The Cultural Revolution that occurred in China between 1966 and 1976 is one of the greatest revolutions that impacted on several aspects in China. This revolution had a very significant impact on the People’s Republic of China. They were affected politically, socially and economically.
This era was marked by eradication of capitalism and full enforcement of communism. Mao Zedong was the key person behind this revolution. He enforced Maoist orthodoxy in the ruling party. This revolution changed China’s political future. This paper analyzes the impacts of this Cultural Revolution that is still being felt in China up to today.
According to Yuan, Kuiper and Shu (1990), the people of China were forced to keep distance from one another. Hence, physical contact and communication was prohibited. The authors further suggest that people were forced to worship and sing for Mao during all meetings. This caused a lot of inconvenience in carrying out economic, social, and political activities.
Cultural growth was also greatly affected since the uses of certain words were prohibited. Most cultural practices that did not please Mao were also banned (Yuan, Kuiper & Shu, 1990). Lack of direct communication among people was enhanced. Therefore, industries could not be managed; social gatherings that enhanced the business environment were also prohibited. This explains why the economic development of China declined by about 12% during the social revolution.
All citizens of china were forced to follow the ideology that had been put in place by Mao. This affected the economic stability of China. He believed that China’s economy could only be balanced by communism (Yuan, Kuiper & Shu, 1990). Mao used a lot of force in implementing his ideology. He mobilized youths to wage war against capitalism. He believed that the only way he could have won was by using the public in fighting capitalism.
This trend continued until almost all the Chinese people started observing his ideology (Tang, 1973). The prolonged war affected the social economic status of China. There is no way citizens could have continued to invest in their country with such civil unrests. Although his intention was to promote economic balance, the high levels of destruction further weakened the economy (Tang, 1973).
Although he succeeded in restoring communism in China, there was a lot of bloodshed. Any individual who tried to resist his ideology was either hanged or imprisoned. Could it have been possible for Mao to achieve his ambition without instigating war? Moreover, if so, how could he do it? Mao had a great vision for his country. He believed that through communism, China would become an industrial power.
This revolution is seen as one of the darkest times in the Chinese recent history. This revolution brought the economic development of China into a standstill bearing in mind that the freedom of speech was withdrawn.
Music Piracy
Music piracy is an act of producing and distributing music even though the owner has not given his or her consent. Piracy became significant in the late 20th century (Chiou, Huang & Lee, 2005). Currently, it is a booming business because of the invention and increased use of digital media. The increased levels of piracy are threatening the music industry since the numbers of genuine music CDs that are sold in the market are minimal. This section investigates how this vice can be eliminated.
The problem of music piracy can be associated with the elevated prices of the genuinely un-pirated music (Chiou, Huang & Lee, 2005). The producers of music charge very high prices for their products compared to the pirated ones. This has compelled several people to prefer pirated music even if they risk being prosecuted.
Another major problem that is associated with the reduced sales from the music industry in the 21st century is the increased availability of digital music files (Geol, Miesing & Chandra, 2010). Most people can access such files easily on the internet and from friends through sharing of digital files. The increased level of availability of such content has promoted high levels of piracy. Some people may participate in piracy without their knowledge.
The legal system is partly to blame for the drops in revenue collected by the music industry. In most countries, there are no digital copyright legislations in place. The laws that are being used by most countries have been overtaken by digital technology. Currently, countries are still working on laws that will govern digital copyrighting (Geol, Miesing, & Chandra, 2010).
Therefore, music piracy is a complicated issue that has sent many researchers in this field back to the drawing board. Practitioners in this field are currently discussing on the way forward in countering the act (Wang, Chen, Yang & Farn, 2009). Asia records the highest levels of piracy.
For instance, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong are the major areas where piracy is practiced regularly (Chiou, Huang & Lee, 2005). The above observations indicate that the problem of music piracy is real and in fact very difficult to eliminate. However, this paper has analyzed the possible ways of dealing with this challenge and how it can be minimized in the music industry.
References
Chiou, J., Huang, C., & Lee, H. (2005). The Antecedents of Music Piracy Attitudes and Intentions. Web.
Geol, S., Miesing, P. & Chandra, U. (2010). The Impact of Illegal Peer-to-Peer File Sharing on the Media Industry. Web.
Tang, P. (1973). Mao Tsetung Thought since the Cultural Revolution. Web.
Wang, C., Chen, C., Yang, S. & Farn, C. (2009). Pirate or Buy? The Moderating Effect of Idolatry. Web.
Yuan, J., Kuiper, K. & Shu, S. (1990). Language and Revolution: Formulae of the Cultural Revolution. Web.