首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The United States stands for freedom and democracy. There is a large gap between the rhetoric and the reality, but the United St
The United States stands for freedom and democracy. There is a large gap between the rhetoric and the reality, but the United St
admin
2012-12-01
42
问题
The United States stands for freedom and democracy. There is a large gap between the rhetoric and the reality, but the United States does export its political ideals abroad. And it does not just rely on force to do so. It relies on government-funded foundations like the National Endowment for Democracy that distribute grants to pro-democracy organizations abroad. US-based NGOs like Freedom House rank countries according to their adherence to political freedom, the implication being that other countries should conform to the ideals espoused in the US Constitution.
What does China stand for? That question arose at a recent dialogue between Confucian and African thinkers in South Africa funded by the Confucius Institute. Such dialogues are relatively new: They are carried out on non-Western terms and funded by non-Western organizations. Now that China has more wealth, it can afford to fund dialogues that explore political alternatives to Western values.
But which values does China stand for and how can they be promoted abroad? Confucianism may be China’s main political tradition, but what are the key Confucian values that have the potential to make the world a better place? Like liberals and Christians, Confucians believe that their values ought to have universal reach, but China hasn’t done a good job exporting its political values beyond the East Asian region. As China becomes a global political power, such questions are likely to become more salient.
Confucianism
The Confucian tradition is diverse and contested, but Confucians today typically defend two key values: political meritocracy and harmony. The value of political meritocracy is not hard to explain. Everybody should have the same opportunity to be educated so as to participate in politics, but not everybody will emerge from this process with the equal ability to make morally informed decisions. Hence, an important task of the political system is to select those with above average ability.
The Chinese Communist Party, whatever the Marxist rhetoric, is becoming a more meritocratic organization. Top students are encouraged to join and the overall educational level of cadres is rapidly rising. To the extent that the party has successfully carried out economic modernization over the last three decades or so, much of the credit should go to cadres selected on merit—similar to other successful East Asian countries with a Confucian heritage.
So far, however, China’s attempt to export political meritocracy to developing countries has been relatively ad hoc. Hence, there is a need for a government funded organization—let’s call it the National Endowment for Meritocracy—that would fund experiments with political meritocracy in other countries. Western powers may not be interested, but there will be takers in Africa and elsewhere. Such programs could help to improve governance in recipient countries and would earn their gratitude.
The value of harmony is perhaps best promoted via NGOs, because official support is likely to arouse political suspicion. Hence, one might imagine an NGO—let’s call it Harmony House—that relies on rigorous empirical methods to determine the extent of harmony in the world. Countries could be ranked according to a "Social Harmony Index" that measures rates of crime, incarceration, divorce and gaps between the rich and the poor. Countries that do well on the index could set a model for other countries.
It is time for China to engage in the global dialogue about political values on its own terms. Rather than, say, wasting time and money on research reports measuring the extent of human rights violations in the United States, China can do more good by promoting the political values that inspire Chinese people and can help to make the world a better place if they are taken more seriously abroad.
This is not to deny that freedom, democracy and human rights have a place in China’s future. But indigenous values such as meritocracy and harmony may have an even greater place, and China should do its best to persuade the rest of the world of their value. Of course, it also needs to set the right model at home. (From NYTimes; 668 words)
Meritocracy is a political ideal that features______.
选项
A、social elitism
B、social fairness
C、social transparency
D、fair competition
答案
A
解析
细节题。文章第四段提到根据Meritocracy,人们有同等的教育机会,但是“an important task of the political system is to select those with above average ability”,因此实际上这一思想的核心是社会精英。因此A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/RXaO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
ThepreindustrialperiodofthedevelopmentofcitiesintheUnitedStatesbeganwiththeestablishmentofthecoloniesinthe
Transformational-generativegrammar(TG)isof______’sgreatcontributiontolinguisticsdevelopment.
A、usedtobeashoemakerB、grewupinawell-to-dofamilyC、supportedtheCivilRightsMovementD、wastheGodFatherofBluesC
In17th-centuryNewEngland,almosteveryonebelievedinwitches.Strugglingtosurviveinavastandsometimesunforgivingland
A、It’sthestandardinfrastructureinmostbigcitiesintheworld.B、AlotofcorporateleadersarewillingtoInvestinthist
______proposedTGgrammar.
Theseniorpartner,OliverLambert,studiedtheresumeforthehundredthtimeandagainfoundnothinghedislikedaboutMitchell
Therehasbeenmuchchatteraboutbankloanstolocalgovernments’financingvehicles,widelyregardedasoneofthemainrisks
Therehasbeenmuchchatteraboutbankloanstolocalgovernments’financingvehicles,widelyregardedasoneofthemainrisks
IfNajibullahZaziiseverythingtheFBIsaysheis,thentheAfghan-bornDenverairport-shuttle-busdriverrepresentsanewkin
随机试题
在Channel模式下,末端电缆必须与测试仪及末端的插座相连。()
A.胃底和胃体部B.胃大弯C.胃小弯D.胃窦部慢性浅表性胃炎好发于
关于各期肝性脑病的临床表现,下列各项中错误的是
患者,男,25岁,因腹泻就诊。症见腹痛肠鸣,泻下粪便臭如败卵,伴有未消化食物,泻后痛减,嗳腐吞酸,不思饮食,舌苔厚腻,脉滑。治宜选用的方药是()。
常见疾病的自我药疗须知A、1日B、2日C、3日D、5日E、7日治疗荨麻疹使用抗过敏药不宜超过
秦皇岛的()素有“北国江南鱼米乡”的美称,是全省粮油基地县。
奇虾是一类已经灭绝的大型无脊椎海洋动物,是目前已知最庞大的寒武纪动物,化石表明这种动物口器有十几排牙齿,直径有25厘米,粪便化石长10厘米。粗5厘米,由此推测,奇虾体长可能超过2米。以下哪项如果为真,最能支持上述推测?()
[*]
Whenwerethefollowingfeaturesincludedinanautoshow?Writethecorrectletter,A,B,orCnexttoquestions17-20.Alast
A、Sellherbiketotheman.B、Letthemanuseherbike.C、Borrowabikefromtheman.D、Stopthemanfromridingabike.B
最新回复
(
0
)