese media. ) (I’m definitely criticizing the US impartially now. Oof. maybe I’m not. ) Aside from the international relations and politics behind, which have had a great influence on the official media, the focus of the journal is the general public in China and the western society.

In this COVID-19 outbreak, the misunderstandings the western world has upon east Asia, especially upon China, had delayed the best time to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With some false advertisement made to serve political purposes, effective preventions that had been proved in China, including self-isolation, wearing masks to reduce human contact, concentrating covid-19 patients for treatment, and precise information gathering in the local community, had all been reported as government controlling the citizens in an immoral way. People didn’t take the situation seriously, but instead made jokes of the struggles of other people. As a consequence, a virus that could have been stopped earlier with one country being influenced, now has

become a universal issue that has killed many and greatly influenced everyone in the world. Reflectively we can see how great the prejudice is that lies between the western and Chinese culture, and it’s only harmful to everyone in this globalization trend. (A not-that-accurate counter example(just to cover both sides) I can make is that Japan’s utilization of resources has been known to be the most natural friendly. But until a couple years ago so many older people around me refused to admit and learn from the strengths that Japanese culture and society have, because of the wounds Japan had made to China in World War II. ) (于是2021年排核污水了， 这篇essay简直是时代的眼泪)

By observation, I noticed that for most people, their impression of other countries and areas in the world is mostly built up from the information they got from the media. Especially among the older generation. Younger generation also learns about other cultures in other ways, such as pop culture, art and new media work. Although our generation is so used to gather information on the internet, most voices we can hear are still from people that have similar cultural backgrounds. Thus, to form a better international environment, it’s important that people around the world are listening to different opinions, trying to understand and respect one another. However, the idea of global citizens sounds far away and unreal, when everything you can perceive is monocultural. I only started rethinking my understanding of the world since I started studying in the US. When I lived with American people, I got to experience the cultural differences in daily life, and it motivated me to review the life I had known in a new perspective. Nowadays cultures are often symbolized and being spread abstractedly; but behind the symbol it’s thousands of living people, we always tend to forget that no cultural groups can be classified and represented so simply.

Appiah had argued that a cosmopolitan citizen should allow the existence of different cultures and social forms, and give others the space to do things differently. It’s absurd to conclude that one way is superior to others and should be universalized( though it’s a common practice In diplomacy to weaken the rivals); in fact the most accurate way to assess any system should be how the system benefits its residents. In this globalization age I think people around the world should realize that, and look at other cultures and societies with no preconceived judgments.

In this COVID-19 outbreak, before there was Chinese doctors and nurses volunteered to support Wuhan; people provided free food and delivery to hospitals; and farmers donating their freshest vegetables overnight to support Wuhan; now around the world doctors and nurses are working for extra hours trying to cure the patients; people handing out free food to support one another; and the applause to the heroes… Aside from the cultural differences, we all share the same love and support for our kind. Leaving the images and impressions behind, we have much more in common than we have in difference.

(Anyways, as a Chinese I really hope western media can stop making up false news about China and picture us as evil. Just stop blaming China for everything dude. And actually

acknowledge the improvements and credits equally for all countries. It’s so dumb to see media being double standard without even trying to pretend they are not. )