RESPECT FARMERS AND PEASANTS
In China farmers and peasants are generally considered to be lower class people, poor and work manual labor outdoors.
In America and Canada farmers are some of the most respected and richest entrepreneurs
While the disparity of income between China’s urban population and its farmers/peasants grows larger daily, little is done to bring real change. The CCP is becoming increasingly concerned that this economic disparity may lead to social unrest.
Before looking down upon framers we should think about their contribution to society. If the farmers stop producing food, can we sustain our lifestyles? Can we really grow enough vegetables in backyard gardens or even on rooftop gardens to survive? Do we even know how to stat or maintain a garden?
Farming is the highest risk business in the world. Yes it is a business. There is a heavy financial investment and farmers must make a profit to survive.
Land risk – land ownership and use is risky. Land is taken away from farmers for development, most times without adequate compensation and illegally. Even when land ownership is secure, the soil fertility is a risk. Crops must be rotated and often nutrients must be added to make the soil productive. This costs money.
Land preparation – the land must be tilled, harrowed, fertilized, all at the proper time. This is labor intensive and costs money. If done improperly or at the wrong time it is money wasted and lost.
Weather – farmers are at the mercy of the weather. Too cold, too hot, at the wrong time, all investment is lost.
Seed stock – if the seeds are defective there is no crop. Money lost.
Water – too little or too much and there is no crop. All is lost.
Harvest – if f or any reason such as lack of equipment, lack of labor or lack of proper weather conditions the harvest is not timely, all is lost.
Logistics – failure of adequate transportation from farm to market means a lost crop.
Market conditions – the farmer is at the mercy of the market. Too much product at one time, the price is too low to make a profit.
At every turn the farmer is subject to conditions totally beyond control. What other business is exposed to such constant and high risks?
As China struggles with this situation, there is a simple solution, a food tax. People buying food should pay a tax that is rebated directly to the farmers to increase their income. This is called redistribution of wealth. Charge the rich and give to the poor.
If the rich do not want to share their wealth with those who make their rich life possible then they must face the adverse consequences of a farmer strike or insurrection. Rich people never lead revolutions. .
I AM PROUD TO BE A FARMER
I graduated from an agricultural land grant college in California with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Agriculture Business Management
In senior middle school I rode a bicycle 25 miles each day to work on a dairy farm and pig farm.
As a 35 year old business man I operated a cattle ranch of 5,000 mother cows in California.
At 45 years I developed a 125,000 sq mt. tropical plantation in Micronesia. I .developed the first orchid import business in Micronesia, importing orchids from Thailand
I have taught Tropical Agriculture in Middle School and Agriculture Business Law in University.
I have completed Masters work in Agriculture Business Management.
A 1% food tax would not be burdensome for anyone but would generate billions for farmer support. Migrant workers are usually fed by their employer and the employer would pay the food tax.
What about a 10% luxury tax? Surely someone who pays 2 mil. For a car can afford an extra 200,000 for the farmers. Someone who pays 60 mil for a luxury apartment can afford another 6 mil for the farmers. Someone who pays 2,000 for a new suit surely can afford 2,200 so the farmer can have 200.
After reading this article, I totally agree with your opinion. The most important reason is that I am from a peasant family, so I can be aware of the hardship of the peasants deeply. In China, they are one of the hardest groups. They are engaged in the exhausting work in this society. They must work in the fields from morning to evening in the most time of a year. In addition, though they are very tired, their income level is very low and face a high risk of reduction in the crop yields.
As the primary industry of the national economy, the agriculture occupy an important position in our economic structure. The Chinese Communist Party as the party in power must attach great importance to the development of the agriculture. It should pay attention to the income disparity, Which may lead to the social instability. In short, the peasants should be treated with respect at all time.
Some people look down upon framers. I hate it. I want to say that framers do contribute their many things to society. Without their producing food, we can’t sustain our life. Without their entering the city, we can’t develop our city very quickly and enjoying well service. Without their participating revolution, we can’t own new country. Now today, we should help them how to become rich, how to read more books, how to live happy life. We should take responsibility to Chinese framers.
It’s ridiculous that when most 80’s struggle for a house in the city, most farmers in the country can’t support themselves with their own land. How this happens? Who benefit from the land? The Chinese government has a far way to balance this situation.
China is a great agricultural country with long farming history. Over thousands of years, farmers have made remarkable contribution to our country. It is them who grow grain that feed the most populous country in the world. Thus, there is no reason for any disrespect toward this group, who composes the largest portion of our country. Even though farmers are the most diligent group in China, they just live from hand to mouth. They are tied to small plots of land, working from dawn to dusk, but the final income leaving in hand is still slim. In the feudal society in ancient China, most of the farmers’ harvest are taken away by landowners. Even under the government of CCP, Chinese peasants have to undertake heavy tax burden which was not abolished until 2004. In some sense, we can say that China’s achievement in indusdrialization is based on the sacrifice of vast peasantry. Today, China’s economy is growing at an accelerating rate, with annual growth of 8.7% in 2009 under the background of global recession. However, peasants and migrant workers from rural areas, who compose more than 65% of China’s 1.3 billion people, aren’t benefiting much from this growth. Much of the wealth has concentrated in the hands of the minor upper class. Our country is wealthy, but our people is not rich yet. This is really a heartbreaking fact! If our fruit of development is totally hoarded by a small group of elites, then we will be more distant from the goal to create a harmonious society. Farmers, the most unselfish and kind-hearted group in China, deserve our repect and better livelihood. Tackling social inequality and upholding social justice should be placed in the primary position in the CCP’s agenda.
I like this thread and the title very much. Chinese people should pay more attention and respect to the farmers. Thanks for their labor, that we can live a comfortable and wealthy life.
However, farmers are more or less a weak group in China’s society. My major is anthropology, which pushes me occupationally concern about the weak and marginal ones as farmers. I try to understand why farmers in China are not respected as those in some other countries. I don’t know much about the situation abroad, but they are somehow considered to be “lower level” and “lower educated” when compared to the urban ones, called citizen, in China. That’s obviously unfair, for farmers support citizens’ basic food needs but enjoy far more less resources and opportunities, not receiving respects from them. It’s time that we do profound consideration to ourselves, and adjust our attitude and thinking on them. Moreover, farmers should respect themselves, especially the younger generation farmers. Nowadays abundant youth farmers pour into cities. They find jobs in cities and never want to come back to the village. Some of them have no idea about how to do the farm work, and do not respect the Farmer identity, or even shame of it. I think these people may have to change their mind and respect themselves after all.
Besides, I think collecting food tax is a good way to enhance farmers’ income. But the problem is, how to ensure that this amount of money is indeed paid back to the farmers. Anyway, it’s a significant direction of solution that the executive may try and make it practical.
After reading the above article, I completely agree with the author’s opinion on the importance of farmer and peasants no matter in China and American. Compared the farmers in American, it is no doubt that the Chinese government has a long way to go. However, fortunately, our government has made many useful policies for farmer and successfully turn the most of policies into the true . Though the Chinese people in the issue of the farmer have many unanticipated obstacles in the future, I believe that one country, which has the ability to feed the 1.3 billion populations in the word, of course could make effective measures to solute this global issue.
Famers and peasants in China are generally considered to be lower class people,but it doesn’t mean that we don’t respect them.We all known most of our forefather were famers.and most of the founding elder in our country were famers.they are good example for us (our role model).We can learm the excellent spirit from them,such as hardworking,integrity,optimism etc.
Peasants’ issue is a big problem.To solve the problem of Chinese farmers is not one or two days’ work, To raise the status of the farmers need the joint efforts of the whole society, and the most fundamental thing is developing economic. The current status of our Chinese farmers has been greatly improved.The Government is very concerned about the issue of farmers.I believe that the question of farmers as the country’s economic development will be a greater degree of improvement.
In my opinion,farmer is a great professional,they should be pride of being a farmer,they create the food for all people ,if none sow seeds and reap crops,we won’t have anything to eat,so the farmer play a very important role in our society.They should be respected .especially by the citizens.because they may look down upon farmer.if they konw these,they will gratitude to farmers.then they will be glad to pay the tax,the government should adopt new measures to protect farmer and give them more attention.the farmer themselves also need more confidece,and do their best to payback the society.we will have a more harmonious society.
I agree with the view of professor. we should respect farmers. Most countries recognize that the agriculture is the basis of the national economy. In China, the agriculture plays an important part in the modernration of economy. Chinese farmers use 7% of the world’s total land to feed 21% of the population of the world’s total.We should respect farmer because without their hard work, we can’t meet the basic need to live in the world, let alone development of science and society.
Chinese Communist Party is relying on the help of the peasants before the revolution to success. So the Government must put the appropriate policies to help farmers to get rich.
I favor the fair tone from this passage. Any form of labor force is admirable because we make our living with our own hands. As can be read from this passage, farmers bear higher risk in making their livings, so they should be paid more to some degree. However, facts do not happen as we plan. In China, farmers are hard to raise themselves, let alone their families. In my opinion, the prevalence of scientific and technologic awareness contributes to the income gap between American farmers and Chinese farmers. The author is the farmer who receives advanced education while most farmers in China drop out when they are still teenagers. At the personal level, Chinese farmers find themselves incapable to improve their life quality because they have no idea what to do. At the social level, they can not form a powerful political and economic class to appeal to a better reward because they are not well educated. On the whole, the core solution to Chinese farmer issue lies not in our sympathy but the every effort we pay to improving domestic educational extent.
I really agree with the author’s viewpoint. The farmer is low-income people, and they bear many risks, such as: land risk, land preparation, weather, seed stock, water, harvest, logistics, market condition and so on. Most risks are beyond human control capabilities. I think these risks are the reason for the farmer’s low-income. In order to measure the social status of money society, they naturally are underprivileged. They provide food to us, and make great contribution to our society. They deserve our respect. And the government should formulate some policies to help the farmer increase they income.
Speaking of farmers, drought disaster in southwestern China recently catches my attention. The importance of agriculture is rediscovered through this disaster. It is reported that rice price in eastern China has already grown higher which made the high CPI even severe.
I am a son of a famer lived in a very poor but beautiful village.In my hometown,there are a lot of ethnic minorities,include miao,tujia,bai and so on,and most of them are very poor,even sometimes have no food to eat.But they should be respected by all other people,those people with much money.It is very common things to help each other for those loved people.When a family met something trouble or in a corner,their fanmily will be acquired lots of help from other people,their neighbours.
I am a daughter of farmers. I have been through what the author said above.
When I came to sun yat-sen university, I got some disrespect from my schoolfellows. I can do nothing but fight and fight to prove myself.
In my point of view, the only way to upgrade social status of farmers is to raise their incomes.
The fact is just as the article shows, Chinese farmers have to suffer many risks from climate to market but earn less money and respect. Since Social status depends on economic foundation, the best way to make peasants been respected is to improve their incomes. Firstly, it is important to enhance the competitive ability of agriculture. Secondly, fortune redistribution which food tax and luxury tax are included in is a useful way. Which one is more effective, food tax or luxury tax? It’s a question which needs a professional answer.
I was born in a small village.My father and mother are both peasants,so I am certainly the daughter of famer.I have seen the hardships of my parents by my eyes.I once wiped so much sweat off their faces.In my hometown,it is so arduous for peasants.All the lands are so small that the mechanised fools do not work.All the work should be done by hands.Compared with farmers in foreign countries, peasants or farmers are in a low rank,just as this artical says the farmers have a big risk to work to sustain all the life,but at the end they are usualy poor and have a hard life.I do hope that farmers in china will bu treated as equality as others liveing in the city,and the peasants like my parents will have a ease life.
I appreciate what farmers have contributed to the society. My grandparents are farmers, so I know what kind of life farmers having in China, it is very difficult. And because it is so difficult, the adults keep telling children that becoming a farmer is the worst and the last choice for one to make. This situation has to be changed, but I don’t think the food tax is a good solution. For my family, my farther was work as a migrant worker before. At that time, he lived in Guangzhou, while the others of our family lived in our hometown. My mother didn’t have a job, and the tuition fee of three children was too high for us. If the cost of food increased, life would be much tough for us. So, the food tax will not be burdensome for any rich people, but make the poor people even poorer. But I think the luxury tax will be OK, because poor people do not buy such expensive products.
I always deeply respect farmers, because all my family members have been farmers, and in my childhood the education I received taught me to respect farmers. The idea that tells me all the people are equal have constantly influenced me during my high school time. However when I went to college, I found the reality is absolutely different with my idea. The farmers who I respect are in the low class. So I felt angry and confused. Because of the reality, I finally knew that the problem of farmers is very complicated .In china farmers are in an embarrassing status. Many farmers work in the city, but no one think they are city people, because they do not have a house in the city, and no one think they are farmers, because the most time in a year he live in the city. so who are they? I do not know, but I know the most people in china are the people without family, it is very dangerous.
Farmers are the biggest demographic in China. Chinese government has formulated several policies to protect farmers’ equal rights and to make their lives better, such as exempting from the agricultural tax and accelerating agriculture industrialized adjustment. Our government always put the issues of agriculture, farmer and rural area in the vital place. I think that our government knows exactly that only if all the farmers in China live healthy and wealthy lives can we claim that people in China have been living much better lives.
However, there are still a lot of problems about farmers existing in Chinese society, not because the government pays no attention to them or has done nothing to improve the situation, but because that more efforts from different areas have to be made to solve these problems. The problems of farmers are not isolated. They are in relation to rural education, rural economy, and household registration system and so on. It will take a long time for us to solve all these problems.
Nevertheless, the phenomena of discrimination against farmers do exist in somewhere in China. The cause of this kind of discrimination is always complicated. If some one looks down upon a farmer because the farmer is poor, this kind of discrimination is discrimination against poor people, not just against farmer. If some one looks down upon a farmer because the farmer is uneducated, this kind of discrimination is discrimination against uneducated people, not just against farmer. If some one looks down upon a farmer just because the farmer is a farmer, that may because the person gets an unfavorable impression of farmers which is formed by having unhappy experience with some farmers before.
I myself own the opinion that we should not discrimination any kind of people. You can dislike a person for some reasons, but a person’s behavior can not represents the group that he belongs to. Therefore, discrimination is always irrational.
What the article has mentioned is really true. The farmers product food to support people but they earn the least! So there are more and more people go to cities to make money instead of farming. For me, I respect farmers because I know them. Although our government has taken some measures such as tax reduction, the situation is still serious. Maybe the advice of food tax could work, at least we should try our best to think more measures.
China’s tax is so high today, most of people will not agree to pay that kind of tax. I think there is more direct way to do this: catch embezzlers and confiscate their money and give the money to the farmer
In China, peasants suffers most from the recent 30 years despite the development of our economy,the government want let someone rich first ,then the rich help most people get out of poor condition . In order to develop economy someone should pay for it ,and farmers , the great majority payed that, they don’t have any welfare as citizens have ,like education, medical care,transportation etc .the government always neglect farmers interests ,even now their rights couldn’t fully ensured .I am very sad to the policy ,now our government should do more to literally make farmers rich .Look at our beautiful country and look at our peasants ,they provide our food , anything we need ,but they are poor, they need more care from our society .
As you point out the disparity of income between China’s urban population and its farmers/peasants grows larger daily, little is done to bring real change. And this economic disparity may lead to social unrest. The problems have immerge. Some people dispose their resentment to the innocent children. Remember last year a series cases about people kill children to express their dissatisfaction towards society. That’s terrible. In China, famer are at the bottom of our society. That’s unfair. They feed us. Some of them go into city and make their effort to contribute to the city. The famer-workers are the witness of the city’s prosperity. They deserve our respect. Most of them are kind and honestly.
Farmers are a special group in China, they have contributed a lot to the country ,but suffering the worst life. Most of people are eating food from the farmers everyday , but look down on farmers .As is known to all, agriculture plays an important role in China’s economy , we can not imagine what will happen if there are no farmers to do these things. Getting the less money, doing the worst work, but doing the biggest contribution, they are farmers!
China should do more things to protect farmers’ benefit , giving them the things that they are supposed to get .
It is a long history (almost over 2000 years since China became a feudal society) when farmers of China are exploited to support finance of the government. They pay a lot, but receive almost nothing. Everyone including the senior officials of government relies on farmers, but many times they don’t show their respect to them. In my opinion, this is caused by factors of history. However, Chinese government is paying much more attention to farmers and spending much more money on agriculture. Farmers are no longer to pay taxes since 2003 which they have to pay for over 2000 years. I believe that with the support of CCP, farmers in China will live a happier life than ever before.
I am a son of farmers, and my childhood is filled up with farmland and farm work. I do understand the toughness and risk of farm. And to my upset, farmer is represented of the poor and low educated. That’s why farmers are looked down upon.
I am a son of farmers. I have been through what the author said above.
When I came to the big city, I got some disrespect from my schoolfellows. I can do nothing but fight and fight to prove myself.
In my point of view, the only way to upgrade social status of farmers is to raise their incomes.
Disrespect to poor people not just farmers is common in whole world but here seems to be more clear!!! Farmers are respectable and I think we should teach people and show them the value of these people…their work..their duty ..their stress even more than the people who lives in city!!!!China’s government has to make Tv shows and programs to improve the view to farmers.
In China, we have already got a lot of taxes including the food tax. I grow up in the countryside in China, as far as I know, during the past few decades farmers fell victim to the progress of China’s development. Nmerical documents claimed to benifit farmers passed by the government every year but the farmers remain poor. The rule is simple, dominators will not give their apple to the low class.
In China,what the farmers really need is not merely a profit but the discource power.
Farmers make up the majority of the country’s population but there are few farmer deputies in the NPC to speak for them.
It’s often the case that the squeaky wheels get the oil.We can express our demands on the Internet and sometimes it really works to make a change. But most of the farmers don’t have similar ways to express their demands or they even don’t know how to express their demands. They just bear with it until one day they chose a radical way .
Thousands of years’ agricultural history in China never witnessed a higher status of the farmers. Is it because the government or the so-called upper class don’t know the hardship that are confronted with the farmers ? Absolutely not.
They focus mainly on two things , namely “Stability of the society” and “Wealth of the country”. I don’t think it is unreasonable. But when it comes to the farmers things look no good.
The” Wealth of the country” has much to do with the so-called upper class while the “Stability of the society” is mainly determined by the farmers who make up 60% of the population.The so-called upper class has a significant influence on the government when they make policies. They care GDP most and for fear of losing it the government enact policies to benefit the farmers only in the purpose of keeping them from the potential social unrest.
It’s funny that the land is more suitable for commodity house instead of grain in an agricultural country.The Central Government have carried out a macro-control on the real estate market for several years but made little achievement. Meanwhile,it also carried out the policy of “Agriculture, Countryside and Farmers” for decades but the predicament of the farmers changed slowly.Seeing this you’ll know how difficult it is to make a change.
I grow up in the countryside and I respect the farmers. Everyone can do this from the bottom of his/her heart. It’s the foundation to make a change.But we should be aware that it is not a question merely about moral or better policies.It’s about reform.In most part of China, When the government select an official it focus on how he did in the field of economy which makes a great contribution to the country’s GDP. For an official who wants to get promoted, he would concentrate on “Business Invitation and Investment Attraction” instead of agriculture which can hardly help to get a “marvelous” achievement in a tenure of 5 or 10 years. This results not only in poor farmers but also unsatisfying education and environmental pollution etc. Just walk around and see what the local governments are doing year after year.
There are many policies treating the symptoms but not the disease. The key to solve the problem fundamentally is reform as premier Wen Jiabao puts it.
In China,what the farmers really need is not merely a profit but the discource power.
Farmers make up the majority of the country’s population but there are few farmer deputies in the NPC to speak for them.
It’s often the case that the squeaky wheels get the oil.We can express our demands on the Internet and sometimes it really works to make a change. But most of the farmers don’t have similar ways to express their demands or they even don’t know how to express their demands. They just bear with it until one day they chose a radical way .
Thousands of years’ agricultural history in China never witnessed a higher status of the farmers. Is it because the government or the so-called upper class don’t know the hardship that are confronted with the farmers ? Absolutely not.
They focus mainly on two things , namely “Stability of the society” and “Wealth of the country”. I don’t think it is unreasonable. But when it comes to the farmers things look no good.
The” Wealth of the country” has much to do with the so-called upper class while the “Stability of the society” is mainly determined by the farmers who make up 60% of the population.The so-called upper class has a significant influence on the government when they make policies. They care GDP most and for fear of losing it the government enact policies to benefit the farmers only in the purpose of keeping them from the potential social unrest.
It’s funny that the land is more suitable for commodity house instead of grain in an agricultural country.The Central Government have carried out a macro-control on the real estate market for several years but made little achievement. Meanwhile,it also carried out the policy of “Agriculture, Countryside and Farmers” for decades but the predicament of the farmers changed slowly.Seeing this you’ll know how difficult it is to make a change.
I grow up in the countryside and I respect the farmers. Everyone can do this from the bottom of his/her heart. It’s the foundation to make a change.But we should be aware that it is not a question merely about moral or better policies.It’s about reform.In most part of China, When the government select an official it focus on how he did in the field of economy which makes a great contribution to the country’s GDP. For an official who wants to get promoted, he would concentrate on “Business Invitation and Investment Attraction” instead of agriculture which can hardly help to get a “marvelous” achievement in a tenure of 5 or 10 years. This results not only in poor farmers but also unsatisfying education and environmental pollution etc. Just walk around and see what the local governments are doing year after year.
There are many policies treating the symptoms but not the disease. The key to solve the problem fundamentally is reform as premier Wen Jiabao puts it.
I agree that farmers/peasants should be respected but I also have to admit that the food tax isn’t appropriate.It is fact that many farmers who grow cash crops or own large scales of land are much more richer than most employees in the city.Poor farmers should be funded but the tax shouldn’t be paid by lower class.
Why a lot of peasants go to city and work in a strange place??? They can’t afford their children’s tuition fees; they can’t afford the doctor’s bills; they can’t support the old… In china, economic disparity is so serious. The government should do more. A proper tax is a very good solution.
In the west , the Christians bless before every meal of everyday ; the Thanksgiving Day is a time to honor the harvest.
China is based on the foundation of agriculture . Since ancient dacades , we are living on farming . Among any feudal dynasty of this nation ,farmers were respected just after the administrators.Even the monarch had to farm in his field to set an example for the whole farmers of his country . However this respect gone with Qing Dynasty . We have to develop industry and we need workers in recent dacades . Then in many universities and colleges ,students all prefer majors achieving certain skills rather than many fundamental subjects like art , mathematics and so on .Even today this view is popular . What is more , the inner value of the socity is changed which sort of results in the lose of respect to farmers .
The food tax is an efficient way to change this situation . I think it can be put forward just like personal income tax . Different income standards have different tax interests . To get the same tax interest from a very low income person and a rich entrepreneur is unfair . Besides , this method may have a deep influence on the society . I hope this way can call on the entrepreneurs to give a glimpse of charity.
My parents are farmers, so I have deep feeling about the life of farmers.For many farmers they don’t have other approaches of incomes. At the season of sowing, they put all their hopes on the land. They run a great risk. If the weather is not good, if it’s a disastrous year, if the seed they buy is not a high-yield one, they will suffer from the bad result. On the other hand, the CCP has always announce that it will adopt some measures to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. And in China ,most of the poor people are farmers. But this action always turns in vain. For example, the government has taken measures to increase the price of agricultural products so that the income of the farmers can be increased. But the price of many other products, such as the article of everyday use, household appliances, increase more, so the farmers have a greater pressure in fact. There is a long way before the farmers situation can be really improved.
Professor,I am really touched by this article.Let me explain the two reasons.
First,I am grateful that as a foreigner,you have so much concerns on our country’s so-called lowest class-the peasants.(I say so-called because I never think so,I am also proud of coming from an agricultral family.)You have made so much thinking and brought up a suggestion of food tax which is really reasonable to me.As we know,we are paying all kinds of taxes for the commodities we buy everyday.Well,the grains,vegetables,meats are the primal parts of various food.So it is just reasonable to pay some additional money to the peasants.Well,I come up with a question now,how does this progrramme happen?As far as I am concernd,this is really a huge one and it will take a lot of efforts before it works.Anyway,hopefully,this kind of measures will be taken by the central govornment.
Second,I have some new understandings about your experiences.I begin to know that you have been caring about agricultrue and you have done a lot on this-both practically and theoretically.You know the hardships of farmers as you listed a series of risks the farmers must take. My parents are farmers and this is genial to me.
Since the acient China,farmers have been living in the lowest position of the society.For thousands of years this situation does not change much.In most people’s mind,they believe brainworkers are more respectable than manual workers.What farmers do is the hardest work,while they can not get the respect that can match what they pay out.We must admit that our government has done much to change the living conditions of farmers and try to lighten farmers’ load,such as relieve farmers’ agriculture tax.But these are not enough.Everybody in China should change their thought in their mind that farmers are lower class.And more policies that protect farmers’ right should be drafted and carried out.In another hand,tax is really a useful and effective method.But I think the taxation system of China is not so advanced,so it may be hard to put it into reality.
I’ve got wish to comment on comment of Susan Class 12C which says: “Famers and peasants in China are generally considered to be lower class people, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t respect them. We all known most of our forefather were famers. (…) They are good example for us (our role model).We can learn the excellent spirit from them, such as hardworking, integrity, optimism etc.”
Hm-m, if we just will learn from them hardworking, optimism etc. it wouldn’t change anything for the farmers in China. They really need money to cover all their expenses, to be able to survive. Chinese really do not appreciate farmers work and don’t even think that it can be hard. I remember from my childhood the way me and my relatives worked on our farm (well, I don’t think it can be really called farm in our way of understanding it. Farms were not very big, but enough big for one our family), and I can say that farming absolutely is not easy. And I agree it is really risky. So, I hope one day situation in China will be changed.
Yes, food tax is absolutely a wonderful idea to solve the problems of the poor farmers and peasants. But the policies are due to the government and the taxes levied from the people might not be transported into the farmers’ wallets. So this is really a big problem of the current political system of China.
In China, more than 70% of the population are farmers. But they are generally considered to be lower class people. Just because of the poor living situation, high risk of farming and lower profit than other industries, very few people choose their major as agriculture when they go to college. Thus, there are not enough farmers who can acquire high technology of agriculture. As a result., agriculture can not develop quickly as it should be. So, the situation forms a worse circle.
Besides, market conditions change every season. We are shocked at the circumstances that when farm product’s price increases, the peasants’ profit is still low. Many rich speculators and adventurers earn a lot of money from this. Though Chinese government has formulated several policies to protect peasants’ equal rights, there still be a lot can do for farmers’ better lives.
I guess people who merely underestimate farmers are maybe belonging to the new generation. Before China adopts economic reform, a huge amount of Chinese population was underfed. It was an awful bummer since they were starving to the extent that eating was reckoned as a classification measure of welfare. There is a famous idiom all over the country resulting from that abhorrent situation “Chi fan le meiyou: Did you eat or not?” used when somebody wants to know your news, just like “how are you doing”. Farmers could be respectfully treated since they are the one’s we indirectly owe our living to. Those trying to utter such quotes, they are short of analysis.
I have always wondered why the cost of food is low comparing to many other countries,so is at the expense of farmers. In my opinions farmers should be empowered, the cost of food may go up slightly, but since most of the Chinese population are farmers, the rich and middle class should pay more. From the statistics if the farmers standards of living rises, China will be a better place than it is now.