The Beijing Olympics is already gearing up to be the greatest sh*t show ever. You really have to question the intelligence and judgement of China's leadership when they decide to censor the Internet in the Olympic Press Center. Can you imagine what kind of mood Katie Couric is going to be in when she finds out her access is blocked! Talk about biting the hand that portrays you...
NYT: China to limit web acccess during games
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Take me out to the news game!
As a common citizen of the world, I have little control over the many events that make up the daily news. However, I find myself rooting for certain stories and booing others, much like an arm-chair sports fan hoping to cheer his team to victory through the screen. In my case the home team is truth, justice, human rights, the environment, technology, and progress. They are pitted against authoritarianism, corruption, greed, lies, and ignorance. My team is definitely the underdog. Here's my own play-by-play of this week's world events:
Go Team! (encouraging rallies by progress and justice)
Go Team! (encouraging rallies by progress and justice)
- Al Gore's energy speech -- Though it is nothing more than a statement, the fact that a powerful and important figure like Al Gore is putting it out there gives it wings.
- Serb war criminal caught -- A vindication of international legal institutions, and a reminder that even dictators don't escape justice.
Foul Ball! (signs that regressive negative forces are gaining the upper hand)
- Consumer debt trap -- Powerful faceless corporations have reduced America's lower classes into financial slavery
- Olympic news networks on tight leash -- The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly using its economic power as leverage to get foreigners to toe its propaganda line.
Team Schadenfreude (this is a special category for unfortunate events that in actuality could lead to positive changes)
- Ford on the brink of bankruptcy -- The age of gas-guzzlers is over, Detroit. Did you miss the memo?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Why Don't Chinese People Say I Love You?
Except for rare intimate moments between passion-swept lovers, "wo ai ni" (I love you) is never spoken by Chinese. I began to wonder if you could extrapolate larger cultural truths from the absence of this word in their society.
Chinese parents and children and husbands and wives never exchange such sentimental words as "I love you." The Confucian structure of Chinese family, in which the parents care for the children who then care for their parents when they are old, is basically an economic arrangement. Social security, day care, health care, and disability insurance are all built into it. The individual is tied into this system by pure necessity for life, so enthusiastic emotional displays are unnecessary.
In Western culture, individuals are like freewheeling atoms, liable to break and form bonds at any time. That is one reason, out of countless many, why we so often repeat the words "I love you." It is a constant affirmation of the emotional bond that is keeping us together. We cannot take for granted these connections, since they are not based on ancient rigid societal structure, but rather the free will of all parties involved.
This illustrates a more general difference between China and Western societies. In Western societies, the individual is ascribed a multitude of personal rights and responsibilities. With regard to law, the individual is held accountable to conduct himself in a reasonable manner. In effect, he must hold perpetual court with judge and jury in his own mind. For lapses in rational conduct, he is rebuked by his other rational peers.
The bar is set high for individuals in Western societies. We are essentially a one-man ethics panel, required to reflect on and regulate our own behavior. Heavy educational resources must be expended to produce all these individual ethicists. In a way, Chinese get off easy. They are expected to do no more than closely obey instruction from higher ups, who in turn obey instruction from higher ups, in an endless game of responsibility hot potato.
Chinese parents and children and husbands and wives never exchange such sentimental words as "I love you." The Confucian structure of Chinese family, in which the parents care for the children who then care for their parents when they are old, is basically an economic arrangement. Social security, day care, health care, and disability insurance are all built into it. The individual is tied into this system by pure necessity for life, so enthusiastic emotional displays are unnecessary.
In Western culture, individuals are like freewheeling atoms, liable to break and form bonds at any time. That is one reason, out of countless many, why we so often repeat the words "I love you." It is a constant affirmation of the emotional bond that is keeping us together. We cannot take for granted these connections, since they are not based on ancient rigid societal structure, but rather the free will of all parties involved.
This illustrates a more general difference between China and Western societies. In Western societies, the individual is ascribed a multitude of personal rights and responsibilities. With regard to law, the individual is held accountable to conduct himself in a reasonable manner. In effect, he must hold perpetual court with judge and jury in his own mind. For lapses in rational conduct, he is rebuked by his other rational peers.
The bar is set high for individuals in Western societies. We are essentially a one-man ethics panel, required to reflect on and regulate our own behavior. Heavy educational resources must be expended to produce all these individual ethicists. In a way, Chinese get off easy. They are expected to do no more than closely obey instruction from higher ups, who in turn obey instruction from higher ups, in an endless game of responsibility hot potato.
The difference between individuality and collectivity helps us to see why Chinese don't say "I love you." Westerners say "I love you" because the individual "I" is taking personal responsibility for an action "love" directed at another free acting individual "you." Because Chinese relationships are so often proscribed by society, there is not reason to vocalize additional enthusiasm.
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