Everything old is new again – Inner Mongolia
If you’ve gotten tired of depressing news from Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong, there is a new oppression to watch in Inner Mongolia. As in the other provinces comprising mostly non-Han people, the new policy requires forced language change and erasing of traditional culture.
It is to laugh – or not ... more on culture wars in elementary math class ...
It’s not often that life imitates art so precisely. When it does, the result is frightening. But there it all is, on YouTube and Twitter.
First the art. Watch Alternative Math - A Short Film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh3Yz3PiXZw&t=17s from Ideaman. This is a nine minute recounting of a teacher’s existential crisis at trying to teach 2 + 2 = 4 in a modern progressive American school. The 2017 film is meant to be a parody, but then ….
Wokeness – and despair for democracy
Americans seem to have woken up to disparities in our society, particularly for black people. This is a good thing. Wokeness will go a ways toward fulfilling the promises suggested in the Declaration of Independence.
But there is a most disturbing part of wokeness that is not limited to racial matters, and that is the language fascism of the left. It is as dangerous to a free society as any fascism of the right and too close to what we can observe every day in China.
Lest We Forget June 4
In the social, economic, and cultural miasma that is the state of the world, we might let tomorrow slip by without notice.
A couple of old comments -
http://chinareflections.com/index.php/104-comments-on-the-news/402-how-to-end-june-4-et-al
What do you think of western civilization?
The question to Gandhi is now being asked again, this time by educated, sophisticated Chinese of each other.
This was the topic of a four-hour phone call a few nights ago between Chinese PhDs, both with extensive American experience and important midlevel career positions.
In a word, their conclusion was the same as Gandhi’s – it would be a good idea.
Has Trump has been doing God’s work?
For years, some evangelical leaders have been touting Trump as the wolf-king, anointed by God to enact the Christian right agenda. Symbols are important in this swamp-fevered world, and Trump’s immorality is actually a positive sign of his worthiness. Go figure.
Four years ago, Peter Montgomery noted 25 Religious Right Justifications for Supporting Donald Trump. Christian right leaders spoke endlessly of Trump as a chosen vessel for God's will, saying things like "God has picked him up" and that Trump is "literally splitting the kingdom of darkness right open" and that "the Lord has put His favor upon him."
Now I wonder if the coronavirus is a symbol from God as well, a sign of displeasure. Is God finished with Trump? Is Trump past his heavenly use-by date?
