2014年1月24日
Claim: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive.
Reason: It is primarily in cities that a nation’s cultural traditions are preserved and generated.
Governmental financial support is vital to the success of administrative areas at all levels ,especially for major cities where it is not only key to their survival considering their size of population and scale of activities, but often produces far-reaching benefits on education, culture and economic well-being for the nation as a whole. Having that said, preservation of traditional culture is only one of many reasons to financially support major cities, whose impact on preserving traditional culture is limited being the frontline of modern day cultural globalization. Therefore, while I agree with the claim that governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need to survive, I believe there are more reasons to financially support major cities than preservation of traditional culture, and I do not agree that a nation’s traditional culture is primarily preserved and generated in major cities.
The importance of governments providing necessary financial support to major cities is clearly demonstrated in the necessity and far-reaching benefits of such supports. Major cities are usually the most densely populated areas in a nation, inducing high pressure and high expense on public services such as traffic, municipal engineering, public health care, etc. Such expenses requires abundant governmental support to ensure the quality of life of the large population in major cities. Furthermore, major cities are hosts of large amount of universities and headquarters of national and international enterprises; financial support to these organizations produces benefits far beyond the city’s border. For example, the city Beijing is home to more than 100 universities and millions of students from all over China and overseas as well. Financial supporting the universities in Beijing would benefit the education of numerous students studying in Beijing who will went on to serve their talents in all over the nation and the world. Therefore, there are many benefits of supporting major cities; preservation of traditional culture is only but on of many benefits, yet in no way its major justification. Therefore, I agree with the calim that Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive, but I disagree with the reason stated as the principal justification of the claim. In fact, I do not agree with the statement that it is primarily in cities that a nation’s cultural traditions are preserved and generated.
Being the frontline of globalization, major cities are destined to have limited impacted on preservation of traditional culture. Admittedly, major cities plays an irreplaceable role in preserving traditional cultures. The financial resources of major cities allow museums displays historic artifacts as well as folk handicrafts, academic institutions to study traditional culture, and theatres to occasionally give stage to traditional music and art. However, in major cities, people tend to cease to live in traditional culture but treat it as of the past. Major cities are most susceptible to international cultural influence, which inevitable out traditional culture away. In big cities all around the world, from Tokyo to Chicago, from Seoul to Stockholm, young people listen to the same popular artists and watch the same Hollywood movies. More and more young couples in major cities in Asia hold weddings in Christian churches with vows taken, rings exchanged and the bride wearing a white wedding gown, traditional wedding rituals and procedures being forgotten. Major cities preserves traditional cultures as relics of yesterday while inevitably living increasingly by the globalized, homogenized culture of today.
A nation’s traditional culture is primarily preserved and generalized in rural areas where traditions rather naturally preserved and local cultural life less influenced by globalization. The essence of a nation’s traditional culture lies not in dead objects such as vases and garments but in alive rituals, ceremonies and family organizations that are still being practiced and taking a significant position in people’s heart. These elements of traditional culture is best preserved in rural areas. For example, in rural fishing islands in Hong Kong a traditional annual ceremony honoring the birthday of the goddess of fishermen, Lady Tinhau, is still being faithfully performed every year, while this ceremony has long disappeared on inner city areas such as Hong Kong Island where commerce and banking has replaced fishing as the main trade for nearly a hundred years. It is primarily in rural areas that a nation’s traditional culture is preserved and generated.
In summary, I agree with the claim that governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive. Doing so brings numerous benefits on the city’s public service, education, and business development. There benefits include but go far beyond preservation of a nation’s traditional culture, which is best preserved in rural areas less influenced by cultural globalization.
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