As Liang Ch'i-Ch'ao, I am satisfied with the outcome of the conference thus far. I believe that the ideas presented by the intellectuals were generally accepted by the other members of the conference, which will benefit the education of many people in the industrial world. I am content with the proposals of the farmers and factory workers, because they are trying to make a better life for themselves by lowering taxes and cleaning the factories. I believe, however, that the farmers and factory workers would be better off if they attended school and enriched their education. For a farmer, a public school would be offered at times other than the harvest season, and for a factory worker, trade schools would be established so that the workers could learn to do their job more efficiently and safely. Education is the key to any success in life. Without an education, the farmers are being oppressed by the educated ruling elite, and the workers are being hurt in factory accidents. Each situation can be avoided to an extent with an education.
I am unhappy with the proposals of the ruling elite and the religious figures for their selfish approaches to the conflict of the social classes. The ruling elite were entirely inconsiderate of the poor population in their countries and only cared about maintaining their own status by refining the voting system. The idea of making the very strict guidelines of people who are allowed to vote is not beneficial to the people of a country. The poor are the people who will be governed, and if they are not allowed to vote, they cannot choose who will govern them and they are powerless. This situation is risky, in that if the people are unhappy, they most likely rebel and attempt to reform the government. Ultimately, the ruling elite, in trying to save their power, will loose it to their unhappy subjects. The proposal of the religious figures was out of place as well. As a group of religious people, it would have made more sense for them to propose something more religion specific, rather than impose religion on an entire country and expect all of the citizens to follow it devoutly. In this situation, I believe that the religious figures had no business attempting to reconstruct the education system. They should be focusing on keeping the religious people they have, not trying to gain more during these trying times. Incorporating a fixed religion in our schools would cause problems with the nonreligious families wanting an education. I propose that religious schools should be an option, but religion should not be mandatory in public schools as the religious figures have stated. Thus, all people will be given the option to choose their religion and possibly go to a school specified for teaching that religion.
Finally, from this project, I have learned that during the industrial revolution, there were many conflicts among social classes, because no two groups of people had the same experience with the revolution. I have learned that industrialism, while it was a huge step in technology, created more problems between social classes, because it affected everyone from the intellectuals and religious figures to the farmers and workers. Industrialism forced each country to reconfigure their mentality towards the poor classes, because without factory workers, the machines would not work. I believe that the intellectual class was mostly trying to fight for the poor in the Industrial revolution. Especially in China, the intellectuals were the leaders of the rebelions against the rulers, they stood up for the rights of everyone, and they were all for equality. As a result of the rebellions, the ruling elite felt threatened and they tried to gain more power and shut down the revolution. In China, since there was not a huge industrialization period until years after the initial industrialization in Great Britain, I believe that the idea of an industrial revolution caused panic amongst the leaders which ultimately led to a clash of social classes within the country. Thus, the result of the industrial revolution in China was not factories but rebellions against the ruling elite for power to the poorer population in China.
Liang Ch'i-Ch'ao
As Liang Ch'i-Ch'ao, I am satisfied with the outcome of the conference thus far. I believe that the ideas presented by the intellectuals were generally accepted by the other members of the conference, which will benefit the education of many people in the industrial world. I am content with the proposals of the farmers and factory workers, because they are trying to make a better life for themselves by lowering taxes and cleaning the factories. I believe, however, that the farmers and factory workers would be better off if they attended school and enriched their education. For a farmer, a public school would be offered at times other than the harvest season, and for a factory worker, trade schools would be established so that the workers could learn to do their job more efficiently and safely. Education is the key to any success in life. Without an education, the farmers are being oppressed by the educated ruling elite, and the workers are being hurt in factory accidents. Each situation can be avoided to an extent with an education. I am unhappy with the proposals of the ruling elite and the religious figures for their selfish approaches to the conflict of the social classes. The ruling elite were entirely inconsiderate of the poor population in their countries and only cared about maintaining their own status by refining the voting system. The idea of making the very strict guidelines of people who are allowed to vote is not beneficial to the people of a country. The poor are the people who will be governed, and if they are not allowed to vote, they cannot choose who will govern them and they are powerless. This situation is risky, in that if the people are unhappy, they most likely rebel and attempt to reform the government. Ultimately, the ruling elite, in trying to save their power, will loose it to their unhappy subjects. The proposal of the religious figures was out of place as well. As a group of religious people, it would have made more sense for them to propose something more religion specific, rather than impose religion on an entire country and expect all of the citizens to follow it devoutly. In this situation, I believe that the religious figures had no business attempting to reconstruct the education system. They should be focusing on keeping the religious people they have, not trying to gain more during these trying times. Incorporating a fixed religion in our schools would cause problems with the nonreligious families wanting an education. I propose that religious schools should be an option, but religion should not be mandatory in public schools as the religious figures have stated. Thus, all people will be given the option to choose their religion and possibly go to a school specified for teaching that religion. Finally, from this project, I have learned that during the industrial revolution, there were many conflicts among social classes, because no two groups of people had the same experience with the revolution. I have learned that industrialism, while it was a huge step in technology, created more problems between social classes, because it affected everyone from the intellectuals and religious figures to the farmers and workers. Industrialism forced each country to reconfigure their mentality towards the poor classes, because without factory workers, the machines would not work. I believe that the intellectual class was mostly trying to fight for the poor in the Industrial revolution. Especially in China, the intellectuals were the leaders of the rebelions against the rulers, they stood up for the rights of everyone, and they were all for equality. As a result of the rebellions, the ruling elite felt threatened and they tried to gain more power and shut down the revolution. In China, since there was not a huge industrialization period until years after the initial industrialization in Great Britain, I believe that the idea of an industrial revolution caused panic amongst the leaders which ultimately led to a clash of social classes within the country. Thus, the result of the industrial revolution in China was not factories but rebellions against the ruling elite for power to the poorer population in China.