Change One Thing, Change Everything
A small change can
result in large differences in a later state; people call it the Butterfly
Effect. The Chinese government has made such a change. China is a country with many unique
policies, such as the Family Planning Policy, which is regarded as inhuman
behavior by many western countries. The Chinese government released this policy
in 1980 because of the rapidly increasing population. The Family Planning
Policy regulates that each family should just have one child.
However, this policy, which was perceived as
a small change at that time, has made an immense impact on most Chinese people for
many years. With the advent of the Family Planning Policy, my grandparents, my
mother and I were all affected.
In the 1960s, the Chinese government put
forward the idea of the Family Planning Policy, and it changed my grandparents’
lives. They decided to have more children before the release of
this policy, and this decision made their life fall into bad conditions. According
to their effort, they finally had six children, but that was not their initial expectation. Because of this, my mother, the
sixth child of my grandparents, always tells me how my grandmother tried to
drown her in a potty when she was naughty, and how my grandfather
saved her from a potty many times. My grandfather had to work hard to raise
their children; as a result, he became sick, and then he died when my mother
was still a little girl. After my grandfather died, my grandmother lived in even
worse conditions. For her whole life, she was an outstanding
representative of thrift. Although her life condition had improved many years
later, she never tried any expensive food or clothes. I promised my grandmother
that I would make a lot of money and buy anything she wanted for her; however,
she left us just before the beginning of Beijing Olympic Games. Like my
grandfather, she was killed by cancer.
Because of the Family Planning Policy, my
mother became a typical Chinese mother. She indulges me because I am her only child. As
a child and even now, when I wanted to buy something, my mother always tried to
satisfy my wishes. When I wanted to help her to wash dishes after dinner, she
always stopped me, as if the dishes would become a bomb as soon as I touched
them. My mother became my personal steward. Sometimes I even thought
if I left my mother, whether I could live for twenty-four hours by myself. Moreover,
my mother’s lifelong ambition is to keep me with her for her whole life. She can't
leave me. Each week, she always reminds me that I need to go back to China after
I finish my studies because there is a woman who misses her own son day and
night. If I don't contact her for two days, I may find my name on the front page
of the Chicago newspaper on the third day. The Family Planning Policy
profoundly affected my mother’s character, and this is a universal
phenomenon across China.
“Thanks to” the Family
Planning Policy, I have been dubbed China
One (means the only child in a family), which carries heavy
sarcasm at present. As a standard China One,
one can find all the China One’s characteristics on me, and most of them are negative. I was too
self-centered, and I rarely cared about other people when I was young. There
was always a voice that spoke to me and said, “I am the one who should be cared
for by everyone!” This voice accompanied me in most of my adolescence. As my
parents couldn't give me a brother or sister because of the Family Planning
Policy, my computer acted as my partner most of the time. I had become a person
who is good at talking by hand, rather than by mouth. Fortunately, most of my
bad characteristics of China One inside my brain have
disappeared since I came to America because I had to learn how to be independent
so that I wouldn’t die in a foreign land. However, there are still remnants related to China
One, which still remain inside my body because it is not easy to get rid of
all of them.
Last year, the Family Planning Policy
started to loosen. The Chinese government now allows
married couples to have two children if one spouse is a China One. However, this
policy has had a profound influence on my grandparents, as well as my mother
and me. I have no ability to
change my country policy; however, I can change one thing by myself, which is to
immigrate to the United States, and that will affect my children, and my
children’s children in a positive way. That will be my butterfly effect.
Hi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI'm the only child in my family, and we haven't sisters and brothers. Do you feel loneliness sometimes? I'm never, because the One Child Policy, my parents gave all their love for me.
Yes abby, I feel lonely sometimes; however, as a China One, I have under this condition more than twenty years. It's not a big deal for me.
DeleteKyle brother. I have a lot of friends who is the only child in their family. They are the same with you. But, sometime they feel lonky because they are China one. Don't worry. You can get more than one child after you get married. So your chirldren will not feel lonly even you are busy.
ReplyDeleteMy Swan,
DeleteDon't pretend you have a lot of friends, you just have only one friend, I. And how do you know my future wife want more children as well? I think this is your expection.
A bro. I am so proud that you did a good job again. People have their own opinions about China One. I have no ideas about that because I am not the only child in my family. As what Kathleen said, you may have many children in the future to make up for your loneliness.
ReplyDeleteAmazing essay!!! I decided to learn from your essay. Your writing style and structure are so nice. It's esay to read and didn't lose the focus.
ReplyDeleteHi, I can understand what a comfortable childhood that you had. I am not the China One, because I have two sisters. You can occupy your parents whole time, but I only can get one-third of the time.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kyle su. I think China's population is too huge, and this condition will made a country run to poor and bad.
ReplyDeleteKyle,Does "Change One Thing, Change Everything" means QIANYIFAERDONGQUANSHEN(牵一发而动全身)?
ReplyDelete