Starting Point for Change

Though modernization is always a challenge, I'm going to wager that it's easier to update culture and fix social problems in a traditional society, than to repair the damage and the twisted social incentives that arise from a botched radical revolution that resulted in a series of human atrocities, sometimes verging on (cultural or actual) genocide. Just saying.

Words and Feelings

Came across this list of words from bigthink, which highlighted vocabulary that exists in other languages that do not have an equivalent in English. Such exquisite emotions; painful and sad, but imbued with meaning. Some of the most resonant words were:

"La Douleur Exquise (French): The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can’t have. When I came across this word I thought of “unrequited” love. It’s not quite the same, though. “Unrequited love” describes a relationship state, but not a state of mind. Unrequited love encompasses the lover who isn’t reciprocating, as well as the lover who desires. La douleur exquise gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.

Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love. This is different than “love at first sight,” since it implies that you might have a sense of imminent love, somewhere down the road, without yet feeling it. The term captures the intimation of inevitable love in the future, rather than the instant attraction implied by love at first sight.

Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love. This is a wonderful term for that blissful state, when all your senses are acute for the beloved, the pins and needles thrill of the novelty...

Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for someone that you love and is lost. Another linguist describes it as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist." It’s interesting that saudade accommodates in one word the haunting desire for a lost love, or for an imaginary, impossible, never-to-be-experienced love. Whether the object has been lost or will never exist, it feels the same to the seeker, and leaves her in the same place: she has a desire with no future. Saudade doesn’t distinguish between a ghost, and a fantasy. Nor do our broken hearts, much of the time."

Culture and Character

A note I sent to Seanan on January 14, 2011

Hi Seanan,

 

It was nice to see you again yesterday evening, and to have the whole gang back together. Reading and discussing Confucian texts is actually pretty engaging, and it does feel like we gain something when we explore the meaning of a passage and consider its relevance to our lives today.

Hm ... but after the meeting, I guess the conversation did get a little intense when we talked about Traditional Chinese characters and Simplified Chinese characters. The reason I had such a strong reaction is that I really care about culture and cultural preservation, and this is one of the issues that seems to personify how we treat the past. It poses the question: should we discard things from the past because it currently seems useful or ideologically popular to do so? Or is there value in holding onto our history and applying it in a contemporary context?

 

I'm confident that we are all fine with intellectual debate, so I hope no one felt uncomfortable, though I do feel bad that the discussion started to move into emotional territory. I feel bad when other tribes or nations lose aspects of their identity (whether it's to Western expansionism or globalization); but it feels especially sensitive when it is our own culture that's on the line. In light of what happened in the 20th century in China, I have an acute reaction to these kinds of issues. It is our heritage in question, and I don't believe that we should give it up so easily.

 

To help illustrate: I think the way that I relate to the issue of Traditional Characters, is how you relate to Cantonese. How would you feel if the Communists told people, "Oh, there's no need to speak Cantonese. It's too complicated! All those tones. We're going to force everyone to use Mandarin all the time now. It's better for 'unity' and 'harmony' if everyone would just stop speaking Cantonese." Well, as you noted, they have begun trying to do this, and people in Guangdong are getting pretty riled up about it.

 

Cantonese has survived as a viable and accessible language for all this time, and it has produced wonderful cultural treasures that could only exist in Cantonese. The analogy isn't perfect, because dialect is focused on spoken languge and is regionally based, and a script focuses on visual and aesthetic components and was at one point universal, but I think it captures the idea that just because a policy seems useful at the moment doesn't mean it's the only or even the right thing to do.

 

And here's the rub: it really shouldn't be an either/or situation. If we are sensitive and careful and thoughtful and creative enough, we can find solutions that pay proper respect to the past, and that take into account future generations, while still dealing with the exigencies of the present. For instance, a national language (國語) i.e. Mandarin, can be taught in conjunction with local dialect, so that one can be used on a national scale for official functions and communications, whereas dialects would continue to serve as the local vernacular. In this scenario, the streets of Guangzhou and Guandong would still ring with the sounds of 廣東話, and this would be seen as something to be celebrated, not a failure of a centralizing policy.

 

Similarly, if we recognize the beauty of Chinese characters, and the meanings imparted by their composition; if we cherish the fact that they provide a direct link to our heritage and ancestry, and marvel at their coherence -- following their formation, eventual codification, and continual transmission, generation after generation; then we ought to care about what happens to our civilization's writing. I'm not sure if you know this, but Traditional Chinese characters are often called 世界上最美，歷史最悠久的文字. It's a very moving phrase.

 

Once again, either/or thinking can be limiting, forcing people to give up Tradition simply because it has been so ordered. A more appropriate approach would be to continue teaching Traditional Chinese characters as has been done for millenia, so that people everywhere may recognze them, but allow for people to write in whatever script they wanted to -- so you could, for instance, use shorthand to take notes or jot letters to friends. After all, that was what "simplified" characters originally were: abbreviated ways of representing a fully-formed character, a reference to the actual character which you knew in your mind. And indeed, in this day and age, it is less relevant what script you handwrite things in, because we end up typing many of our words, so the argument of "convenience" disappears.

 

I hope you can understand why I, and why so many other people, care about these various elements of our culture. If you recall that phrase "世界上最美，歷史最悠久的文字" -- President Ma Ying-jeou is one of the people who utters it in the most earnest and serious way. He is a major proponent of Traditional Characters, and of Traditional Chinese Culture in general -- a tireless advocate for preserving and expanding its place in this world. He believes in our culture's strength and value -- that it has much to offer the world -- and asks us all to work for its revival, so that one day, Chinese culture will flourish not only in the places where it has survived and persisted in the last half century, but also in all the places where it historically had influence. And one day perhaps, even beyond.

 

Culture comes in many formats: it encompasses ideas, but does not consist only of ideas. It also includes form (such as art and architecture), language (spoken, written, recorded, live), performance (song, dance, ritual), custom (practices and habits). One cannot deny the fact that not all change is beneficial to a culture -- that there can be destructive or harmful forces that denigrate and deny the legitimacy of tradition. It is one thing for culture to gradually evolve, as new trends gain traction among the people. Things do change, whether it is in the Tang Dynasty or the Qing. But that is different than embarking on a campaign to destroy and eliminate culture wholesale. One should be properly suspicious when the campaign is spearheaded by a group that has no fundamental commitment to that culture, as was the case in Mainland China -- and in fact, condemned this group condemned culture as "feudalistic" and worthy of destruction. One should also beware when it is carried out at the point of a gun. That is why I feel things like the Cultural Revolution were antithetical to Chinese identity, which took as a core value a reverence for the past. The CCP and Mao sought to create a China devoid of Chineseness, so it could instead be shaped as a Marxist, Communist state. I find this incredibly offensive and deeply tragic.

 

People and society are gradually evolving, but organic transformation, and even conscious transformation, is rather different than having an abrupt and destructive caesura imposed on society by the force of arms. One would wager that a reasoned discussion within society would not have yielded the outcomes sought and enforced by violence. It's especially sad to countenance this kind of crime perpetrated on something that had endured for so long, and would have continued to endure had it not been for such an unfortunate historical moment.

 

Here is another historical example that may shed some light on the situation: In Spain during Franco's dictatorship (1939-1975), the Basque language and culture were brutally suppressed. So was that of the Catalan nation -- spoken tongue, customary practices, literature -- all of it was banned. Only Castillian Spanish, as dictated by the Royal Academy was allowed. Students were harshly punished for whispering any other language. Parks had signs that read, "No barking. Speak Spanish." Basque and Catalan writings were outlawed; their festivals ceased; their songs silenced. It was a long, dark period of cultural suppression, pervaded by fear and violence, committed by the state's roaming squads of enforcers, and deep, systematic discrimination.

 

After the end of Franco's rule and democracy returned, everyone could have just said, "Well, we all speak Castillian Spanish now. We write only in Spanish words. Our vocabulary is that of Castile & Leon. This was mandated by El Caudillo and enforced by la guardia civil. What is done is done" -- and simply accepted the subjugation and its results. However, the Basque people and the Catalan people refused to capitulate. They resolved to recover what once was lost -- for a generation of children who had grown up speaking only the state-approved language, who had never read a Catalan text or sung a Basque tune. Grandparents taught their grandchildren, parents dug deep into their childhood memories to recall what they knew, and today, Euskadi has seen a renaissance in Basque culture. Barcelona in Catalunya is a hub for Catalan publishing, where the language is used in both affairs of the state, as well as in everyday life. Obviously these regions are still connected to Spain as a physical territory and a constitutional entity, but in their cultural identity they seek to become, once more, the homeland of their peoples.

 

It was not easy, it was not convenient, it was a monumental task -- but they were committed to this mission of cultural reconstruction because it was the right thing to do. The fundamental right to exist as a Basque person in a Basque society, the legitimacy of being a Catalonian in a free Catalonia -- these were crushed by Franco's iron glove. In the face of such illegal suppression, illegal erasure, illegal denial of a community's right to exist -- the people of each region banded together, and once freedom was achieved, they resolved to undo the harm visited upon them. They fought to save their culture, as fully and wholly as possible, in all its forms -- written, oral, linguistic, literary, musical, customary, philosophical, religious, in temperament and attitude and values and beliefs. They sought to be Basque again in Basque Country, to be Catalonian in Catalonia, so that their children and their children's children could live with the stories and wisdom of their forebears, and could celebrate the merits and virtues of their people. So it was committed, and so it has been done. It is an ongoing mission, an enterprise that engages all of society -- a challenge of great proportions that will require the mettle and the talents and the will of as many dedicated people as can be found. But it can be done. And thus Euskadi and Catalunya will persist and live, not only in popular imagination, but also in the world of human beings, a living, thriving community in touch with its roots -- one which continues to deepen those roots and revive what once had been feared to be lost. It is an ongoing act of courage, and utter determination; a fierce act of hope, and of unrelenting commitment, and above all, unrelenting love.

 

It is irony that it sometimes takes a tragedy of epic proportions, a national disaster, for citizens to rise up and defend their culture, and to pledge to work for its continuation. It is in those moments that we see what a people are made of. (And interestingly, it is the smallest nations that work the hardest to preserve their identity in the face of outside pressures, be they foreign governments or development projects).

You and I and the others here -- I am glad we can discuss things like culture and tradition and identity. And though we may have a range of opinions, it's important that we engage with these issues. We are deeply fortunate to have this opportunity today, because so many other people were deprived of it. Faced with war and conflict, recent generations of Chinese people were forced to deal with matters of pure survival. Later on in Mainland China, they were denied permission to even think about tradition, under the threat of being declared a political enemy and condemned to social marginalization (not to mention violence, torture and sometimes death, not only for oneself, but for one's family). In that era of constant political campaigns and persecution for categorical crimes, the idea of engaging in a society-wide discussion was simply unthinkable. To be Chinese was a crime. To defend Chinese culture was a ticket to hell.

 

So I say it again: we are deeply fortunate to live in the context that we do now. We are recipients of a precious inheritance passed down by generations that ought to be treasured. Let us live up to the responsibility of our circumstances, and give what has been bequeathed to us its due consideration. That is why I care, and that is why we cannot give up. We owe it to our ancestors and to future generations.

I look forward to the journey, and hope all is well.

Sincerely,

Kevin

Musical touch

A boy meets an alien dissident escaped to Earth -- a pilgrim yearning to make music of his own, outside the strictures of a tradition-bound culture. In Skoag society, songs are the domain of religious figures: music must only be played in sanctioned ceremonies and composition is reserved for priests. The dissidents, moved by the blessings of music, believe such holiness should expressed at all times.

From "A Touch of Lavender" by Megan Lindholm:

"mostly we'd talk and laugh. His laugh reminded me of a giant grasshopper chirring. Once he told me that Skoags had never laughed before they came to Earth, but the idea of a special sound made just to show happiness was so wonderful that now it was the first thing that all exiles were allowed to do. 

Each Skoag got to make up his own kind of laugh. He said it like it was some big favor for them. Then he told me that my laugh was one of the best ones he'd ever heard. That first day, when he'd heard my laugh in the street, he'd known that anyone who could create so marvelous a sound had to be very special indeed. 

And then he laughed my own laugh for me to hear, and that set me laughing; and we laughed together for about ten minutes, in harmony, like a new kind of song."

Not the Tiger Mom

Realization: Amy Chua isn't the classic Tiger Mom.

Despite introducing the phrase into the American lexicon, and despite her daily crackdowns echoing the tactics of a fascist police state (Franco's Spain, for instance, or UC Davis in 2012), Chua interacts with her kids in a loving, American way. She has a close relationship with her two daughters that even includes "snuggling." In contrast, there are apparently many Asian parents who don't even hug their children!? (This no-hugging phenomenon still boggles my mind. I'm looking at you, GC and JH.)

The thing to remember is that Chua is actually the *child* of the classic Tiger Mom. She is of *our* generation, the first ABC in the family. As I've noted before, that's why her book speaks to Asian Americans. She's so on point, conveying precisely the ideas we're thinking and the emotions we're feeling, because she's one of us.

She does a great job playing a Tiger Mom -- out of personal conviction, as a sociological exploration, or perhaps out of humor. But the reason she can be so incisive and analytical in communicating the experience is because she's actually the first Tiger Cub.

I thought of this issue again, because I just read a blog post by Sophia, Chua's elder daughter. http://tigersophia.blogspot.com/2012/07/they-are-not-what-you-think-they-are.html

Language says what the heart means

I love stories of cultural preservation. They prove that we human beings still recognize our connection to the past and care enough about our heritage to take a stand to keep it alive. Various Native American tribes, including several in California, have recently begun using casino revenues to fund projects to preserve native languages.

Though I am usually inspired by such stories, feeling a righteous and impassioned sense of duty, this time, while reading about these endeavors, I just felt my throat catch. I wonder if it is too little, too late, a noble exercise in futility. It's not the fault of these tribes -- they are the victims here, retreating and giving ground against centuries-long cultural assaults that have fragmented their cultures and worn away their traditions, sometimes with violence, and other times through the abrasion of misguided social policy and the onslaught of economic change. Yet even as I wish them the best, I am concerned whether such efforts will be enough. A language has to be used in everyday life to be "living." The tribes have such small pockets of continuing speakers; will children newly educated in these tongues truly use them?

Chinese-speakers have a whole country (three of them, actually -- China, Taiwan, Singapore -- plus the territory of Hong Kong) to back them up. We have a homeland and linguistic proving ground (plus the incentive of communicating with 1 billion consumers and listening to catchy Mandarin pop music), yet I'm pretty sure most of us ABCs couldn't keep the Chinese language "alive" on our own. Aside from being a tool to communicate with our elders, a true vernacular must be the language for expressing ourselves -- the language of the heart. Sadly, I don't think Chinese represents that for most of us.

Good luck to these tribes. I feel for them, and I support their efforts, but the success of this effort is an open question. Yes, the example of Catalan gives me hope for a happy tale that has not yet drawn to an end. However, the story of so many other extinct languages -- mirrored in some ways by our own experiences with Mandarin and Cantonese in America -- as well as the inexorable, assimilative power of English (beloved tongue of mine), would seem to point elsewhere.


Stories
"With Casino Revenues, Tribes Push to Preserve Languages, and Cultures" (The New York Times)

"Chukchansi tribe gives Fresno State $1 million to preserve language" (Fresno Bee)

Heroes, these scholars of language: the Fresno State Linguistics Department. "Language is an essential part of our life. Nothing characterizes humanity more than the ability to use language."
http://www.fresnostate.edu/linguistics/about/index.shtml

Liberal (education) Singapore

Yale University announced a while back that it is creating a liberal arts college in Singapore that will bear the Yale name. It seemed like a novel thing, providing a spark for humanities and education in Asia more broadly, where many national education systems emphasize test-taking and rote memorization. I was generally supportive, as I am part of a team at Stanford working on liberal education issues in Asia.

However, there has been serious dissent in recent months among Yale faculty members, who are concerned about partnering with a Singaporean government that restricts freedom of speech and press, stymies full political participation, and has some pretty draconian social laws that might not be in accord with American sensibilities.

I am weighing in now because we are holding our own liberal education program here at Stanford (Humanities Education and Leadership or HEAL) with many students from China attending, and I am struck, once again, by the moment.

Singapore Partnership Creates Dissension at Yale
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/education/singapore-partnership-creates-dissension-at-yale.html


Is Yale a Reliable Partner for the National University of Singapore?
http://globalhighered.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/is-yale/

So I might be wading into a thicket ... but I want to say to Yale:

Dear Yale,

Even Stanford, which the New Yorker claims is Stanford Inc. (and proud of it!), still respects and cares for its mission of liberal education. While the idea of a liberal arts college in Singapore is exciting -- East Asia sorely needs this kind of new approach to education -- the qualms of students, alumni and faculty ought to be heard, and the issues thoroughly aired and debated.

For example, what protections have been built in for the students and faculty you are welcoming under the banner of Yale in Singapore? In a country where censorship, paternalism, and intimidation by the state on political grounds still persists, will free speech be upheld? Can people sing, say, study, scream, demand, decry, support, condemn, protest and celebrate the same things they would at Yale in New Haven? What protections for freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom to love have you asked for and been guaranteed in this new venture? Yes, I understand there's a prospectus that says some of the right words in this regard, but what is its scope and the strength of its promises?

It's one thing to be collaborative and to establish a new institutional culture based on mutuality. (One must still ask if that newly-formed culture remains true to the home school. That was one concern I had about Stanford in New York, and why many students were not unhappy when the plan was shelved). But when a foreign state offers to pay for everything to "import" Yale? In this case, you are in a position of power; you are not the supplicant. Use your leverage for good!

Yale is not just a brand name, and it is not a vocational school. It is an institution of higher learning. Aside from competence in the subjects, you have a greater mission to teach ethics, inculcate values, and contribute to the broadening of minds. Building a culture of open inquiry, respect for truth, and caring for others -- that is your mission. Please don't forget it.

Sincerely,
Kevin

I actually love Singapore and considered moving there after graduation. I'm still planning to go some day. However, I want this issue to be discussed and considered, not just rammed through over the objections of thinking, caring people -- our brothers, sisters and teachers at Yale, and perhaps also the scholars and watchers of East Asia and the American academic community at large.

The ironic thing is that I don't necessarily disagree with -- and frankly, am fascinated by -- many of the Singaporean government's policies. As a democrat, I take issue with muzzling of the press and the difficulties imposed on the democratic opposition. But many programs in housing and community development are innovative, effective and even sagacious, and could provide models we can learn from and apply in other contexts.

I was excited about the idea of Yale-NUS at first, but now I also want Yale faculty and students who have concerns to be heard.

I'm not sure if the university administration really has closed the case. But please read this editorial from our brethren at Yale. The intelligence and maturity with which they write makes me so proud.

Remaining Yale in Singapore
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/mar/30/when-yale-nus-opens-yale-must-throw-its-weight/

Buddha Bathing Ceremony on Saturday

Tzu Chi Foundation - Northwest Region
Buddha Bathing Ceremony
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Orchard School, 921 Fox Lane, San Jose, CA 95131

Other West Coast ceremonies:


05/12/12
Portland Service Center
9:30 am - 11:00 pm
Conestoga Middle School
12250 SW Conestoga Dr, Beaverton, Oregon 97008



05/13/12
San Francisco Branch
10:00am - 4:00pm
Japantown Peace Plaza
Buchanan St. and Post St., San Francisco, CA 94115          

05/13/12
Oakland Service Center
10:00am - 3:00pm
Oakland 富興中心 (Pacific Renaissance Plaza)
388 9th Street, Oakland CA 94607

05/13/12
Stockton Office
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Stockton Office
1212 W Robinhood Dr.,  # 4F, Stockton, CA 95207

05/13/12
Seattle Branch
10:00am - 2:00 pm
亞洲資源中心 (Asian Resource Center )
1025 South King Street, Seattle, WA 98104

05/20/12
Seattle Branch
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Tacoma Community Center
1314 South L Street, Tacoma, WA 98405

The Tzu Chi Chinese school in Cupertino will also have a Buddha bathing ceremony on 5/19 at Lynbrook High School at 10:00 am.

Big Dance 2012

Logo for the upcoming Big Dance at Stanford:

Not as Funny

Now that Bo Xilai has been removed as Party Secretary of Chongqing, some bozo has meme-ified it and written a Goldman Sachs-style resignation letter from his perspective.

Unfortunately, the analogy in the meme is broken. It's not really appropriate to point to the "Cultural Revolution" as the "golden old days" in this parody. You could argue that the Party has lost its original ideals since 1949, but virtually no one (in China at least) wants to return to the horror and chaos of Mao's campaigns in the 1960s.

The Goldman Sachs piece argues for principled action and privileging clients above one's own short-term profits. That culture was something actually in place. It was successful and could rightfully be celebrated. While the Cultural Revolution warped ideals in a millenarian fashion, it was not just and it was not benign. No one in their right mind would laud it today.

Maybe I shouldn't take this "meme" so seriously, as it's just for entertainment, but it really irks me. The critiques of the Party are certainly valid -- but the supposed “solution” of bringing back the Cultural Revolution is far worse. That's obviously not a fix, and the author knows it -- yet persists in using it as if parodic tool. Not only does the meme's author fail to suggest a real salve to China's problems, he makes light of an episode of immense human suffering. Overall it's just ... inaccurate. If you're going to make a meme, at least construct it properly.

The problems in China are real and immense, and there might be real dissenters in the Party. This irresponsible joking does them a disservice. You are devaluing complaints against the CCP and the abandonment of its purported founding ideals by associating contemporary opposition with insane calls for total Cultural Revolution. It simultaneously twists the Goldman letter into a demand for rigid and violent ideological purity, when it's actually a call for ethics and balance in corporate conduct.

This meme plays straight into the Party's narrative that if we don't control everyone and restrain the masses, then the Cultural Revolution will be repeated: Chaos and disorder will reign, and more people will die. Oh, plus you won't get rich anymore. Everything China has gained since Reform and Opening will be lost!

A real Goldman Sachs-type letter out of the Communist Party could have the same shocking effect and cause some national soul-searching. (Or is that too hopeful? Maybe everyone who joins the party is a cynic these days. But then at very least it could lay bare the utter hypocrisy permeating every trembling, ecstatic breath extolling China's wonderful socialist model.)

Instead of providing a guerrilla act of dissent, this meme trivializes China and its history, just for a cheap laugh. Classy, just classy.

If you want to work in Finance

The blogosphere is abuzz about the Goldman Sachs employee who resigned after watching the company's culture descend into sheer profiteering and becoming "toxic and destructive" -- and who penned an op-ed in The New York Times about this decision.

Some choice quotes:

The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for... I truly believe that this decline in the firm’s moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival...

I have always taken a lot of pride in advising my clients to do what I believe is right for them, even if it means less money for the firm. This view is becoming increasingly unpopular at Goldman Sachs. Another sign that it was time to leave. How did we get here? The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence...

Today, many of these leaders display a Goldman Sachs culture quotient of exactly zero percent. I attend derivatives sales meetings where not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them... It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets,” sometimes over internal e-mail.

I hope this can be a wake-up call to the board of directors. Make the client the focal point of your business again. Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons. People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm — or the trust of its clients — for very much longer.

This article should be translated into Chinese and disseminated as widely as possible. (I've already posted a link on Renren). It's not just a Goldman Sachs problem, though that company had certainly crystallized the issue. It's a whole-culture problem if screwing others in the pursuit of wealth is seen as the loftiest and worthiest goal, and perfectly justified.

If Goldman really isn't the way it's portrayed, and its employees are all upright corporate citizens, then the company's leaders should laud and celebrate every principle raised in this piece. The only thing they could claim is that they agree completely with all his ideas, but the op-ed is inaccurate because GS already lives up to those ideals.

And well, if the company doesn't actual reflect those principles, and the executives end up covering themselves by attacking this guy -- then at least all those Goldman employees will be jolted into a moment of clarity. They will have to take a hard look in the mirror and ask what kind of company they work for. (Also see reaction from former employees.)

It's a thorny problem, and I'm actually rather glad it got tossed in Goldman Sachs' lap. Either they'll be forced to live up to these standards and affirm (or reaffirm) internally what believe in and let employees judge for themselves -- or they can just admit that they don't believe in such principles and simply put profits first, in which case smart employees and savvy clients will want to GTF out of there.

UPDATE  (3-15-2012)
My friend Patrick, who previously spent time at J.P. Morgan and also observes China, posted this:

"China in itself is like Goldman Sachs. The business culture there is as corrupt, if not more so, than Goldman's. The only thing that's good about it is that China is openly corrupt while Goldman hides their shitty deals as 'Abacus CDOs.'" LOL.

Motion and Rest

These "cinemagraphs" are pretty cool -- a different format for images, perhaps a new medium for visual communication. (See this description in The Atlantic Monthly.)

However, from the examples I've seen, many of these works are a bit too focused on the actual animation without paying attention to rhythm and rest. I like the hair blowing in the wind in the GIF above, but an actual breeze wouldn't continuously go back and forth, back and forth. The model's hair should come to rest and stay there a bit before another puff of wind sets it into motion again. That would feel more natural.

If you go to the Cinemagraphs website, you'll see what I mean, with the set of images on the front page. They feel very mechanical -- they don't really seem life-like, not only because of the regularity of the motion, but because that motion is nearly continuous. Pauses and "drift time" would make these images more aesthetically pleasing, and set the viewer more at ease.

It's possible that for some effects, you might want rapid flashing, alternating colors over and over -- but not everything is Vegas.

Lantern Festival coming to Stanford

Come celebrate the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Lunar New Year holidays. Enjoy booths serving almond jelly, boba and mochi, under a sky lit by paper lanterns and stars.

5-8 PM @ Bechtel International Center

Featuring performances by the acclaimed magician Andrew Evans
and the Stanford Wushu Team.

To attend, you will need to RSVP AT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

Brought to you by AAGSA, AASA, ACSSS,

CWCS, KSA, Lambda Phi Epsilon, TCS,

Tzu Chi, SUN, and UCAA

** REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR OWN REUSABLE

BOWL + FORK + MUG/BOTTLE **

Generously supported by the Billie Achilles Fund, Bechtel International Center, GSC, and the ASSU

Society

Important statement about (modern) American society from David Brooks in his latest column.

Social support and community building are critical to a society's development. Given the dissolution of traditional norms and structures during the process of modernization (see "anomie"), we need to find new forms of association that provide support and moral guidance, and allow children to grow up in stable, healthy conditions with access to education.

Okay, I probably sound kind of conservative and/or Confucian and/or Singaporean, but I'm recognizing more and more that it's not just personal freedoms or market freedoms that matter in being able to live a good life. The form of community in which we live, and the education we receive when we are growing up (both inside and outside the classroom) also play a crucial role.

As David Brooks points out, the two political parties are focusing on material gains instead of looking at key social questions afflicting America. It's not the hot button social issues we should be looking at (abortion, marriage equality, stem cell research), but more basic concepts like family integrity and humanistic values (like not being greedy and materialistic; caring for others, not just oneself). Aside from the individual, there is the family as the basic building block of society, as well as the larger neighborhood/community/networks of care setting norms and expectations and helping to maintain them.

The "materialistic ethos" of both political parties means they're focusing too exclusively on economic questions without understanding the social context in which they sit. For example, Brooks finds that the Democrats now emphasize "reducing inequality instead of expanding opportunity. Its policy prescriptions begin (and sometimes end) with raising taxes on the rich. This makes you feel better if you detest all the greed-heads who went into finance. [Admittedly there's something satisfying about this.] It does nothing to address those social factors, like family breakdown, that help explain why American skills have not kept up with technological change. If President Obama is really serious about restoring American economic dynamism, he needs an aggressive two-pronged approach: More economic freedom combined with more social structure; more competition combined with more support."

Without looking at human beings as part of the equation, and in particular, considering human beings as moral, communal and spiritual beings with beliefs and ideals and worldviews -- then the economics-only approach, the technical-engineering-only approach, the "install the hand pumps-but-ignore-the-programmatic-side" approach, will not be sufficient to right our society. This doesn't mean we can't use numerical metrics to look at social support and evaluate progress. But without countenancing norms and ideas, we are ignoring something fundamental in society.

Choreography

Don't piss off the choreographer by being late -- otherwise, he might turn into Dakota Stanley!

Corelliana

Michael Tippett's "Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli"

Hello & Goodbye to Huntsman.

Huntsman Says He's Quitting G.O.P. Race
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. informed his advisers on Sunday that he intends to drop out of the Republican presidential race, ending his candidacy a week before he had hoped to revive his campaign in the South Carolina primary.

Good run, Gov. Huntsman. I look forward to seeing you four years from now. From The New York Times:

Huntsman "formally announced his candidacy in June, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, calling for a more civil kind of presidential campaign and promising a better future than the one that Mr. Obama would provide. 'He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help a country we both love,' Mr. Huntsman said of Mr. Obama. 'But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president, not who’s the better American.' 

But the campaign of ‘civility, humanity and respect’ that Mr. Huntsman promised quickly faded into the background as his Republican rivals seized the attention — and the support — of a party faithful that seemed more interested in red-meat politics.“

Is this really the party the GOP aspires to be? One that revels in hatred and division, blame and vilification, rather than representing an open-minded and deliberate, but principled, political alliance? I mourn the day that an intelligent, humane and successful leader such as Governor Huntsman is driven from this party -- or at least for all intents and purposes, barred from victory. It signals the disappearance of justice, decency, civility and truth as watchwords of the Republicans, and highlights how ideology, conformity, tribalism and fear have gained ascendancy. Patriotism has been stamped out by nationalism.

This was once the Party of Lincoln. Where is the courage to do what is unpopular but right? Where is the leadership that unites a people, that venerates humanity, that speaks truth to power? Where is the voice for the voiceless, protecting the downtrodden and the minority citizenry? Where is the beacon that seeks reform? That busts the trusts, secures the safety of our comestibles, and offers a Square Deal to every American? The Republicans created the National Parks, founded the Environmental Protection Agency, signed into being the Clean Air and Water Act.

The "grand" vision of the GOP has been lost in the squalor of American politics and small-minded partisan fighting. It has been lost to the plutocratic clutches of corporate donors. It has been ceded to self-absorbed and self-interested wealth. It no longer seeks to educate its citizens to be more broad-minded, noble and loving, but to barricade themselves against science and reason, while xenophobically attacking the new as alien.

I am looking for Republicans, but I see only the mob carrying torches, with demagogues in their midst whispering poison among them. Moral leadership to open the hearts and minds of men has fallen into disfavor. Polls and consultancies do not inform but control. Inspiration has fled, and incitement has moved into its stead. These men do not seek to lead the crowd to protect their rights and the rights of their brethren. They beguile and play rhetorical tricks, stoking the worst of emotions and striking the most frightening of notes. They levy threats, sell destructive tales, rend humanity.

It is the road to disenfranchisement, the atomization of men. It is the splintering of the solidarity in democracy and mutual responsibility that once helped strengthen and guide our Republic. It is an abdication of the worst kind, for it leaves our country vulnerable -- destitute of reason, bereft of a universal sense of ethics.

The Republic is breaking, and we need women and men who care enough to mend it. They will heal society by building communities -- not by tearing them down -- and halt the blasting apart of the nation that has been built over generations by so many dedicated, enterprising, creative and caring hands. Such were the hands that belonged to Americans (plural) -- federalist, democratic, republican, liberal, constitutional Americans. They created a new kind of society that represents a unique and courageous experiment for mankind. May it live for many more lifetimes.

Whose assault?

China’s President Pushes Back Against Western Culture

www.nytimes.com

"In an essay published this week in a Communist Party policy magazine, President Hu Jintao said the West is trying to dominate China by spreading its culture and ideology."

Nah, the West isn't trying to spread its culture. You just destroyed your own (see: Cultural Revolution 1966-1976) and left a massive vacuum. Are you concerned that materialistic folks are now buying Western pop culture as the thing?

"President Hu Jintao has said that China must strengthen its cultural production to defend against the West’s assault on the country’s culture and ideology" FYI strengthening culture is probably not best served by increasing Communist propaganda. How about supporting traditional cultural enterprises?

"international hostile forces are intensifying the strategic plot of westernizing and dividing China." Well, they're not the ones who demolish ancient temples and raze traditional architecture, replace them with shopping malls, and lay down ugly tarmac and 8-lane highways in the middle of cities where generations of families once lived. Greedy developers and complicit CCP officials are really the ones responsible for confusing "modernization" and "Westernization" -- anyone else is just following their lead. (Sometimes I wonder if "modernization" is even the goal, or if infrastructure is just a byproduct of self-enrichment). The authorities are the ones who adopt sh-t city planning that's good for cars and not people, just like -- oh wait for it -- the Americans did in the mid-20th century. So watch where you're pointing your fingers.

By the way, people from the West are also not the ones who forced the country to adopt Soviet-style (i.e. alien) economic planning (which utterly failed, by the way), or who divided the country into "black" and "red" classes and pitted them against each other.

It's the people in power and the rich who are taking the worst aspects of "Western" culture, such as unbridled capitalistic greed -- laughing all the way to the bank as they douse the country with it -- while ignoring important features of Western life such as freedom of speech, checks and balances, and the consent of the governed and public participation.

Let's close on this note: "In his essay, Mr. Hu did not address the widespread assertion by Chinese artists and intellectuals that state censorship is what prevents artists and their works from reaching their full potential. Last week, Han Han, a novelist and China’s most popular blogger, discussed the issue in an online essay called 'On Freedom.' 'The restriction on cultural activities makes it impossible for China to influence literature and cinema on a global basis or for us culturati to raise our heads up proud,' Han Han wrote."

Ironic that for Chinese culture to flourish, the state should take up some "Western" features. Oh wait ... maybe that means that those features are less "Western" and more global than you want to admit. Just some food for thought.

A deep and thorough cleansing

Be proud of us! Eric and I cleaned the apartment. Too bad we didn't take before/after photos, or document things in process -- we were too busy handling the mess and making new discoveries. =P

Here are the results:

1. Sorted the dish cabinet, with mugs, glasses, plates and bowls all in their proper spheres. The dishes enqueued in the sink had their cases resolved.

2. Cleaned the top of the refrigerator, which involved removing a rotting bag of onions and scrubbing away the slime. Unfortunately, due to the lack of paper towels or rags, I had to substitute in toilet paper. Not pleasant. However, it is now a neat and tidy pasta station!

3. The counter top hadn't been wiped in ages, probably because of the accumulation of pots, pans and other detritus over the past couple months. We washed it down thoroughly with soap and water, removing some very sticky patches.

4. The cabinet which had been haphazardly stuffed with jars and plastic bags has been resorted. Clockwise from the top left: (1) teas, teabags, and other hot drinks; (2) baking mixes and non-traditional flours; (3) vegetable, canola oil and spices used for stove-top cooking; (4) canned goods.

5. Stove area has largely been cleared. Pans are currently stored in the oven, due to limited counter and cabinet space.

6. Overall, the kitchen feels more open, providing a pleasant and inviting work space. Pots, pans and dishes are no longer stacked precariously on the remnants of earlier culinary expeditions. Users will now have full access to the range of tools, ingredients and prep surfaces, yielding a more efficient -- and more fulfilling -- cooking experience.

Good marketing speak, right? =D With any luck, the apartment will stay this way for a little while. There'll be a few week's reprieve, at least, since we are all heading out for winter break.

Happy Holidays!

Stanford is a University of California, too!

Stanford announced today that it is dropping out of the competition to build a new engineering campus in New York City. The Board of Trustees is meeting this week, and this is probably an outcome of one of those discussions. (The alumni association dutifully informed all alumni via e-mail early this morning, so I found out before The New York Times reported on it later in the day.)

So I'm not trying to sound heretical or anything ...

But I wonder what would happen if Stanford took all that money saved from not developing a $2 billion campus in New York, and instead forged stronger relations with the UCs, starting with a certain institution right across the Bay. In these challenging times, we ought to focus our efforts on rebuilding at home. There is a lot of room for collaboration with our friends and erstwhile rivals at Berkeley, and both our institutions -- as well as the State of California -- would be the stronger for it.

Last Friday at the "Occupy the Future" rally, former Stanford president Donald Kennedy (also editor-in-chief of Science; you can be a great scientist and have a social conscience =D) called on the Stanford community to be concerned with the fate of our brethren in the UCs. "Stanford without Berkeley just wouldn't be Stanford," he said, noting that we push each other to excellence. Investing in cooperative academic ventures would be one such concrete action, helping to engender good will and sparking a lot of innovation and creativity. It would also help maintain the high quality of tertiary education in our state as the education budget is continually slashed, leaving the UCs in dire financial straits.

Some naysayers might want to highlight differences in the undergraduate culture, but let's set those issues aside for now.* The graduate schools and faculty at both institutions are world-class, and that's where much of the collaboration would be happening. I bet this kind of arrangement would be at least as fruitful as any China or New York campus for at least several decades. Furthermore, by partnering with the UCs, we would be improving conditions at home for all Californians by helping to secure the future of education in this state. It sounds a little crazy, but unconventional circumstances call for unconventional measures, and it'd be interesting if we took a chance.

And you know, if Steven Chu can do it ...

*Go Card! =P