Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Motive?

Why did Mao write this piece?  What do you think his motive was?  Choose one quote that helped you make your decision.

Consider that this was written after the Korean War, when China had proven its ability to defend itself militarily against the West.

12 comments:

  1. Mao begins the segment with, "the relationship between revolutionary and counter-revolutionary" by saying." what kind of element isa counter-revolutionary element? It is a negative element, a destructive element. It is not a positive element. It is a force apposed to positive elements." I think it was Mao's motive to firmly establish the CCP as the majority and the more powerful movement. the segment we read also contains how the relationship between the CCP and other democracy's and parties would continue. So it seems that this document was written to show that Mao and his party will not take any crap from anybody, what they say, and their ideals win, any other forces can just get lost because they've proven their military strength now.

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  2. I think Mao wrote this piece in order to reassure the Chinese people that what he is planning is sound and that it is understood by all of the Chinese citizens. "We already have quite considerable defense forces. After the war to reisst America and support Korea, our enemies grew even stronger. our defense industry ius in the process of being built up." I think this quote helped me makle my decision because Mao is obviously making a Statement he feels is true and is obvious. he mentions the korean war where China successfully "beat" America and showed the world what they can do.

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  3. "We want to be patriotic, but we have to be patient. Roll on the day we can come to meetings in our own cars!" The first 5 sections of the ten great relations are mainly focused on Mao strategic plan to balance centre's hands on the development of industries, military expenditure and adjust the relationship between centre and regions. Seems Mao realized some mistakes have been made previously on dealing the relationship during the collectivization and is willing to right the wrong. Extraordinary and genuine enthusiasm within his words reveals that he was vehemently and desperately to fulfill his destine to catch up with Western Imperialist economically and militarily.

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    Replies
    1. Plus, i feel Mao somehow kept repeating himself to emphasis his point of view.

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  4. I believe Mao wrote this piece to emphasize his dedication to the happiness of his people. This is demonstrated by the quote, "I mean we should pay attention to arousing the initiative and enthusiasm of the workers", which directly connects to Mao's goal of gaining the peasant's support, given they make up the majority of the Chinese population. He then goes on to explain how, "everything has both unity with other things and its own independence", implying (with my understanding) that everyone needs to work together to strive for equality; everyone deserves the same opportunity, which will ultimately bring success to China as a whole.

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  5. I think Mao wrote this to explain his plan and bring light to contradictions he was willing to fix. His motive was probably to gain more support. The line "There are some new points here. This is a big problem which concerns 600 million people, and which demands the attention of the whole party" shows that Mao is using this as a way to gain more support by including ALL of China in his strategic planning, not just his supporters. He wants to make it clear that he will do what is in the best interest of his people.

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  6. Mao wanted to reinforce feelings of safety in his people through this. He showed renewed enthusiasm for catching up to the West, both economically and militarily. He really put an emphasis on how the west was horrible an imperialistic. The quote 'we want to be patriotic, but we have to be patient' really stuck out to me, I think it sums up Mao really well with his emphasis on the state and how people should be loyal because they will be rewarded

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  7. The quote right in the introduction sums it all up best. It reads: "raising these problems has but one claim: to mobilize all positive elements and all available forces in order to build socialism more, faster, better, ad more economically." Like any other dictator, Mao had a specific goal and a specific way of achieving that goal. He wanted to get rid of anything that would inhibit his path to establishing a socialist state. Therefore, so that nothing would get in his way or slow him down, it was necessary to create this document. By spelling out all the areas of the economy, etc, Mao is able to provide the people with an exact understanding of what must be done in order to achieve an ultimate goal.

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  8. At the first look, the piece almost sounds like a political program. Of course, in 1956 Mao was already the leader for a long time. In his writings you can hear that the CCP is superior to the other parties and that Mao is an undoubted leader. I think that the piece was written to demonstrate not only his political views, but also his authority, especially after China had, with him as leader, succeded against the West.

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  9. I believe that the main reason for this is like mike said, reassurance for the Chinese citizens. "As for pheasants, our relations with them has always been good. But we have made a mistake of the question of grain." This is very informative and kind or repetitive what he has said throughout the article. He continues to ensure his citizens that his plan is and will be smart and affective.

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  10. Mao wanted to ensure that he was safe in his office and reassure the Chinese people that he had plans for what the grand China could be. Mao wants to be seen by the Chinese people as an absolute leader, and this writing is for the sole purpose of Nationalism, rather than a measure to prove China's worth to the West.

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  11. "A relationship between right and wrong"..The quote fascinated me because the term "right" can be twisted so much that it becomes an irrelevant word. We see that Mao and Stalin and Hitler have shaped the word good to justify their actions. Stalin believed that it was good to kill off non-followers, Hitler thought it was good to kill off all the jews, and Mao thought it was good to force people against their will for the benefit of the government.

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