I obviously don’t know enough about how these things operate behind the scenes, but what comes into effect is that Democrats tend to serve the interest of people behind drug companies, health care companies and high tech companies while Republicans are pretty much controlled by old corporations, financial institutes and weapon manufacturers. There is no clear dividing lines between these interest groups and thus no such thing as two opposing camps. Throughout decades of trials and errors, these oligarchies have perfected their techniques in tipping off politicians, influencing public opinions, and most importantly, have learned valuable lessons on the importance of not making themselves too visible to the public.

The best way for the people to shake themselves off the shadows of these groups is 1. to learn and acknowledge the extent and magnitude of these influences on American politics and 2. gradually cleanse the system through stricter policies, regulations, and possibly constitutional amendments that aims at making it more difficult for these groups to exert their influences.

Unfortunately, given the nature of individuals caring only for their own immediate interests, I don’t think that will happen any time soon.

Blindingly imposing more taxes on the wealthy is in fact a very dangerous decision. This will open the doors to demagogues and mark a general decline in the society’s ability to make sound judgement.

The current financial crisis has little to do with the rich being undertaxed. It’s caused by the inherent flaws of the financial system. People are directing their sentiment at the wrong target and the wrong issue. Imposing all the taxes you want, and the government budget may even get balanced, but as long as those leakage and loopholes don’t get fixed, don’t be surprised to see another crisis coming within the next few decades and a general decline in American economic competitiveness.

Yes, the wealthy may have the resources to influence politics and even bend the law, but punishing them with more taxes does not solve the root problem. What the economy needs is stricter financial regulations for the purpose of forcing everyone to play a fair game. A thorough reexamination of current issues in the banking system, foreign policy and welfare programs is the only way out.

It is time to stop resorting to quick and easy fixes if you truly care for the well being of the society and want give some breathing room to the next generation.

A recurring theme of American foreign policy is that the government screws up something from the beginning, and then attempts cover or justify their mistakes by making more mistakes till things escalate to full-blown disasters, which would give them all the opportunity they need to reestablish “order” and spin things to their advantage. At such point, they are still unaware of the fact that by forcing their wills upon others they are creating even more troubles for themselves down the road. It is the special interest groups that actually benefit from all of this insanity, while the people pay for the costs.

As a person who received 18 years of education in China, if If I reflect deeply upon the psychology of myself and those around me, I would attribute the lack of empathy to one thing: people place too much emphasis on mental superiority over others.

This is not an easy thing to explain. In many cases, people actually take pride in being able to surpress one’s instinctive urges (in this case, altruism). You will not find them talking about it publicly, but it is evident by a philosophy called Thick Black Theory that has recently gained tremendous amount of popularity.

Sure, we have a lot of education on morality, and we were taught to be like Lei Feng. However, this is neutralized, and even reversed by our parents’ informal teaching: don’t help others unless the act is somehow beneficial to you, otherwise you are acting like an idiot. Many of the Chinese parents constantly give their kids this kind of mental reinforcement. Over time, kids of average IQ will learn this implicit rule:

Protect yourself by agreeing with the social norm, but never BUY INTO IT.

I’m not saying this only happens in China, but I have not seen another country where such parenting practice is so prevalent. Like the chaotic nature of many other things in the fast changing Middle Kingdom, such tug-of-war battle in influencing children leads to a lack of final authority on moral values. This gives rise to a dangerous situation: we do not know whom to trust, even on basic and absolute moral principles such as valuing human lives.

While I think little Yue Yue’s incident is mainly attributed to the bystander effect that is universal to the human society, I also believe a lack of moral authority in the contemporary Chinese society is also a very significant factor.

1. Be pithy in character’s dialog. Grandiloquence may add clarity, but weakens intensity. Oral diarrhea generally kills the intended mood for the movie.
2. Put your mind on picking good soundtracks. Dramatic orchestra is turning into a massive cliché.
3. It is OK to put your audience at some emotional distance from the characters. Don’t attempt to relate everything with an intense emotional bonding, which betrays your lack of talent and narcissism (both required for attracting loyal followers).
4. Leave gaps. Don’t try to fill in every detail about the plot in fear that the audience would otherwise get confused. Playing it safe = mediocrity. Leave room for imagination and interpretation. Yes, that’s actually how art works.
5. A happy ending is not the only option for a good ending. Tragedy, irony and inconclusiveness all work under appropriate circumstances.
6. If none of the above seems to add points to your film’s profitability, at least pay heed to them once in a while, so that 30 years down the road you still get a chance to develop a small posthumous cult following, your name hopefully remembered as “well, at least a little different from rest of them”.

It is innate human tendency, upon the creation of each of their personal weblogs, to commence the very first post in a kind of entirely meaningless fluff speak. Their mini-essay usually begins with a hi. Next, it offers a plausible explanation as to why the person in question has gone through all the hideous technical trouble to create the blog (e.g. my friend insists that I should write). Finally, it expresses modest excitement and expectation towards the future of their very own creation…

…which usually within two months would involuntarily slip into the limbo of semi-oblivion, until some segment along the technical chain sustaining the healthy running of the blog snaps off in an inexorable fashion, this disillusioned electronic extension of its owner’s insignificant mortal existence jettisoned far, far away into the deep cosmos.

Hello there! I give this a try because I have not write in a while…I hope you enjoy me writing!