Episode Highlights
Episode 1: Joined at the Hip
Highlights
- U.S. manufacturers such as Briggs & Stratton, Apple, and Ethan Allen rely on cheap, reliable Chinese labor to reduce assembly costs and remain competitive.
- The Chinese economy relies on U.S. capital for investment in technology and on U.S. consumers (through retailers such as Wal- Mart) for a ready market for their goods.
- Companies' search for inexpensive labor inevitably displaces U.S. workers.
- In urban China, a growing middle and upper class has increased the demand for imported luxury goods, while most rural Chinese remain poor.
Questions to Consider
- How would you explain the interdependence of the Chinese and American economies, in your own words?
- Have you, family members, or friends felt the effects of outsourcing to other countries?
- When you buy something at a big-box retailer, do you read the label to find the country of origin? Does it influence your purchasing decision?
- Some of the experts interviewed in this episode see U.S.-Chinese interdependence as a "win-win" situation, because investing brings good returns and outsourcing helps keep some U.S. plants open. Do you agree or disagree? What factors influence your opinion?
- How do you think U.S.-Chinese interdependence has affected your 401(k) or other investments?
Episode 2: Mao-ism To Me-ism
Highlights
- Many Chinese look back on the Cultural Revolution with a mix of regret and nostalgia–as a time of more suffering, but less stress.
- Rural peasants enjoy few economic opportunities; they flock to cities for jobs and an education (if they can afford one).
- Though still technically illegal, homosexuality, prostitution, and some organized religions are tolerated in large urban areas– provided they remain apolitical.
- For quality and creativity, wealthy Chinese look to foreign products and designs.
- Most Chinese seem willing to forego political freedom for economic prosperity; investors demand stability and see "controlled change" as preferable to more open, western-style democracy.
Questions to Consider
- How do you react to the Chinese attitudes toward sexuality as depicted in Koppel's reporting? To your knowledge, how do these attitudes compare with those expressed by other cultures and governments?
- How does the situation faced by Li Dun and her family compare with that of the rural or urban poor in the United States? What are the similarities and differences?
- Why do you think the Chinese tend to feel "creatively inferior" to the West? Can you give examples of Chinese creativity in the arts or other arenas?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, most Chinese people rate their happiness as a 6. How would you rate the happiness of yourself and your friends? What do you think accounts for the similarities or differences between your self-assessments and those of the Chinese?
- For what, if anything, would you willingly surrender some degree of political freedom?
Episode 3: The Fast Lane
Highlights
- The Chinese government intends to transform the country economically and socially through automobile manufacturing and road building.
- Having relied on bicycles for generations, the Chinese people are still groping toward a new "car culture."
- The explosive growth of the Chinese auto industry represents both a threat and an opportunity for U.S. carmakers.
- With government-subsidized gasoline prices, China's seemingly insatiable demand for oil dramatically impacts global supplies and the environment.
- As a long-term strategy, Chinese automakers have their sights set on the U.S. market, mindful of concerns about quality and safety.
Questions to Consider
- Think about all the ways that cars have shaped American culture. What can the Chinese learn from those hundred-plus years of experience?
- Most Americans grew up with cars and learned behind-thewheel behavior from watching their parents. Without such role models, what problems do first-time drivers face in China? What opportunities does such a fresh start present?
- How would you respond to Yin Ming Shan, the CEO of Lifan Motors, when he talks about competing with U.S. carmakers and getting new technology, one way or the other?
- Do you think Chinese imports will succeed on the U.S. automotive market? Why or why not?
- How do you think China's growing demand for oil affects the U.S. economy? In what other ways does China's quest for oil impact the international community?
Episode 4: It's the Economy, Stupid
Highlights
- Coal fuels China's economic growth. Though cheap and plentiful, it's dirty to burn and dangerous to mine.
- While concentrating on highway construction and urban development, the Chinese government remains largely indifferent to the problems facing rural peasants.
- The urban and rural poor have little leverage in procuring services or avoiding displacement.
- Corruption remains a fact of life in China, despite government efforts to crack down on officials who take bribes.
- Though the Chinese government remains unabashedly and wholeheartedly pro-business, the free market in China has little to do with political freedom.
Questions to Consider
- How would you compare U.S. energy policy with China's? Do we face common problems or fundamentally different ones?
- Why do we regard corruption as unacceptable? Should U.S. corporations accept bribery as simply another cost of doing business?
- What's the most surprising thing you learned about China from this series?
- What's the most surprising thing you learned about America from this series?
- How do you expect the relationship between China and America to evolve in the coming years?
.jpg)
