Taipei Personality...

Tapei Personality...      

You are living in China... At least, that's what billions of Chinese people around the globe believe... I know this is a strong statement, but taken with a grain of assault it is humorously ironic, and even highly profound... The very nature of what it means to be from China is wrapped up in a brand of ancient nationalism and modern disaster-inviting-arrogance... If China had missionaries, they have been well entrenched for generations, into every continent on earth... Slowly, each culture of this planet is being terraformed, into a Neo Feng Shui state of Confucius...

The signs or obvious to me... If clothes make a man, you are already Chinese... We have Chinese goods and products everywhere, which are so entirely pervasive that the mind can hardly grasp the scope... Chinese cuisine has become common in many places, sometimes more than the original local fare... I find this very ironic... When I lived in China for a year, I discovered the food to be nothing like the Chinese Take-Out I was accustomed to Stateside... To say it tasted bad would be a judgmentality, yet 'Good' has lost its meaning for me... We use the word 'Goods' to describe the weapons of mass production we consume daily, promoting China's long march from Karl Marxism to Richard Marxism...

Take Chinese medicine, for example... On many continents, especially in the west, traditions like acupuncture have managed to earn respect and trust over the generations... It was tragically humorous to find that in China, the medical system is a bit more like our old images of witch doctors and superstitious granmothers... There was also a strong aura of vending machine, know-it-all-dispenser doctors... A medical degree can be purchased nearly over-the-counter... This tempts colossal bluffers and other dollar predators... Pregnant women are ordered to eat a whole chicken every day for fertilitarian reasons... For me, this calls the entire school of thought into question... Although for the record, I do believe that there are good people EVERYWHERE in the world... But when all these 'Good' people move as a massive-aggressive, passive-progressive force, we may as well call them, 'Goods'...

While living near Hong Kong, in the 'Special Economic Zone' called Zhongshan (pronounced Jong Shan...) I befriended some university graduates who were only just joining the work force... I observed that these types expressed the most freedom with their tongues... They were willing to share their beliefs and opinions, their debriefs and dominions... The most absolutely shocking revelation I ever heard, and I heard it everywhere after that on several subtle levels, was what is taught in all schools, to all children, at a very early age...

"China is BEST country!!!"

Plain and simple, no skirting the truth here... This is so fundamental to being of Chinese descent, that I often felt alienated unless I tipped my metaphorical hat to all the 'best countrymen' in placid agreement... Considering the context of the old Chinese saying, "We can always fool a foreigner..." the best-country dogma leaves one feeling either Chinese and happy, or definitely-not-Chinese, or hardly human at all... This extreme ethnocentrism was always made more tolerable by the generous smiles of the people behaving nationalistic... Always a grin when announcing with profundity, "China is BEST country!!!" In a philosophical way, This guided me to the idea that everything should be the best while it's on our radar... Practical distractions such as this are essential for western residents... One either loves this best country, or one slowly goes insane from the incessant flaunting and self assured piety...

At this point I must attempt to state clearly that I love China... It's a beautiful place with sincere people, this Disneyland of the Tao... It's been a long journey for me, to fully appreciate saying that, but it's really the only way I could ever enjoy my experience there... I guess it takes me the longest, to learn the basic lessons... Most people already know that if you like something or someone, the feeling is generally reciprocated... When I was good to China, it was good to me... I now know this to be true in many other areas of living, which is how I find contentment in daily life under ANY flag...

So there's a little bit of China in your heart, and in mine as well... Whether you like it or not, simply getting dressed in the morning means you are promoting the ideal of, "China is BEST country!!!" It's only a matter of time before the statistical laws of averages have us doing things in a much more China way...  Soon it could be white guys employed to run the Chinese cafe and dry cleaner...  The idea doesn't really bother me, because China is  not out to conquer the world... THEY DON'T NEED TO... That's what makes it hilarious... We have already given in with no resistance whatsoever... Our cell phones and clothes and airplanes and all the other myriad conveniences have bound us to our surrealtors... The products are already preaching the 'Goods News'...

This may threaten the ideals of your innocent, everyday, Tao Jones Industrialist... I am sorry that my brand of honest humor is sharply pointed... When China is concerned, it's difficult not to attract outrageous attention... When one of the oldest and largest culture on the planet does ANYTHING, the rest of the world should hold its breath... I wonder sometimes, will our planet eventually grow lopsided from so much mass moving, one hemisphere to another? What if that made our orbit askew and sent us careening into the sun? Probably not a likely scenario, though worth the synapse forgery...

Why do I indulge this entire line of pondering? I simply woke knowing I needed to air a viewpoint (which I don't actually cling to that tightly)... Seems more like a great way to begin a healthy dialog than a conversation killer... And as usual, I hardly know what I am saying, ESPECIALLY when it comes to China... Anything so vast as China will inspire every person with different facets of the same thing... Each witness tells a unique story, and they are ALL valid and worth hearing... Even the extreme nationalism... Because, if China is best country, as is taught and adhered to, and if China is every country, as I have made a case for, logic would suggest that every country is therefore the best... We can all then dispense with wars and feel good about our lives, knowing they are the best citizens, and that we are as well...