"centrally-administered materialism"

David Warren wrote an excellent editorial in commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre and D-Day:

The Second World War ended in split decision. There was victory in the West, and nominal victory in the East, but as Churchill said, an Iron Curtain fell, and those to the east of it were abandoned to a Communist tyranny little different from the daily Nazi tyranny that had preceded the war; indeed, worse for being prolonged. Two generations were condemned to slavery: whole lives passed under the twitching thumbs of party apparatchiks, with only the briefest respites, in Berlin, in Warsaw, in Budapest, in Prague. And each of those respites, bloody.

It was a mixed result also within the West, for it seems today that we learned nothing, and the principles for which men and women once died have been progressively abandoned in our public life. Yes we have democracy, of a sort: mass democracy, and rule in the name of numbers. But the numbers have been used to establish Nanny States that deeply impinge our freedom, and to advance the very cause of atheist materialism that once marked Nazi, Fascist, and Communist regimes as exceptional.

The people of China are now passing out of the third generation of Communist tyranny. Outwardly, it has eased. The Red Chinese state has relaxed its controls over minor arrangements in everyday life, to the extent of permitting the kind of "capitalist" consumerism that can enhance its own power.

We have been left with less to choose than we think, between the two systems, for we now have centrally-administered materialism in both East and West.

The soldiers who fell in Normandy were not fighting for swimming pools and home entertainment centres. They had before them a view of the dignity of man: of things worth more than life itself. The students who stood in Tiananmen Square -- who raised the home-made statue of Lady Liberty -- did not die for the sake of cellphones, and skyscrapers in Shanghai. They faced the tanks and bullets of the "People's Revolutionary Army" with something more substantial in their hearts.

Yet the generation after them, there as here, has been largely bought off with the false promise of material prosperity. There, as here, we have agreed to become a kind of indentured labour, on the promise that we will be taken care of, cradle to grave.

Let us at least celebrate, for a moment in time, men and women who were better than we are.

But perhaps more revealing about modern China was a joke made by a Chinese visiting scholar– “Nobody’s thinking about Tiananmen in China, they’re all thinking about Gao Kao.”

Gao Kao is the National Higher Education Entrance Examination that takes place over 3 days in China every year. It is basically SAT on steroids. If I’m not mistaken, it occurs only once a year and it completely determines where one goes to college. It conveniently occurs in and around the week of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.


*On an unrelated note, here are some more encouraging slopes relating to the decreasing incidence of bike casualities in NY.

internet links from a brainwashed radical

To prove that my blog hasn’t just turned into one long rant based on my indoctrination from my "radical" “leftist” “progressive” “post-Marxist” “feminist” Penn class, I thought I’d try to amalgamate some other links and thoughts of interest. In order to remain true to shameless self-promotion, I’ve also provided links to past blog entries relating to these topics. I guess in an ideal world, I would post a follow-up blog entry tying in the article. But we all know this isn't an ideal world...

For those of you who left comments on my last blog post, I haven’t had the opportunity to reply yet, because you both posed thought-provoking questions and I need to think a bit more before replying. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

Ideology vs. Money. In China, the latter speaks the louder word.

Ted Stevens was not re-elected. What a relief. Otherwise, the Penn maintenance guy would lose his faith in America: “If a convicted felon can be elected into the Senate, why can’t a felon in jail vote?”

Sick and tired of ethics in America? Just as we may no longer believe in neoliberalism in economics, we’re perhaps also in need of a change in the field of ethics:

We don’t need microfinance. We need sweatshops. I’m only half kidding. But Oxfam’s Uttaran in some ways manages to get the best of microfinance and manages to approximate more formal employment.

Michael Lewis, the writer of Liar’s Poker, comments on his experience and on events and people leading up today’s Wall Street mess.

I criticized WalMart in my last entry. Jonathan has redirected me to an article that argues to the contrary. I hope to post a response at some point.

Sometimes, I just want to make something beautiful, but it certainly tries my patience. Here's my half-finished quilt top:


I manage to look supremely uncool on my bike with my pant leg retainers, mismatched mittens, and Eco vegan sneakers. Practicality trumps narcissism. I definitely do not follow these instructions. Apparently, there are plenty of others who manage to bike fashionably. Though sometimes, in looking at their footwear, I wonder if they will soon remove themselves from the gene pool.


Incharacter.org runs a feature on forgiveness. Notably, Ten Greatest Moments in Forgiveness History highlights the extraordinary forgiveness exhibited by the Amish community after the school shooting.

If you’ve ever read C.S.Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet, you might understand the theory that the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia proxy atrological symbolism of the planets. A review on the book Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the ¬Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward

Single Young Male (SYM). Single Young Female (SYF). The dating scene turns Darwinian (the end result of Sex and the City). It makes me really glad that I’m married. Young Married Couple (YMC) I suppose. Some notable quotables from the dating article:
“I am not going to hitch my wagon to a woman . . . who is more into her abs, thighs, triceps, and plastic surgery. A woman who seems to have forgotten that she did graduate high school and that it’s time to act accordingly.” “Maybe we turn to video games not because we are trying to run away from the responsibilities of a ‘grown-up life’ but because they are a better companion than some disease-ridden bar tramp who is only after money and a free ride.” “Men are finally waking up to the ever-present fact that traditional marriage, or a committed relationship, with its accompanying socially imposed requirements of being wallets with legs for women, is an empty and meaningless drudgery.”

From Orion Magazine: Why are corporations treated as individuals and not nature?
“In particular, we should examine the fact that, in the eyes of the law, corporations are considered people and entitled to civil rights. We often forget that corporations are only a few centuries old and have been continually evolving since their inception. Imagine what could be done if we changed the fiduciary responsibilities of directors to include obligations not only to profitability but also to the whole natural world, and if we imposed collective personal liability on corporate managers and stockholders to restore any damage that they cause to natural communities.”
Corporations are treated as individuals as a result of the 1886 Supreme Court case Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad Company in what some would argue is actually the most significant Supreme Court case in the US.

Find out how many earths would be required to support the human population if everyone lived the same lifestyle as you.

The game of monopoly provides an explanation for today’s economic crisis. While we need to fundamentally reform our economy, so that it is no longer a casino for speculation but an arena for responsible production of goods and services, we still need banks and financing. While many banks loaned with only an eye for increasing short-term profit, there are many subprime mortgage lenders who did it responsably.

As this financial crisis has forced us to question whether or not buying a house is always a wise financial decision for the poor, this economist questions whether accumulating savings is a good idea.

And oh, what shall I do now that the elections are over? Unfortunately, I forgot to save the links to all the articles I found interesting. I did find myself frequently crying the week after his win whenever I read anything about his historic election. Symbolically, Obama’s win has meant a lot, we have yet to see what it will mean practically.

In retrospect, some of the articles above are rather “lefty” or “progressive”. I guess I can’t help it. So I wonder if I think this way because of the class I am taking now, or whether I have always thought this way and this class has merely given more concrete words and frameworks to express it. I suspect the latter, given that I wasn't indoctrinated by my Wharton or economics classes, but it's always important to question how we form our opinions. How much of our thoughts are truly our own and how much are they influenced by what we hear and read and the people we hang out with? And how much of our common sense and knowledge as a society as a whole is influenced by the way the academy produces and frames research?

On a similar note, I also have noticed that my husband and I (or perhaps to use more PC terminology, my "partner" and I) have experienced a convergence of opinions in recent years. Do we have similar opinions because we started dating and got married? Or, did the similar opinions make us attracted to each other in the first place? Chicken and the egg.

imagining china

If cities have gods, then so must nations. With the 24 hour NBC coverage of the Olympic Games, I can’t help but think what mythical being presides over the vast land of China? What is the spirit that guides this imagined community?*

Let me caveat all this by saying that I make this sketch of China from my very biased and limited viewpoint, amalgamated from my own impressions of the country, conversations with upper middle-class Chinese family and friends and perhaps a few taxi drivers and shop owners, and my reading of American media, which seems quick to pounce on China's weaknesses. Nevertheless, this is my opinion of China, a country for which I still feel a strange affinity for, perhaps indicated by my slightly inability to fully cheer for the American nearly all blond women’s gymnastics team.** The faces of the Chinese women’s gymnastics teams strike me both as familiar and foreign, reminding me of my elusive birthplace that I have only visited as a tourist.

On the surface, China’s deity stands proud. It has come a long way since the devastating mass famines of the 1950s or the social upheavals (the closing down of schools, the relocation to the countryside) of the Cultural Revolution. My parents left China in the mid-eighties. At that time, few families possessed any common household appliances that marked America’s successful 50s: microwave, refrigerator, television set, washing machine etc… However, when my parents returned in 1993 and 1994, they were amazed to find that nearly all their relatives owned them. They remarked that there was little they had that the Chinese did not (aside from having two children!). In little more than a decade or so, many, my extended family included, have risen out of poverty and have decent middle class lives, no longer living cramped six people to a room with no running water.

And visually, China’s cities reflect this economic success-- the impressive glowing skylines, the rapidly expanding network of highways, the sleek shopping centers and lively nightlife. As a result of both this and the continued nationalistic propaganda (if I’m not mistaken, elementary school textbooks still include numerous flattering portraits of Mao ZeDong and other key revolutionary heroes), many feel proud of what China has been able to accomplish from so little.

But China’s pride may also prove to be its downfall. Pursuing some unrealistic vision of modernization, China has been demolishing historic slum-like inner city neighborhoods and replacing them with sleek high rises and shopping malls. While America tries to lower automobile usage, China promotes it, restricting bicycle usage on certain streets. Its rapid industrialization has also filled the skies up with smog. Some may have profited from the economic development, but many remain left behind, supplying the labor for the sweatshop factories and filling in the informal economy.

Its nationalistic pride also suggests hidden insecurity. Though China lavishly demonstrates to the world its success and power, it also seems to yearn for praise and acceptance. Its previous attempts at manufacturing and coordinating a utopian society have failed. Communism in China was a disaster that killed millions. Previous state-down attempts at controlling the population with the one-child policy have created a new set of problems, with the increased pressure on only children to support their parents, and the outnumbering of males to females.

Perhaps China is so quick to curb criticism and repress free speech because it needs to continue to sustain its own myth. Exiled Chinese author Ma Jian, as cited in this article, comments that in China, there is "inflated pride; the fusion of years of nationalistic propaganda, with the economic powerhouse China has become, has created a feeling that it's now the centre of the world, and that foreigners come to them with begging hands." However, "the root of this desire to put on a great show stems from the authorities' own loss of faith in themselves. And they also realize that, despite the great rise in nationalism, the people don't believe in this empty ideology either."

And so China’s shiny, proud exterior façade (like the recently erected walls designed to hide Beijing slums) conceals an interior disillusionment and insecurity. While Chinese Olympic athletes who win gold take home glory and wealth, what happens to the 249,550 (with injured bodies and insufficient education) who do not?*** What other bodies are lost in the spectacle of those chiseled, carved and engineered Olympic bodies?

The state already disappointed the people with the collapse of the communist dream. Along with that, many promises, including health care, state pensions, welfare, jobs, justice, and equality, have been broken. Individual well-being is always curtailed for some purported collective good and elusive nationalistic glory. (Service and sacrifice for the nation is always enforced, rarely voluntary). While China celebrates hosting the Olympic games, factory owners are forced to close up shop, slum-dwellers suddenly find walls surrounding their neighborhoods, and students are told to stay away from Beijing during this time. When China was awarded the privilege (not the right) of hosting the Olympic games, it was partly for the hope of improving the human rights situation in the country. But many have commented that the situation has only worsened.

The Chinese people may rhetorically display plenty of nationalist pride in their imagined community, but their actions suggest otherwise. A spirit of practicality dominates the real China. From my aunt who questioned me on why I did not take a job with a higher salary, to a Chinese Chinatown bus companion who kept insisting that I must do business with China because I spoke both Chinese and English and could become very wealthy, it all comes down to money and security for oneself, and one’s family.

Students spend their childhoods and adolescence confined to classrooms and study halls, preparing for their college entrance exams. Other families make huge personal sacrifices in order to send their children abroad. Factory workers choose to work long, grueling hours in order to provide better for their families. Individuals rarely make true financial sacrifices for the sake of their nation. Over one billion people scramble to try to make ends meet, and improve their standard of living, perhaps without any thought as to whether or not they are serving or bettering their country.

And so perhaps China really is just an imagined community—a story , a fable, a myth, a distant deity to whom one pays homage, but certainly not a god who will come to one’s rescue, no matter how desperate the prayer.****



* The term “imagined communities” comes from Benedict Anderson’s definition of nations. He describes nations as imagined "is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion".
** Okay, I wrote that before the gymnastics all-around. I’ll admit it-- by the end, I was cheering for Nastia Liukins. After all I am a newly minted U.S. citizen! And if I don’t cheer for the US, what country can I cheer for? I can’t quite cheer for China, and Canada’s performance at this Olympics has been rather disappointing. “You have to be ambitious to win the Olympics,” says my mother, “The Canadians! They’re too laid-back!”. I also asked my mother which country she was cheering for more—US or China? She said it was tough, but the US more.
*** I’m averse to China’s state training of athletes where children as young as 3 can be taken from their families. But then I wonder about how sports often work in America—Children aren’t forced to train by the state, and yet only those who can afford the classes, the practice and the coaching make it to the top. I could spin it and say that atleast China gives children and families who have never had an opportunity a chance for Olympic Success. But once again, I must wonder about all those athletes who didn’t quite make it to the top but still had to subject themselves to the years of grueling training, injuries and separation from family. The New York Times article also suggests that even former medalists don’t always fare too well after the Olympics and the glory has faded.
**** I am cognizant of China’s demonstration (both government and individual) of care and compassion after the SiChuan earthquake, so I’m not saying that the government will not assist people at all. Once again, I am speaking of in general terms, so naturally exceptions exist.