tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10492881.post111191022635042044..comments2024-01-30T01:16:43.488-08:00Comments on The Paper Tiger: "When will we have 'green' model workers?"Other Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08079055348844157557noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10492881.post-1112172519182992382005-03-30T00:48:00.000-08:002005-03-30T00:48:00.000-08:00Dear JR,Growing up in California, we have a lot of...Dear JR,<BR/><BR/>Growing up in California, we have a lot of exposure to Asian cultures, more than some other parts of the country, and I believe that California culture is really influenced by Asian cultures more than other parts of the country might be. The "hippie" and New Age movements were really influenced by Asian philosophy, and though a lot of that stuff is IMO kind of silly, much of it is not. So I think that a lot of Californians grow up with a greater familiarity with certain aspects of Asian culture, or at least our own weird interpretation of them. I mean, yoga, Buddhism, things like that are part of the cultural fabric here. <BR/><BR/>It's all about balance, isn't it? I mean, I'm past the age where I want to spend all my time drinking beer and smoking pot, but on the other hand, there's a lot more to life than work. <BR/><BR/>As I've commented elsewhere on this blog, what's happening in this country quite frankly scares me. A lot. The religiousity scares me, as does the disregard for anyone other than the very wealthy on the part of our current administration. The celebration of raw power, the blatant flaunting of the rule of law, legalization of torture - and that really is what's happening - all of these things atack the very core of what's best about this country, the things most essential to our nature as Americans. I am very aware that our government has done some dark, bad things in its history - but they used to do those things in secret, I think because on some level, they were aware that they were bad things. This current regime has no shame about what they are doing. They twist and manipulate the law to legalize their crimes and they seem to have no shame about any of it.<BR/><BR/>Excuse the rant, but it's late and I'm tired.Other Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08079055348844157557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10492881.post-1111951678760940122005-03-27T11:27:00.000-08:002005-03-27T11:27:00.000-08:00Lisa,I noticed there are usually two camps of Amer...Lisa,<BR/>I noticed there are usually two camps of Americans.<BR/>American liberals like you with an open and friendly attitude towards foreign culture is why US is a great country,IMHO. On the other end of the spectrum, it is disturbing to see some closed minded people who treated Chinese as uncivilized heathens who want to invade other countries, people like Robert Kagan, Rumsfeld and Clancy. On hiroshi, I like the way the hippies take on life and living. A friend of mine is a hippie, he is poor but seems to be always happy and contented smoking pots, drinking beer, sleeping on the sofa...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com