The Meal Problems within Family - Case Study Example

The Taste My grandfather wanted to continue living alone in the countryside after my grandmother died. Even though my dad had beggedhim to move to the city with us several times, he refused because he was used to the country life and was afraid that he would not fit into the city life because of his age. But we all knew the real reason that he was afraid to move to the city. He was old and felt that he would be an encumbrance in our lives. But aside from that, he was also worried about what would happen to the few acres of farmland that he owned if he left the countryside for the city life. My father had this inner desire to care for his father even though the man did not want to be cared for. He understood that my grandfather was a hard labor kind of man who was not very good at showing his emotions so that he could not even hug his wife or nestle his children in his arms. The only relationship that they managed to have with him was a professional one as he and his siblings worked long frozen winters and burning summers with him, tilling the land and doing other types of manual labor. It was during those working months that he managed to create childhood memories of his father that he associated with the work being done. He preferred to remember the kind of relationship that they had during the summer months, which he associated with the fresh smell of summer blossoms and the gentle smile that his father often threw his way as they worked the land. As a father and son, they cultivated their own type of bond and relationship through work and the changing seasons, and that was how my grandfather wished to keep his relationship with his son and his sons family. Having failed to persuade my grandfather to move with us several times, my father thought it best to simply go back to the farmand sell it from under my granfathers feet. A neighbor actually bought the farm, even without my grandfathers knowledge, thus forcing my grandfather to willingly come to the city to live with us. After having moved in with us 3 years ago, my grandfather found himself to have been in normal health. That is until he began to feel ill. So ill that his appetite was affected and he began to once again beg my father to let him return to the countryside. Having failed to improve my grandfathers health, my father thought that it would be best to take him to the hospital for a check up. The medical tests proved that he wasnt sick and instead in the pink of health. Yet hecontinued to deteriorate to the point where he began to refuse food. That is when his meals became the most important thing in our lives. We worried about his food and did our best to provide him with food that would entice him to eat. Things took a turn for the worst after my uncle came to see us, armed with his newly harvested rice and sad stories from the fields about the deterioration of the village. It saddened my grandfather to learn that the people were leaving the village in order to work as migrant workers. Very few people like my uncle still remained to plant and harvest rice crops. The farmlands were going untilled since most of the villagers no longer saw any benefits from continuing to farm the lands. This news greatly saddened my grandfather who listened intently to the story, shook his head in disbelief at the story, and finally, sat there without saying a word. The night of my uncles visit, my mother decided to cook the rice that he had brought with him. We all watched happily as my grandfather devoured 2 bowls of rice and carried on an animated discussion with us at the meal table. It was then that we discovered the reason that he did not want to eat. He said; “This is the taste! I have long missed the taste of this rice. It is so good! Too good to believe!” We all had second servings of the rice that night because, as my grandfather put it; “Its really good to eat!” I wondered about how this rice was any different from the other rice that we had been eating all along. After all, it was more expensive and therefore, of a higher quality than my uncles self-harvested rice. This was when my grandfather sharedan anectode with me about rice. He related: The rice is the same. But the smell is different. The difference lies in the earthy smell of yoru uncles rice. That is the smell that I am used to and look for when I am eating rice. You wont understand what I am trying to say because you never had to work for what you have in life. Your generation will never want for things because your parents will offer everything up to you before you ask for it. The smell of this rice reminds me of my past. Of the hard work I had to put in just so I could own farmland. And now I have learned that the others in my town have abandoned their land! Such good farmland! Left abandoned! That was how we learned to deal with the meal problems of my grandfather. From then on , we bought my uncles rice or looked for a local farmer who could provide us with the rice. We had stocked up on so much of the rice that the stockpile lasted till the day he died. My grandfather did not have to make the trip back to his hometown, although he wanted to, because my father did it for him. Now my father owns a few acres of land in my grandfathers hometown. He leased the land to my uncle and other ethnics in the village. In tribute to my grandfather, my father always considers the taste of the rice every harvest season, before he buys rice for his own family. The Need to Ease Chinas One Child Policy Chinas every growing population has defeated the one - child policy that was set in place by the government in 1979. While the idea behind the one - child policy is self-explanatory, it would seem that the government policy for population control has failed to gain wider support among the government and citizens. While the policy continues to be enacted among Chinese families, it would seem that the policy is no longer applicable to China as the population of the country is beginning to dimish to fearful levels. All considerations regarding the future of China as a world leader and power house economy points to the factthat the one child policy must now be abolished in order to allow China to generate a new generation of individuals who can become its future political and economic leaders. When China first implemented the One-Child policy, it did so due to the overcrowding and population problem that existed in the country back in the 70s. This meant that the country had more people living in the country than their economy could then actually handle. Beijing was now worried that not limiting the number of children per family would result in the inability of the state to answer for the needs of their own people. As a result, the communist party of the time decided to clamp down on the population of the nation. The results of which had a far reaching effect that could not have been guessed at the time. It is important to remember that the One - Child Policy of China has resulted in numerous unborn child and sexual discrimination deaths among their children as the families prefer to have male children sired instead of women due to the importance of the male child in the Chinese culture. By allowing a second child into the equation, these unnecessary deaths might be lessened if not totally eradicated. (Fitzpatrick Laura “Chinas One - Child Policy”). The Chinese government, now formally acknowledging the fact that the one child policy is having adverse effects on the totality of the nation began to consider the lifting of the one child policy as early as 5 years ago. The ruling communist party issued the resolution based upon worries that the one child policy and strict government controls were doing nothing to help the Chinese economy and aid the rapidly aging population of the nation. ( “China Formally Eases One Child Policy, Abolishes Labor Camps”). As a communist country, China has been keeping close tabs on the population growth of its citizens in order to amply and properly provide for all their needs. However, without enough new generation Chinese to take over from its rapidly aging population, the economic growth cycle of China may come to a halt. Hence the need to make adjustments to the one child policy. While most people will applaud the lifting of the one child policy in favor of a 2 child (per family) policy, it is important that China first consider the economic and social needs of the Chinese people and how its long term effect will effectively balance the population and development of the nation. (“5 Reasons China Will Ultimately Abolish the One-Child Policy”) The new “Two Child” policy is deemed to be beneficial to the Chinese people as it will allow those who come from single child families to raisea 2nd child alongside the first. The new policy dictates from Beijing is being propelled by recent results of demographic studies that indicate that ;”Until now, the growth of the Chinese economy has been propelled by a demographic surplus, and that has been turning into a demographic deficit “ (Kaiman, Jonathan “China to Loosen One-Child Policy and Abolish Labour Camps”). With China considered to be a technology hub in the world, where all things that young people wish to purchase stems from, creating a population count that includes more people who may no longer be interested in their technological pitches or economic advancement is detrimental to the existence of the population. China could have avoided the population crisis that is now faces had it eased up on the one child policy decades ago, when the government was forcibly aborting births, fining parents for having illegal births, or when the country was freely putting up the female children up for adoption in other countries (Waldmeir, Patti “Casualties of Chinas One-Child Policy”). Instead, the country is now forced to play the catch up game and hope that the new generation births under the new policy actually has time to grow and develop before they are needed to replace the dying older population of the country. While it is believed that the population showdown that the government is anticipating will not affect China for at least a few decades. It is important that the powers that be in the communist party take charge of the developing problem in order to effectively deal with it when the time comes. However, there is a contention among those who are opposed to the lifting of the One-Child policy that the easement of such policies may have a detrimental effect on the people involved because of the confusion offered by having the one-child policy lifting discussed and implemented with little knowledge on the Beijing side. The execution of Chinas one-child arrangement contrasts between areas, ranges, and ethnic gatherings. The strategy likewise fuses subsidies and disciplines. To concentrate on the soul of Chinas one-child approach, the arrangement is simplified. A populace weighted suggested aggregate ripeness rate is registered for the adjustment to catch the approach quality in china. There is very solid proof to backing the hypothesis that the One- Child Policy impacts Chinese ladies richness. Communities that permit two children have fundamentally a larger number of births than communities that just permit one child. Fine for over-standard children essentially diminished ladies normal births. Indeed with both urbanization variables and common variables included, both Two Children and Fine for over-share children are critical in diminishing ladies fruitfulness. The impacts from the one child strategy cant be switched as it identifies with the current maturing populace. Yet demographers outside China have contended that less prohibitive measures, suitably actualized, could have accomplished the same conclusion. Such measures may have moderated the extremely negative results of the one-child approach. These have been unmistakable in the wide open where social conventions and financial components put a high premium on having a few, ideally male, children. Regardless, for particular get-togethers of people, there are some special case oversees in the use of this game plan. A couple could have a second child if either the companion or the wife fits in with the minority pack. People living in poor and remote districts, especially the rough extend where masses is lacking, could have a second child. Crippled couples or the people who have an unsafe occupation could have a second child. Similarly, the execution of the One-Child course of action is less strict in the rural extent. The execution of Chinas one-child arrangement contrasts between areas, ranges, and ethnic gatherings. The strategy likewise fuses subsidies and disciplines. To concentrate on the soul of Chinas one-child approach, the arrangement is simplified. A populace weighted suggested aggregate ripeness rate is registered for the adjustment to catch the approach quality in China. There is very solid proof to backing the hypothesis that the One- Child Policy impacts the Chinese economy. Communities that permit two children have fundamentally a larger number of births than communities that just permit one child. Fine for over-standard children essentially diminished ladies normal births. Indeed with both urbanization variables and common variables included, both Two Children and Fine for over-share children are critical in diminishing ladies fruitfulness. The impacts from the one child strategy cant be switched as it identifies with the current maturing populace. Any changes that would occur would profit the future eras. On the off chance that China chooses to do away with or change the one child approach, now would be the time to eliminate the old strategy. Works Cited Fitzpatrick, Laura. “Chinas One Child Policy”. time.com. time.com. 27 Jul. 2009. Web 28 Jul. 2014. Kaiman, Jonathan. “China to Loosen One-Child Policy, Abolish Labour Camps”. theguardian.com. theguardian.com. 15 Nov. 2013. 29 Jul. 2014. Reuters. “China Formally Eases One-Child Policy, Abolishes Labor Camps”. reuters.com. reuters.com. 28 Dec 2013. Web. 29 Jul. 2014. Waldmeir, Patti. “Casualties of Chinas One-Child Policy”. ft.com.ft.com. 22 Jul. 2014. Web. 28 Jul. 2014. Read More