Dr. Dube discussed Deng's 1978 Economic Reform plan discussion both Gradualism and Pragmatism. I've been thinking about the goals of gradualism as it applies to the One Belt, One Road agenda. There are many articles and maps that discuss China's One Belt, One Road program, but there is not a cohesive, organized article that fully outlines the goals of the program. This seems to fit with Deng's gradualism reform that stated, "finding your way across the stream gradually" was the way to go!  China's remarkable development plans are grand and all-encompassing, but are not necessarily all tied to a well presented agenda. It will be interesting to see how these projects help with infrastructural development and connections between China and the developing world. (as well as China and Europe and the Middle East!)

When Professor Dube mentioned the idea of Socialism with Chinese charcteristics many questions I had about contemporay China were thawed. The idea that Lenin's thought was still essential while Marx's removed, for example.

Having a class consciousness and a type of "primative democracy" where, in order to work, certain individuals retained privilege and power, makes sense to the embrassed American lifestyle while still firewalling the national internet.

Another enlightening idea was the example of pragmatism where a black cat and a white cat are the same. . . as long as they both catch mice, that is.

Whatever it takes as long as it's for the "good" of the country. There are plenty of mice to spare.

I found this article, “China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative,” on Australia’s government website.  It provides the initiatives of the program along with reactions, criticism, and impact on Austrialia.  There’s also an article on the economist found here: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/07/26/chinas-belt-and-road-plans-are-to-be-welcomed-and-worried-about.  What do you think of this article: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/jul/30/what-china-belt-road-initiative-silk-road-explainer?  I think the Guardian article contains some useful graphics and does a great job explaining what exactly is China's Belt and Road Initiative (as stated in its title) and addresses some concerns:

As Belt and Road expands in scope so do concerns it is a form of economic imperialism that gives China too much leverage over other countries, often those that are smaller and poorer.

I'm curious to know what will happen to the countries that will owe China so much money.  Will China also claim some territories to make up for the debt?  As the Guardian article mentioned,  "In 2011, China wrote off an undisclosed debt owed by Tajikistan in exchange for 1,158 sq km (447 sq miles) of disputed territory."

The 1978 Economic Reform brought about some interesting changes to China.  A bullet train was developed and now used in the country.  This train was built in response to the vast number of Chinese that need daily transportation back and forth to work.  Many Chinese workers had employment and much technology was developed for the success of this massive transportation project.  Additionally, AI, artificial intelligence was an off-shoot from the Economic Reform.  Artificial intelligence uses millions of objects to capture a given idea for sampling or research projects.  The power and draw from the Economic Reform to "speed pass" and get through costly research that many companies are not prepared to give up for a given technology or new product.  Having artificial intelligence allows, in some cases, ordinary users, to provide valuable input that can speed up the process and get the product to market quicker.  Compared to old school methods, artificial intelligence or crowd sourcing is a faster and more cost-efficient way of doing business.  

I found Deng Xiaoping's rise, fall, and rise again in the communist party to be an extremely interesting chapter in China's history and one that I didn't know a lot about.  Everyone knows about Mao and his vision of equality through land reform and development--that's what the chapter about China in the history book is all about, or at least that's what I remember from high school.  But Deng's reforms have been more influential in the long term than Mao's--I have a line in my notes that says "Deng is the most important person in 20th century China-> his pragmatism changes China."  I wonder why this narrative isn't more well-known.  Sure, Deng never held the highest position in the communist party, but his path to power and his legacy make him just as interesting as Mao.  China is a world leader because of the pragmatism and gradualism of Deng.

Kathryn,

I found Deng Xiaoping's life and reform to be an exciting chapter in China's history too!  I think more people have heard of Mao compared to Deng.  Why  is that?  From what I've learned in this seminar about Deng, it appears that he is a major player in contributing to China's rise to power.  The Washington Post article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/19/40-years-ago-deng-xiaoping-changed-china-and-the-world/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.92e9bd3c9604) I read mentioned that Deng's take over in 1978 changed not only China, but the entire world!  That's a huge impact!

This reminded me of an article (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/5967/9780195204605_ch05.pdf?sequence=6)

in that it discusses the effects of development on the core culture. Although this article focuses more on population growth that shakes up cultures, it made me wonder how China has been structuring their educational system with such a rapid growth. It seems that countries become shaky in their national identity during these times when there is less reflection on their past and more focus on speedily building up systems.