China and the West

Hu, Shi. Wen ti yu zhu yi. [More talk of problems, less talk of Isms].
The article was directly based on John Dewey's pragmatic method of thinking.
"All valuable thinking starts with this or that concrete problem. To study the many facts connected with our many-sided problems, to look for the specific ills, is the first step in thinking. And then, to propose different methods of solution, which are based on our accumulated life experiences and knowledge, to suggest the many ways of healing the illness, is the second step in thinking. Afterwards, to infer the results of every kind of possible solutions, as well as whether these results will really solve our present difficulties and problems, and to choose, on the basis of this inference, a hypothetic solution, and consider it to be my opinion, is the third step in thinking. All valuable thinking has to pass through these three steps.
Here in China a number of people have asked me, 'Where should we start in reforming our society ? ' My answer is that we must start by reforming the component institutions of the society. Families, schools, local governments, the central government – all these must be reformed, but they must be reformed by people who constitute them, working as individuals – in collaboration with other individuals, of course, but sill as individuals, each accepting his own responsibility. And claim of the total reconstruction of a society is almost certain to be misleading. Social progress is neither an accident nor a miracle ; it is the sum of efforts made by individuals whose actions are guided by intelligence."