It is estimated that 20 million people died in the famine that accompanied the Great Leap Forward. China's population was about 500 million at the time. Mao Zi Dong, Chairman of the CCP, had become enamored of the agricultural theories of one Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet quack scientist. Peasants were soon forced to adopt "close-planting" methods, and were told to dig huge trenches in the ground instead of conventional plowing of the top crust of the earth. Meanwhile, peasants were forced to donate their agricultural tools to "back-yard steel furnaces". The result was, quite likely, the greatest famine in history. Most of the facts about the famine were unknown to the outside world at the time, and the truth about what had happened only started to come together in the early eighties. (Jasper Becker's book "Hungry Ghosts" is the authoritative book on the famine). How does the Communist Party deal with all this in their textbooks? Ross Terrill writes: "The main text for middle school history in China... 中國歷史 ("Chinese History"), which like all textbooks in China is a party-state book...does not mention the Great Leap Forward famine."
Peng De Huai was a top military leader and a hero of the Revolution, but he was also from peasant stock and he knew what was going on in the countryside. He implored Mao to change his policies and for his trouble he was purged, imprisoned and ritually humiliated in the Cultural Revolution until his death.
This is the Chinese state's approach to history. Today, Mao Zi Dong and Peng De Huai are comrades again on China's Renminbi. It is as if Nazi Germany had refashioned itself as a modern authoritarian state, and placed Hitler and Oskar Schindler on their money, beaming and looking bravely into the future. This is the regime that lectures Japan about not learning from history.
The truth is the Communist Party of China cannot come clean about its past. The underpinning of the doctrine of single party rule is that the ruling party has a right to a monopoly on power solely by virtue of having a monopoly on the truth. When the KMT began too concede that it had committed grave errors and injustices, it did not necessarily mean that it had to disband, but it did mean that it would have to take its place as merely one flawed, fallible party among several. If the Communist Party has any ideology that it really believes in anymore, it is simply to see that that day never comes in China.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Facing Up to History II
The problem of textbooks, and of nations facing up to their histories, is hardly exclusively a Japanese problem. I'm pretty certain the U.S. occupation of the Phillipines, or the Vietnam War are not given unvarnished treatment in our textbooks. (But then, any smart teenager knows where to look for the rest of the story. Who is the Chinese Howard Zinn, and where are his books sold?) There's also the problem with textbooks that highly motivated single - issue groups can often have their way at the expense of the many who know better - that's how creationism comes to have equal treatment with Darwinism in some textbooks.
Armenians are still acutely aware of Turkey's disinclination to face up to the Armenian genocide - yet, when Turkey seeks to join the EU, I don't see young Armenians in the streets burning Turkish flags. It was said of Wilt Chamberlain's one hundred point game that one hundred thousand people would tell you that they saw the game in person, even though only a few thousand actually were at the game. French resistance fighters are like that. The French have never really faced the reality of how many of them collaborated - inside and out of Vichy - and how few resisted. Austria was labelled a conquered ally nation, rather than an enthusiastic ally of Nazi Germany, so they were exempted from post-war de-nazification programs. That might account for the persistence of far-right racism in their country. Poland's status as a victim of Germany has allowed the mass of people to avoid the degree of anti-semitism and cooperation with the Holocaust that existed in their country during the occupation.
And China? Frank Ching has managed to write an entire column about China, Japan and textbooks without once mentioning Chinese history, or its treatment in Chinese textbooks. He does, rather piously, offer this: "To the Chinese it often appears that the Japanese side has not learned lessons from history. The fact that Japanese schoolbooks that whitewash the country's wartime behavior appear regularly suggests that there is little acceptance of the reality of history." But to take this sentiment seriously, one would have to believe that there is a sincere approach to facing, and learning from, the lessons of history in China itself. Otherwise the raw, fresh anger of many Chinese over events that occured sixty or seventy years ago might be dismissed as cynical and manipulative nationalistic behavior.
Armenians are still acutely aware of Turkey's disinclination to face up to the Armenian genocide - yet, when Turkey seeks to join the EU, I don't see young Armenians in the streets burning Turkish flags. It was said of Wilt Chamberlain's one hundred point game that one hundred thousand people would tell you that they saw the game in person, even though only a few thousand actually were at the game. French resistance fighters are like that. The French have never really faced the reality of how many of them collaborated - inside and out of Vichy - and how few resisted. Austria was labelled a conquered ally nation, rather than an enthusiastic ally of Nazi Germany, so they were exempted from post-war de-nazification programs. That might account for the persistence of far-right racism in their country. Poland's status as a victim of Germany has allowed the mass of people to avoid the degree of anti-semitism and cooperation with the Holocaust that existed in their country during the occupation.
And China? Frank Ching has managed to write an entire column about China, Japan and textbooks without once mentioning Chinese history, or its treatment in Chinese textbooks. He does, rather piously, offer this: "To the Chinese it often appears that the Japanese side has not learned lessons from history. The fact that Japanese schoolbooks that whitewash the country's wartime behavior appear regularly suggests that there is little acceptance of the reality of history." But to take this sentiment seriously, one would have to believe that there is a sincere approach to facing, and learning from, the lessons of history in China itself. Otherwise the raw, fresh anger of many Chinese over events that occured sixty or seventy years ago might be dismissed as cynical and manipulative nationalistic behavior.
On the Uses of History I
When I was about seventeen, I read the novel "Trinity", by Leon Uris, and for a period that must have lasted about two months, I decided that people I knew with English - sounding surnames were my enemies. (My grandparents had come over from Ireland around the time of the Easter Rising). Now, when my Geometry teacher, Jonathan Butler, scolded me for not studying, I saw it clearly as yet another in a string of humiliations suffered by my people, going back all the way to wicked Elizabeth herself. I never did share my heightened historical consciousness with my grandmother. Even at seventeen, I would have flushed deep crimson had she known, like getting caught masturbating. Come to think of it, that's exactly what it was. It felt good. Then I got over it.
Frank Ching has a column in Wednesday's China Post in which he articulates the Chinese position that the Japanese have not apologized for World War II atrocities often enough, or sincerely enough:
What Ching doesn't include is that when Prime Minister Tanaka tried to apologize personally to Mao on behalf of Japan, Mao resisted. He said the Japanese invasion had actually been helpful, because it had enabled him to win his civil war with the KMT. But what did Mao, who'd actually fought the Japanese, know about it, compared to the twenty-somethings marching in the streets today, their faces contorted in rage?
They may have later turned into monsters who made war on Chinese culture, but Mao's generation of Communist leaders had actually fought and suffered with the peasants during the period of Japanese occupation. The 1972 meeting was characterized by differences over wording - the Japanese said the war had caused "trouble", the Chinese insisted on "disaster - but there is no indication that the Chinese veterans of the Chinese-Japanese War felt that these wounds would not heal over time. "The communique they issued" presumably was a compromise signed by both parties. Now, a new generation comes along and, after thirty years of positive relations based on that communique, suggests that their moral indignation over the historical events is so much greater than that of Mao's generation that they are willing to endanger the entire relationship. One wonders if it occurs to them that they might not have the moral standing to do so.
Frank Ching has a column in Wednesday's China Post in which he articulates the Chinese position that the Japanese have not apologized for World War II atrocities often enough, or sincerely enough:
In 1972, when Japan and China normalized relations, the communique they issued said: 'The Japanese side is keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war, and deeply reproaches itself.' There is no word of apology. And the death and destruction wrought upon millions of people in China is described as simply 'serious damage.'"
What Ching doesn't include is that when Prime Minister Tanaka tried to apologize personally to Mao on behalf of Japan, Mao resisted. He said the Japanese invasion had actually been helpful, because it had enabled him to win his civil war with the KMT. But what did Mao, who'd actually fought the Japanese, know about it, compared to the twenty-somethings marching in the streets today, their faces contorted in rage?
They may have later turned into monsters who made war on Chinese culture, but Mao's generation of Communist leaders had actually fought and suffered with the peasants during the period of Japanese occupation. The 1972 meeting was characterized by differences over wording - the Japanese said the war had caused "trouble", the Chinese insisted on "disaster - but there is no indication that the Chinese veterans of the Chinese-Japanese War felt that these wounds would not heal over time. "The communique they issued" presumably was a compromise signed by both parties. Now, a new generation comes along and, after thirty years of positive relations based on that communique, suggests that their moral indignation over the historical events is so much greater than that of Mao's generation that they are willing to endanger the entire relationship. One wonders if it occurs to them that they might not have the moral standing to do so.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
New Template!
As you can see, the blog has a new look. Hope you like it! My hope is that it's a bit easier on the eyes, and I also liked the fact that this template came with a blogroll on the side. I'm as classic slow-adapter on the technical stuff, but somehow I managed this without losing the entire blog.
China Builds Smaller, More Effective, Military
"Against this background, unifying Taiwan with the mainland has become more than just a nationalist goal. The 13,500-square-mile territory has also become a platform that China needs to protect southern sea lanes, through which pass 80 percent of its imported oil and tons of other imported raw materials. It could serve as a base for Chinese submarines to have unfettered access to the deep Pacific, according to Tsai, Taiwan's deputy defense minister. 'Taiwan for them now is a strategic must and no longer just a sacred mission,' Lin said. "
A detailed and well-researched article in the Washington Post. And Europe is planning to sell arms to China in this context? What are they thinking?
A detailed and well-researched article in the Washington Post. And Europe is planning to sell arms to China in this context? What are they thinking?
Michael Tsai Again
"Lee Deng-ker, Dean of the College of International Affairs at National Chengchi University, said that according to a publication Balance of Power, published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London in 2003, Taiwan's per capita defense spending was lower even than Europe's neutral states.
According to that publication, he said, Switzerland spent US$480 per capita in 2003, and Austria spent US$308.
Although Taiwan faces one of the most serious military threats in the world, the country spent only US$200 per capita on defense in the same year, he said."
Let more casual observers admire the big fish - after more than a decade here, I'm entitled to more esoteric heroes. Michael Tsai Ming Xian (see post below - "Taichung's Favorite Son") fills the bill for me. Michael is prominently featured in this article on the ambivalent Taiwanese attitude toward defending the island militarily. He is deeply committed to making it less ambivalent, and he has his work cut out. Israelis the Taiwanese are not.
This begs the perfectly legitimate question: What business does a foreigner living in Taiwan have suggesting to people here that they should spend more on defense, or strap on helmets and put their lives on the line, if they clearly show a disinclination to do so? One clue is found in the way many of us had our thinking changed by the 9/11 attack. Prior to 9/11, the predominant attitude toward rotting Middle Eastern authoritarian states was that these governments could do what they liked to their people, as long as they kept the oil spigots open. What we found in a place like Saudi Arabia was that intense anger at a corrupt government could be pretty easily deflected toward external targets, and that made their corruption our business. The Asian equivalent of this pre-9/11 attitude is what we see from the EU: as long as their products are being made available to this enormous market, what the Chinese do internally is not to be examined too critically, and that includes Taiwan. American neocons have been demonized around the globe, but, essentially what they are saying is: "This way leads trouble."
I have no interest at all in whether the people of this island ultimately define themselves as "Taiwanese" or "Chinese". We can see that in the optimistic years of the Camp David process, Israeli historians like Benny Morris began to concede that not all Palestinian refugees left voluntarily. If China backed off on its pressure on Taiwan, I believe you would see a flowering of awareness and pride in the very real and deep connections that exist between China and Taiwan. Identity issues like that are for the people of this island to decide.
Where I do have an interest is that I believe that if the goal of social organization is to provide the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people, then liberal democracy is clearly superior to the alternatives. Democracies are also less prone to the crises of legitimacy that lead to cycles of nationalism and militarism. If the people of Taiwan decided that they wanted to join China , we would have to let them go. Japan's oil lifeline would be endangered, and they would rearm and this would destabilize Asia, but we would have to deal with that. I agree with the Chinese Communist Party that the existence of a democracy on Taiwan presents the likelihood of the virus spreading to the mainland. We just disagree on whether this would be a good thing or not. I can't think of anything that would be better for China, the region, or the world. That's why Michael Tsai's consciousness - raising is so important.
According to that publication, he said, Switzerland spent US$480 per capita in 2003, and Austria spent US$308.
Although Taiwan faces one of the most serious military threats in the world, the country spent only US$200 per capita on defense in the same year, he said."
Let more casual observers admire the big fish - after more than a decade here, I'm entitled to more esoteric heroes. Michael Tsai Ming Xian (see post below - "Taichung's Favorite Son") fills the bill for me. Michael is prominently featured in this article on the ambivalent Taiwanese attitude toward defending the island militarily. He is deeply committed to making it less ambivalent, and he has his work cut out. Israelis the Taiwanese are not.
This begs the perfectly legitimate question: What business does a foreigner living in Taiwan have suggesting to people here that they should spend more on defense, or strap on helmets and put their lives on the line, if they clearly show a disinclination to do so? One clue is found in the way many of us had our thinking changed by the 9/11 attack. Prior to 9/11, the predominant attitude toward rotting Middle Eastern authoritarian states was that these governments could do what they liked to their people, as long as they kept the oil spigots open. What we found in a place like Saudi Arabia was that intense anger at a corrupt government could be pretty easily deflected toward external targets, and that made their corruption our business. The Asian equivalent of this pre-9/11 attitude is what we see from the EU: as long as their products are being made available to this enormous market, what the Chinese do internally is not to be examined too critically, and that includes Taiwan. American neocons have been demonized around the globe, but, essentially what they are saying is: "This way leads trouble."
I have no interest at all in whether the people of this island ultimately define themselves as "Taiwanese" or "Chinese". We can see that in the optimistic years of the Camp David process, Israeli historians like Benny Morris began to concede that not all Palestinian refugees left voluntarily. If China backed off on its pressure on Taiwan, I believe you would see a flowering of awareness and pride in the very real and deep connections that exist between China and Taiwan. Identity issues like that are for the people of this island to decide.
Where I do have an interest is that I believe that if the goal of social organization is to provide the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people, then liberal democracy is clearly superior to the alternatives. Democracies are also less prone to the crises of legitimacy that lead to cycles of nationalism and militarism. If the people of Taiwan decided that they wanted to join China , we would have to let them go. Japan's oil lifeline would be endangered, and they would rearm and this would destabilize Asia, but we would have to deal with that. I agree with the Chinese Communist Party that the existence of a democracy on Taiwan presents the likelihood of the virus spreading to the mainland. We just disagree on whether this would be a good thing or not. I can't think of anything that would be better for China, the region, or the world. That's why Michael Tsai's consciousness - raising is so important.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Differing Views
"It is genteel treason: of the kind that comes with democratic politics, in which the party of opposition sells out vital national interests in order to improve its electoral position at home -- by promising anxious voters a 'peace in our time' that simply is not available. Chamberlains are, alas, a more natural by-product of electoral politics than Churchills. The latter tend to be selected only once the cliff-edge is crossed. "
I will be in Hualien for three days, so blogging will be light to non-existent. This article by David Warren, on the KMT's backdoor deal with the CCP, seems to me an accurate characterization of that deal.
Still, as with my exchange with Bingfeng Teahouse, the people I find especially interesting are intelligent and articulate people who have a completely different take on the issue. A good Taiwanese friend of mine of several years (strongly pro-KMT blue) told me yesterday he considered Lien Chan to be the only top politician in the country who talks straight and says what he means. "Other leaders of the KMT often used the side doors of the party headquarters, but Lien insists on using only the main door. It's powerful symbolism - he's a straightforward guy." My friend also was lukewarm about the skills of Ma Ying Jeou. Surprisingly, he said he preferred DPP Premier (Frank) Hsieh Chang Ting to Ma. "He's a moderate, he makes compromises happen, and the compromises really work on the ground."
It would take an awful lot to shake my opinion of Lien Chan as one of the truly catastrophic figures of the democratic era in Taiwan. Disingenuousness is sometimes a legitimate tool of the disenfranchised (native Taiwanese, in the domestic context; Taiwan in the international context). Lien's "straightforwardness", such as it is, strikes me as the trait of someone perhaps not very smart, who also has not known a day of his life when he was not one of the privileged few. I must admit, the comment about Hsieh did strike home, though. During the last year, Hsieh's stock has risen (both in my personal estimation and, I suspect, in the electorate),while there are real doubts developing about Ma.
I will be in Hualien for three days, so blogging will be light to non-existent. This article by David Warren, on the KMT's backdoor deal with the CCP, seems to me an accurate characterization of that deal.
Still, as with my exchange with Bingfeng Teahouse, the people I find especially interesting are intelligent and articulate people who have a completely different take on the issue. A good Taiwanese friend of mine of several years (strongly pro-KMT blue) told me yesterday he considered Lien Chan to be the only top politician in the country who talks straight and says what he means. "Other leaders of the KMT often used the side doors of the party headquarters, but Lien insists on using only the main door. It's powerful symbolism - he's a straightforward guy." My friend also was lukewarm about the skills of Ma Ying Jeou. Surprisingly, he said he preferred DPP Premier (Frank) Hsieh Chang Ting to Ma. "He's a moderate, he makes compromises happen, and the compromises really work on the ground."
It would take an awful lot to shake my opinion of Lien Chan as one of the truly catastrophic figures of the democratic era in Taiwan. Disingenuousness is sometimes a legitimate tool of the disenfranchised (native Taiwanese, in the domestic context; Taiwan in the international context). Lien's "straightforwardness", such as it is, strikes me as the trait of someone perhaps not very smart, who also has not known a day of his life when he was not one of the privileged few. I must admit, the comment about Hsieh did strike home, though. During the last year, Hsieh's stock has risen (both in my personal estimation and, I suspect, in the electorate),while there are real doubts developing about Ma.
Birth Pains
In "The Cousins' Wars", Kevin Phillips talks about how, over time, struggles like the English Civil War or the American War of Independence develop a simplified narrative - the Americans against the British, or the Puritans against the Anglicans - that doesn't really reflect the reality of what went on. In fact, in both conflicts, there were was a complex tapestry of loyalties, with cross-currents of religious belief, economic considerations and geography, all interacting.
Phillips says, "The disquieting truth is that if history books were to include detailed nationwide maps of internal sympathy or support for the major U.S. conflicts, the state-by-state portrait of which counties, towns, districts, or regions were loyal, disloyal, neutral, or unwilling to contribute or to draft troops would resemble ethnoreligious maps of the modern-day Balkans."
Taiwan's domestic politics, at this time when its identity is so plastic, is similarly complex. I haven't blogged the domestic Taiwanese political situation as much as I would have liked, but a brief run-down of events demonstrates just how complicated and protean things are: the KMT, which put countless people in jail on trumped up charges of pro-communism (including the Vice-President, Lu Xiu Lian, for seven years), is now attempting a rapprochement with the Communists; (James) Soong Chu-yu, who as KMT director of cultural affairs in the 1980's mounted a campaign against opposition media, has met with Chen Shui-bian and explored the possibility of an alliance (Soong finished a close second to Chen in the 2000 Presidential election); Ma Ying-Jeou and Wang Jin-Ping are openly contesting for the chairmanship of the KMT, the primary bone of contention being whether to permit those who haven't paid up their party dues to vote in the primary ,with Ma feeling that he would benefit if only those who had paid their dues were permitted to vote. (Wang, as a native-born Taiwanese from the southern Taiwanese heartland, presents an especially complex figure contending for chairmanship of the KMT); Lee Teng Hui's pro-Taiwanese Independence Taiwan Solidarity Union is visiting the tombs in Japan of Taiwanese soldiers who died fighting for the Japanese in the Second World War. Lee, whose (biological) father was a Japanese soldier, and who learned Japanese before he learned Mandarin, is sincere in his attachment to all things Japanese, but this gesture is also an effective way of expressing contempt for China at a time of rising anti-Japanese sentiment in the mainland.
In both Revolutionary America and present-day Taiwan, about half the people were apolitical, and (understandably) primarily interested in their own affairs and hoping the historical storm would blow over. In Revolutionary America, a slight majority of the remainder was for independence, with the trending over time favoring the pro-independence camp. Roughly the same could be said for Taiwan today. To see the opposition (KMT) party going to the mainland to cut a separate deal with the Communist Party a mere week after a million people marched against the Anti-Secession Law is astonishing - but it's not so unusual in the context of the birth struggles of other countries. Benedict Arnold was a real historical figure who placed a bet on what he considered to be the winning horse. Benjamin Franklin's own son was a Loyalist. It's not pretty- and the outcome is not certain- but this is how countries are born.
Phillips says, "The disquieting truth is that if history books were to include detailed nationwide maps of internal sympathy or support for the major U.S. conflicts, the state-by-state portrait of which counties, towns, districts, or regions were loyal, disloyal, neutral, or unwilling to contribute or to draft troops would resemble ethnoreligious maps of the modern-day Balkans."
Taiwan's domestic politics, at this time when its identity is so plastic, is similarly complex. I haven't blogged the domestic Taiwanese political situation as much as I would have liked, but a brief run-down of events demonstrates just how complicated and protean things are: the KMT, which put countless people in jail on trumped up charges of pro-communism (including the Vice-President, Lu Xiu Lian, for seven years), is now attempting a rapprochement with the Communists; (James) Soong Chu-yu, who as KMT director of cultural affairs in the 1980's mounted a campaign against opposition media, has met with Chen Shui-bian and explored the possibility of an alliance (Soong finished a close second to Chen in the 2000 Presidential election); Ma Ying-Jeou and Wang Jin-Ping are openly contesting for the chairmanship of the KMT, the primary bone of contention being whether to permit those who haven't paid up their party dues to vote in the primary ,with Ma feeling that he would benefit if only those who had paid their dues were permitted to vote. (Wang, as a native-born Taiwanese from the southern Taiwanese heartland, presents an especially complex figure contending for chairmanship of the KMT); Lee Teng Hui's pro-Taiwanese Independence Taiwan Solidarity Union is visiting the tombs in Japan of Taiwanese soldiers who died fighting for the Japanese in the Second World War. Lee, whose (biological) father was a Japanese soldier, and who learned Japanese before he learned Mandarin, is sincere in his attachment to all things Japanese, but this gesture is also an effective way of expressing contempt for China at a time of rising anti-Japanese sentiment in the mainland.
In both Revolutionary America and present-day Taiwan, about half the people were apolitical, and (understandably) primarily interested in their own affairs and hoping the historical storm would blow over. In Revolutionary America, a slight majority of the remainder was for independence, with the trending over time favoring the pro-independence camp. Roughly the same could be said for Taiwan today. To see the opposition (KMT) party going to the mainland to cut a separate deal with the Communist Party a mere week after a million people marched against the Anti-Secession Law is astonishing - but it's not so unusual in the context of the birth struggles of other countries. Benedict Arnold was a real historical figure who placed a bet on what he considered to be the winning horse. Benjamin Franklin's own son was a Loyalist. It's not pretty- and the outcome is not certain- but this is how countries are born.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
A Few Words About Comments
Let me remind readers that, while thoughtful and civil comments are welcomed, I do not intend for this space to be used for ranting and spewing personal invective. These days, it is quite easy to start up a blog of own's own, and my suggestion to people who want to verbally vandalize is that they do so on their own dime, in their own name. The issue of whether to enable comments at all is an open one for me. The Dignified Rant for instance, a site I admire, does not enable comments. I suppose, sadly, if it turns out my expectations for comments were too high, that could be the way to go.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Saul Bellow Dies
I can recall clearly that at about the time when the dog of my youth died, I had a series of vivid dreams about him, despite the fact that I didn't learn of his death until some time later. Well, last night I had an intense "Hyde Park" dream about the neighborhood where the University of Chicago is located, and where I spent seven years of my life. Upon waking, I learned that Saul Bellow had died.
My single encounter with Bellow came during my years as Assistant Bookstacks Manager at the Regenstein Library. I was wheeling a crate of books toward the elevator and saw the doors closing, and I yelled playfully "Don't you close that door!" The door was dutifully held for me, and upon entering I found myself sharing the room with The Man himself. I wish I could report that I followed up on this promising, irreverent beginning, but the truth is I went all stiff and respectful and his amused smile reverted to the particular expression of people watching the numbers in an elevator. Saul Bellow exemplified for a lot of us what it meant to be a thinking person. Many will bridle at the idea of pairing his passing with that of Susan Sontag, but it does seem that a certain type of intellectual, from a time when books mattered more than they do today, is going the way of the dodo.
My single encounter with Bellow came during my years as Assistant Bookstacks Manager at the Regenstein Library. I was wheeling a crate of books toward the elevator and saw the doors closing, and I yelled playfully "Don't you close that door!" The door was dutifully held for me, and upon entering I found myself sharing the room with The Man himself. I wish I could report that I followed up on this promising, irreverent beginning, but the truth is I went all stiff and respectful and his amused smile reverted to the particular expression of people watching the numbers in an elevator. Saul Bellow exemplified for a lot of us what it meant to be a thinking person. Many will bridle at the idea of pairing his passing with that of Susan Sontag, but it does seem that a certain type of intellectual, from a time when books mattered more than they do today, is going the way of the dodo.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Problems For Ma
"Then, in the second round of invitations Ma's campaign office sent out, the Chinese character for 'respect' (尊) was mis-typed as the word for 'obey' (遵)."
The Taipei Times couldn't resist pointing out that not only did Ma Ying Jeou have to cancel his kick-off rally for the KMT chairmanship, but they had a little character snafu when they resent the invitations, as well. "Watch those radicals!", as J. Edgar Hoover used to say.
The Taipei Times couldn't resist pointing out that not only did Ma Ying Jeou have to cancel his kick-off rally for the KMT chairmanship, but they had a little character snafu when they resent the invitations, as well. "Watch those radicals!", as J. Edgar Hoover used to say.
Taichung Favorite Son
"'Every day 600 to 900 vessels pass through the Taiwan Strait,' Mr Tsai says. 'Most are Japanese and foreign ships, mostly carrying oil. There are also more than 1,000 commercial flights in the zone every day.'"
Michael Tsai Ming Xian ran for mayor of my hometown Taichung three or four years ago, narrowly losing to Jason Hu Zhi Qiang. It was a race between two talented, admirable candidates, and Tsai was undone by the fact that the miserable DPP incumbent, Zhang Wen Ying, having lost the DPP primary to Tsai, left the party and mounted a third party campaign, chipping away at his base. I actually worked with Tsai briefly. Eleven years ago, the YMCA started a school with curriculum all in Taiwanese, teaching Taiwan language and culture - Taiwan Cultural College (don't know if they're still around). Tsai was the law professor and I taught English - the only class not in Taiwanese. He the real deal - gives the lie to the usual lazy, cynical observation that all politicians are the same.
Michael Tsai Ming Xian ran for mayor of my hometown Taichung three or four years ago, narrowly losing to Jason Hu Zhi Qiang. It was a race between two talented, admirable candidates, and Tsai was undone by the fact that the miserable DPP incumbent, Zhang Wen Ying, having lost the DPP primary to Tsai, left the party and mounted a third party campaign, chipping away at his base. I actually worked with Tsai briefly. Eleven years ago, the YMCA started a school with curriculum all in Taiwanese, teaching Taiwan language and culture - Taiwan Cultural College (don't know if they're still around). Tsai was the law professor and I taught English - the only class not in Taiwanese. He the real deal - gives the lie to the usual lazy, cynical observation that all politicians are the same.
Friday, April 01, 2005
News Bites
Letter from ardent reader, Casey Maddren, of Los Angeles: "Sounds like things are heating up over there in Taiwan. The Chinese are rattling their sabers again. And Europe is lifting the embargo. Would they really try an invasion?"
You know, Casey, I wouldn't put anything past those Europeans these days. Especially that bastard Chirac. We just have to hope that the Poles and the Bulgarians provide enough of a counter-weight that they don't do anything stupid. J.D.
Headline (Taiwan News): "Local Scientists Make Powdered Water". It's concentrated, you see, you just add water... nah, I'm pulling yer ankle. The powdered water is real, though. Apparently it's activated by crushing and grinding, then - it just turns into water! "According to Li, the powdered water is produced by coating tiny particles of water in gelatin, which through the use of nanotechnology is condensed." This puts me in mind of the food processing jobs I had in Portland, Maine (this was after graduating from the University of Chicago, mind you) - popsicle maker, Chicken Kiev assembly line worker... This is what the new global economic order has in store for the next generation of recent graduates, stunned and uncomprehending, finding themselves in temp jobs applying the gelatin coating...
Headline (Taiwan News-sorry, only in print edition): "Graffiti Now Allowed in Five Taipei Parks." I mean, is Taiwan the anti-paradise or what? The Taiwan government, disappointed that there is not enough graffiti in our cities, is establishing a kind of "Graffiti in the Parks" program, in order to get kids hooked at a young age. Money quote: "Graffiti has become a recognized form of expression in Taiwan and now five Taipei parks are open to anyone wanting to do a piece, do a throwup or just tag. Chen Wei-jen, director of the Public Works Department under the Taipei City Government, presided over an event yesterday held at a news conference at Chungshan Fine Arts to announce the news, while children tried their hand at tagging." It'll never catch on. About the only graffiti in Taichung is done by a group of tiresome foreigners, who insist on putting stenciled faces of people like David Byrne all over everything. For wordies, there's this, though: a "portmanteau" is a word that has been composed of two previously existing words. "Brunch" and "fog" are among the words that get all the best tables at portmanteau restaurants. But my favorite portmanteau is "giraffiti", which refers to those tags you see in the most improbable, high altitude locations, and wonder, "How did they ever get up there?"
Three English language newspapers is probably a bit much for the rather small market that exists in Taiwan, but it does make for a kind of Blogger's Paradise. The English language skills of the writers are excellent, as well, for the most part. There are times, however, when the language is just a little bit off, in some way that you can't quite put your finger on. Take this,from the China Post, for example - "Lunatic Attacks Two Academica Sinica Officials." Hmmm. Not incorrect, exactly, but we don't usually use the word lunatic in quite that way any more. The people attacked were Ovid Tseng and Lao Sze-Kwang. Neither was seriously hurt in the attack by a mentally ill man. The article tells us, "Lao, a philosopher,was one of the eleven Academicians who opposed the $U.S. 18 billion arms purchase from the United States." The guy named Ovid was not the philosopher? Why does it not surprise me that someone whose full-time job description is "philosopher" was against the arms package? The article doesn't tell us what the position of the lunatic was on the arms package, but given the editorial position of the China Post, I can imagine.
Headline, Taiwan News, AFP Beijing Bureau (print only): "Most Chinese Favor Marrying a Foreigner, Survey Suggests." The article says that "nearly 63% of Chinese citizens would like to marry a foreigner." Great! Not that I'm getting married any time soon -I'm only forty-five - but it's good to know I have future prospects in the mainland. But, wait, there is a dark side: " Marrying a foreigner is no guarantee of long-lasting happiness, said the paper..." Nonsense. The swinging, foreigner lifestyle is, if anything, underestimated by the Chinese, "...citing a separate study showing that international marriages tend to have high divorce rates." Anybody I know? " The survey showed that 60% of marriages between Canadians and Chinese failed." Well, Canadians, yeah... They don't get along with anybody! "A whole nation of Associate Professors!" And let me tell you, the meltdown this past winter by the NHL has not done one thing for their collective disposition...
You know, Casey, I wouldn't put anything past those Europeans these days. Especially that bastard Chirac. We just have to hope that the Poles and the Bulgarians provide enough of a counter-weight that they don't do anything stupid. J.D.
Headline (Taiwan News): "Local Scientists Make Powdered Water". It's concentrated, you see, you just add water... nah, I'm pulling yer ankle. The powdered water is real, though. Apparently it's activated by crushing and grinding, then - it just turns into water! "According to Li, the powdered water is produced by coating tiny particles of water in gelatin, which through the use of nanotechnology is condensed." This puts me in mind of the food processing jobs I had in Portland, Maine (this was after graduating from the University of Chicago, mind you) - popsicle maker, Chicken Kiev assembly line worker... This is what the new global economic order has in store for the next generation of recent graduates, stunned and uncomprehending, finding themselves in temp jobs applying the gelatin coating...
Headline (Taiwan News-sorry, only in print edition): "Graffiti Now Allowed in Five Taipei Parks." I mean, is Taiwan the anti-paradise or what? The Taiwan government, disappointed that there is not enough graffiti in our cities, is establishing a kind of "Graffiti in the Parks" program, in order to get kids hooked at a young age. Money quote: "Graffiti has become a recognized form of expression in Taiwan and now five Taipei parks are open to anyone wanting to do a piece, do a throwup or just tag. Chen Wei-jen, director of the Public Works Department under the Taipei City Government, presided over an event yesterday held at a news conference at Chungshan Fine Arts to announce the news, while children tried their hand at tagging." It'll never catch on. About the only graffiti in Taichung is done by a group of tiresome foreigners, who insist on putting stenciled faces of people like David Byrne all over everything. For wordies, there's this, though: a "portmanteau" is a word that has been composed of two previously existing words. "Brunch" and "fog" are among the words that get all the best tables at portmanteau restaurants. But my favorite portmanteau is "giraffiti", which refers to those tags you see in the most improbable, high altitude locations, and wonder, "How did they ever get up there?"
Three English language newspapers is probably a bit much for the rather small market that exists in Taiwan, but it does make for a kind of Blogger's Paradise. The English language skills of the writers are excellent, as well, for the most part. There are times, however, when the language is just a little bit off, in some way that you can't quite put your finger on. Take this,from the China Post, for example - "Lunatic Attacks Two Academica Sinica Officials." Hmmm. Not incorrect, exactly, but we don't usually use the word lunatic in quite that way any more. The people attacked were Ovid Tseng and Lao Sze-Kwang. Neither was seriously hurt in the attack by a mentally ill man. The article tells us, "Lao, a philosopher,was one of the eleven Academicians who opposed the $U.S. 18 billion arms purchase from the United States." The guy named Ovid was not the philosopher? Why does it not surprise me that someone whose full-time job description is "philosopher" was against the arms package? The article doesn't tell us what the position of the lunatic was on the arms package, but given the editorial position of the China Post, I can imagine.
Headline, Taiwan News, AFP Beijing Bureau (print only): "Most Chinese Favor Marrying a Foreigner, Survey Suggests." The article says that "nearly 63% of Chinese citizens would like to marry a foreigner." Great! Not that I'm getting married any time soon -I'm only forty-five - but it's good to know I have future prospects in the mainland. But, wait, there is a dark side: " Marrying a foreigner is no guarantee of long-lasting happiness, said the paper..." Nonsense. The swinging, foreigner lifestyle is, if anything, underestimated by the Chinese, "...citing a separate study showing that international marriages tend to have high divorce rates." Anybody I know? " The survey showed that 60% of marriages between Canadians and Chinese failed." Well, Canadians, yeah... They don't get along with anybody! "A whole nation of Associate Professors!" And let me tell you, the meltdown this past winter by the NHL has not done one thing for their collective disposition...
Cool Chinese Character Videos
Courtesy of the ineffable -no, no, scratch that -indispensible, inexhaustable, unescapable and undescribable Robert Johanson, comes this really cool video presentation on Chinese characters, and this one, too.
Western characters, it turns out, are read with the left side of the brain, and Chinese characters with the right side, so people who are dyslexic in English apparently are not necessarily so in Chinese. Particularly interesting is how nuerologically hard-wired into the brain these writing systems are, which would suggest that in order to be genuinely bi-lingual, starting to learn both writing systems at a relatively young age would be essential.
Western characters, it turns out, are read with the left side of the brain, and Chinese characters with the right side, so people who are dyslexic in English apparently are not necessarily so in Chinese. Particularly interesting is how nuerologically hard-wired into the brain these writing systems are, which would suggest that in order to be genuinely bi-lingual, starting to learn both writing systems at a relatively young age would be essential.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Democracy Protests in Mongolia
"As someone who has worked in and with the country of Mongolia and its people for the past three years, I think that the protests are fascinating to watch, because they are actually protests for better democracy. As another blogger rightly pointed out, Mongolia has had a democratic system since 1990 - a change also brought about by peaceful protests. Mongolians have voted eight times in Presidential and Parliamentiary elections since then. "
Gateway Pundit has the story on democracy demonstrations in Mongolia. A country on the periphery of China, with an incipient, fifteen year old democracy? Sounds good to me!
It begs the question: Why is Taiwan the object of such obsessive interest from Beijing, while Mongolia escapes the irredentist net? Having declared independence in 1911, after two centuries under Qing Dynasty rule, they were "liberated" by Soviet troops in 1921, and allowed to form a country, closely aligned with the Soviet block. Mongolia challenges everybody's theories: We neo-con influenced commentators would seem to be shown up as wrong in saying that democracy is the real issue here; while our Chinese interlocutors would have to answer - given the history outlined above, why is it not a matter of non-negotiable doctrine that Mongolia is "Chinese soil"?
It seems unavoidable to me that it's specifically the fact of a Han Chinese democracy at the periphery that stirs up a hornet's nest in Beijing. Historically, central Chinese governments have been capable of maintaining a surprisingly relaxed attitude toward non-Han areas on the periphery, even as they condescended to them culturally. Time for a little Terrillblogging: "Surprisingly, the loose reign and the sense of superiority were not deeply contradictory, especially in dealings with the culturally alien people of the steppe. The conceit that made the Chinese court feel superior to the Barbarians inclined the court to keep its distance from people of whom Emperor Tai Zong said, with distaste: 'These people go about with flowing hair, and it is their habit to eat food uncooked.'" It is the lack of this cultural condescension toward Taiwanese that seems to make democracy in Taiwan such a fraught issue. The cultural well water that must not be polluted includes the Taiwanese, but not the Mongolians.
Gateway Pundit has the story on democracy demonstrations in Mongolia. A country on the periphery of China, with an incipient, fifteen year old democracy? Sounds good to me!
It begs the question: Why is Taiwan the object of such obsessive interest from Beijing, while Mongolia escapes the irredentist net? Having declared independence in 1911, after two centuries under Qing Dynasty rule, they were "liberated" by Soviet troops in 1921, and allowed to form a country, closely aligned with the Soviet block. Mongolia challenges everybody's theories: We neo-con influenced commentators would seem to be shown up as wrong in saying that democracy is the real issue here; while our Chinese interlocutors would have to answer - given the history outlined above, why is it not a matter of non-negotiable doctrine that Mongolia is "Chinese soil"?
It seems unavoidable to me that it's specifically the fact of a Han Chinese democracy at the periphery that stirs up a hornet's nest in Beijing. Historically, central Chinese governments have been capable of maintaining a surprisingly relaxed attitude toward non-Han areas on the periphery, even as they condescended to them culturally. Time for a little Terrillblogging: "Surprisingly, the loose reign and the sense of superiority were not deeply contradictory, especially in dealings with the culturally alien people of the steppe. The conceit that made the Chinese court feel superior to the Barbarians inclined the court to keep its distance from people of whom Emperor Tai Zong said, with distaste: 'These people go about with flowing hair, and it is their habit to eat food uncooked.'" It is the lack of this cultural condescension toward Taiwanese that seems to make democracy in Taiwan such a fraught issue. The cultural well water that must not be polluted includes the Taiwanese, but not the Mongolians.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Fourth Grade Freeze Frame
"Compounding the problem is a phenomenon also seen in earlier grades: the 'push down' of curriculum, in which students are required to learn material once the province of higher grades. Kindergartners, who used to spent their days playing, are learning how to read, and first-graders are expected to know how."
The Post has an interesting series featuring articles highlighting primary school grades, one at a time. This: one is on the fourth grade. I'm all for challenging students, but battling "push down" takes up an enormous amount of parent-relations time and energy. Truth is, my fourth grade class is capable of reading chapter books and understanding the plot in a general way, but I much prefer using picture books with them. I can easily get a fifteen or twenty word vocabulary list from a book like Leaf Men or Hey, Al!. Moreover, because the kids quickly understand the plot, we can get right into the nuts and bolts of the language and nuances of the stories. But try telling that to parents from a social group where their peers are showing off the chapter books their kids are reading.
Besides, I like the pictures.
The Post has an interesting series featuring articles highlighting primary school grades, one at a time. This: one is on the fourth grade. I'm all for challenging students, but battling "push down" takes up an enormous amount of parent-relations time and energy. Truth is, my fourth grade class is capable of reading chapter books and understanding the plot in a general way, but I much prefer using picture books with them. I can easily get a fifteen or twenty word vocabulary list from a book like Leaf Men or Hey, Al!. Moreover, because the kids quickly understand the plot, we can get right into the nuts and bolts of the language and nuances of the stories. But try telling that to parents from a social group where their peers are showing off the chapter books their kids are reading.
Besides, I like the pictures.
Gene Wilder at 71
"'I had dinner with him in 1987, right after my own book came out,' says actor Charles Grodin, who met Wilder in the 1950s and is a pal to this day. 'And he told me at the time that he wished my book had gone deeper. I was slightly irritated. I said, 'That's as deep as I get.' Now that his book is out, I see what he means.' "
Gene Wilder comes across as a man burnished beautiful and wise in this portrait in the Post. His former wife, Gilda Radner, is also remembered.
Gene Wilder comes across as a man burnished beautiful and wise in this portrait in the Post. His former wife, Gilda Radner, is also remembered.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Taiwan's Right to Freedom (washingtonpost.com)
"China has attempted to justify its anti-secession law by at times claiming a parallel to the U.S. Civil War and Lincoln's effort to forcibly preserve the Union. But the analogy is fundamentally flawed. Abraham Lincoln strove to maintain a Union of territories placed under sovereign control of the U.S. federal government in 1787 by a ratification process that rested on popular consent. China's 'law' is the product of one-party tyranny conducted by 'parliamentarians' who have never faced election. It refers to a Taiwan that has never been a part of, or under the sovereign control of, the People's Republic of China. And it ignores the most basic point: Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union in the name of freedom, not to deny it.
This from a column in the Washington Post by Frank Hsieh. Bruce, at Naruwan Formosa, is all over this one, and I will defer to his impressive erudition. It is interesting to note, however, as Paul Johnson does, that "No (Confederate) state held a referendum (on secession). It was decided by a total of 854 men in various secession conventions, all of them selected by legislatures, not by the voters. Of these, 157 voted against secession. So 697 men, mostly wealthy, decided the destiny of 9 million people, mostly poor."
"China is a group-centered culture that puts the well-being of the whole ahead of the interest of individuals (i mean "ahead", not "replace") i think it is this culturally originated mindset that makes a "referendum" that favors a part of the country and harms the whole totally unacceptable." This from Bingfeng Teahouse.
Even if this were a valid claim on all Chinese (what Ross Terrill calls the belief that the Beijing authorities are "the arbiters of the soul of every Chinese"), where does it leave Beijing's claim on the non-Han minorities held involuntarily in the Chinese 家, the Confucian family-state? This is a belief held by large numbers of people in the Han heartland, (although I would suggest that the vast Chinese diaspora of overseas Chinese have voted with their feet on the issue), but what of Tibetans, Uighurs, and Mongols who have very different cultures? Do they lose all right of self-determination if it can be shown that Han Chinese culture really is group-oriented in this way? "Today, although Han people make up 92% of the PRC's population, 60% of the PRC's territory is occupied in considerable numbers by China's 55 minorities." (Terrill) Do these non-Chinese also not have a right to opt out of the unitary state?
This from a column in the Washington Post by Frank Hsieh. Bruce, at Naruwan Formosa, is all over this one, and I will defer to his impressive erudition. It is interesting to note, however, as Paul Johnson does, that "No (Confederate) state held a referendum (on secession). It was decided by a total of 854 men in various secession conventions, all of them selected by legislatures, not by the voters. Of these, 157 voted against secession. So 697 men, mostly wealthy, decided the destiny of 9 million people, mostly poor."
"China is a group-centered culture that puts the well-being of the whole ahead of the interest of individuals (i mean "ahead", not "replace") i think it is this culturally originated mindset that makes a "referendum" that favors a part of the country and harms the whole totally unacceptable." This from Bingfeng Teahouse.
Even if this were a valid claim on all Chinese (what Ross Terrill calls the belief that the Beijing authorities are "the arbiters of the soul of every Chinese"), where does it leave Beijing's claim on the non-Han minorities held involuntarily in the Chinese 家, the Confucian family-state? This is a belief held by large numbers of people in the Han heartland, (although I would suggest that the vast Chinese diaspora of overseas Chinese have voted with their feet on the issue), but what of Tibetans, Uighurs, and Mongols who have very different cultures? Do they lose all right of self-determination if it can be shown that Han Chinese culture really is group-oriented in this way? "Today, although Han people make up 92% of the PRC's population, 60% of the PRC's territory is occupied in considerable numbers by China's 55 minorities." (Terrill) Do these non-Chinese also not have a right to opt out of the unitary state?
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
American Civil War Analogy
I haven't been able to get the Bingfeng Teahouse blog out of my head today; in particular, the post dealing with the current cross-strait situation (it was a few days ago, so you'll have to scroll down a bit). The blogger is a Chinese businessman from Shanghai, who's undertaken the admirable project of blogging in English, despite it not being his first language (I'm told there are blogs by foreigners written in Chinese - better, braver men than I). It is, as I've mentioned, an elegant, tech-savvy, and often quite interesting blog. Another reference to Bingfeng that I came across was from a Shanghai (foreigner) blogger, who remarked that he was looking forward to getting together with Bingfeng at the next Shanghai blogger klatch.
In the post that got my attention, he's favorably quoting a correspondent: "The American Civil War was fought over a bunch of territories trying to secede from the Union. In a more modern context, if California announced it was going Communist and leaving the USA, would the rest of America accept that blindly?"
Bingfeng adds: "Many western readers refuse to see this simple fact that no country would allow a part of it to become an antagonistic force, and in addition to this pure national interest consideration, the equally important fact is - Taiwan is Chinese soil."
The U.S. Civil War analogy is often used by defenders of China's Taiwan policy. Is it valid? For one thing, California is not only contiguous with the continental U.S., it's been continuously a part of the U.S. since its (California's) inception. Taiwan has been politically separate from the mainland for over a century, has never been a part of the PRC, and the transition of the KMT (itself localizing) into the opposition has further attenuated the vestigial links to the mainland. Moreover, it is 2005, not 1860. If Puerto Rico or Alaska or Hawaii wishes to secede, yes, they would be permitted to do so - permitted to debate the issue openly, permitted to hold a referendum, and permitted to leave if the referendum so indicated. Here is a Hawaiian blog that advocates doing precisely that. But would the West let a province go that had been a contiguous part of the nation since its inception? Quebec has had secession referendums in 1980 (rejected by 60% of the voters) and 1995 (lost by a 1% margin). If they win the next referendum, they will secede. There is not the slightest suggestion by any serious commentator in North America that the rest of Canada ought to engage Quebec in a war to prohibit this. Keep in mind that the very idea of a referendum is seen by Beijing as a casus belli (Chen Shui Bian, just this month, bowing to international pressure, pledged to not hold a referendum on independence during this term). The very expression of even a moderate Taiwanese viewpoint on these issues is not permitted - not only not permitted in Beijing, but not in Hong Kong, either. Recently, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying Jeou, who was born in Hong Kong, was denied a visa to travel there and speak at a university because of fears that he would express an unfavorable opinion about the so-called Anti- Secession Law. There is simply no analogy to be made with the way this would be handled in North America, or other Western democracies.
In the interest of brevity, I know that I should stay away from the Civil War, but .... okay, I'm over that. It's often said that Lincoln did not prosecute the war in order to end slavery, but to preserve the Union. It is true that, having been elected, and the war commenced, he did for political reasons play down the slavery issue and stress unification. This was because racism in the North was such that many people simply were not willing to go to war in order to free black slaves. For Lincloln, the slavery issue was the union issue - the two could not be separated. Specifically, the war was about whether slavery would be extended to the western states, but the issue was impossible to geopgraphically compartmentalize that way. The "House divided..." speech is often cited as portraying Lincoln as an absolutist on union, but examining it in context makes it clear that union had everything to do with slave versus free:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to be dissolved. I do not expect the House to fall. But I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."
A troubling thing for me is that the correspondent feels it is necessary to add, "if California announced it was going Communist", and Bingfeng concurs that an independent Taiwan would necessarily become "an antagonistic force." We may be getting close to the nub here. Taiwan does not conceivably present any kind of military threat to China. What is being referred to, obliquely, here, is the fact that Taiwan is democratic. This has the remarkable effect of not only equating Beijing with Lincoln, but equating the moral imperative of fighting against slavery with the moral imperative of fighting against democracy. I'm sorry - Starbuck's, musical blog, western businesspals notwithstanding, there may be a values chasm here that simply can't be bridged.
Speculating about someone's motives involves a kind of mind-reading that I try to stay away from. But I can't help wondering if it bothers Bingfeng at all that, having taken a position consonant with that of his government, if he had drawn a different conclusion, his blog would almost certainly be closed. I think if my government and I agreed on an issue, but the government forbade other Americans to express their contrary opinion, I would most likely simply not speak on the subject, in deference to the dignity of my silenced countrymen. Scrolling down a bit, there is a photo of the vote tabulator on the day of the anti-Succession Law's passage, showing hundreds of votes in favor, three abstaining and none against. His remark (presumably sarcastic) was "I wonder who the three were?" I wish he'd said more. I'd like to hear what he had to say on the issue, but then, as a relatively "liberal" Chinese, that might not be advisable for him. But in a real sense, the "debate" in which he participates on his blog is a bit like the simulacrum of the voting apparatus of democracies represented by that "vote". Bingfeng clearly (unlike this blog) has a following and a blogging community of which he is a respected member. His other posts often have comments attached to them. Yet, on this, the most pressing issue of the day, and his longest post in length that I've read, there was not a single comment. It's a loaded silence.
In the post that got my attention, he's favorably quoting a correspondent: "The American Civil War was fought over a bunch of territories trying to secede from the Union. In a more modern context, if California announced it was going Communist and leaving the USA, would the rest of America accept that blindly?"
Bingfeng adds: "Many western readers refuse to see this simple fact that no country would allow a part of it to become an antagonistic force, and in addition to this pure national interest consideration, the equally important fact is - Taiwan is Chinese soil."
The U.S. Civil War analogy is often used by defenders of China's Taiwan policy. Is it valid? For one thing, California is not only contiguous with the continental U.S., it's been continuously a part of the U.S. since its (California's) inception. Taiwan has been politically separate from the mainland for over a century, has never been a part of the PRC, and the transition of the KMT (itself localizing) into the opposition has further attenuated the vestigial links to the mainland. Moreover, it is 2005, not 1860. If Puerto Rico or Alaska or Hawaii wishes to secede, yes, they would be permitted to do so - permitted to debate the issue openly, permitted to hold a referendum, and permitted to leave if the referendum so indicated. Here is a Hawaiian blog that advocates doing precisely that. But would the West let a province go that had been a contiguous part of the nation since its inception? Quebec has had secession referendums in 1980 (rejected by 60% of the voters) and 1995 (lost by a 1% margin). If they win the next referendum, they will secede. There is not the slightest suggestion by any serious commentator in North America that the rest of Canada ought to engage Quebec in a war to prohibit this. Keep in mind that the very idea of a referendum is seen by Beijing as a casus belli (Chen Shui Bian, just this month, bowing to international pressure, pledged to not hold a referendum on independence during this term). The very expression of even a moderate Taiwanese viewpoint on these issues is not permitted - not only not permitted in Beijing, but not in Hong Kong, either. Recently, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying Jeou, who was born in Hong Kong, was denied a visa to travel there and speak at a university because of fears that he would express an unfavorable opinion about the so-called Anti- Secession Law. There is simply no analogy to be made with the way this would be handled in North America, or other Western democracies.
In the interest of brevity, I know that I should stay away from the Civil War, but .... okay, I'm over that. It's often said that Lincoln did not prosecute the war in order to end slavery, but to preserve the Union. It is true that, having been elected, and the war commenced, he did for political reasons play down the slavery issue and stress unification. This was because racism in the North was such that many people simply were not willing to go to war in order to free black slaves. For Lincloln, the slavery issue was the union issue - the two could not be separated. Specifically, the war was about whether slavery would be extended to the western states, but the issue was impossible to geopgraphically compartmentalize that way. The "House divided..." speech is often cited as portraying Lincoln as an absolutist on union, but examining it in context makes it clear that union had everything to do with slave versus free:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to be dissolved. I do not expect the House to fall. But I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."
A troubling thing for me is that the correspondent feels it is necessary to add, "if California announced it was going Communist", and Bingfeng concurs that an independent Taiwan would necessarily become "an antagonistic force." We may be getting close to the nub here. Taiwan does not conceivably present any kind of military threat to China. What is being referred to, obliquely, here, is the fact that Taiwan is democratic. This has the remarkable effect of not only equating Beijing with Lincoln, but equating the moral imperative of fighting against slavery with the moral imperative of fighting against democracy. I'm sorry - Starbuck's, musical blog, western businesspals notwithstanding, there may be a values chasm here that simply can't be bridged.
Speculating about someone's motives involves a kind of mind-reading that I try to stay away from. But I can't help wondering if it bothers Bingfeng at all that, having taken a position consonant with that of his government, if he had drawn a different conclusion, his blog would almost certainly be closed. I think if my government and I agreed on an issue, but the government forbade other Americans to express their contrary opinion, I would most likely simply not speak on the subject, in deference to the dignity of my silenced countrymen. Scrolling down a bit, there is a photo of the vote tabulator on the day of the anti-Succession Law's passage, showing hundreds of votes in favor, three abstaining and none against. His remark (presumably sarcastic) was "I wonder who the three were?" I wish he'd said more. I'd like to hear what he had to say on the issue, but then, as a relatively "liberal" Chinese, that might not be advisable for him. But in a real sense, the "debate" in which he participates on his blog is a bit like the simulacrum of the voting apparatus of democracies represented by that "vote". Bingfeng clearly (unlike this blog) has a following and a blogging community of which he is a respected member. His other posts often have comments attached to them. Yet, on this, the most pressing issue of the day, and his longest post in length that I've read, there was not a single comment. It's a loaded silence.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
X Thousand Years of Civilization?
Then there's this piece of work from the School of Chinese Nationalism. Question is, how far is he from the leaders of China?
Our Allies
Bingfeng Teahouse is a very sharply designed blog by a Chinese businessman from Shanghai. Check out the guy circled in blue in the bottom picture. Japanese legislature.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Social Security Comes to Taiwan
On the subject of large lacuna in the Taiwan press' coverage of important topics (I like that word "lacuna" -it sounds like a fish - as in, "a large lacuna was discovered yesterday in the press room of the Taipei Times..."). The administration, it seems, has recently implemented a retirement plan similar to Social Security. Employers now will have to contribute 6% of a worker's salary into a retirement account, similar to Social Security (although American Social Security, of course, doesn't actually have an individual account for each person). At the age of sixty, people will start to get monthly payments, based on a rate at which, if they live past eighty, they will start to get more than they put in. Not a word about this in the papers, and a google search turns up nothing, but it's the hottest topic among my Taiwanese acquaintances (foreign workers are exempt from the law).
A company with sixteen or seventeen workers is therefore adding the equivalent of one worker's salary to the payroll without any added productivity for the company. At my former school, workers will get salary cuts of an amount not yet determined. They will have to sign an agreement to the cut, or else they will be let go. The prevailing opinion is that the government is trying to get their hands on cash in order to pay off the deficit, studying the Americans, who use Social Security this way. Not only does the government get an immediate infusion of cash, but people's "accounts" will accrue interest at the lower rate they would get at a bank, while the government, pooling the money, will get a much higher return, and pocket the difference. I wonder what the political fall-out from this will be? Not too many happy campers among my friends in Free China these days.
A company with sixteen or seventeen workers is therefore adding the equivalent of one worker's salary to the payroll without any added productivity for the company. At my former school, workers will get salary cuts of an amount not yet determined. They will have to sign an agreement to the cut, or else they will be let go. The prevailing opinion is that the government is trying to get their hands on cash in order to pay off the deficit, studying the Americans, who use Social Security this way. Not only does the government get an immediate infusion of cash, but people's "accounts" will accrue interest at the lower rate they would get at a bank, while the government, pooling the money, will get a much higher return, and pocket the difference. I wonder what the political fall-out from this will be? Not too many happy campers among my friends in Free China these days.
Invasion Talk Heating Up
Ever since Andrew Sullivan scaled back his blogging, I've been looking for candidates to fill the aching void in my life.(I suspected this day would come. Afraid of commitment, Andy?) It's amazing how quickly you can visit a new site, size it up (nice little caboose there!), and know within a minute or two if you'll be dating steady. Lately, the boys I just can't stop thinking about are The Dignified Rant and Nobody's Business.
It's been said that you haven't really lived a full life unless you've: been in love; been poor; and experienced war. Well, I am currently in my longest sustained adult relationship (uh, yes, a female); the no money thing I've got down cold; and now, there's this promising news from Dignified Rant:
Ready. Set. Go?
The Chinese will invade Taiwan.
The only question is when China will go. I think it will be on the eve of the 2008 Peking summer Olympics. China will have the security issue to cover mobilization and movement of military units. And everybody will assume China is using the attention as a coming out party to highlight their advances and their place in the sun. I think swallowing China under the nose of US and Japanese protection will be even better to demonstrate their power. Why else go on a crash building program for naval units?
RobertKagan refutes the commonplace that the Chinese leaders are subtle and deft beyond our comprehension, bringing to bear their thousands of years of unbroken culture. In fact, from imperial times to today(that is to say, today's Chinese imperial times) the singular drawback of the Chinese leadership has been their very limited knowledge of, and experience of, the world outside of China:
"What's striking about this bellicose 'legislation' is not only the content but the timing. It comes on the heels of an election in Taiwan in which pro-independence forces are widely assumed to have suffered a bit of a setback and when President Chen Shui-bian seems set on improving the climate of cross-strait relations. He recently declared publicly that he would 'not declare independence', would not seek an amendment to the constitution to change Taiwan's status, and would not 'promote a referendum to change the status quo in regards to the issues of independence or unification.' Perhaps Beijing thinks it is wise to follow this softening of the Taiwan position with a renewed round of threats and intimidation, though if history is any guide, such interference will produce the opposite effect in Taiwan."
Meanwhile, Thomas The New York Times>Opinion> Friedman approaches the issue from a different angle, one suggested by recent remarks made by Warren Buffet on the dangers of America's borrowing binge:
"The excessive tax cuts for the rich, combined with a total lack of discipline on spending by the Bush team and its Republican led Congress, have helped China become the second largest holder of U.S. debt, with a little under $200 billion worth. No, I don't think China will start dumping its T-bills on a whim. But don't tell me that as China buys up more and more of our debt - and that is the only way we can finance the tax holiday the Bush team wants to make permanent - it won't limit our room to maneuver with Beijing, should it take aggressive steps toward Taiwan."
Now, I have no patience with the reflexive Bush-haters. I have no problem with Bolton at the U.N. or Wolfowitz at the World Bank. But I absolutely do not trust the Bushies on this kind of thing, and, yes, I think they are making class war domestically in the context of singularly dangerous times internationally. I keep thinking of the comment from Don Cheney related by ousted Treasury Secretary O'Neill, to the effect that it was not necessary to worry about deficits, since Reagan got away with playing fast and loose. "I used to listen to the people who say don't drink and drive, but then my buddy got wasted and drove home without getting in a crash. So now I don't worry about it." I find myself thinking wistfully that if the constitution did not prohibit it, I'd be ecstatic about a return of Bill Clinton. Well, maybe Hillary. I'm serious. She's looking more and more like a serious person every day. Bill as Secretary of State?
It's been said that you haven't really lived a full life unless you've: been in love; been poor; and experienced war. Well, I am currently in my longest sustained adult relationship (uh, yes, a female); the no money thing I've got down cold; and now, there's this promising news from Dignified Rant:
Ready. Set. Go?
The Chinese will invade Taiwan.
The only question is when China will go. I think it will be on the eve of the 2008 Peking summer Olympics. China will have the security issue to cover mobilization and movement of military units. And everybody will assume China is using the attention as a coming out party to highlight their advances and their place in the sun. I think swallowing China under the nose of US and Japanese protection will be even better to demonstrate their power. Why else go on a crash building program for naval units?
RobertKagan refutes the commonplace that the Chinese leaders are subtle and deft beyond our comprehension, bringing to bear their thousands of years of unbroken culture. In fact, from imperial times to today(that is to say, today's Chinese imperial times) the singular drawback of the Chinese leadership has been their very limited knowledge of, and experience of, the world outside of China:
"What's striking about this bellicose 'legislation' is not only the content but the timing. It comes on the heels of an election in Taiwan in which pro-independence forces are widely assumed to have suffered a bit of a setback and when President Chen Shui-bian seems set on improving the climate of cross-strait relations. He recently declared publicly that he would 'not declare independence', would not seek an amendment to the constitution to change Taiwan's status, and would not 'promote a referendum to change the status quo in regards to the issues of independence or unification.' Perhaps Beijing thinks it is wise to follow this softening of the Taiwan position with a renewed round of threats and intimidation, though if history is any guide, such interference will produce the opposite effect in Taiwan."
Meanwhile, Thomas The New York Times>Opinion> Friedman approaches the issue from a different angle, one suggested by recent remarks made by Warren Buffet on the dangers of America's borrowing binge:
"The excessive tax cuts for the rich, combined with a total lack of discipline on spending by the Bush team and its Republican led Congress, have helped China become the second largest holder of U.S. debt, with a little under $200 billion worth. No, I don't think China will start dumping its T-bills on a whim. But don't tell me that as China buys up more and more of our debt - and that is the only way we can finance the tax holiday the Bush team wants to make permanent - it won't limit our room to maneuver with Beijing, should it take aggressive steps toward Taiwan."
Now, I have no patience with the reflexive Bush-haters. I have no problem with Bolton at the U.N. or Wolfowitz at the World Bank. But I absolutely do not trust the Bushies on this kind of thing, and, yes, I think they are making class war domestically in the context of singularly dangerous times internationally. I keep thinking of the comment from Don Cheney related by ousted Treasury Secretary O'Neill, to the effect that it was not necessary to worry about deficits, since Reagan got away with playing fast and loose. "I used to listen to the people who say don't drink and drive, but then my buddy got wasted and drove home without getting in a crash. So now I don't worry about it." I find myself thinking wistfully that if the constitution did not prohibit it, I'd be ecstatic about a return of Bill Clinton. Well, maybe Hillary. I'm serious. She's looking more and more like a serious person every day. Bill as Secretary of State?
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Guardian on Bjork,by way of TaipeiTimes
In order to break the long hiatus of blogging(due to trip to Singapore, bad,bad cold front, diverting books bought in Singapore,etc.), something special is required. What a gift, then, this exclusive onBjork. Fortunately, Bjork is not sticking to singing. She is branching out into politics and feminism. Let's dive right in, shall we?
"A self-confessed 'punk anarchist', she found herself politicized by the Iraq war." Now, there are some people who have staked out an anarchist position after a long period of introspection and study, which, while it strikes me as an incorrect position, is at least intellectually defensible. The thing about anarchism is that is that - like all radical departures from received tradition - it pretty much has to be a well considered position. That is to say, if I am going to be the genius who throws out musical conventions about chord progressions in music, I would do well to be someone like Philip Glass, who has long since mastered those conventions. The chronology involved in being an anarchist, and then becoming politicized, is a bit confusing.
"She would never wear jeans and a t-shirt, she says, because they are "a symbol of white American imperialism, like drinking Coca-cola."
Good, strong position, Bjork! And be sure not to let any American imperialist influences into your music, like blues, jazz, or rock. That's a terribly brave, iconoclastic position to be taking in hip European circles these days. Be sure not to make any compromises!
"Her last album, Medulla, was certainly Bjork's most political - but in a unique way. She came up with an a capella album featuring only human voices: yodelling, beatbox, Icelandic choral music. It was, she says, a way to counter 'stupid American racism and patriotism.'" Now, wait a minute - since Jimmy Rogers, I believe yodelling has been, incongruously, thoroughly appropriated by stupid Texas cowboy culture. Beatbox and Icelandic choral music, as far as I know, continue to be unpatriotic.
"I was saying, 'What about the human soul? What happened before we got involved in problematic things like civilization and religion and nationhood?" Gee, I don't know what happened then; but somehow the question conjures up an image of Australopithicans sitting around a campfire gnawing on mastodon bones...
The article informs us that she is thirty nine, and, uniquely, had several relationships that didn't work out in her twenties. "Then, four years ago, she met the American multimedia artist Matthew Barney. Today they live in an old house across the Hudson from Manhattan, with their baby daughter, Isadora. It seems a marriage of true eccentrics. Barney is a master provocateur (in 2003 he filled New York's Guggenheim with tapioca, petroleum jelly and beeswax) and he has worked as an athlete, model and medic." How eccentric! How provocative! But it would have been more provocative if the Guggenheim had brought charges against him, instead of paying him for the privilege.
On her "politicization" after the Iraq war: "People like me, who don't follow the news that much, suddenly I was looking on-line every day, just to see what was going on." Really? Discovered newspapers, have we? So now we have your new, political album. When can we expect the feminist album? "I think this is the first time in all the hundreds of interviews I've done, that I've actually jumped on the feminist bandwagon. In the past I always wanted to change the subject. But I think now it's time to bring up all these issues. I wish it wasn't, but I'll do it, I'm up for doing the dirty work!" Bravo, Bjork! What an unconventional turn to your career!
"It's interesting to me to bring up a girl. You go to the toy store and the female characters there - Cinderella, the lady in Beauty and the Beast - their major task is to find Prince Charming. And I'm like - wait a minute - it's 2005! We've fought so hard to have a say, and not just live through our partners, and yet you're still seeing two year olds with this message pushed at them that the only important thing is to find this amazing dress so that the guy will want you." Hello? Your child is two years old, and she's been brought up by Bjork and the petroleum jelly man, and you think it's because of social conditioning that she wants the Cinderella doll?
Then there is Michel Gondry's film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind": " 'Michel did a great work there. He gave Kate Winslet , who's obviously such a huge spirit, such a vivacious lady, so much space. Usually when you see females in movies, they feel like they have these metallic structures around them, they are caged in by metallic energy. But she could be at her full volume without restrictions,' a contrast (the Guardian reporter intones) one senses with Von Trier, who loves brutalizing his actresses." Yes. Indeed. Von Trier's anti-American polemic compromised. Metallic structures around actresses. She was brought up in Reykjavik in a hippie commune by her mother and stepfather, a blues musician. The mother has a little homeopathy business from her home, thanks to her daughter's success, but, as Bjork tells us, "she's almost sixty", so the indictment against males is hardly mitigated.
Man, it's good to be back blogging!
"A self-confessed 'punk anarchist', she found herself politicized by the Iraq war." Now, there are some people who have staked out an anarchist position after a long period of introspection and study, which, while it strikes me as an incorrect position, is at least intellectually defensible. The thing about anarchism is that is that - like all radical departures from received tradition - it pretty much has to be a well considered position. That is to say, if I am going to be the genius who throws out musical conventions about chord progressions in music, I would do well to be someone like Philip Glass, who has long since mastered those conventions. The chronology involved in being an anarchist, and then becoming politicized, is a bit confusing.
"She would never wear jeans and a t-shirt, she says, because they are "a symbol of white American imperialism, like drinking Coca-cola."
Good, strong position, Bjork! And be sure not to let any American imperialist influences into your music, like blues, jazz, or rock. That's a terribly brave, iconoclastic position to be taking in hip European circles these days. Be sure not to make any compromises!
"Her last album, Medulla, was certainly Bjork's most political - but in a unique way. She came up with an a capella album featuring only human voices: yodelling, beatbox, Icelandic choral music. It was, she says, a way to counter 'stupid American racism and patriotism.'" Now, wait a minute - since Jimmy Rogers, I believe yodelling has been, incongruously, thoroughly appropriated by stupid Texas cowboy culture. Beatbox and Icelandic choral music, as far as I know, continue to be unpatriotic.
"I was saying, 'What about the human soul? What happened before we got involved in problematic things like civilization and religion and nationhood?" Gee, I don't know what happened then; but somehow the question conjures up an image of Australopithicans sitting around a campfire gnawing on mastodon bones...
The article informs us that she is thirty nine, and, uniquely, had several relationships that didn't work out in her twenties. "Then, four years ago, she met the American multimedia artist Matthew Barney. Today they live in an old house across the Hudson from Manhattan, with their baby daughter, Isadora. It seems a marriage of true eccentrics. Barney is a master provocateur (in 2003 he filled New York's Guggenheim with tapioca, petroleum jelly and beeswax) and he has worked as an athlete, model and medic." How eccentric! How provocative! But it would have been more provocative if the Guggenheim had brought charges against him, instead of paying him for the privilege.
On her "politicization" after the Iraq war: "People like me, who don't follow the news that much, suddenly I was looking on-line every day, just to see what was going on." Really? Discovered newspapers, have we? So now we have your new, political album. When can we expect the feminist album? "I think this is the first time in all the hundreds of interviews I've done, that I've actually jumped on the feminist bandwagon. In the past I always wanted to change the subject. But I think now it's time to bring up all these issues. I wish it wasn't, but I'll do it, I'm up for doing the dirty work!" Bravo, Bjork! What an unconventional turn to your career!
"It's interesting to me to bring up a girl. You go to the toy store and the female characters there - Cinderella, the lady in Beauty and the Beast - their major task is to find Prince Charming. And I'm like - wait a minute - it's 2005! We've fought so hard to have a say, and not just live through our partners, and yet you're still seeing two year olds with this message pushed at them that the only important thing is to find this amazing dress so that the guy will want you." Hello? Your child is two years old, and she's been brought up by Bjork and the petroleum jelly man, and you think it's because of social conditioning that she wants the Cinderella doll?
Then there is Michel Gondry's film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind": " 'Michel did a great work there. He gave Kate Winslet , who's obviously such a huge spirit, such a vivacious lady, so much space. Usually when you see females in movies, they feel like they have these metallic structures around them, they are caged in by metallic energy. But she could be at her full volume without restrictions,' a contrast (the Guardian reporter intones) one senses with Von Trier, who loves brutalizing his actresses." Yes. Indeed. Von Trier's anti-American polemic compromised. Metallic structures around actresses. She was brought up in Reykjavik in a hippie commune by her mother and stepfather, a blues musician. The mother has a little homeopathy business from her home, thanks to her daughter's success, but, as Bjork tells us, "she's almost sixty", so the indictment against males is hardly mitigated.
Man, it's good to be back blogging!
Friday, February 25, 2005
Unbelievable
"The sequence of photos shows the beach at Khao Lak, Thailand, on Dec.26, 2004. The photos show the water at first receding, then forming into the first wave that crashed ashore."
These are the soon to be famouspictures snapped by a Canadian couple of the waves that would kill them a moment later. I had thought that this was a visually undocumented event, in the sense that no photos I'd seen really captured what the people on the beach had experienced that day. Needless to say, I can imagine now. What strikes me is that the waves are so much more a horizontal event than a vertical, towering wall of water; more surge than wave. Maybe that's why the people don't run away. Or maybe, being able to hear it, they understand the futility of running.
These are the soon to be famouspictures snapped by a Canadian couple of the waves that would kill them a moment later. I had thought that this was a visually undocumented event, in the sense that no photos I'd seen really captured what the people on the beach had experienced that day. Needless to say, I can imagine now. What strikes me is that the waves are so much more a horizontal event than a vertical, towering wall of water; more surge than wave. Maybe that's why the people don't run away. Or maybe, being able to hear it, they understand the futility of running.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Jay Chou in love with Taiwan No.1 beauty news anchor
I was channel surfing the other day, and singer Chou Jie Lun's press conference admitting that he had a girlfriend was being simultaneously broadcast on about ten different channels, the kind of treatment reserved for major presidential announcements. What is sad is that the primary story on google is from the Shenzhen Daily. Will Taiwan's English dailies just loosen up a bit? These are front page stories in the Chinese language press, and they don't even get a mention in the grey old English papers. What, they couldn't ask "Bank of Japan Board Leaves Monetary Policy Unchanged" to move over and make a little room? The closest acknowledgement of this side of Taiwan life is the very limited Taipei Times Friday "Pop Stop" feature. The other papers don't even do that.
The very same day that Jay and Hou Bei Tsen were hooking up, model Lin Zhi Ling announced that she was involved with the son of a major hotel owner. Lin is the real deal - a true product of Taiwan pop culture, having become famous without having apparently done anything of note or proven to have any talent at all. Not that I'm being critical - actually, I find it reassuring- it makes me feel like I've still got a shot myself. In a recent article from the Chinese press that I painstakingly translated, she expressed an interest in getting into movies and working with some of Taiwan's most famous directors. You go, girl! Incidentally, a recent internet poll of Taiwan men put Hou in the top place as the most desirable female, with Lin in second. Her previous boyfriend was the son of Lien Chan (see post below), so we know she is a playuh. Honestly, it is amazing how many foreigners have no idea who these people are, despite their being all over: on advertisements, on TV, in the local press. It ain't Japanese monetary policy, but it is part of making the environment you move in a bit more meaningful and, hey, it's fun.
The very same day that Jay and Hou Bei Tsen were hooking up, model Lin Zhi Ling announced that she was involved with the son of a major hotel owner. Lin is the real deal - a true product of Taiwan pop culture, having become famous without having apparently done anything of note or proven to have any talent at all. Not that I'm being critical - actually, I find it reassuring- it makes me feel like I've still got a shot myself. In a recent article from the Chinese press that I painstakingly translated, she expressed an interest in getting into movies and working with some of Taiwan's most famous directors. You go, girl! Incidentally, a recent internet poll of Taiwan men put Hou in the top place as the most desirable female, with Lin in second. Her previous boyfriend was the son of Lien Chan (see post below), so we know she is a playuh. Honestly, it is amazing how many foreigners have no idea who these people are, despite their being all over: on advertisements, on TV, in the local press. It ain't Japanese monetary policy, but it is part of making the environment you move in a bit more meaningful and, hey, it's fun.
KMT Party Chair Maneuvers
"In this regard, Ma, 55, obviously has an advantage over his potential competitor Speaker Wang. Ma during his five years as Taipei mayor has continued to enjoy extraordinarily high popularity. More significant, his supporters transcend party lines and ethnic groups. However, Ma's support bases are mainly concentrated in northern Taiwan.
On the other hand, Wang, 64 and a 10th term legislator elected from southern Taiwan, has seen his power base extend to the north. His political strength was demonstrated again in his recent election to a third term as legislative speaker. He won the support of 123 fellow legislators, while the KMT holds only 79 seats in the 225-member Legislature. This indicated that Wang continues to enjoy bipartisan support."
Watching the maneuvering in advance of the KMT Party Chair election provides a fascinating study in contrasts with the DPP. For someone whose frame of reference is the party primaries in the US, the elaborate dance going on now between Lien Chan, Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin Ping is bizarre. Lien has announced that he will step down this summer, but Ma is still being criticized for daring to announce his candidacy. My own humble opinion is that the lack of fair and transparent internal party elections in the KMT is closely linked to the tendency in the party toward bitter factional splits. Lee Teng Hui, ironically, while he was ushering the era of democracy for Taiwan, continued the tradition of autocratic KMT party leaders. Although James Soong was clearly the most popular of the next generation of leaders, Lee simply put his protege Lien in the position by fiat. Soong split off from the party with his followers and finished a close second in the 2000 presidential race. Lien, with the resources of the world's richest political party behind him, finished a distant third.
Compare this to the DPP. The first chairman of the party was Shi Ming De,"Taiwan's Mandela," who had spent twenty-five years in jail under KMT military rule. Chen Shui Bian was his defense attorney. Chen had spent time in jail, as well, and his wife is paralyzed for life, having been run over by a KMT tractor, but originally their credentials fell far short of Shi's. What happened was that, over time, the DPP rank and file tired of Shi's relaxed administrative style and lack of political savvy. When Chen defeated him in party primaries, Shi left the party in anger, but few followed him, because the process was perceived to have been fair. Current Premier Hsieh Chang Ting also vied with Chen for the top DPP post. A recent article related a moving moment when Hsieh conceded the race and told his supporters to take off their Hsieh vests and don Chen vests. Can such a thing be imagined in the KMT?
What is wrong with having an open primary, in which all comers- including the incumbent, if he wishes- can present their cases to the rank and file? Lien is the scion of one of the island's richest families, but he clearly wouldn't have become head of the party in fair elections, and he has performed dismally in two general elections. Yet, the whole discussion is framed in terms of whether Ma's running would be disrespectful to Lien. What about paying the members of the party the respect of an open and fair election? Friday's Taiwan News contains a poll (20% of respondents KMT members) of Taiwanese on the issue: if Lien doesn't run, 52% would support Ma, and 25% support Wang; if Lien did run, the breakdown would be 45 Ma, 18 Wang and 9 Lien. Yet, Lien seems to be seriously contemplating trying to engineer a succession to Wang. Incredible.
On the other hand, Wang, 64 and a 10th term legislator elected from southern Taiwan, has seen his power base extend to the north. His political strength was demonstrated again in his recent election to a third term as legislative speaker. He won the support of 123 fellow legislators, while the KMT holds only 79 seats in the 225-member Legislature. This indicated that Wang continues to enjoy bipartisan support."
Watching the maneuvering in advance of the KMT Party Chair election provides a fascinating study in contrasts with the DPP. For someone whose frame of reference is the party primaries in the US, the elaborate dance going on now between Lien Chan, Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin Ping is bizarre. Lien has announced that he will step down this summer, but Ma is still being criticized for daring to announce his candidacy. My own humble opinion is that the lack of fair and transparent internal party elections in the KMT is closely linked to the tendency in the party toward bitter factional splits. Lee Teng Hui, ironically, while he was ushering the era of democracy for Taiwan, continued the tradition of autocratic KMT party leaders. Although James Soong was clearly the most popular of the next generation of leaders, Lee simply put his protege Lien in the position by fiat. Soong split off from the party with his followers and finished a close second in the 2000 presidential race. Lien, with the resources of the world's richest political party behind him, finished a distant third.
Compare this to the DPP. The first chairman of the party was Shi Ming De,"Taiwan's Mandela," who had spent twenty-five years in jail under KMT military rule. Chen Shui Bian was his defense attorney. Chen had spent time in jail, as well, and his wife is paralyzed for life, having been run over by a KMT tractor, but originally their credentials fell far short of Shi's. What happened was that, over time, the DPP rank and file tired of Shi's relaxed administrative style and lack of political savvy. When Chen defeated him in party primaries, Shi left the party in anger, but few followed him, because the process was perceived to have been fair. Current Premier Hsieh Chang Ting also vied with Chen for the top DPP post. A recent article related a moving moment when Hsieh conceded the race and told his supporters to take off their Hsieh vests and don Chen vests. Can such a thing be imagined in the KMT?
What is wrong with having an open primary, in which all comers- including the incumbent, if he wishes- can present their cases to the rank and file? Lien is the scion of one of the island's richest families, but he clearly wouldn't have become head of the party in fair elections, and he has performed dismally in two general elections. Yet, the whole discussion is framed in terms of whether Ma's running would be disrespectful to Lien. What about paying the members of the party the respect of an open and fair election? Friday's Taiwan News contains a poll (20% of respondents KMT members) of Taiwanese on the issue: if Lien doesn't run, 52% would support Ma, and 25% support Wang; if Lien did run, the breakdown would be 45 Ma, 18 Wang and 9 Lien. Yet, Lien seems to be seriously contemplating trying to engineer a succession to Wang. Incredible.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Japan to Join U.S. Policy on Taiwan
"Such talk reflects what diplomats and scholars call the defining drama of East Asia for the 21st century -- the competition for economic and political dominance in the region between Japan, the world's second-largest economy, and China, the world's most populous nation and a fast-developing economic and military power. "
Japan isacknowledging: that Taiwan is a mutual security concern of both the U.S. and Japan. The role of oil is the 900 pound gorilla in the room here. Like most of East Asia, Japan has no domestic oil resources. Most of the oil comes by way of a long, and vulnerable, route from the Middle East that passes through the Taiwan Straits. For China to control Taiwan would put them in position to strangle Japan. This was the U.S. strategy in the Second World War. In my first year here, I taught an old man who had memories of manning an anti-aircraft battery, shooting at American planes. These are just about all gone from the West coast here, but Hualien is still chock full of the fortified caves and bunkers from the era. In the end, the American air force took a tremendous toll on shipping in the era, which was a crucial factor in the outcome of the war.
Japan isacknowledging: that Taiwan is a mutual security concern of both the U.S. and Japan. The role of oil is the 900 pound gorilla in the room here. Like most of East Asia, Japan has no domestic oil resources. Most of the oil comes by way of a long, and vulnerable, route from the Middle East that passes through the Taiwan Straits. For China to control Taiwan would put them in position to strangle Japan. This was the U.S. strategy in the Second World War. In my first year here, I taught an old man who had memories of manning an anti-aircraft battery, shooting at American planes. These are just about all gone from the West coast here, but Hualien is still chock full of the fortified caves and bunkers from the era. In the end, the American air force took a tremendous toll on shipping in the era, which was a crucial factor in the outcome of the war.
Chesapeake Bay Dialects Dying
"Almost 50 percent of the region's residents were born in a state other than the one where they live, which is more than other big cities and close to twice the national average. Linguistically, that means 'nobody really has any idea what Washington, D.C., is,' said David Bowie, a linguistics professor at the University of Central Florida. "
I used to hate growing up in a civil servant suburb of Washington, D.C.:, but in Taiwan, any regional dialect would be held against me. My indistinguishable American accent, rightly or wrongly, positions me perfectly for teaching here. This article explores the deterioration of regional dialects in the region.
I used to hate growing up in a civil servant suburb of Washington, D.C.:, but in Taiwan, any regional dialect would be held against me. My indistinguishable American accent, rightly or wrongly, positions me perfectly for teaching here. This article explores the deterioration of regional dialects in the region.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Personal Story
Just a bit of a personal background informing the exchange I had with Scott Sommers a week or so ago:
For years now, I have frequented, on vacations, one of Taiwan's beautiful, and rural - and unserviced by foreign English teachers - locations. I've had the opportunity to make many Taiwanese friends in the area, but never met a foreigner who lived there. For many years, my Taiwanese friends have encouraged me to move there, and, indeed, it has been a bit of wet dream of mine to do so. But, of course, it was completely impractical. There were no legal, visa-supplying schools in the area.
Two years ago, a Taiwanese friend told me she and a foreign woman (married to a Taiwanese) were starting a school down there. Well, I admit, I felt a bit jealous. There was another foreigner, living out my fantasy. Then, this fall, my friend called and made me a sweet offer - their school was expanding, they needed a third foreign teacher, and they would love it if I would come and fill the spot. Great! A few weeks then went by when I had a hard time contacting my friend, and I started to worry. Then, she called. This was her message:
The foreign woman who was her partner (we'll call her F.) only had a high school degree. She had married a Taiwanese man in the area several years ago, and was for years the only foreign English teacher in the area. She started with one-on-ones, built to group classes over years, and ultimately found that she had enough students to start a proper school. What she and her husband didn't have was enough capital to go through the whole, elaborate legalization process. So they sought out my friend, who did. In the end, they started their school, as "partners" - the foreign woman's students, and my friend's capital. Business was good, because by all accounts she was a very good teacher. Within a year, they hired a second foreign teacher - one with a BA -, but a close personal friend of F., so no threat.
The next year, they were ready to hire a third foreign teacher (that would have been me), but as my friend explained: "When F. saw your resume, she freaked. First, she said you couldn't come, then she demanded to buy us out. We got angry and told her, 'no, you are not buying us out; we are buying you out, and all the papers are in our name.' That is to say, we are firing her. What that means, John, is that you can come in and start immediately, be our English Director, and have the power to hire two foreign teachers of your choosing." Hey, I admit, I thought about it. But, truth be told, it would have been a pretty creepy thing to do, and in the end, I didn't pull the trigger.
It all depends on your point of view, I suppose. A government functionary would say, "The law is the law, and she was breaking the law by teaching without a BA." A parent from the area might say, "Rural areas are egregiously underserved for English instruction in Taiwan. This is someone with a high school degree who proved herself as an excellent teacher over many years, when others (with BA's) were unwilling or unable to come here. What's wrong with that?" I suppose I could empathize with the government official, but my empathy is with the parent and the teacher, because their case seems more convincing.
Now if someone - even in an underserved area - was building bridges or doing surgery with only a high school diploma, I'd want to put an immediate stop to that. And if I was a "qualified" bridge builder or surgerer (excuse me, my editor informs me I must use the formal term "surgerizor"), I would have no qualms about bumping her aside. That's my point. Teaching English to seven year olds ain't brain surgery. I'll sleep fine making the choice I made. After all, some of my friends in the area are the parents of kids in that school. They're pretty clear about where their loyalties lie.
For years now, I have frequented, on vacations, one of Taiwan's beautiful, and rural - and unserviced by foreign English teachers - locations. I've had the opportunity to make many Taiwanese friends in the area, but never met a foreigner who lived there. For many years, my Taiwanese friends have encouraged me to move there, and, indeed, it has been a bit of wet dream of mine to do so. But, of course, it was completely impractical. There were no legal, visa-supplying schools in the area.
Two years ago, a Taiwanese friend told me she and a foreign woman (married to a Taiwanese) were starting a school down there. Well, I admit, I felt a bit jealous. There was another foreigner, living out my fantasy. Then, this fall, my friend called and made me a sweet offer - their school was expanding, they needed a third foreign teacher, and they would love it if I would come and fill the spot. Great! A few weeks then went by when I had a hard time contacting my friend, and I started to worry. Then, she called. This was her message:
The foreign woman who was her partner (we'll call her F.) only had a high school degree. She had married a Taiwanese man in the area several years ago, and was for years the only foreign English teacher in the area. She started with one-on-ones, built to group classes over years, and ultimately found that she had enough students to start a proper school. What she and her husband didn't have was enough capital to go through the whole, elaborate legalization process. So they sought out my friend, who did. In the end, they started their school, as "partners" - the foreign woman's students, and my friend's capital. Business was good, because by all accounts she was a very good teacher. Within a year, they hired a second foreign teacher - one with a BA -, but a close personal friend of F., so no threat.
The next year, they were ready to hire a third foreign teacher (that would have been me), but as my friend explained: "When F. saw your resume, she freaked. First, she said you couldn't come, then she demanded to buy us out. We got angry and told her, 'no, you are not buying us out; we are buying you out, and all the papers are in our name.' That is to say, we are firing her. What that means, John, is that you can come in and start immediately, be our English Director, and have the power to hire two foreign teachers of your choosing." Hey, I admit, I thought about it. But, truth be told, it would have been a pretty creepy thing to do, and in the end, I didn't pull the trigger.
It all depends on your point of view, I suppose. A government functionary would say, "The law is the law, and she was breaking the law by teaching without a BA." A parent from the area might say, "Rural areas are egregiously underserved for English instruction in Taiwan. This is someone with a high school degree who proved herself as an excellent teacher over many years, when others (with BA's) were unwilling or unable to come here. What's wrong with that?" I suppose I could empathize with the government official, but my empathy is with the parent and the teacher, because their case seems more convincing.
Now if someone - even in an underserved area - was building bridges or doing surgery with only a high school diploma, I'd want to put an immediate stop to that. And if I was a "qualified" bridge builder or surgerer (excuse me, my editor informs me I must use the formal term "surgerizor"), I would have no qualms about bumping her aside. That's my point. Teaching English to seven year olds ain't brain surgery. I'll sleep fine making the choice I made. After all, some of my friends in the area are the parents of kids in that school. They're pretty clear about where their loyalties lie.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Michael J. Totten: Drinking with Christopher Hitchens and the Iraqis
"Well," Hitchens said. "I'm off. I have to get up in the morning and continue the fight on CNN."
"Oh, come on, Christopher," I said. "You're the one who's supposed to keep us up all night."
I could almost see the good angel on one shoulder getting the crap kicked out of him by the devil hovering over the other. It was the world's shortest fight ever.
Michael Totten has a spectacular post: on the psychological cross-currents between allied Iraqis and Americans at a social gathering, as well as a priceless portrait of Christopher Hitchens. Stuff like this you just don't get in the newspapers.
"Oh, come on, Christopher," I said. "You're the one who's supposed to keep us up all night."
I could almost see the good angel on one shoulder getting the crap kicked out of him by the devil hovering over the other. It was the world's shortest fight ever.
Michael Totten has a spectacular post: on the psychological cross-currents between allied Iraqis and Americans at a social gathering, as well as a priceless portrait of Christopher Hitchens. Stuff like this you just don't get in the newspapers.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Havel on EU Appeasement
"But today this is happening. One of the strongest and most powerful democratic institutions in the world -- the European Union -- has no qualms in making a public promise to the Cuban dictatorship that it will re-institute diplomatic Apartheid. The EU's embassies in Havana will now craft their guest lists in accordance with the Cuban government's wishes. The shortsightedness of socialist Prime Minister Jose Zapatero of Spain has prevailed."
It is surely no coincidence that, at the same time it is considering lifting the ban on arms sales to China, the EU: is banning the presence of Cuban dissidents at Cuban embassy functions. Vaclav Havel's visit to Taiwan this fall coincided with calls from Glenn Reynolds and others that he be the choice to replace Kofi Annan at the UN. A better choice couldn't possibly be made. The Bush administration certainly can be criticized for speaking in overly-musical tones about advancing democratic values, when, in fact, its policy is a balancing act between US interests and principles. But what's striking about the EU is that they've abandoned any pretext about advancing democratic values in the world at all. This issue also calls into question the judgement of The Taipei Times - Taiwan's most stridently pro-independence newspaper - in viewing much of the world through the prism of the European left. Do they not understand? These people are not your allies!
It is surely no coincidence that, at the same time it is considering lifting the ban on arms sales to China, the EU: is banning the presence of Cuban dissidents at Cuban embassy functions. Vaclav Havel's visit to Taiwan this fall coincided with calls from Glenn Reynolds and others that he be the choice to replace Kofi Annan at the UN. A better choice couldn't possibly be made. The Bush administration certainly can be criticized for speaking in overly-musical tones about advancing democratic values, when, in fact, its policy is a balancing act between US interests and principles. But what's striking about the EU is that they've abandoned any pretext about advancing democratic values in the world at all. This issue also calls into question the judgement of The Taipei Times - Taiwan's most stridently pro-independence newspaper - in viewing much of the world through the prism of the European left. Do they not understand? These people are not your allies!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Avian Flu
"As a result, the prevalence of the infection in birds makes a new, more deadly human outbreak likely. Public health experts say it is only a matter of time before the flu strain remakes itself, unleashing a disease that is both highly lethal and as easy to catch as an ordinary flu bug.
If this occurs, World Health Organization officials predict that, in the most optimistic scenario, 2 million to 7 million people would die worldwide and that the toll could potentially reach 100 million. Health experts say the virus has already exhibited traits similar to those that caused the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which is estimated to have killed about 40 million people."
This is scary stuff. The health officials quoted sound like people watching an accident develop in slow motion from on high, but unable to do anything about it. It is a moving thing to see societies leap in a decade a distance that western societies took generations to achieve - but clearly, as we sometimes see in Taiwan, there are often problems of a lack of awareness of modern issues, like hygeine.
If this occurs, World Health Organization officials predict that, in the most optimistic scenario, 2 million to 7 million people would die worldwide and that the toll could potentially reach 100 million. Health experts say the virus has already exhibited traits similar to those that caused the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which is estimated to have killed about 40 million people."
This is scary stuff. The health officials quoted sound like people watching an accident develop in slow motion from on high, but unable to do anything about it. It is a moving thing to see societies leap in a decade a distance that western societies took generations to achieve - but clearly, as we sometimes see in Taiwan, there are often problems of a lack of awareness of modern issues, like hygeine.
Kung Fu
Had a rare opportunity to see the new Steven Chow (Zhou 1 Xing 1 Chr 2) movie "Kung Fu Hustle." I'd seen Chow's previous movie, "Shaolin Soccer", on a bus, with the sound turned down, and was mildly intrigued. I'd like to see it again, for real. All I can say is, within the first five minutes you know you're in the hands of a real master. Writer, Director and Actor, Steven Chow is an auteur here in the old school sense. It's hard not to reflect that the Hong Kong Kung Fu movie genre gets a real shot in the arm by being re-interpreted by Quentin Tarantino. But although Kung Fu clearly owes a lot to Kill Bill, the energy in Hustle is real and original. And for a change, we get to see it here before it opens in the States in March!
What I Did on my Holidays
The incomparable Robert Johanson has created a blog of our DWEN AN WINTER ENGLISH CAMP at Dong Hwa University in Hualien. Forty of the very best high school students on the island gathered for five days of intensive English instruction and practice. The photos include a day at an aboriginal village in the East Rift Valley, and a day at Taroko Gorge. The Dun An Foundation is personally financed by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying Jeou as a service organization for youth. Activity organizer Steven Chen told the students they didn't have to become politicians to be "players", but he hoped they would become opinion leaders for their generation. Truly a pleasure to teach these guys!
Sunday, January 30, 2005
SNAFU
Uh, needless to say, the four posts responding to Scott Sommers that appear below (at least I think they appear below, although I am not entirely certain) were posted in reverse order. Therefore, although it is not mandatory, it would probably be best to read them in reverse order, in the best interests of clarity. Heh heh. What Mark "best weatherman ever" Mathis would call "a small technical error."
Virginia DOT Study Shows Cams Increase Injury Accidents
"Despite a distinct sympathy in favor of camera enforcement, the researchers found a 'definite' increase in rear-end accidents and only a 'possible' decrease in angle accidents. Most importantly, the net effect was that more injuries happened after cameras are installed. Camera proponents explain this away by asserting angle accidents are more serious, but this claim has not been scientifically studied according to this report. The rear end collisions caused by the cameras still produce injuries -- the original promise of camera proponents was that they would reduce accidents and injuries, not rearrange them".
I wonder if anyone's done any kind of study of this: sort in Taiwan. I suppose, given the traffic density, and mixing of scooters and cars, there might be a special case to be made that hot pursuit is to be avoided here. At any rate, in eleven years, I can remember only one or two times seeing such a thing. Also, quality control seems to be an issue. People who frequent a given neighborhood not only get to know where the cameras are, but come to realize there are "lenient" cameras, as well as "hangin' judgemeras." I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the five-o authorities on this one, but, then, this is a place where the police leave their flashers on while patrolling so as to sneak up on perpetrators unawares.
Hat tip: instapundit
I wonder if anyone's done any kind of study of this: sort in Taiwan. I suppose, given the traffic density, and mixing of scooters and cars, there might be a special case to be made that hot pursuit is to be avoided here. At any rate, in eleven years, I can remember only one or two times seeing such a thing. Also, quality control seems to be an issue. People who frequent a given neighborhood not only get to know where the cameras are, but come to realize there are "lenient" cameras, as well as "hangin' judgemeras." I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the five-o authorities on this one, but, then, this is a place where the police leave their flashers on while patrolling so as to sneak up on perpetrators unawares.
Hat tip: instapundit
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Credibility
When I cited the decline of liberal arts departments into p.c. silly-farms for the rich, and the teacher accreditation process as Venus fly-traps for under-achievers, I was making the point that, to the degree that these institutions lose credibility, one might feel relatively less indignation about unaccredited teachers. Agree with their platform or disagree, clearly the purpose of reformk12.com is to reform educational institutions and restore what they consider to be lost credibility. I did not (and do not) take the position that all standards should be dispensed with, only that I feel the stakes for society are less dire than Scott does.
There's always a balance to be found on the regulated/ unregulated spectrum. Moreover, the ideal balance will be different for every society. One thing that struck me after the 9/21 earthquake was that rescue workers who'd worked on disasters all over the world noted that Taiwan was singular in that, in the days following the quake, when police and other institutions were paralyzed, there was virtually no looting or rioting. Across the strait, the authoritarian government justifies a whole panoply of oppressive regulations by citing the specter of dissolution, disorder, a descent into Hobbesian chaos, if these measures were not taken. Whether that's justified or not in China, it's clear that Taiwan is a far more pliant society, with a bottom-up societal cohesion that's the envy of many other countries. A lot of times, in Taiwan, things get done precisely because the regulating institutions are a bit ramshackle, but the civil society is strong. That's Taiwan's strength, not weakness.
There's always a balance to be found on the regulated/ unregulated spectrum. Moreover, the ideal balance will be different for every society. One thing that struck me after the 9/21 earthquake was that rescue workers who'd worked on disasters all over the world noted that Taiwan was singular in that, in the days following the quake, when police and other institutions were paralyzed, there was virtually no looting or rioting. Across the strait, the authoritarian government justifies a whole panoply of oppressive regulations by citing the specter of dissolution, disorder, a descent into Hobbesian chaos, if these measures were not taken. Whether that's justified or not in China, it's clear that Taiwan is a far more pliant society, with a bottom-up societal cohesion that's the envy of many other countries. A lot of times, in Taiwan, things get done precisely because the regulating institutions are a bit ramshackle, but the civil society is strong. That's Taiwan's strength, not weakness.
Regulated and Unregulated
Scott: "Highly regulated societies are more predictable, safer and ,most of all, more desirable places to live. While this description of highly regulated society is not without its detractors, judging from the movement of peoples throughout the world, opposition to this opinion is insignificant. Very few people appear at all interested in living permanently in the unregulated regions of the world."
The assertion that highly regulated societies are uniformly more desirable places to live seems rather sweeping to me. Scott does not seem to allow for the possibility of over-regulated societies, or societies in which regulations are used to the advantage of self-interested, self-perpetuating special interests. Scott emphasizes a spectrum spanning from unregulated to highly regulated; I would say the defining spectrum is along a line stretching from societies where institutions have credibility as serving the larger interests of society to those that have lost that credibility. Is Zimbabwe regulated or unregulated? For most of the people, it is highly regulated, indeed. Only for a small, connected elite is it an unregulated candy shop.
Perhaps the most conspicuous movement of people in the world today is the emigration of large numbers of Northern Africans into Europe. Is someone emigrating from post-Nasserist, sclerotic, bureaucratically clogged Egypt to , say, Holland, really seeking a more regulated society? Northern Africa includes super-regulated (and, on the surface, predictable and safe) Libya, as well as the unregulated failed state, Sudan. The boat people phenomenon is common to both over-regulated Cuba and entropic, unregulated Haiti. The common denominator between these emigrant states is not regulated/ unregulated, but that the institutions in these states have lost credibility as serving society in an equitable way.
The assertion that highly regulated societies are uniformly more desirable places to live seems rather sweeping to me. Scott does not seem to allow for the possibility of over-regulated societies, or societies in which regulations are used to the advantage of self-interested, self-perpetuating special interests. Scott emphasizes a spectrum spanning from unregulated to highly regulated; I would say the defining spectrum is along a line stretching from societies where institutions have credibility as serving the larger interests of society to those that have lost that credibility. Is Zimbabwe regulated or unregulated? For most of the people, it is highly regulated, indeed. Only for a small, connected elite is it an unregulated candy shop.
Perhaps the most conspicuous movement of people in the world today is the emigration of large numbers of Northern Africans into Europe. Is someone emigrating from post-Nasserist, sclerotic, bureaucratically clogged Egypt to , say, Holland, really seeking a more regulated society? Northern Africa includes super-regulated (and, on the surface, predictable and safe) Libya, as well as the unregulated failed state, Sudan. The boat people phenomenon is common to both over-regulated Cuba and entropic, unregulated Haiti. The common denominator between these emigrant states is not regulated/ unregulated, but that the institutions in these states have lost credibility as serving society in an equitable way.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Education Major Scores
Scott: "The information that reformk12.com refers to addresses the ranking of students who major in education versus other majors. It tells us nothing about the ability of certified versus uncertified teachers... after all, it could be the worst students who end up in education, regardless of background."
That's quite possible. I doubt that the students from top colleges who choose teaching are coming from the tops of their classes. But the bottom one-fifth of scores from top universities are still higher than the education major averages cited. Also, when schools require "accredited teachers", they are not merely saying "We are every bit as good as you elitist private school types"; they are, in fact, saying "We are better than you, and would exclude you on the grounds of teaching excellence." It is a paradoxical kind of elitist Culture of Mediocrity.
That's quite possible. I doubt that the students from top colleges who choose teaching are coming from the tops of their classes. But the bottom one-fifth of scores from top universities are still higher than the education major averages cited. Also, when schools require "accredited teachers", they are not merely saying "We are every bit as good as you elitist private school types"; they are, in fact, saying "We are better than you, and would exclude you on the grounds of teaching excellence." It is a paradoxical kind of elitist Culture of Mediocrity.
Scott on Accreditation
I have been in Hualien for five days, teaching a winter vacation English camp, and so have been on the far side of the moon as far as access to a computer. On returning home, I discovered this whopper of a post. Wow. Let's take Scott's essay point by point, because he covers a lot of ground.
Scott: "I'd like to once again state that I have never advocated accreditation or qualification as good methods to assure the quality preparation of professionals."
This opinion was never attributed to him by me. Looking over my post, I suspect the offending sentence is "There will always be gatekeeping standards for entrance into teaching, of course. I just seem to differ with Scott on the degree to which those credentials really correspond with excellence in teaching." Scott clearly assumes from the way in which the postings segue from a discussion on bogus degrees to liberal arts programs to accreditation that I was attributing to him a postion on accreditation. In fact, the second posting was an expansion on the above V.S. Naipal quote, not a counter-argument to something Scott said. Re-reading my post, using the term "gatekeeping standards" in the transition may have been sloppy. But if was counter-arguing, I would have, as is my habit, offered a direct quotation to argue against, and used the specific term "accreditation". It was also sloppy of Scott to, in my comments section, accuse me of "misquoting" him. Quote him is precisely what I would have done if I was attributing the position to him.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Summers Engulfed
"PINKER: Good grief, shouldn�t everything be within the pale of legitimate academic discourse, as long as it is presented with some degree of rigor? That�s the difference between a university and a madrassa."
Stephen Pinker:, a personal hero of mine (see November archives), comments on the tsunami currently engulfing Larry Summers, President of Harvard, over the issue of gender inequalities in the maths and sciences. Jonah Goldberg also has a good essay. My own experience, teaching first and second graders for many years in Taiwan, is that gender differences are pretty stark. Boys act differently (to put it euphemistically) and in the area of language acquisition at this age, they are clearly less adept than the girls. Pinker makes a good case in his book, "The Blank Slate", that the differences between genders seem to be hardwired into our brains. Girls in the States are outperforming, and outgraduating, boys at the high school and college level. Given that the teaching profession is dominated by women, it could (and has) been suggested that boys are the victims of discrimination at schools. But as a male elementary school teacher, I can testify that if I am substituting and I walk into a class where ten of the twelve students are boys, there is sometimes that heart-sinking moment...
Speaking always with the caveat that we are talking about aggregations of people, not individuals, the fact is that genders have strengths and weaknesses, just as cultures do. I'm an exception myself, having been attracted like a moth to a flame to the liberal arts from a young age. If whites perform better than blacks on standardized tests, this is cited as de facto evidence that whites benefit from discrimination. So can the fact that Asians outperform whites be adduced to prove that Asians benefit from pro-Asian bias? How about the NBA, and the entertainment industry in general? Pro-black discrimination? I'm a white male doing this blogging thing. It doesn't cost a whole lot to buy the computer and get ADSL. Yet , I look around and a preponderance of other bloggers seem to be white and male. Is this evidence of a cultural pre-disposition, or is there a digital Bull Conners roaming about the cyber-world, with his cyber German Shepherds, making sure more minorities and women don't blog? We're not doing it for the money. The evidence seems to be that we like it, and perhaps even have an aptitude for it. But why couldn't the same be true of the higher levels of Math and Science? And what to make of anomalies like the fact that women do very well in Statistics, but poorly in Physics? Have high school Physics teachers been discriminating, while their colleagues in Statistics are imbued with the true spirit of human tolerance?
Stephen Pinker:, a personal hero of mine (see November archives), comments on the tsunami currently engulfing Larry Summers, President of Harvard, over the issue of gender inequalities in the maths and sciences. Jonah Goldberg also has a good essay. My own experience, teaching first and second graders for many years in Taiwan, is that gender differences are pretty stark. Boys act differently (to put it euphemistically) and in the area of language acquisition at this age, they are clearly less adept than the girls. Pinker makes a good case in his book, "The Blank Slate", that the differences between genders seem to be hardwired into our brains. Girls in the States are outperforming, and outgraduating, boys at the high school and college level. Given that the teaching profession is dominated by women, it could (and has) been suggested that boys are the victims of discrimination at schools. But as a male elementary school teacher, I can testify that if I am substituting and I walk into a class where ten of the twelve students are boys, there is sometimes that heart-sinking moment...
Speaking always with the caveat that we are talking about aggregations of people, not individuals, the fact is that genders have strengths and weaknesses, just as cultures do. I'm an exception myself, having been attracted like a moth to a flame to the liberal arts from a young age. If whites perform better than blacks on standardized tests, this is cited as de facto evidence that whites benefit from discrimination. So can the fact that Asians outperform whites be adduced to prove that Asians benefit from pro-Asian bias? How about the NBA, and the entertainment industry in general? Pro-black discrimination? I'm a white male doing this blogging thing. It doesn't cost a whole lot to buy the computer and get ADSL. Yet , I look around and a preponderance of other bloggers seem to be white and male. Is this evidence of a cultural pre-disposition, or is there a digital Bull Conners roaming about the cyber-world, with his cyber German Shepherds, making sure more minorities and women don't blog? We're not doing it for the money. The evidence seems to be that we like it, and perhaps even have an aptitude for it. But why couldn't the same be true of the higher levels of Math and Science? And what to make of anomalies like the fact that women do very well in Statistics, but poorly in Physics? Have high school Physics teachers been discriminating, while their colleagues in Statistics are imbued with the true spirit of human tolerance?
The Vice Tightens
"Every time Lee makes a trip overseas, Beijing lodges strong protests with the host country, but to no avail. But with the law, things would be different. Beijing could convene a special court to put Lee on trial by default for instigating Taiwan's independence and issue an international warrant for his arrest. And through the extradition law, if there is one, Beijing could demand the arrest and repatriation of the criminal. That would make it extremely difficult for Lee or other hardline independence activists to go anywhere."
This from a China Post editorial. I've often seen references to the fact that Beijing's proposed "Anti-Sedition Law" would give legal cover to an invasion of the island. Prohibiting people who have expressed pro-indepence opinions from traveling abroad is something I hadn't thought about. The America/ Western Europe fissure is often framed in terms of a backward America clinging to an outdated mode of nationalistic thinking, resisting the trends toward international institutions. But until that internationalization is constructed as an explicitly pro-democracy movement, it will lack credibility with many of us. When a military dictatorship can use international law in this way against democratic Taiwan, something is wrong. I keep waiting for the Taipei Times, with its pro-independence stance and its infatuation with Guardian - style internationalism (and Ameriphobia), to address this apparent contradiction. Been waiting for a long time.
This from a China Post editorial. I've often seen references to the fact that Beijing's proposed "Anti-Sedition Law" would give legal cover to an invasion of the island. Prohibiting people who have expressed pro-indepence opinions from traveling abroad is something I hadn't thought about. The America/ Western Europe fissure is often framed in terms of a backward America clinging to an outdated mode of nationalistic thinking, resisting the trends toward international institutions. But until that internationalization is constructed as an explicitly pro-democracy movement, it will lack credibility with many of us. When a military dictatorship can use international law in this way against democratic Taiwan, something is wrong. I keep waiting for the Taipei Times, with its pro-independence stance and its infatuation with Guardian - style internationalism (and Ameriphobia), to address this apparent contradiction. Been waiting for a long time.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Scott Sommers Replies
My first comments on this blog! A bit of a scrappy exchange with Scott Sommers, but that's okay. Hope we're all still friends. His response to my last last comment below (under "Bogus Degrees in Taiwan") was: "It's not a contest interpreting what I wrote. I highly recommend that you read some of the other posts and comments that most of my readers would be familiar with." My last counter-comment was not posted in his comments section, however, which is a bit disappointing.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Zhao Zi Yang's Death
"He sacrificed his freedom for the reason that he decided to hold onto his ground, which is a moral ground... I think he died of regret. Many people question whether he had died of regret of supporting students. I think he died of regret of not supporting enough." - fellow Taichunger We'er Kaixi
Well, he was eighty - five years old...
Well, he was eighty - five years old...
More Notes on Credentials
There will always be gatekeeping standards for entrance into teaching, of course. I just seem to differ with Scott on the degree to which those credentials really correspond to excellence in teaching. Too often, when educational establishments want to "reform" or "make the field more professional" they simply add another layer of time consuming but low quality credentials. This often has the effect of actually lessening the quality of the talent pool available to principals when they hire (smart people don't want their time wasted). Currently, in Taiwan, cram schools of the finer sort are insisting that their staff be accredited to teach in their home countries. It is almost unheard of to hear challenged the assumption that these teachers would be better. Try explaining to them that at my high school the bright kids did not go to teacher's colleges. Try explaining that the accreditation process tends to actually attract a slower kind of high school graduate. My family paid tuition to go to Catholic schools (where many teachers only had a BA), because the education was better. Have credentials err on the lower side,I say; let the pool of candidates be larger, and allow principals to use their judgement in hiring and firing.
Bogus Degrees in Taiwan
"In fact, I doubt either Tim or Julie would disagree with me. Would they want themselves or their children seeing a doctor who had not graduated from an accredited medical school and licensing agency regardless of their record? I doubt they would want to drive on a bridge built by an engineer who was not educated at an accredited school or have their teeth checked by an unaccredited dentist. If Rochville were selling medical or engineering degrees would you trust that the recipient had been properly examined by Rochville for their experience? Really, would you want a Rochville-certified doctor performing surgery on your children? Or is it just OK for you to be using their diplomas?"
Scott Sommers: discusses the phenomenon of bogus degrees at his blog. I have to disagree with the analogy between a liberal arts degree and a degree in medicine or engineering. The dirty little secret about teaching (as with journalism) is that it is a craft more than a real profession. That is, one gets good at it by doing it, rather than learning it systematically in a school. There are always going to be "gatekeeper standards" determining who may teach and who may not, but they are not as sacrosanct as those for doctors or bridge builders. Evidence of this is that it is often so difficult to detect uncredentialed teachers in our midst. Even a well-educated autodidact would usually be sniffed out by his medical cohorts at a good hospital - not so for an elementary school teacher. If a nuetron bomb that only killed doctors was dropped on Taiwan, it would take decades for the health care system to even approximate what is presently in place. I have no experience as a journalist, but I could do a reasonably good job at it starting tomorrow, and after a few years of doing it, I'd put my work up against the pros. Not so with doing surgery. You have to go to med school to do that.
V.S. Naipal has some things to say about liberal arts degrees (as quoted by Paul Theroux in "Sir Vidia's Shadow"), and having spent a small fortune that I didn't have on an English degree from the University of Chicago, I mostly agree: "I think they're calamitous, these English courses. They're actively destructive of civilization and thought. When I was at Oxford in 1950, I think we all knew that English was not a serious subject for study, not worth a serious degree, not worth a physics degree. It was not worth a man doing medical research. We knew that this business of doing English was a very soft option, an extension of the divinity courses of the last century. But that was what people went to Oxford for, to learn how to hunt and to live this great social life, and later, endless divinity people were produced. Probably a hundred years ago or less, Professor Sweet - you know, who is the origin of Professor Higgins in the Shaw play (he meant Henry Sweet, 1845-1912, phonetician and philologist) - he and some other people established this English course, a form of idleness for simple people. So that now, what has happened is that this non-course, this non-subject, has been taken over by politically motivated people. Universities have become places where free thinking is not allowed, where your tutor does not ask for an original thought about a work. But it's a political line! We were told in Oxford in 1950 that the best thing that happened to you occured in the holidays. That's when you did a lot of reading.The point of this course was that it allowed you to do an infinite amount of reading. Nowadays people read very, very little, and they have elaborate theories. And there have emerged whole generations from the universities who can't think and just parrot the phrases."
Scott Sommers: discusses the phenomenon of bogus degrees at his blog. I have to disagree with the analogy between a liberal arts degree and a degree in medicine or engineering. The dirty little secret about teaching (as with journalism) is that it is a craft more than a real profession. That is, one gets good at it by doing it, rather than learning it systematically in a school. There are always going to be "gatekeeper standards" determining who may teach and who may not, but they are not as sacrosanct as those for doctors or bridge builders. Evidence of this is that it is often so difficult to detect uncredentialed teachers in our midst. Even a well-educated autodidact would usually be sniffed out by his medical cohorts at a good hospital - not so for an elementary school teacher. If a nuetron bomb that only killed doctors was dropped on Taiwan, it would take decades for the health care system to even approximate what is presently in place. I have no experience as a journalist, but I could do a reasonably good job at it starting tomorrow, and after a few years of doing it, I'd put my work up against the pros. Not so with doing surgery. You have to go to med school to do that.
V.S. Naipal has some things to say about liberal arts degrees (as quoted by Paul Theroux in "Sir Vidia's Shadow"), and having spent a small fortune that I didn't have on an English degree from the University of Chicago, I mostly agree: "I think they're calamitous, these English courses. They're actively destructive of civilization and thought. When I was at Oxford in 1950, I think we all knew that English was not a serious subject for study, not worth a serious degree, not worth a physics degree. It was not worth a man doing medical research. We knew that this business of doing English was a very soft option, an extension of the divinity courses of the last century. But that was what people went to Oxford for, to learn how to hunt and to live this great social life, and later, endless divinity people were produced. Probably a hundred years ago or less, Professor Sweet - you know, who is the origin of Professor Higgins in the Shaw play (he meant Henry Sweet, 1845-1912, phonetician and philologist) - he and some other people established this English course, a form of idleness for simple people. So that now, what has happened is that this non-course, this non-subject, has been taken over by politically motivated people. Universities have become places where free thinking is not allowed, where your tutor does not ask for an original thought about a work. But it's a political line! We were told in Oxford in 1950 that the best thing that happened to you occured in the holidays. That's when you did a lot of reading.The point of this course was that it allowed you to do an infinite amount of reading. Nowadays people read very, very little, and they have elaborate theories. And there have emerged whole generations from the universities who can't think and just parrot the phrases."
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Excuse Me While I Adjust My Glasses
I've never been a big fan ofMa Ying Jeou, and I've long suspected that his administrative skills fell far short of his predecessor, Chen Shui-bian. But I think he's probably a decent man (in an unctuous, Confucian sort of way) and probably reasonably competent. As probably all of Taiwan knows by now, his career is presently in crisis due to a case in which a child who had been severely beaten by her drunk father had to come all the way to Taichung to have surgery after being denied a bed by hospitals in Taipei. That the facts of the case are outrageous doesn't need any amplifying here. Still, it's hard not to feel repelled by the blood-in-the-water feeding frenzy behavior of some legislators and the media. To see them banging the lectern and shouting Ma down as soon as he opens his mouth is to feel that some of them seem to be enjoying their indignation a bit too much.
In this picture, Ma is being dressed down by the members of the City Council, but what is striking to me is that he is being forced to stand at a lectern adorned with a poster lambasting him. Now, this seems like a fundamental dignity issue to me. Accountability and contrition are to be expected from the mayor in a situation like this, but it seems entirely reasonable for the elected official of the Executive branch, when he is called for interpellation in the Legislative branch, to stipulate that he should not have to answer uncivil questions while standing behind a poster attacking him. This is not the Cultural Revolution, of course, but it does seem to be an echo of this sort of behavior, with people being forced to wear their accusations while they are harangued. I have no idea whether this case is sympomatic of systemic problems in the health system or not. Single, anecdotal cases do not necessary condemn a whole system, and statistics notoriously can be manipulated. It seems reasonable to expect that an anecdotal case of this sort should prompt a thorough investigation of the system. But what's been going on with the treatment of Ma is something else. On the other hand, maybe public officials who are being given the Red Guards treatment have their own ways of responding. Is the Health Minister to Ma's left doing what an undergraduate slacker would say he is doing?
In this picture, Ma is being dressed down by the members of the City Council, but what is striking to me is that he is being forced to stand at a lectern adorned with a poster lambasting him. Now, this seems like a fundamental dignity issue to me. Accountability and contrition are to be expected from the mayor in a situation like this, but it seems entirely reasonable for the elected official of the Executive branch, when he is called for interpellation in the Legislative branch, to stipulate that he should not have to answer uncivil questions while standing behind a poster attacking him. This is not the Cultural Revolution, of course, but it does seem to be an echo of this sort of behavior, with people being forced to wear their accusations while they are harangued. I have no idea whether this case is sympomatic of systemic problems in the health system or not. Single, anecdotal cases do not necessary condemn a whole system, and statistics notoriously can be manipulated. It seems reasonable to expect that an anecdotal case of this sort should prompt a thorough investigation of the system. But what's been going on with the treatment of Ma is something else. On the other hand, maybe public officials who are being given the Red Guards treatment have their own ways of responding. Is the Health Minister to Ma's left doing what an undergraduate slacker would say he is doing?
Taiwan News Online
"According to wire service reports, China's Communications Minister Zhang Chunxian said China would invest US$241.7 billion on building 34 highways over 20 to 30 years, with one linking the mainland to Taipei.
'Under the 85,000-kilometers highway plan, there would be a special corridor linking the mainland to Taipei,' he told a news conference yesterday.
Asked how this architectural feat could be accomplished, he said: 'Taipei could be linked by building a tunnel or something else.' "
Scalper comes up to me on the street today and tries to sell me a year pass for the China - Taiwan tunnel. Heh. Do I look like I just fell off the banana boat yesterday? Bought mine from a kiosk, and got fifty percent off.
'Under the 85,000-kilometers highway plan, there would be a special corridor linking the mainland to Taipei,' he told a news conference yesterday.
Asked how this architectural feat could be accomplished, he said: 'Taipei could be linked by building a tunnel or something else.' "
Scalper comes up to me on the street today and tries to sell me a year pass for the China - Taiwan tunnel. Heh. Do I look like I just fell off the banana boat yesterday? Bought mine from a kiosk, and got fifty percent off.
Friday, January 14, 2005
I Swear This Link Has A Taiwan Angle
"Felipe Rose, the Indian dude from the singing group the Village People, presented the National Museum of the American Indian with a framed, gold 45-rpm single of the disco group's 1978 megahit 'Y.M.C.A.' on Wednesday afternoon. "
It's not easy to be genuinely funny within the conventions of a standard news article, but Hank Stuever pulls it off with this one in The Post. In my first months here, hanging out with my friend Jonathan, we were overjoyed to discover a teahouse improbably equipped with a real, old-stye juke box. Even stranger was to find that it played the "YMCA" song, which neither of us had heard in over a decade. YMCA is now firmly entrenched in the canon of "English Songs That Taiwanese Seem To Like A Lot I Don't Know Why". The Post article marks the retro resurrection of the song from about '92, just when I got here, but I swear I hadn't heard the thing before I got to Taiwan, and then - well, it's been pretty much unavoidable since. I can only surmise that it's like those Felix the Cat shirts you see around - by a kind of double-negative, some Taiwanese are so dorky they sometimes stumble blindly onto the cutting edge of campy retro trends.
It's not easy to be genuinely funny within the conventions of a standard news article, but Hank Stuever pulls it off with this one in The Post. In my first months here, hanging out with my friend Jonathan, we were overjoyed to discover a teahouse improbably equipped with a real, old-stye juke box. Even stranger was to find that it played the "YMCA" song, which neither of us had heard in over a decade. YMCA is now firmly entrenched in the canon of "English Songs That Taiwanese Seem To Like A Lot I Don't Know Why". The Post article marks the retro resurrection of the song from about '92, just when I got here, but I swear I hadn't heard the thing before I got to Taiwan, and then - well, it's been pretty much unavoidable since. I can only surmise that it's like those Felix the Cat shirts you see around - by a kind of double-negative, some Taiwanese are so dorky they sometimes stumble blindly onto the cutting edge of campy retro trends.
Not Reassuring
"Less than a quarter of respondents said the U.S military should defend the island of Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. "
Polls should always be viewed skeptically, but when the numbers are in the low twenties for defending Taiwan from attack it's no wonder the island isn't getting much support from the Bush administration.
Polls should always be viewed skeptically, but when the numbers are in the low twenties for defending Taiwan from attack it's no wonder the island isn't getting much support from the Bush administration.
Death of a Station
"Although radio insiders have discussed the likelihood of WHFS changing formats for many months, the switch came as a shock to former employees and fans who grew up listening to the radio station that, since the late 1960s, had gained a reputation as the place to go for new music. Radio stations often switch formats and often without promoting the change in advance. "
WHFS radio essentially taught me what good music is . I listened through the mid-seventies, and it remains for me the gold-standard defining the term "quality radio station.". The article mentions more mainstream groups like The Who, but that's not what I remember. WHFS introduced me to the likes of Ry Cooder, David Bromberg, Tom Waits,Randy Newman and John Prine, to mention just a few. Each DJ brought his own announcing style to the mike and, more important, his own musical tastes. Whether it was Jerry Garcia or Little Feat, musicians would drop by when they were in town, play a little, and rap with the jocks. It was a revelation to me. When the internet revolution came to Taichung, one of the first things I did was look up HFS. Needless to say, it was unrecognizable. Now it's changing to a Spanish format. Things change. I read a Post article not long ago that said one in seven people in the Washington,D.C. area were born abroad. Good. I'm not there, but it sounds like a lot of good energy coming in. And,honestly, that seems a lot less sad to me than their playing the stuff they've played the last decade.
For those interested, the closest thing I've found to the spirit of the old WHFS is Austin's KGSR.
WHFS radio essentially taught me what good music is . I listened through the mid-seventies, and it remains for me the gold-standard defining the term "quality radio station.". The article mentions more mainstream groups like The Who, but that's not what I remember. WHFS introduced me to the likes of Ry Cooder, David Bromberg, Tom Waits,Randy Newman and John Prine, to mention just a few. Each DJ brought his own announcing style to the mike and, more important, his own musical tastes. Whether it was Jerry Garcia or Little Feat, musicians would drop by when they were in town, play a little, and rap with the jocks. It was a revelation to me. When the internet revolution came to Taichung, one of the first things I did was look up HFS. Needless to say, it was unrecognizable. Now it's changing to a Spanish format. Things change. I read a Post article not long ago that said one in seven people in the Washington,D.C. area were born abroad. Good. I'm not there, but it sounds like a lot of good energy coming in. And,honestly, that seems a lot less sad to me than their playing the stuff they've played the last decade.
For those interested, the closest thing I've found to the spirit of the old WHFS is Austin's KGSR.
We Can Change the World - By Whining
I forget who said it, but the quote is something along the lines of: women who feel entitled to all of the things men have should consider the male option of trying to be the strong, silent type.Not TheNewYorkTimes>Opinion> Maureen Dowd
My best friend in college was a hot, smart Korean-American classmate; same age, most of the same interests. The years went by - for me, dateless - for her a revolving door of older boyfriends who would come for a year and be dumped. We shared a peanut butter and jelly student's existence, romantically self-conscious about our poverty, but having a ball reading the same books and listening to the same music. She'd share her excitement with me on Thursdays, anticipating a three-day weekend at the boyfriend's vacation house, or at a five-star hotel in Chicago. The next Monday, she'd share her disappointment with me -"I really don't have anything in common with him. We get high and then watch cartoons and we have nothing to say to each other." You know the ending. After the last Price-Waterhouse boyfriend breakup, I asked and got my answer - "I couldn't. I know you too well." I know; Life's tough. Take it on the chin and move on.
Move on to thirteen years ago and,moving west on the way to Taiwan, I get a job shelving books at the University of Washington Law Library. Problem is, my eardrum is severely retracted and I'm suffering from dizziness and a constant, piercing headache. Full-time library workers are covered by health insurance, but the library Director, a feminist baby-boomer, is laying off full-time workers and replacing them with people like me who have two part-time jobs (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and ,well, part-timers -heh heh- don't get health care. Eventually I got funding for the operation I needed, through the office of Rep. Jim McDermott (and when I get as rich as Michael Jackson, Congressman McDermott's staffers all get free rides for life on the twirlybird). When I wrote to the Director for assistance, however, what I got the next day in the hallway was an icy stare that would stop a clock. We got called in about this time for a consciousness raising session on sexual harassment; the minimum wage male staffers being warned in no uncertain terms by the female lawyers who ran the place not to even consider sexually harassing them. Popping another pill for the pain, I remember thinking, "this is why poor people vote for Ronald Reagan."
This is what power is. It is the right to say, and have broadcast:"I am a victim; you are not a victim. I may speak; you may not speak." Power means being able to define which issues are important and which are marginal. So Maureen Dowd went to a party and met some other rich, famous, middle-aged female friends, and they are having a hard time getting dates. It's not fair. Hmmm. Maybe. Who cares? Dare3 I suggest that the fact that the dating woes of this demographic merits a column in the New York Times is evidence of just how privileged these people are, not the opposite? I feel pretty certain that none of these women ever doubted for a second that the process by which they became rich was ever anything less than a perfect meritocracy.
So now I'm 45 and living in Taiwan. And I'm sure it's no secret that a reasonably well-preserved American man has his chances here. My girlfriend of the last two years is ten years younger than me, my previous two girlfriends were 26 and 28 respectively. All stunners, and smart, too! I make more than I made in America and I'm not complaining -though it's probably about one twentieth of what Maureen Dowd or Carrie Fisher makes. I'm covered under Taiwan's comprehensive health plan, but I still can't afford American health insurance. Hope I don't get cancer. But the sex is great, and the feeling that I'm attractive here - a bit of a catch, actually - is quite enjoyable. A little more enjoyable, actually, knowing that it's so deeply resented by people like Maureen Dowd.
My best friend in college was a hot, smart Korean-American classmate; same age, most of the same interests. The years went by - for me, dateless - for her a revolving door of older boyfriends who would come for a year and be dumped. We shared a peanut butter and jelly student's existence, romantically self-conscious about our poverty, but having a ball reading the same books and listening to the same music. She'd share her excitement with me on Thursdays, anticipating a three-day weekend at the boyfriend's vacation house, or at a five-star hotel in Chicago. The next Monday, she'd share her disappointment with me -"I really don't have anything in common with him. We get high and then watch cartoons and we have nothing to say to each other." You know the ending. After the last Price-Waterhouse boyfriend breakup, I asked and got my answer - "I couldn't. I know you too well." I know; Life's tough. Take it on the chin and move on.
Move on to thirteen years ago and,moving west on the way to Taiwan, I get a job shelving books at the University of Washington Law Library. Problem is, my eardrum is severely retracted and I'm suffering from dizziness and a constant, piercing headache. Full-time library workers are covered by health insurance, but the library Director, a feminist baby-boomer, is laying off full-time workers and replacing them with people like me who have two part-time jobs (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and ,well, part-timers -heh heh- don't get health care. Eventually I got funding for the operation I needed, through the office of Rep. Jim McDermott (and when I get as rich as Michael Jackson, Congressman McDermott's staffers all get free rides for life on the twirlybird). When I wrote to the Director for assistance, however, what I got the next day in the hallway was an icy stare that would stop a clock. We got called in about this time for a consciousness raising session on sexual harassment; the minimum wage male staffers being warned in no uncertain terms by the female lawyers who ran the place not to even consider sexually harassing them. Popping another pill for the pain, I remember thinking, "this is why poor people vote for Ronald Reagan."
This is what power is. It is the right to say, and have broadcast:"I am a victim; you are not a victim. I may speak; you may not speak." Power means being able to define which issues are important and which are marginal. So Maureen Dowd went to a party and met some other rich, famous, middle-aged female friends, and they are having a hard time getting dates. It's not fair. Hmmm. Maybe. Who cares? Dare3 I suggest that the fact that the dating woes of this demographic merits a column in the New York Times is evidence of just how privileged these people are, not the opposite? I feel pretty certain that none of these women ever doubted for a second that the process by which they became rich was ever anything less than a perfect meritocracy.
So now I'm 45 and living in Taiwan. And I'm sure it's no secret that a reasonably well-preserved American man has his chances here. My girlfriend of the last two years is ten years younger than me, my previous two girlfriends were 26 and 28 respectively. All stunners, and smart, too! I make more than I made in America and I'm not complaining -though it's probably about one twentieth of what Maureen Dowd or Carrie Fisher makes. I'm covered under Taiwan's comprehensive health plan, but I still can't afford American health insurance. Hope I don't get cancer. But the sex is great, and the feeling that I'm attractive here - a bit of a catch, actually - is quite enjoyable. A little more enjoyable, actually, knowing that it's so deeply resented by people like Maureen Dowd.
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