Octo-mom or China Policy???

Today in humanities class my teacher had created a continuum. On one side there was the Octo-mom, and on the other side there was the China One-Child Policy. He passed out sticky notes to everyone, and told us to put it somewhere on the continuum and write why we placed it in that particular spot.

Octo-mom----------------------x---------------------One child policy

As you may have guessed, based on my previous post, I don't agree with either of them. It was required to put it somewhere, so I placed it right in the middle. I don't think they have created an effective solution because there should definitely be a balance.

In my previous post I talked about how I felt about the Octo-mom. She doesn’t have the financial ability to care for all her children properly.

In the post before that, I wrote that I felt as if the One Child Policy in China was unjust, because it is against human rights, and everyone should have a free will.

In my previous post I also mentioned that instead of restricting the amount of children, or allowing people to have fourteen, the government should educate people on the realistic problems they might face if they have children. It would be good if it was a mandatory course for young adults or even teens. They should learn about the pros and cons before making a decision that could throw their own and their children’s lives in the gutter.

One of the reasons that I feel the Octo-mom’s situation was out of hand was because she got a bit out of control with artificial reproduction. The doctor should have learnt about her past and ensured that she went through counseling and determining if having more children was fair. They needed to know whether or not she was considering the fate of her other six children.

I noticed that the one child policy in China is mainly used in the cities of China instead of the villages. That is why the population is still so big. Instead of restricting the rural areas from the birth education, they should also include them and educate them too.

Restricting the amount of child birth or allowing people to go, well, overboard are both not the answer. We need to educate people of all nationalities about the after effects of child birth.

Children for the Wealthy?

As seen above, my headline for today’s humanities class is 'Children for the wealthy?'

I gave it this name because today in class we read an article about an American woman who recently gave birth to eight children.

Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with a person having eight children, because they wouldn’t have control, but the controversial thing is that she had already given birth to six other children prior to the eight.

So, the situation is basically 14 infants living in their divorced, unemployed, mother’s 3 bedroom house.

I think you understand the dilemma.

Now, as I touched on above, this woman obviously doesn’t have the financial ability to care for all of her children. It already cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars for their birth, and now she is expected to pay so much just to support them?

Facts:
She already had 6 children, but used vitro fertilization in order to conceive more.
For their first year of life, one child will need roughly $9, 171. For 8 children it will cost her $73,368.
To support all of her children from birth till high school, it will cost her $1,375,408.
For diapers for 8 babies it will cost $7,000 per year.
For their college it will cost her $700,000.

This sparked up a discussion in our class, which eventually led to a fishbowl.

(A fishbowl is basically a discussion)

During the fishbowl, we expressed our feelings about what the government should do about this.

In my previous post I talked about the one-child policy in China, and how I felt it is unjust. During the fishbowl, people began talking about how the government should decide whether or not the amount of children a person should be allowed to give birth to should be based on how much money they make financially.
This is absurd!

In China, the same thing seems to be occurring, which is discrimination.

China-
Boys are allowed to be kept, but not girls, during the second birth.
Also, only the richer families could have more children, and pay off the fine!

What we are suggesting for the world-
Richer families should be allowed to have more children.

Notice a pattern?

This brings me back to my headline: ‘Children for the wealthy?’

It is my strong opinion that the amount of money that one makes should have NO effect, whatsoever on the amount of children they are allowed to have.

You may be thinking that the amount of resources in the world may cause us to feel as if we need to control child birth. As I mentioned in my previous blog: THIS SHOULDN’T BE AN ISSUE!!!

If the world worked together or made an attempt at unity, I wouldn’t even need to write any of this. The resources would be taken care of, and there would be no real issues on that subject.

In the article on the ‘woman with the 14 children’, it mentioned that she had been OBSESSED with having children from a young age. She already had 6 and got vitro fertilization in order to conceive more.
It is a FACT that many people in the world would not feel the urge to have this many children.

People have different personalities. Some want 14 children, and some don’t want any.

If the government is worried about people having too many children, maybe instead of making that kind of policy, they could invest more in educating youth on this subject. They could possibly take courses in order to learn about the difficulties of having more children, and they could use that knowledge in their lives in the future!

Since this woman didn’t have children naturally, this is a real issue. Before she had the fertilization, they should put her through rigorous counseling and made her think through this decision. The health care professionals needed to ensure that she was capable of providing her first six children care physically, emotionally, and financially before considering the fertilization again.

China's one-child policy...Just or not?!

Today in humanities class we just had a discussion about the one child policy in China. Above is my headline for the class, ‘China’s one-child policy…Just or not?!’ I named it this, because during class we all talked about what we felt on the subject and whether it is right or wrong.

After having more time to think about it, I have decided that I truly don’t feel that it is a just law…for many reasons.

My first reason is that it goes against human rights. Don’t we all have a free will? Not deciding how many children you have isn’t free will. You are being restrained, and have no say in how you decide to live your life. That is definitely unjust.

People may say that a huge portion of the justification is because China will run out of resources. After thinking about this, I have decided that this doesn’t have to be a factor. If the world was one, and there was unity, everyone would help countries like China that would be in need.
Also, who says that whoever was born in China must live there for the rest of their lives. The world in an enormous place. Why can’t people spread their wings and live in another country, or even another continent? If this were to happen, then they wouldn’t need so many resources.

Another reason I feel the law is unjust is because it doesn’t support equality among men and women. I feel as though now we live in an era where men and women should be presented as equals. Apparently this doesn’t apply in Chinese politics!
If a family has a girl, and then another girl, they must give the second girl up.
If a family has a girl, and then a BOY, they may KEEP the BOY!!!
That is UNJUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Men are NOT superior to women.

This has caused an imbalance between the amount of men and women in China. There are 117 men to every 100 women. Officials even estimate by 2020 there will be 30 million men known as ‘bare branches’, which won’t have or find a wife to marry.
I hope that if this does happen, it will straighten their views.

I also know the effects it has on the children, because while I lived in America, my friend, Isabel, was adopted from China. Her mother had too many children, and had to give her up. Although Isabel ended up with an extremely loving and caring family, who’s to say that all children will end up like her. They could become foster children, or end up with a bad family. Isabel still always wondered what her birth-mother was like.
It is just as difficult, if not more, on the children; their countries unjust law.

Also, who’s to say that if the law is abandoned that people will immediately begin having children. I think that the reason the baby boom was so drastic was because the people were encouraged to have children. Now that they know the problem, they may only have one or two. They aren’t crazy!

If this law were abandoned, so many problems would cease. There would be no more problems with children being abandoned (girls mainly) and put for adoption.

Even if China did run out of natural resources, at least it will make the world realize that we all need to work together in order to make the world a better place. There isn’t one country on earth that is indestructible.

Part 2: Shakespeare Sonnet 7

Hi everyone,

Now I am reinterpreting my Shakespeare Sonnet 7 response below. After watching the musical and acting versions of this sonnet my ideas have changed. (Not drawing…I was in that group)

After seeing the two versions, I am beginning to connect the sun's life more with human life.

Play: During the play, the person starting out as a baby (Mark) grew up with the sun (JiWoo) and died with the sun. This makes me think as if Shakespeare was not only writing about the cycle of the sun, but also about how human life is similar.

Musical: During the music, everyone started moving and playing their instruments loudly at noon, which to me was interpreted, once again, to human life. It was as if at that time in the day, which represents middle-aged, was the pinnacle, and most active time.

What these things made me think about:
When the sun starts the day by slowly rising into the sky, it is similar to human birth in some ways. It is like someone that is just born and is opening its eyes to a new world and discovering new things.
As the sun progresses higher and higher into the sky, it reminds me of going through, your toddler years, adolescence, and youth, until you finally reach middle-age.

"And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill, Resembling strong youth in his middle age.”
During the time of Shakespeare, the life expectancy of most people was roughly 40 years old. This means that people were considered middle-aged in their twenties. That would mean they were at their peak physically and mentally.
I think he means that the sun is in the middle of its journey through the sky, but is also at its highest point. It is showing that it is still strong, even though it is halfway through its "life”. This can also be said of the human condition during Shakespeare’s era.

As the sun makes its way back down through the sky, when he says “Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day, The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are From his low tract and look another way”, could possibly have a double meaning.

It could be talking about the sun, and how people’s attitudes altered towards the suns presence as it sets, and they become unimpressed.

It could also be talking about people: People’s lives change after they have passed “middle-age”. For some people it turns downhill, and they receive problems that naturally occur along with older age, that cause them to be less active, and sometimes, less significant. This is like the sun descending in the sky. It is moving lower and lower and lower…and lower.

For some people it also means that they have missed out on the opportunity of having children. “Unlook'd on diest, unless thou get a son.” Here I think Shakespeare means that if you don’t have a son, your life would have been meaningless. In the time of Shakespeare (which I believe was the 15-1600’s), you would be looked upon insignificantly once you died, unless you had a son who could carry on your name, or do something great.

I guess that this sonnet is both about the sun and people. It depends on who, and how you are interpreting it.

Thanks!

Shakespeare: Sonnet 7

Shakespeare: Sonnet 7

Lo! in the orient when the gracious light
Lifts up his burning head, each under eye
Doth homage to his new-appearing sight,
Serving with looks his sacred majesty;
And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill,
Resembling strong youth in his middle age,
yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,
Attending on his golden pilgrimage;
But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,
Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,
The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are
From his low tract and look another way:
So thou, thyself out-going in thy noon,
Unlook'd on diest, unless thou get a son.

This is William Shakespeare's seventh sonnet. Today in class we were given this sonnet, and we needed to translate it into our own words. After looking up the word orient, I learnt that it meant east. In the poem it talks about gracious light from the orient, so it means the sun ascending into the sky. Once I knew that, I began interpreting it into my own words...

My Interpretation:

When the sun comes out from the east everybody turns and looks. They all show respect to the sun, and admire it. They are mesmerized  Since the sun came all the way up the sky, on a long journey, people acknowledge it as beautiful and strong. But, when the sun finally reaches the top of the sky, it turns frail, weak, and old, so it must go back down (set). Everyone whose eyes were once eager, are now uninterested, and turn away, carrying on with their lives. This concepts relates to the human condition. Everyone is on their way to old age and if they don't have a child, Shakespeare is suggesting their life will have been pointless, and they will die insignificantly (like the sun setting).