31st of August 2017
Prejudice are often, or maybe always, based on ignorance.
I saw an article about a baby left alone in the woods in India. According to the article it was done to kill the baby.
The comments about the article are the reason I am writing this.
The commentator said this did not come as a surprise after she had read a book about the one child policy in China.
First of all, What does something that happens in India have to do with one child policy in China.
I have a feeling that this commentator does not know much about China. She has definitely not lived there, but still she thinks it gives her a right to judge the whole nation based on some book she happened to read. What an arrogance!
It would be good if people did some research before waving their prejudices and ignorance.
China is not a perfect country. Which country is? Name just one and I will eat everything I have said above.
These little boys are brothers. They are Chinese and their parents are my friends. They also have a sister which is 2 years younger. One child policy ? Hm!
I taught in China for several years and lived among the Chinese people. Many of my students, who came from the rural areas had more than one brother or sister. Even one had 5 brothers and sisters. Some of my fellow teachers had more than one child and several of my friends also had more than one child. I left China 6 years ago so this is nothing new. The students that had many siblings told me it would be easier for them to take care of their parents in the future and their grandparents. I was surprised because I had just heard about the one child policy but this made perfect sense to me.
The Chinese people in general are nice people and I have many dear friends there. Of course there are some struggling and others that are rich, with all the spectrum in between.
I know the desperation that can grip people when they don´t have food on the table for their family or houses to live in or clothes to shield from the freezing winter.
If you have not been in poor peoples shoes, please save your prejudices. Please get some information, some true facts before you flag your opinions. That might help those who really need your help and it could even make you uplifted. Who knows!
Try to remember that there are rules and there are exceptions in every country in the world.
You might also look at your clothes and see where they are made, before you start making judgments. Maybe you do enjoy your clothes made in Bangladesh or India or even China, the countries you consider to be merciless.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
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