Where has all the shame gone ... ?

Look around at the world today. Does it seem to you that people have lost the ability to feel shame when they'd done something stupid? A cursory glance around forces me to conclude that yes, it's true . . . we've desensitized ourselves to feeling shame. By and large, people are willing to say more, do more, and publicize more than they ever have in the past. I am not necessarily opposed to this, as it certainly makes life all the more amusing for the rest of us. But I truly worry that by refusing to feel shamed by our thoughts and actions, we might in the end be losing more than a bit of our dignity.

Take, for example, the very talented Amy Winehouse. Her records: wonderful. Her success: undeniable. Her personal life: admittedly unbalanced. Her apparent nonchalance in the face of the irony that she's won a Grammy for a song about how she won't be sent to rehab, "oh, no no no", while, in fact, accepting the Grammy while on a day leave from, well, rehab: shameless. And we also have our inestimable commander and chief, who just cannot seem to work up any degree of shame over mounting evidence that he has screwed things up big time in Iraq. It's quite clear from the almost daily bombings, the disintegration of the Iraqi government, and the corruption in the US-installed police force, that things aren't going to well. Yet he blissfully struts around, proclaiming that "all the spending we're doing on the war is actually providing jobs," link
It does not shame him, it seems, that those "added jobs" have come with a price tag that kills American soldiers, undermines our national power and security, and has ravaged an entire country. I'm not arguing for any particular course of action ... I merely want to point out that it would be both appropriate and correct that he express some small morsel of shame for the way things have turned out.

And I won't even mention the media frenzy that surrounds the every move of Britney Spears. It's all too sad.

The best recent example, however, may be Hillary Clinton. I do not know from where that woman summons the gall to suggest that the ballots cast in the Florida and Michigan primaries should actually be counted, so as to give her a slight edge in the popular vote for the Democrat nomination. These were elections at which few people turned out to vote, knowing before hand that they would not count at the convention. These were elections for which little campaigning, little talking to voters, and no debating was done. These were elections everyone knew would. not. count. And these were elections (one of them, at least) in which her opponent was not on the ballot. And yet she claims a decisive victory, and she does so on national television, where millions of people can watch her do it. I know I would be ashamed . . . But in her willingness to do anything to win, it seems Clinton has forsaken quite a bit of her dignity.

So it worries me, this distancing ourselves from feeling shame. I strongly believe in and support freedom of speech, but the right to speak should not be coupled with freedom from shame when it's obvious that you've said something foolish. Rather, the prospect of shame is one of the great, natural methods of self-censorship. It is what makes freedom of speech so attractive, because we each know that we are inextricably tied to and responsible for the words that come out of our mouths. By claiming a right to free speech, we also claim the right to laugh at ourselves afterwards, and to have others laugh at us if the occasion warrants it. It's what raises the level of discourse -- people don't just say every little thing that pops into their heads. And it's what gives value to our dignity.

I say bring back the shame. It's a healthy part of the human life.

A daily dose of irony ...

As I study more about China, I keep running across marvelous news stories.


"Free Tibet" Flags Made in China
This one in particular caught my eye. Its a gem about how China's production capacity seems to have gotten away from them. Also, how just about anything you can get these days could bear a "Made in China" stamp.


It seems a factory in southern China was discovered to be turning out lovely, brightly coloured "Free Tibet" flags. Many of these flags were manufactured, packed, and shipped off to Hong Kong where they will likely make an appearance in anti-China protests later this week. It's all too delicious, and I would chuckle just as much if it were the American government falling prey to its own contradictory interests.

China Escapades

I've barely had a moment to catch my breath the past couple weeks, except to take a frantic look at my agenda and notice that I leave for China and Japan in three weeks. That wouldn't necessarily be a problem, until one realizes that between now and then I have a) my last week of classes b) finals c) commencement and d) the times spent breathing and eating that need normally to be associated with living. Whew. I will likely not get an opportunity to do the shopping I need to for this trip until a day or two right before the trip.

Part of what prompted the first frantic dash to the agenda was all the studying and reading up that I've been doing in preparation for the trip. We are scheduled to visit about ten different companies in both of the countries, as well as numerous planned cultural visits. Consequently, we've been encouraged to print a small tree's worth of articles about and analyses of these companies and the areas they're in. I feel like I have a pretty good image in my mind now of what Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an look like, only I know that the minute I get there, that tidy little image will be blown out of the water. Still, I can take comfort in the thought that I certainly know Beijing and Shanghai and Xi'an better than I did before. I'm also going to see if I can't whittle a piece of the Great Wall and smuggle it past customs disguised as an incidentally acquired pebble. I feel that this will add greatly to my historical and cultural understanding. Although with all the news about China's crackdown on dissidence of all kinds in the run-up to the Olympics, this may not be the best time to challenge the Chinese customs officials. I have little desire to see the inside of any jail, let alone that of one in a communist country whose government isn't fond of mine. The professors leading this trip gravely reminded us that we would not be permitted to bring along all of our Free Tibet tee shirts, jewelry or knickknacks, thinking somehow that any of us were prepared to be that daring. I think I want to see a bit of the world before I am ready to get arrested trying to protest in part of it. I could be wrong about my assumptions, you see, and would have no way of knowing it without the benefits of added perception that traveling bring.

In addition to all the news articles on the present state of business, consumers and the Olympics in China, I have also managed to pick up some random and entertaining facts about that country. For example, did you know that despite its size and east-west spread, the Chinese government refuses to acknowledge more than one time zone? Russia, with a similar location, has 11. Also, there are more English speakers in China than in the U.S. That's what happens when you have 1.3 billion people. Also, the Chinese really like American Idol. Go figure.

So I hope with all this information stored in a hopefully accessible part of my brain, and the ability to count to ten in Chinese, I can get through my trip and back into the U.S. tanner, wiser, (and heavier by one suspicious looking pebble).

Contact from years gone past

Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
- Sir Arthur Eddington

My pearl of wisdom for today. I received a phone call last night from a friend I have not seen or talked to since we were both in kindergarten. I barely ever called her by her name, which I had difficulty remembering. Instead, my five-year-old self cooked up the wonderful title "the little girl across the street." But this little girl now grown up somehow managed to hear about my father, and then track down my mother, and from there me. She lives in Hawaii now and just finished her masters in geology at an Icelandic university. It was wonderful to talk to her, even though we don't in essence know each other much better than if we were to bump accidentally on the street. But somehow those shared playdates all those years ago grounded us in an easy familiarity and we talked for nearly two hours about anything and everything that came into our minds.

But as lovely and charming as the whole event was, I am still forced to recognize that a world in which that kind of thing is possible is a strange world indeed.

Political Musings

Alllll right folks. After a good sound dinner, some undivided time with my Newsweek, and a blessed end to a difficult midterms week, I am impassioned and ready to go. And I actually do have a lot to say. I'd been so proud of myself back in January when I was this lively and engaged political creature, well read on the latest electoral challenges for the candidates and determined to take an active part in this election cycle. I felt as though I was taking my place inside that miracle of the American democratic process. I lulled myself to sleep with grand visions of attending rallies, organizing voting drives, and basically living an early episode of The West Wing. Then I was hit with inertia. And loads of work. And midterms. The last of which, however, should deeply gratify my professors, so at least a couple people will be happy about it.

I think my fervor for Obama waned a little though February as well. Ever the cynic and the rebel, I found myself starting to rethink his qualifications just as everyone else became sure that he would pick up enough Feb/Mar wins to sail right into the nomination. All the talk of experience and the looming economic recession made me think that the choice between the two couldn't possibly be as cut and dry as it had seemed to me before; there were just too many problems facing the country for the decision to be that easy. But now that I have finally had a little time to slip back into the world of political chaos, I am once again consoled by the conclusion that it can be that easy. When it comes right down to brass tax, I find that I am perfectly content to place my vote on some belief of integrity of character, sense of optimism, and drive to look for the best options even with it means changing a whole lot about the present system.

For all that talk about experience, it struck me forcefully today that Hillary Clinton cannot claim that much more experience than her opponent. Her use of her days as First Lady come like a double edged sword -- if she claims them as examples of deeper experience than she must also claim the mistakes and inconsistencies that go along with them. The scandal over the 11th hour pardons, NAFTA, the shade of secrecy and duplicity left by the Lewinsky mess -- all of it. But the fact remains that she didn't answer any of those 3 a.m. phone calls herself. It was her husband's place, however much he may have sought her guidance. If the call for experience is going to be made, it needs to be experience that has prepared one of the for the top spot, not some kind of domestic attache to the top spot. The presidency of the United States has to be quite unlike any other job on earth, or at least that's what Clinton would like us to believe. This isn't some part-time gig flipping burgers.

And when it comes down to it, I think the tasks and realities of being president are quite beyond what anyone can realistically prepare for. When that point is taken away from her, all my previous concerns about Clinton come back to glare into the harsh light. I don't think I can ever say that I would trust her absolutely. She's got the Washington game down too well; she's been around the Clinton administration of '92-'99 so long, in fact, that she could not help to pick up some of its slickness, its oiliness. I do not dispute her intelligence, or even her qualifications to run for the nomination. But when she stands next to Barack Obama, each of them with policies so like the other, I cannot help but to place my bet with the optimist and the one who has demonstrated that he is willing to go against the political grain when it means standing by his convictions. He was in the midst of a tight IL Senate race when he chose to oppose the war in Iraq, staking not only a possible future reelection, but his very election itself on the fact that he saw the war as illegal and ill-advised policy. Unfortunately for Clinton, she has had enough experience in Washington to show us all that she will be swayed by popular opinion and re-electoral math. And I come back, too, to Obama's foreign policy beliefs, which are well documented in his books and the speeches he's given at various events and commencements. For me, those positions show far more sound political instinct and judgment than any amount of experience can bring. Because the truth is the experience game is hard to play -- it's impossible to get any more of it without someone giving you the opportunity to get some in the first place. And we don't really know how either candidate will act or deal with a job when they actually land what has to be one of the most intricate on the planet. So we are left to look at their history, their character, and the policies they've espoused. Policy-wise, Clinton and Obama are similar enough for the differences not to matter in any material way. And when it comes to character, I think Obama is the clear winner. I think he's far more willing to look at things that are happening, see that the system is clearly not working, and then irregardless of political precedence or past experience, begin to look for entirely new solutions. That's what we need ...

So congrats, Barack Obama. Now that I'm finally paying attention again, you've won back my vote. Now I hope you can do the same in Pennsylvania.
____________________________

P.S. It's occurred to me that I may want to reconsider the title of this blog. People seeing "whatever comes to mind comes to blog" might assume that I blog whatever comes to mind at all times, thus leading them to the unfortunate conclusion that not much goes on in my mind. Not the kind of idea I want to promote, least of all in my own writing ...

FreeRice.com

A fabulous little website that tests your grasp of English vocabulary while simultaneously donating food to impoverished nations aorund the world. Also, slightly addictive; I somehow managed to get up to level 50 and have now spent almost a half hour failing to accomplish that feat again.
Seriously, though, it is a much better use of the ten or fifteen minutes that you might be tempted to waste on celebrity gossip. And now that my SAT days are firmly in my past, I can almost enjoy the vocabulary lesson.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Do it.

People Watching

On the train into the city yesterday, I realized that I have become quite the people watcher. Right off the bat like that, that statement does have a stalker-ish ring to it, but I do not mean staring people down in an intimidating and frightful way. Instead, I really find myself fascinated with just watching people. It astonishes me how different people are. In the same country, in the same city, on the same train car, there were a myriad of different people, all looking like they were off to do very different things with their evening. I find myself occasionally trying to work out these unknown faces' life stories in my mind as I sit a few feet away from them or watch them walk by. I have a wonderful image of an older woman sitting knitting what looks like it might one day become a jumper, and I can imagine her hurrying off the train, eager to get home to a nice hot cup of tea and a distinguished little husband in herringbone slacks who sits, reading, waiting for her. It tickles me to no end when this same older woman turns to the surly looking teenager seated next to her with a pursed expression on his face and his head bopping to the music playing in his earphones. She leans into him a bit and starts brushing some lint off his shoulder. I would not have guessed for all the world that they were any more closely acquainted than that they happened to be sharing the same seat together. People surprise you, and I like that. People offer so much, continually keeping me on my toes, forbidding me from lethargic complacency and amusing me when they turn out to be quite different than you think they are.
And so, I think that, thus acknowledged, I will continue with this delicate little people watching habit of mine. It certainly makes train rides pass more quickly.