As a philosophy major, I was especially interested in Dr Inouye’s class on Confucius and his teachings. I already had some surface level knowledge of Confucius’s work, but by delving further into the ideas of morality, human nature, and discipline, I was able to gain a much deeper understanding which will definitely benefit me as I continue my degree.
As well as broadening my philosophy knowledge, this class made me think a lot about New Zealand’s laid back working culture. Initially, seeing how Confucius’ work has been instilled into the entirety of China for generations was, although compelling, bizarre and foreign to me. However, I began to break down my veil of ignorance (for the millionth time, it keeps rebuilding itself) and remembered the extent to which mass media normalises American culture to the rest of the world. Americans are taught that, although you may encounter life struggles, hard work is both necessary and sufficient for achieving greatness. Building upon the American Dream, this has created a work hard play hard culture, where people are encouraged to work their butt’s off and then celebrate accordingly with their financial and material rewards. Similarly, Confucianism encourages hard work in order to achieve personal excellence. As countries, China and the United States have immense power. Rather than being taught how to live life through the philosophy of Confucius, Americans are being taught how to live life through the ideals of capitalism, and consequently become – much like the Chinese – invaluable tools to maintaining this power.
Taking a step back from the normalisation of American life, I notice that this is quite different from New Zealand. In New Zealand, it’s a lot more laid back, and I really like it this way. There is less pressure to overachieve. We have more emphasis on creating a healthy balance between work and personal life, rather than aiming to reach the extreme ends of each. But then again, maybe I only agree with this approach because it’s the life I have grown up in. Are we experiencing a similar type of ‘indoctrination’ of sorts in our own country? Even if not to the same extent? It’s interesting to think about, and this class with Dr Inouye was super helpful in bringing these ideas to light.
