May 19 2010
Rambling through Apr and May
Read an article on the New Yorker about the pending anointment of the first female bishop in Anglican Church. The resentment of women among some Brits is just unbelievable. I would thought of it as some kind of shock journalism had it NOT been printed on the New Yorker.
One man said something like, “Can you imagine the anger in me, if I had to kneel before a bishop, knowing there is a female body behind the robe?” It is just plain astonishing.
I wouldn’t have cared as much had it came out of the mouth of a priest in Alabama. But the English has the oldest Democracy, one that is closest to the Platonic form. It has given the world some of the greatest liberal thinkers like Darwin, Burke, Hume, J.S. Mills and so on. Yet till this day, such devilish sentiment is strong enough to counter natural progression. It really shake to the core my belief in man’s ability (and the desire) to transcend himself.
The Greek debt crisis – had an interesting exchange with Debra G. I didn’t think EU will drop Greek after all. She stated the standard economist line: too much unchecked government spending. We should learned the lesson and rein in deficit.
I think she, like many economists, missed the political aspect of it all. To dig deeper, hers is the same “Economic Man” argument. But how to dispense wealth, in the end, is as socio-political as it is about economics.
The Greeks chose a collective life style. They are paying for its irrational consequence. Yet such a life style was hardly “wrong” to them. The economist may start a game of death watch. But even after a spectacular crash, people still live. As long as they are not wiped out and took the polity with them, it is hard to envision they suddenly change their life style just because of this one event.
And the political calculation may be enough to keep the Greeks in the euro zone. After all, euro is more than a widely pegged Deutsch mark: it is a statement of a political desire of cohabitation. The fact it was born in the first place was a shock to me. It is still very difficult to comprehend the collective resolve behind the decision till this very day.
I asked Debra whether it is possible that the desire to keep a favorable exchange rate may be a good enough excuse to keep Greece inside euro zone. She hasn’t replied yet.
Lady Gaga: mesmerized by her “Bad Romance”. I seldom paid attention to pop artist, but am totally taken by her. I have watched the video four times now. Every time I felt a surge of energy and excitement.
Her performance has a psychotic element that is hard to describe. I heard she used to do hard drugs, maybe that is why the imaginary is very hallucinative. Yet the video is a fairly cohesive story: the expressions of desire, suffering, revenge and dark humor are well harmonized.
At the end of the day, creativity is the most seductive element of human communication. We clamor for that more than for anything else.
Someone should tell that to the Chinese … haha