| 17 |
Luoyang Telephone Number Upgraded "The US went through the 1920s depression but they emerged as the undisputed world superpower afterwards. A smiliar process may happen to China." The key word in that last sentence is "may". It may turn out that way. Then again, it may not. I wish China the best of luck and, being a libertarian capitalist, I welcome the competition. |
| 16 |
Luoyang Telephone Number Upgraded The US has had debts and deficits before. The strength of the US isn't its government but its businesses. I see nowhere that its businesses are declining. Indeed, they're spearheading in practically all directions. As for China, I wish the best for it. However, it is still controlled by a totalitarian communist government. No freedom of speech, assembly, or press. No democracy. Given the two, I'll always bet on the free country. ;-) |
| 15 |
Luoyang Telephone Number Upgraded Jian, I'm a marketing consultant in the US so I see just how slow or fast US businesses act and am very aware of the speed of change that takes place in this country. I was laughing while reading your editorial about how much faster Chinese are than Americans. |
| 14 |
No Baggars Premitted on Metro? If things go as planned, I'll be opening up and running an admissions office for a US boarding school in Shanghai soon. When I get there, I'll see what I can find out and what, if anything could be put on a before-mentioned folded business card. I'm making a note to myself to do this if I come there. I'll email what I find out to Jian when I do. If you're in an industrialized country (especially the US), you can do what I recommend for adult beggars. It does take a bit of your time to do, but you're really helping them if you do. Giving them coin is only harming them. Also, never give to a child beggar but get charities or at least child welfare government agencies to come and get them. Charities and especially government agencies can get the children out from under gang control or remove them from a parasite parent. When I was in New York City last time and saw a child beggar, I called 911 on my cell phone and within five minutes the cops were there and took the child to Social Services. Now I would be surprised if China didn't have some government agency that looked out for the welfare of children and which would take action if someone informed them of a child beggar. However, I'm not there yet so I don't know for sure. |
| 13 |
No Baggars Premitted on Metro? SJ, Did you read my paragraph on how to help child beggars? I cannot see how you wouldn't think that's the best way to help child beggars. Leaving them to beg is simply heartless. Giving them coin is just a cop-out. Those kids need help and a simple phone call can get them it. I've done it a number of times and never once have I been told by anyone that it wasn't the right thing to do or that it wouldn't help the child more than not doing something or giving them some coins. Adult beggars are different and require an educational approach. Child beggars need intervention. Plain and simple. |
| 12 |
No Baggars Premitted on Metro? Jian, Begging is a parasite life. They contribute nothing but feed off of others. The more beggars receive, the less incentive they have to get work that contributes. Giving coin to a beggar is wrong. You might feel good about doing so, but you're not helping them. In fact, you are helping keep them as beggars. If you want to help beggars, do not give them coin but help them find work or connect them with a social program that doesn't breed dependency but encourages them to find work. If you really wanted to help them, you would take them there by the hand and help them get into those programs. You would learn how those programs work inside and out to give the ones you're helping the most benefit of them. You would also introduce them to employers, employment agencies, and friends that might either employ them or know who might. Or would it just be so much easier to toss a few coins in their cup? Which really helps them? And which only a cheap way to turn a blind eye to their plight? However, taking them by the hand and getting involved in their lives is a lot of work. In fact, it is full-time work that social workers do for a living. I am not expecting you to do it. Even if you did do it, there would be only so many you could do this for and there will always be more that would benefit from your help. However, there is something relatively quick you can do that is far better than giving them coin. It is something a friend showed me many years ago. What she did and still does to this day is give any beggar she meets in her city a folded business card. The business card has printing on both sides. On one side, lists zero/low-requirement employers and employment agencies. On the other side is a listing of the social programs available in her city that will help them. However, she doesn't list all of those social programs since some breed dependency. She only lists the ones that encourage people to build a better life for themselves and doesn't list ones that just gives hand-outs. She does list both government, non-profit, and religious organizations. On both sides, the listings contain not just their names and addresses but walking directions from the nearest major landmark. When she encounters a beggar, she asks, "Do you want help or coin?" If they say "help", she asks if they can read. If they say they can read, she hands them the business card and takes a moment to explain it. She doesn't go through it line by line with them, but explains what the two sides are about, asks if they have any questions, answers those questions, and wishes them luck. If they say they cannot read, she still gives them the card but then reads it to them, tells them which they should go to first, and tells them to ask others to read this card to them again. This way while they cannot read the card, they have something that can be read to them to remind them what they can do, get people to help them with directions to the places, and so forth. Now if a beggar says they just want "coin", she says she doesn't help beggars remain beggars but can tell them where to look for work and where there are good social programs that can help them get work. She asks if they would like that information and if they say "yes", she does the before-mentioned education. If they say "no", she says if they ever change their mind in the future, they only need to ask and she'll give them the information then. She then ends the negative encounter by offering the folded business card and saying, "All the information is on this card. Do you want it?" If they say "yes", she gives it then explains it if they seem like they want to hear it or if not, just leaves it with them. She never gives them coin. If she sees them begging in the future and they had asked for the card, she asks them what went wrong. Sometimes it was not understanding the directions, losing the card, or being turned away by one organization and not then trying another on the list. If this is the case, she explains the directions again, gives another card, or encourages them to try another of the organizations. However, it isn't uncommon that they simply don't want to "work that hard". In other words, they want the lazy life of a beggar. To those, she says that's too bad and that she thought they'd want to live a better life than that. That statement is to get them to think. She never gives them coin. And the above is what she tells her friends and co-workers to do. She gives them a good number of such business cards to hand out and also gives them a slip of paper that tells about her printer that always has a box of such cards to sell behind the counter to anyone that comes in and asks for them. Since she paid for the original box, the printer has lost nothing by doing this and sales of the box simply pays for the next box. Oh, and the printer is very much in favor of helping do this and pitches the cards to a lot of people that come into his shop that he thinks might be up for such an idea. If she encounters a child beggar, she doesn't do the above but calls on her cellphone one of a couple charities that helps such children and their parents. She goes through the list of charities that are on her speed dial numbers until she gets one that says they'll immediately come and help the child. The final one on that list is Social Services, which is a government program here in the US. If she has time, she'll tell them that she'll wait for them to arrive in case the child beggar moves off somewhere. If she doesn't have time, she gives them a good description of the child, the location, and anything else they might need to know. Since meeting her, I have done the above. It isn't always a positive experience. You quickly learn that many beggars have no desire to get work or be anything but a beggar. Many just want money to buy booze or drugs. It is quite surprising how many of them get angry at your offer to help and reveal what they really want the money for. However, I've never had someone get angry with me when what they wanted was something to eat. If they say that, I point out that three of the social programs will feed them the moment they set foot in their door if they tell them they're starving. I don't give them coin so hopefully hunger will get them to take the next important step. As for trying to get the no-begging rule removed from your metro transportation system, you would not helping beggars if you were successful in doing that but, as explained above, you would be actually doing them harm. I would recommend instead that you pass along what I've written above to your metro transportation system and lead a small campaign (such as here on your blog) to get others to pressure your metro system to do the above. To get the metro workers to have these cards in one of their pockets while working and to give the cards out to the beggars as the workers are expelling the beggars from the premises. That actually makes the no-begging rule really helpful since the metro isn't contributing to a parasite lifestyle but disrupting it while, at the same time, giving information to the beggars on how to make something better of their lives. In fact, give me their email address and I'll tell them this. Giving coins to a beggar is a cop-out. Nothing more. Nothing less. The above isn't a cop-out. It requires time and effort. It forces you to interact with the beggars for more than the second it takes you to toss a coin into their cup. However, it actually helps them move up in life instead of keeping them down. |
| 10 |
Happy Birthday to Goudaner *laugh* Hmmm. I've had a number of cars over the years and never named one of them. I've always taken care of them and they've always lasted a very long time. Only one of my friends has ever named one of his vehicles and that was done in jest by us friends. He has a green Suburban with three rolls of comfortable leather seats. We call it "tank" or "the tank". ;-) By the way, are stretched limousines a common sight in Shanghai? |
| 9 |
Any Advice for Smiling Library Jian, Have them contact US public libraries. Public libraries only have so much space and so to make room for new books, they have to get rid of old books. I would be surprised if American public libraries wouldn't like to ship their old books to your organization to distribute to rural public libraries. Likewise, contact American bookstores and see if they would ship over their non-selling stock. The bookstores should be able to write it off as a donation and if not, I'd suggest you set up a t@x-exempt non-profit branch in the USA so they can do that. You might be able to raise money from Americans by asking them to help rural libraries in China. A few choice photographs of how small such rural libraries are and you'll likely get donations. I would suggest you ask for cash or books. If you educate Americans how they can write off such donated books on their t@xes, you might get flooded with books. Another idea is to try to raise donations from computer programmers in America to buy computers and internet connections for these rural libraries. Computer programmers are soft touches if you know how to approach them. The key is seeking Geek. *laugh* Set up a website for all the above. Have a counter on how many books you've been able to give rural libraries. Show pictures of rural libraries. Have a donation form. Hook up with Amazon or another online bookstore where people can purchase books and have them directly sent to your organization. Have a Wish List of books you'd like to buy for the rural libraries and a way for people to purchase these books via Amazon or such. Approach Chinese and American celebrities and ask if they wouldn't mind be a spokesperson for your organization. If you can snag one, having them appear on talk radio programs in the US could cause a huge influx of donations and books. |
| 8 |
Beijing is Cultural Center Oui, Yes, we do admire those that make a success of themselves, but we also like going to movies, ballet, opera, musicals, plays, museums, and other fine arts activities and performances. It isn't an either/or thing. |
| 7 |
Beijing is Cultural Center Are the people and/or government of Shanghai doing anything to develop culture in their city? I've read on many forums and newsgroups that Shanghai is pretty much a desert when it comes to culture and doesn't have a high society (a.k.a. social circles that to go fine arts performances). True? |
| 6 |
Dislike Doing or Starting to Do Do realize that picking up another language is harder for some people. I'm one of those. I lived with a Shanghainese woman in the US for six years and the only Chinese phrase that I could make stick in my head was "Wah I Knee" ("I love you" in Chinese). Now if you only could get one Chinese phrase to stick, that is probably the best. ;-) However, it wasn't from lack of trying to learn other Chinese words and phrases. Just an aptitude thing. Years before I took the Johnson O'Connors Aptitude Test (http://www.jocrf.org/) in Chicago and found out that I just have a very low aptitude for acquiring new languages. I'm in the top 1% for deductive and inductive reasoning, but in the bottom 5% for language acquisition. So please keep this in mind when you encounter foreigners that don't speak the local language. It might not because of indifference or lack of trying. It might just be really difficult for them to do so. |
| 5 |
Enjoy Doing or Being Able to Do I lived in the historic Charleston, South Carolina, but it wasn't until my mother visited with a friend of hers that I went to visit all the historic sites (mainly Civil War site) there. Oddly, even though I had never been to any of them, I knew them. I must have picked up what locals had said about them here and there. Never put it all together until I showed them to a visitor. After my mother and her friend left, it did strike me that I hadn't explored the city myself until then. Thinking about it I can see why we don't. When you move someplace, you have so many things you've got to get done to set yourself up there that after all of it is taken care of, you're exhausted and have already run all over the city. Of course, the places you ran to were functional (Home Depot, supermarkets, etc.). Stuff tourists have no interest in seeing but you need. Yes, you've see the city by then, but not necessarily its full beauty. Anyway... After that experience over twenty years ago, I've taken a scavenger's hunt approach to the cities I live in. And by doing so, I go beyond what even the tourists do. I visit the tourist locations, but then hunt out the unusual. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, I've found a video arcade that specializes in old video games, a funeral director that has a bizarre museum of stuffed roadkill, a tongue-in-cheek museum for toilet papers from around the world, and the list just keeps on growing. And by approaching it like a hunt, I get my local friends into the game as well and they end up taking us to still other such places. Last summer, we hunted for little-known city parks. Now that was eye-opening experience. It amazed me how many there were and where they were hidden away. Two were so amazing that when visitors came one time, I took them to see two of them and they were amazed as well. Hidden without any sign but merely a grassy path you walked and then they opening up to a beautifully kept but obviously rarely used park. Jian, what I would recommend you do for one of your installment is essentially write up a scavenger's hunt list of places in Shanghai and the nearby area that both locals and visitors should go and see. Put well-known museums, ballet, and such on that list, but also put the unusual, bizarre, and unique. And make the list not just to see them, but to do something at them, such as see a ballet performance, eat an unusual dish at an odd restaurant, stand at such-n-such location then look straight up, and so forth. If you can, make it as a separate webpage and in a check-list format so people can print it off and then check them off as they go around seeing and doing them. Oh, and I did the above once but it did it in a cryptic fashion and made it a Saturday activity for friends. On the list was things like: "Go to 'Big Mamma & Uncle Fat's Barbeque' and eat third item on list. Staple restaurant receipt to this paper." "Go to 'Memorial Union". Third floor. Two doors to the left of the women's restroom. Face south. Write what you see." It was great fun. It took me a long time to make up the list, but it was enjoyed by all. :-) |
| 4 |
What does Happiness Depend on Lee, Always consider the source and its agenda. Both who wrote it and who is promoting it. ;-) --- Jian, As for pursuing happiness through wealth, it's a balancing game. Those that only pursue wealth are always working thus not enjoying the fruit of their labor. It takes maturity to understand that you've got to make time for your own happiness and then leave work behind while focusing on fun activities. The idea that you will be less happy the wealthier you are is just a socialist dream. Would you have more fun visiting the playground at a nearby park or hopping around in Disney World? The thing some people don't realize is that free time is also a sign of wealth. Being able to work only a four-day workweek while still making a good income is a sign of a good life. Then again... Let us also not be blind to the fact that for some people what they do for their jobs IS what gives them the most joy in life. For these individuals, they've achieved the ultimate. Being paid to do what they enjoy. They're not overworked when that happens. They just need to say to others, "No, this is what I enjoy doing. Be happy for me." All the above simply takes maturity. If anything people are lacking is maturity. And that's not just as far as their careers go either. Think about it. I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. And if you do, you're more mature than those who don't. Maturity isn't about aging, but reflection. If you never reflect on your actions, you never mature. |
| 3 |
Helping by Hiring Shelly, Do realize that what some people think is middle-class is what other think of as well-off. Lately, most people think that "middle class" means someone like a professor, accountant, or police captain. Others would put "middle class" as someone like a lawyer, doctor, or marketing executive. Still others would put it as someone that makes over $200,000 a year but less than a half a million. I was using pretty much the middle definition. Also, having a live-in domestic staff is becoming less and less popular with the higher classes. It's about privacy mainly. For example, I have a cousin that is the founder and CEO of a cell phone company, major stockholder in it, and is by any definition wealthy. His wife is a housewife and they don't have a live-in maid. They do have a maid service that comes through every week, but that's it. |
| 2 |
Helping by Hiring BlueKite, Do know that taxation is involuntary. No one freely pays their taxes. Governments threaten their citizens with imprisonment and, if they physically resist, even death if they refuse to pay their taxes. So do not put taxation and free markets in the same equation. Free markets don't put guns to people's heads to force them to buy their products and services. Free market succeed on win-win transactions. As for the UN's lending to small businesses in improvished countries, do some research on it. I have. Governments abuse these programs like crazy. And don't hold up the UN as some model of purity either. It's a very corrupt bearucracy. Read up on the Oil 4 Food scandal for just the tip of the iceberg on that organization. As for Europe, I've been there too and was speaking not only from first-hand knowledge but being a consultant to European businesses and an advisor to several European politicians. That you found some people living there that are better off than in the States is meaningless. I could do likewise with any country in the world ... even those during in the turmoil of a civil war. I was talking about their societies as a whole. |
| 1 |
Helping by Hiring Shelly, A woman being a housewife in the US isn't a sign of poverty, but of being well-off. The husband makes enough money so his wife doesn't have to work. There are many wives that wish they could do that. --- Bluekite, Heavy taxation and a nanny state is not the solution. Just visit Europe to see what happens when you do something like that. You hurt the economic growth of the nation and breed a society of lazy free-loaders. --- PC, Read up on the actual success of organizations like Peace Corp. There is very little they actually help. Sure, those that work in Peace Corp and donate to such organizations feel good about themselves, but that's about it. What you think is useful skills that people should know can very easily not be. If you really want to help them, start up a for-profit business and do business deals with them. Don't be charitable, but demand value for your dollar. Switch to another local company if they offer better prices. You'll find that helps FAR more than hand-outs. And I did just that with a small village in Cameroon, Africa. I later sold it for a nice profit and it has continued to make that village a booming economy in that country. No hand-outs. No charity. It will continue on not due to constant begging for donations but because it is profitable to do so. That is the best way to help any improvished community. --- Jian, Your promoting the use of Ayi is great. In your original post, you were encouraging people to hire Ayi not for charity or some other social "good" but to show how everyone benefits. That's capitalism at its best. A win-win situation for all. Charity only breeds resentment, hurts self-esteem, and keeps people down. Jobs and business raise people up. No sane person on the face of the Earth wants to always remain poor and dependent. We all want to become something better. To be an equal. Charity does none of that. Just the opposite. The only thing I feel sorry about is your need to post this explanation to those that don't know any better. Not that your explanation is bad, but that you felt there was a need to give it. Keep up the good work! |