Caitlin Pennell
North Garland High School
Eleventh Grade
Dr. Sherry Mullins
In 1841, after
Britain’s Opium War with China, China was forced to cede a small part of its
land to the British. This piece of land would later become one of the biggest
displays of capitalism the world has ever seen. It was the city of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is located on the southern tip of China. It is, simply speaking, a
rock. Its topography consists mostly of rocky hills and mountains with steep
slopes and lowlands in the north. Even with all these flaws, Hong Kong is one
of the most successful cities in the world. The average Hong Kong worker makes
$28,800 per year, and
Hong Kong’s free economy allows people to start businesses easily. Anyone can start business in Hong Kong. All one has to do is fill out a couple of forms and they are allowed to start a business. When one begins a business, it either is a success or a failure. The successes help the economy, and the failures are weeded out. It seems a Darwinian concept, but it works. In the United States, businesses are run through regulations. This also happens in India, but in India it is much worse. Because it has few natural resources, Hong Kong depends upon trade. The economy also allows for anyone to sell anything they so choose to sell. Hong Kong could not have been a success without the amazing abilities and dreams of its people.
Hong Kong has a population of 6,855,125 people. Ninety-eight percent of the people of Hong Kong are Chinese. The other two percent are from foreign countries. When Hong Kong went over to the rule of Great Britain, it was nothing. It was a large lump of rocky land with few natural resources to offer. Its inhabitants were incredibly poor and lived in small, ill-made huts. The business of Hong Kong is also successful because the people of Hong Kong produce products that the people of the world want. These products include clothing, textiles, telecommunications and recording equipment, electrical machinery and appliances, and footwear. Imports consist largely of consumer goods, raw materials, transportation equipment, and foodstuffs. The people of Hong Kong, as well as the government, have discovered that anyone can achieve economic success in the world. If they try hard enough, and have the will to do what they have always wanted to do, they can be successful. However, simply having bright people does not always work. In India, for instance, there are many people who have bright ideas to better the lives of the Indian people, but they do not get put into effect. One must wonder why this is so. The fact is that the people’s ideas are not put into effect because of the Indian government’s extreme involvement in the life of its business.
When the British ruled Hong Kong, they practiced laissez-faire capitalism, allowing the people to make decisions for themselves. Even after Hong Kong was given back to China in July of 1997, the country of China still allowed Hong Kong to go on much the same as it always has under a “one country, two systems” policy, while the government steps back and lets things happen. The people learned from this neglect of government help. For instance, Hong Kong has a flat sixteen percent tax. The government merely takes a little money in order for it to survive, while all the other businesses survive as well. There are police, but they are merely there for public safety. There are very few regulations for businesses to run on. This gives business owners the freedom to run a business the way they see fit. The United States has quite a few regulations regarding the running of businesses. While these regulations are in place for the purpose of making sure that the business environment is safe for workers and customers alike, they make it harder on businesses to be successful. This is extremely clear in India, where there are so many regulations that businesses can’t even get started. In fact, there are so many regulations in India that ideas that would clearly make the lives of the Indian people better get crushed. Hong Kong is one of the few governments that do not make it a point to intervene in the businesses. As a result, people are free to sell what they choose to sell.
Hong Kong has long been a world success. It is one of the most respected business cities of our time. Its success has been a phenomenon to the world and an example to all. Hong Kong is, to many people, an opportunity to achieve the very thing that they have been longing to do for most of their lives. Its free economy and its laissez-faire government policy have allowed it to further itself in the world and be more than just a rock with no resources. It has succeeded in becoming one of the biggest success stories of the world, and its people have quite a few of their own personal success stories to tell. Hong Kong is, and will remain, one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories of the world.