Public Restrooms in Franceâ€Les Toilettes Publiques

When you travel to France, one thing is certain—youll have to use the restroom. Politely asking where the toilets are is a delicate thing in French. Now that youve mastered the toilet-related vocabulary and the strange double flush tank, you are ready for your next challenge: using (and surviving) Les toilettes publiques! In a small (or huge) town, using les W.C  of a restaurant or a cafà © should not be a problem. Just ask oà ¹ sont les toilettes sil vous plaà ®t, and you should be fine. But unless you are a patron, in many very touristy areas, youll have to use the public restrooms. It may be worth buying un cafà ©, even if you dont drink it, so you can use the cafà ©s bathroom. Some very old fashioned public restrooms or very old fashioned restaurants will have what we used to call une dame pipi (literally a pee lady ... a more PC term is agent dentretien— maintenance officer). This person cleans and takes care of the place. Its customary to leave them a tip—50 centimes or one Euro. Les Urinoirs (urinals) are still very common and not so discreet in France. Its not uncommon in a public restroom to have a urinal section facing the closed toilets so that when you enter/exit the restroom you will pass in front of urinating men ...  how nice. More modern public restrooms will be some sort of a cabin (called une sanisette) which opens up when you insert a coin (they are free in Paris since 2006 ... and more or less  dirty ... and always lacking toilet paper, so plan on bringing tissues). The instructions are pretty clear, and there are usually drawings. However, a  Skype student of mine had an interesting story with one of these. He had to pay one Euro to get in. So, after he did his business, as he left and the door opened, he let his spouse in. And she got ... a free shower! Some of these cabins get fully rinsed after each use, from top to bottom. So ... pay the extra one Euro. And yes, it is still very true, many public restrooms (rarely in cities, but frequently highway restrooms) are what we call des toilettes à   la turque—no seat but a hole. I hate these, as Im pretty sure every other woman does. Basically, there is a hole, and two rectangles to place your feet, supposedly out of the pee route. Face the door if you want to limit the damage. No, French women dont have a secret about using these. We are all created equal when it comes to using these awful devices.   Last thing ... the French are not really shy when it comes to peeing al fresco—outside! If you drive around France, you may sometimes see a car stopped on the side of the road, with a guy facing the fields and relieving himself. Well, at least he is not facing the road. Nothing shocking here for the French, its only human nature!

Discussion on the Choice of Genre - 2804 Words

Discuss the choice of genre; comedy or tragedy? In this assignment I will discuss the choice of genre; comedy or tragedy? In the play Death of a Salesman (2000) by Arthur Miller and the movie east is east (1999) by Ayub Khan-Din. I will suggest Willy Loman within the play Death of a Salesman (2000) actually is the architect of his own failure. I will put forward Loman’s ideal of the American Dream and show while he strived to achieve this goal, this ultimately proved to be the cause of his demise. While this play shows the audience that Willy is not a failure, his refusal to accept reality only helps to add to the tragedy of Death of a Salesman (2000). On the other hand east is east (1999) has elements of tragedy, but ultimately the genre†¦show more content†¦In Willy’s mind true success is only countable in huge unobtainable amounts of money. Berkowitz (1992), writes; â€Å"a salesman’s life is constructed entirely on faith and fantasy†, this ideal could be applied to Willy’s mind set, as he always delivers to his customers what he himself promises. Therefore, the promise of Willy’s culture of success to the hardworking is yet another tragic aspect to his life. Can he be really blamed for believing in what American society promised him? Willy had no choice but to believe in the American Dream and cultural beliefs aside, his profession cannot afford failure because â€Å"Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman there is no rock bottom† (Miller, 2000, 1.11). It was an interesting choice for Miller to make, Willy a salesman selling products to the public. This vendor to customer relationship is inverted with Willy’s association with the American Dream. Willy is the client who has been figuratively sold a success policy stamped; made in America, but fails to deliver on its promises. If the American Dream was one of Willy’s products he would have been sued for breach of contract. A further facet of the tragedy of Willy Loman is; he is not alone in his definition of success and failure. Willy has inducted his son Biff to follow this American promise of success and it is because of his father that Biff feels all he has â€Å"done is waste his life† (Miller, 2000, 1.17) Willy has enslaved hisShow MoreRelatedDiscussing Literary Genre973 Words   |  4 PagesTo define genre is to embark on a conjectural journey within a theoretical minefield. Genre theory has drawn immense debate and contemplation throughout literary history, however, several conclusions have emerged. Genre types are unfixed categories whose characteristics differ considerably among the specific genres; furthermore, the role of literary history plays a significant role in discussions of genre, for genre types evolve and shift with each new literary text. An approach to the discussionRead MoreEssay on Discussing Literary Genre944 Words   |  4 Pagesdefine genre is to embark on a con jectural journey within a theoretical minefield. Genre theory has drawn immense debate and contemplation throughout literary history, however, several conclusions have emerged. Genre types are unfixed categories whose characteristics differ considerably among the specific genres; furthermore, the role of literary history plays a significant role in discussions of genre, for genre types evolve and shift with each new literary text. An approach to the discussion of genreRead More Definition Essay - Genre1750 Words   |  7 PagesDefinition Essay – Genre Genre, in the most generic definition, takes the meaning kind; sort; style (OED). Prior to the terms inception, the notion of genre in the study of media emerged in The Poetics, with Aristotles discussion of the mode or manner of imitation in poetry. Of this Aristotle writes, the medium being the same, and the objects [of imitation] the same, the poet may imitate by narration - in which case he can either take another personality as Homer does, or speak in hisRead MoreDefinition Of Genre Of The Marketing Industry And Consumer Differ By Frith, Qirko, Garofalo And Weinstein1200 Words   |  5 PagesGenre can be defined as a way of categorising sales (Frith, 1996). However, because the aims of the industry and consumer differ, genre becomes a complicated concept in which both the control of the consumer and their authenticity judgements (Qirko, 2014) must be taken into account. Through discussion on genre by Frith, Qirko, Garofalo and Weinstein, three points surrounding the constructi on, negotiation, maintenance and definition of genre arise. Firstly- genre must be addressed as a way to orderRead MoreAssignment On Income Inequality : Extinction Of The American Dream885 Words   |  4 Pagesbelieve that inequality is one of the biggest political and economic challenges that greatly threatens American Dream today.† Therefore, I kept my statement as the way it was. What I have really enjoyed during this essay was when we did a group discussion that required everyone to participate and articulate each of our opinions of each different topics: 1.) Is higher education worth the price? 2.) Is pop culture actually good for you? 3.) Is fast food the new tobacco? 4.) Why does it matter who winsRead MoreResearch Paper On Maternal Smoking Of Pregnancy, Fetal Development, And Childhood Asthma Essay780 Words   |  4 PagesGenre Analysis Outline Picked topic: Maternal Smoking in Pregnancy, Fetal Development, and Childhood Asthma Type of genre: Research paper Conventions of research papers: Abstract- is usually a 250-word overview of the research paper and provides the main idea of the study. Includes the 6 sections that are stated below. As stated in â€Å"Writing in the Health Sciences† it is usually written after paper is complete and is the first thing people read. In my text: the abstract includes the main pointRead MoreChallenges of Genre for EFL Teachers662 Words   |  3 PagesChallenges of Genre for EFL teachers In teaching English as Foreign Language (EFL), teachers face a number of challenges when the pedagogy is changed to EFL method. One of the questions is how can teachers know what genre the students need to learn? This is because based on researches, genre are dependent on the discourse community. Therefore, how to explain which genre to teach by school teacher to the students? So, this has become a problem/challenge for EFL teachers to teach genre as researchersRead MoreThe Style Of David Fincher s Se7en1386 Words   |  6 Pages ESSAY TITLE Explore the style of David Fincher’s Se7en and explainn how the style choices crucially contribute to the film’s significance and effectiveness in relation to its framework Table of Contents 1. Introduction ii 2. Discussion vi 2.1 Frameworks of References vi 2.1.1 Historical Context vi 2.1.2 Authorship vii 2.1.3 Genre viii 2.2. Story Telling ix 2.2.1 Storyline ix 2.2.2 Clarity of Plot x 2.2.3 Plot Relevance xi 2.2.4 Complexity of Characters xii 2.2.5 Background of Motivations andRead MoreFilm Analysis : The Searchers1624 Words   |  7 PagesFilm Analysis-The Searchers Dean Childs ENG 225 Allison Sansbury November 10, 2014 The Searchers Throughout this class, various discussions and blogs have been used to analyze the different elements of films such as theme, cinematic techniques and genre. 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Define Communism Free Essays

Communism has long been heralded in capitalist countries as the root of all evil. However, as with all phobias, this intrinsic fear of communism comes from lack of knowledge rather than sound reasoning. It is the same fear that gave the world the Cold War and McCarthy†s Red Scare. We will write a custom essay sample on Define Communism or any similar topic only for you Order Now The purpose of this paper is neither to support communism over capitalism nor the opposite, rather it is to inform the reader of communism†s migration through time and hopefully assist the regression of such fear. The ideology of communism came out of the minds of two men, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Sowell, 11). Since Marx is the most widely known influence, he will be the one most referred to. It was Marx†s belief that private property was the cause of poverty and degradation of the proletariat. Therefore, he came to settle on the idea that no one person should have control over production of goods, ownership of land, and management of funds. In that same token then, no one class should be allowed to have control over these things. He went on to comment that the exploitation of the working class must come to an end. That end would be achieved through revolution. Once this was achieved, everybody would work according to their abilities and then be paid accordingly (Marx 586-617). Soon after, however, technical innovations would create such abundance of goods that â€Å"everyone works according to his abilities and receives according to his needs. † Soon thereafter, money would ! have no place in society. People would be able to take what they want and in turn would be lacking nothing. Marx also believed that the pleasure of seeing the fruits of labor would be enough to cause man to work (Rieber, 56-62). Countries and people were soon to catch on to this ideology. The two most well know places were Russia and China. Of the two, Russia was the first to adopt the communist beliefs. Russia already had a long history of peasant insurrections. Most of these uprisings though, were leaderless and highly unorganized. The motives of the rebels were vague and often confused. By the time the government made some improvements to help the peasants, it was too late. In 1917, due to the breakdown of the administration and military order, the peasants moved to carry out their own revolution. They tore down any form of legal and territorial authority and distributed the land in a rough but equal fashion. During this time, a man by the name of Georgi V. Plekanhov had secretly come into Russia bringing Karl Marx†s books. Once there, these books influenced young students who saw the revolution dependent on the proletariat, not the peasant class. One of the people influenced by Plekanhov was a man going by the name of Nikolai Lenin. His revolutionary ardor was strong and he went on to creat a group called the Bolsheviks and they are the ones who would create the revolution needed to change the system. It began on March 6, 1917 when bread riots erupted in Petrograd, Russia and did not end until the United Soviet Socialist Republic was organized on December 30, 1922. On January 21, 1924, Lenin died and this complicated matters since two people were interested in Lenin†s position. A power struggle ensued between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky (Salisbury, xi). Stalin became the Bolshevik party general secretary in 1922, which was one step closer to being the next Lenin. In 1925, Stalin offered a more attractive solution to the Russian people than Trotsky (Rieber, 73-74). Thus in 1927, Stalin scored the first major victory for himself when the Fifteenth All-Union Congress of the Communist Party denounced all deviations of the Stalinist line. Trotsky and any ally of his were banished to the Russian provinces. Here Stalin†s ruthless nature began to show. He completely expelled Trotsky from the Soviet Union and finally his fear of Trotsky-esque forced him to assassinate Le! on Trotsky in 1940 (Kaiser, 246). However, even after Trotsky was assassinated Stalin†s fears were never quite dissipated. Stalin went on to establish a dictatorship, crushing any opposing voices within his party and his country. He would not stop there though, still being enough of a Marxist, he wanted to see the ultimate goal become a reality. He wanted to see a world wide socialist revolution. He and many other Soviet leaders held the furtherance of world revolution above the preservation of the dictatorship. It remained an important goal through the leadership of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko. However, this came to the head during the leadership of Gorbachev. Gorbachev had a country that was falling apart dumped into his lap. Dissension was widespread and in an effort to bring the country back to it†s former glory, Gorbachev implemented a program known as Perestroika, or reconstructuring. Its aim was to make good on the promises of socialism or else it would sink to the status of a third world country. One part of Perestroika that was particularly odd was called Glasnost. The purpose of Glasnost was to hear constructive criticism in order to possibly try to implement the ideas in an effort to help the country out of their difficulties. This was much different from Stalin†s views. When western criticism said that Perestroika was slowing down, Glasnost went ahead at full speed, revealing not only the crimes of the Stalin era, but also the horrifying dimensions of the contemporary crisis. In foreign affairs, not only was there great progress on arms control, but also Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Most spectacular of all, in 1989, Gorbachev allowed Soviet control over Eastern Europe to evaporate, as communism was overthrown and independent governments were established in one satellite country after another. In 1991, Gorbachev changed course as he came to realize that his only chance to preserve the union was to work with the leaders of the republics rather than against them. For many loyal members of the party and the security forces, as well as managers of industry and collective farms, the country as they had known it was on the brink of falling apart. The last stand of the old guard was an attempted coup in August 1991. It was easy for the plotters to take over the central government, but they found it impossible to topple Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Federation government. The coup collapsed within days, and the Communist party was outlawed. The fate of the August showed how little vitality was left in the Soviet Union†s central government, and it was not long before appropriate conclusions were drawn. In another quieter coup in December, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus declared that a Commonwealth of Independent States would replace the Union of Soviet So! cialist Republics. The declaration only ratified the reality of republican independence. Gorbachev bowed to the inevitable and resigned at the end of the year. The seventy-four year history of the Soviet Union had come to an end (Grolier). After Russia, China was the next major country to adapt to the communist system of beliefs. It was on October 1, 1949 that Mao Tsetung pronounced the establishment of the new Chinese Communist state: the People†s Republic of China. It was for this reason that Mao and over ten thousand people set off on what was to be called the Long March. They began in the Jiangxi province where their ranks rapidly grew and became known as the Fourth Red Army. It was comprised of peasants and soldiers who were in favor of a communist regime or were in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek†s nationalist views. Mao†s army never numbered more than 85,000 peasants, while Chiang†s forces, the Kuomintang, numbered at least 200,000 well-equipped troops (Frankenstein 58-64). The odds were definitely against Mao. It was for this reason that he favored guerrilla warfare. Mao described these tactics in his Little Red Book: When the enemy advanced, we retreat. Our weapons are supplied to us by the enemy. In 1934, Chiang encircled the Jiangxi province in which Mao was camped and thus it was decided within his camp that they must break through Chiang†s blockade lines. The 85,000 plus another 15,000 peasants poured through the breach that had been made. Within forty-eight hours, most of the people had broken through the lines. No one really knew what ahead, however, over six thousand miles, icy rivers, swampy marshes, and Kuomintang forces would leave only a handful alive at the end (Frankenstein 116-124). The Long March had begun. It would finally end in 1949, the same time the People†s Republic of China was formed. Mao had come out on top through extraordinary means. However, the civil war was not quite over. While living in Taiwan, Chiang was still getting backing from the United States of America and again took the title of President in 1950. Mao recognized, however, that he would need to set up a government immediately in order to support the close to one billion people living in China. He then turned to the Soviet Union for financial assistance. Mao went on to create the Great Cultural Revolution: an effort to get China up to the status of a major world power. This was a major motivating force for Mao until his death in 1976 (Frankenstein, 161-165). China and the communist party were without an outstanding leader for several years following Mao Tsetung†s death. Finally, Deng Xiaoping eventually emerged as the paramount leader they were looking for in 1978. He promptly launched his economic reform plan. Under his leadership, China tried moving their economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more produ! ctive and flexible economy with market elements, all within the framework of Communist control. The result has been a strong surge in production with industry posting some major gains. Deng†s reforms have improved the livelihoods of many Chinese living in urban areas. There is no doubt that Deng had lead China through greatest period of modernization and foreign contact. One of the saddest days in Chinese history was the death of Deng Xiaoping on February 19, 1997. While he had not been active for some time and had not appeared in public for three years prior to his death, the death of senior leaders had always had an unsettling impact on Chinese politics (CNN). On the other hand, Deng had retired in 1989 and he had placed Jiang Zemin in the powerful post of chairman of the Central Military Commission. In 1993, Jiang was named president of China. Jiang†s policy, like that of his mentor, was to instill market reforms while still keeping the country politically and socially conservative (CNN). This was going to be difficult though with Hong Kong having been returned to China on June 1, 1997. President Jiang Zemin himself will preside as the motherland reclaims a piece of itself, instantly replacing the councils and crown symbols of Britain rule with the new authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. If only it were that simple. The people of Hong Kong embrace neither of these extremes. They share pride in the reunification of China, but they harbor some misgivings about their new landlords, however, they are ready to give the new system a chance. Unfortunately the west is casting a skeptical eye. If Beijing is ready to be welcomed into the community of nations with the stature its size and wealth ought to command, China will have to convince the west that it is ready and able to live by the international community†s rules (McGeary, 186-192). With the Soviet Union no longer in existence, the international community is turning their attention on to the last major communist nation that has influence. China will have to tread lightly, especially now with the return of a valuable port that was the refuge for millions of democratic citizens. China has promised a â€Å"one country, two systems† policy, but that is only drawing more criticism. Communism can no longer grow, it can only mature. However, this maturing process is turning it into more of a capitalist country. How to cite Define Communism, Essay examples

Define Communism Free Essays

Communism has long been heralded in capitalist countries as the root of all evil. However, as with all phobias, this intrinsic fear of communism comes from lack of knowledge rather than sound reasoning. It is the same fear that gave the world the Cold War and McCarthy†s Red Scare. We will write a custom essay sample on Define Communism or any similar topic only for you Order Now The purpose of this paper is neither to support communism over capitalism nor the opposite, rather it is to inform the reader of communism†s migration through time and hopefully assist the regression of such fear. The ideology of communism came out of the minds of two men, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Sowell, 11). Since Marx is the most widely known influence, he will be the one most referred to. It was Marx†s belief that private property was the cause of poverty and degradation of the proletariat. Therefore, he came to settle on the idea that no one person should have control over production of goods, ownership of land, and management of funds. In that same token then, no one class should be allowed to have control over these things. He went on to comment that the exploitation of the working class must come to an end. That end would be achieved through revolution. Once this was achieved, everybody would work according to their abilities and then be paid accordingly (Marx 586-617). Soon after, however, technical innovations would create such abundance of goods that â€Å"everyone works according to his abilities and receives according to his needs. † Soon thereafter, money would ! have no place in society. People would be able to take what they want and in turn would be lacking nothing. Marx also believed that the pleasure of seeing the fruits of labor would be enough to cause man to work (Rieber, 56-62). Countries and people were soon to catch on to this ideology. The two most well know places were Russia and China. Of the two, Russia was the first to adopt the communist beliefs. Russia already had a long history of peasant insurrections. Most of these uprisings though, were leaderless and highly unorganized. The motives of the rebels were vague and often confused. By the time the government made some improvements to help the peasants, it was too late. In 1917, due to the breakdown of the administration and military order, the peasants moved to carry out their own revolution. They tore down any form of legal and territorial authority and distributed the land in a rough but equal fashion. During this time, a man by the name of Georgi V. Plekanhov had secretly come into Russia bringing Karl Marx†s books. Once there, these books influenced young students who saw the revolution dependent on the proletariat, not the peasant class. One of the people influenced by Plekanhov was a man going by the name of Nikolai Lenin. His revolutionary ardor was strong and he went on to creat a group called the Bolsheviks and they are the ones who would create the revolution needed to change the system. It began on March 6, 1917 when bread riots erupted in Petrograd, Russia and did not end until the United Soviet Socialist Republic was organized on December 30, 1922. On January 21, 1924, Lenin died and this complicated matters since two people were interested in Lenin†s position. A power struggle ensued between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky (Salisbury, xi). Stalin became the Bolshevik party general secretary in 1922, which was one step closer to being the next Lenin. In 1925, Stalin offered a more attractive solution to the Russian people than Trotsky (Rieber, 73-74). Thus in 1927, Stalin scored the first major victory for himself when the Fifteenth All-Union Congress of the Communist Party denounced all deviations of the Stalinist line. Trotsky and any ally of his were banished to the Russian provinces. Here Stalin†s ruthless nature began to show. He completely expelled Trotsky from the Soviet Union and finally his fear of Trotsky-esque forced him to assassinate Le! on Trotsky in 1940 (Kaiser, 246). However, even after Trotsky was assassinated Stalin†s fears were never quite dissipated. Stalin went on to establish a dictatorship, crushing any opposing voices within his party and his country. He would not stop there though, still being enough of a Marxist, he wanted to see the ultimate goal become a reality. He wanted to see a world wide socialist revolution. He and many other Soviet leaders held the furtherance of world revolution above the preservation of the dictatorship. It remained an important goal through the leadership of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko. However, this came to the head during the leadership of Gorbachev. Gorbachev had a country that was falling apart dumped into his lap. Dissension was widespread and in an effort to bring the country back to it†s former glory, Gorbachev implemented a program known as Perestroika, or reconstructuring. Its aim was to make good on the promises of socialism or else it would sink to the status of a third world country. One part of Perestroika that was particularly odd was called Glasnost. The purpose of Glasnost was to hear constructive criticism in order to possibly try to implement the ideas in an effort to help the country out of their difficulties. This was much different from Stalin†s views. When western criticism said that Perestroika was slowing down, Glasnost went ahead at full speed, revealing not only the crimes of the Stalin era, but also the horrifying dimensions of the contemporary crisis. In foreign affairs, not only was there great progress on arms control, but also Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Most spectacular of all, in 1989, Gorbachev allowed Soviet control over Eastern Europe to evaporate, as communism was overthrown and independent governments were established in one satellite country after another. In 1991, Gorbachev changed course as he came to realize that his only chance to preserve the union was to work with the leaders of the republics rather than against them. For many loyal members of the party and the security forces, as well as managers of industry and collective farms, the country as they had known it was on the brink of falling apart. The last stand of the old guard was an attempted coup in August 1991. It was easy for the plotters to take over the central government, but they found it impossible to topple Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Federation government. The coup collapsed within days, and the Communist party was outlawed. The fate of the August showed how little vitality was left in the Soviet Union†s central government, and it was not long before appropriate conclusions were drawn. In another quieter coup in December, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus declared that a Commonwealth of Independent States would replace the Union of Soviet So! cialist Republics. The declaration only ratified the reality of republican independence. Gorbachev bowed to the inevitable and resigned at the end of the year. The seventy-four year history of the Soviet Union had come to an end (Grolier). After Russia, China was the next major country to adapt to the communist system of beliefs. It was on October 1, 1949 that Mao Tsetung pronounced the establishment of the new Chinese Communist state: the People†s Republic of China. It was for this reason that Mao and over ten thousand people set off on what was to be called the Long March. They began in the Jiangxi province where their ranks rapidly grew and became known as the Fourth Red Army. It was comprised of peasants and soldiers who were in favor of a communist regime or were in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek†s nationalist views. Mao†s army never numbered more than 85,000 peasants, while Chiang†s forces, the Kuomintang, numbered at least 200,000 well-equipped troops (Frankenstein 58-64). The odds were definitely against Mao. It was for this reason that he favored guerrilla warfare. Mao described these tactics in his Little Red Book: When the enemy advanced, we retreat. Our weapons are supplied to us by the enemy. In 1934, Chiang encircled the Jiangxi province in which Mao was camped and thus it was decided within his camp that they must break through Chiang†s blockade lines. The 85,000 plus another 15,000 peasants poured through the breach that had been made. Within forty-eight hours, most of the people had broken through the lines. No one really knew what ahead, however, over six thousand miles, icy rivers, swampy marshes, and Kuomintang forces would leave only a handful alive at the end (Frankenstein 116-124). The Long March had begun. It would finally end in 1949, the same time the People†s Republic of China was formed. Mao had come out on top through extraordinary means. However, the civil war was not quite over. While living in Taiwan, Chiang was still getting backing from the United States of America and again took the title of President in 1950. Mao recognized, however, that he would need to set up a government immediately in order to support the close to one billion people living in China. He then turned to the Soviet Union for financial assistance. Mao went on to create the Great Cultural Revolution: an effort to get China up to the status of a major world power. This was a major motivating force for Mao until his death in 1976 (Frankenstein, 161-165). China and the communist party were without an outstanding leader for several years following Mao Tsetung†s death. Finally, Deng Xiaoping eventually emerged as the paramount leader they were looking for in 1978. He promptly launched his economic reform plan. Under his leadership, China tried moving their economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more produ! ctive and flexible economy with market elements, all within the framework of Communist control. The result has been a strong surge in production with industry posting some major gains. Deng†s reforms have improved the livelihoods of many Chinese living in urban areas. There is no doubt that Deng had lead China through greatest period of modernization and foreign contact. One of the saddest days in Chinese history was the death of Deng Xiaoping on February 19, 1997. While he had not been active for some time and had not appeared in public for three years prior to his death, the death of senior leaders had always had an unsettling impact on Chinese politics (CNN). On the other hand, Deng had retired in 1989 and he had placed Jiang Zemin in the powerful post of chairman of the Central Military Commission. In 1993, Jiang was named president of China. Jiang†s policy, like that of his mentor, was to instill market reforms while still keeping the country politically and socially conservative (CNN). This was going to be difficult though with Hong Kong having been returned to China on June 1, 1997. President Jiang Zemin himself will preside as the motherland reclaims a piece of itself, instantly replacing the councils and crown symbols of Britain rule with the new authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. If only it were that simple. The people of Hong Kong embrace neither of these extremes. They share pride in the reunification of China, but they harbor some misgivings about their new landlords, however, they are ready to give the new system a chance. Unfortunately the west is casting a skeptical eye. If Beijing is ready to be welcomed into the community of nations with the stature its size and wealth ought to command, China will have to convince the west that it is ready and able to live by the international community†s rules (McGeary, 186-192). With the Soviet Union no longer in existence, the international community is turning their attention on to the last major communist nation that has influence. China will have to tread lightly, especially now with the return of a valuable port that was the refuge for millions of democratic citizens. China has promised a â€Å"one country, two systems† policy, but that is only drawing more criticism. Communism can no longer grow, it can only mature. However, this maturing process is turning it into more of a capitalist country. How to cite Define Communism, Essay examples