尚能侃(62):The spirit of Christmas
俗话说,“三十年河东,三十年河西”。30年前,一个到中国访问的美国同事送了我两盘空白的盒式录音磁带,把我乐得要命,把周围的人羡慕得要死。今年夏天,我给国内一个亲戚的孩子买了双New Balance的旅游鞋(花了70美刀),人家几乎不屑一顾地说是70年代的款式!(BTW, it was chosen by my daughter who is very keen on fashion.)
中国人中那一部分瞬间暴发起来的人们,他们的自大和自我膨胀,让我们这些从美国回去的人膛目结舌,如果不是自惭形秽的话。他们觉得中国崛起了,美国大厦将倾了,我们这些人都得海龟了,“试看今日之域中,竟是谁家之天下?”
可他们忘记了一个最简单的事实:瘦死的骆驼比马大—it has taken over a century for the Great Britain to go down to its current world standing. 这还是走下坡路,那么让中国这个贫穷落后、地大物薄、人口众多的老大帝国爬上坡,即便给她最好的政治制度、最好的国民素质、最好的机遇,那又会怎么样呢?
恰好我在《经济学人》杂志上,看到了下面这篇文章,尽管我未必同意文中的所有观点,我却忍不住模仿一下该文的题后语:Chinese are in a frenzy. They should cool down a bit.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my fellow CNDers!
The spirit of Christmas
Dec 19th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Americans are in a funk. They should cheer up a bit
“DUMB and Dumber”, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls in love with a classy beauty, Mary Swanson. In one scene he asks her the chances of “a guy like you and a girl like me” ending up together. The answer is “Not good”. “Not good like one out of a hundred?” asks Lloyd. “More like one out of a million,” Mary replies. Lloyd pauses for a moment, then shoots back, “So you're telling me there's a chance?”
That is the American spirit. Americans have traditionally been much more optimistic than Europeans, and happier too. They believe that people determine their own destinies rather than being the mere playthings of fate. They also believe that their children will have a better life than they do.
This helps to explain the dynamism of the American economy. Americans regard failure—even bankruptcy—as a stone in the road rather than a damning verdict. It also helps to explain the appeal of the American experiment. “The American, by nature, is optimistic,” JFK once said. “He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” Europeans ask, “Why?” Americans ask, “Why not?”
But the past five years have produced a dramatic souring in the country's mood. Three-quarters of Americans now think that the country is “on the wrong track”. The number of people who are hostile to trade and immigration has risen sharply, as has the number who think that America should engage less in world affairs. Trust in government is half what it was in 2001. Both the president and Congress have bargain-basement approval ratings. And people are increasingly pessimistic about the future. Barely a third thinks that their children will be better off than they themselves are. The reason why the man with the message of hope, Barack Obama, and the man who hails from Hope, Mike Huckabee, are doing so well is that people think hope is in short supply.
There are good reasons for this pessimism. People are tired of the Bush administration, with its partisanship and incompetence. The Iraq war has shattered America's image of itself as a mighty but good-hearted giant. Iraq means chaos and Abu Ghraib rather than the triumphant export of democracy. The war may be going better of late, but the majority of Americans still think that it was not worth the fighting, and the bad news about the economy is burying the good news about the “surge”. Americans are accustomed to thinking of their houses as pots of gold (and pots of gold that can be remortgaged when you need a bit of extra cash). The gold is now turning into lead.
This is creating a bull market in pessimism. The likes of Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs have transformed themselves into cable stars by ranting about cultural decay and “broken borders”. Patrick Buchanan's latest book is called “Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America Apart”. “We are on a path to national suicide,” he says. America is not just “coming apart”, but also “decomposing”.
There is certainly no shortage of bad news. But coming apart? Decomposing? The current issue of Commentary—a magazine hardly noted for its sunny disposition—contains an excellent article, “Crime, Drugs, Welfare and Other Good News” by Peter Wehner (a former senior White House aide) and Yuval Levin, which shows why Mr Buchanan is talking through his hat.
Both violent crime and property crime have declined dramatically since 1973. New York City will probably notch up less than 500 murders this year, the lowest since the early 1960s (the figure for 1990 was 2,262). Teenagers are cleaning up their act. Teenage drug use has fallen by 23% overall since the 1990s, and by 50% for LSD and ecstasy. Teens are drinking less, smoking less, having sex less and dropping out of school less. The birth rate for 15-19-year-olds has fallen by 35% since 1991. At 10%, the high-school drop-out rate is at a 30-year low.
Welfare reform is working. The welfare caseload has dropped by 60% since 1994. A series of social evils—overall poverty, child poverty, child hunger—have all decreased. Employment figures for single mothers have surged. The number of abortions fell from over 1.6m in 1990 to fewer than 1.3m this year. The divorce rate is at its lowest level since 1970. Education scores are up.
Things are not all hunky-dory. The violent crime rate has ticked upward in the past couple of years. Illegitimacy is at an all-time high. But this is a very different world from the 1970s, when America's leading cultural indicators all started to point towards Gomorrah. American civil society, aided by sensible social policies, is gradually repairing the damage of the past few decades.
Lighten up, Pat
What about Mr Buchanan's particular bugbear, immigration? For all the passion that this is igniting, America is blessedly free from the alienated immigrant populations that so trouble France and other European countries. America still has a genius for employing and assimilating newcomers. English classes are crammed and English-language tuition is a giant business. And America's ability to suck in and assimilate immigrants is part of a bigger and better story. European economies face profound long-term problems because of their citizens' reluctance to reproduce. Americans have the highest fertility rate of any rich country. That is a long-term vote of confidence in the country's future.
In fact, Americans have always had a vigorous tradition of pessimism, in counterpoint to the optimistic one. In 1819 John Adams worried about the duration of “our vast American Empire”. In 1948 Richard Hofstadter complained that “competition and opportunity” had gone into decline and that Americans were looking “wistfully back toward a golden age”. Much of today's pessimism may prove as unfounded. Americans should rediscover the spirit of Lloyd Christmas, idiot though he was.
- posted on 12/26/2007
首先赞下, 尚老师这篇是很好的文章。
其次,我也想谈下自己的观点,讨教尚老师。
正如尚老师说的,“There are snobs everywhere”,西方人不可能免俗没有势利心理。因此,积贫积弱的中国人受西方人侮辱或歧视是毫无疑问的。即使西方人真的没有歧视中国人,由于中国人自己势利心理的推己及人,中国人也会认为西方人歧视自己。总之,中国人的自卑是没问题的。
近代中国积贫积弱太深太久了,因此,一旦中国有所成就,比如富裕,科技进步等,中国人肯定会欢呼,发泄那压抑太久的自卑情绪。 人是情绪性的动物,除非严重影响利益,人们明的或暗的发泄情绪时常常是非理性的。从理性来说,这种发泄是那么浅薄,但从情绪发泄是一种非理性的行为看,这种浅薄是可以理解的,因而也是无关宏旨的。
扬振宁获诺贝尔奖的获奖感言是什么, 刘翔获世界冠军后的行为是什么。 这都典型反映了中国人自卑情绪的发泄。 其实,有这些才是正常的,没有才是虚伪和不正常的。
比如嫦娥发射前,我老A就欢呼异常。我也知发射有风险,但我仍旧欢呼,因为那是真情的流露。如果非得很理性,很绅士,等嫦娥发射成功后再欢呼,那时已经没有那份情绪了。 中国在要强大但还没有强大时,我们才有情绪谈中国的强大。真等中国强大了,我们也就平和了。
当下中国人情绪的发泄,并不意味中国人从此就失去理性,不知天高地厚,不知自己几斤几两。 正如刘翔依旧会科学刻苦训练一样。
有些中国的知识分子,为中国的未来欢呼,这是因为他们的理性思考看到了中国值得欢呼的未来。
尚能饭 wrote:
尚能侃(62):The spirit of Christmas - posted on 12/26/2007
老尚偏心。你这“饭”已扒到第62碗,才给我们剩点“残羹”。有严重歧视之嫌。:(
当初,我夫妻俩就是为这七上八下的“敬意”搁下了一批书籍和光盘,至今令我十分悔恨不已。
曾在《纽约时报》读过一文:在80年代南韩经济腾飞的时候,从美国回去的韩国人都几乎被讥笑为“要饭的”。现在锅内的情形看来也是重蹈覆辙,甚至有过之而无不及。
abc wrote:
首先赞下, 尚老师这篇是很好的文章。
其次,我也想谈下自己的观点,讨教尚老师。
A君是学经济,做生意的。但在谈论“价值”一词时,我们似乎想不到一块去。可喜的是,A君俊才,又不耻下问。如能程门立雪,固执弟子礼,尚老师定会捻髭颌首,道:唔,这孺子可教。:)
- posted on 12/26/2007
我老A学经济,做生意,在网上混很吃亏。 不少网友对我都很鄙视。 确实也是,做生意的人是要油滑点,因此我吃亏也是活该。:)
retro对我评价还算公平,说我好学。 这不,今天又学了程门立雪。其实我上面的帖子,也是在仔细学习尚老师的“There are snobs everywhere”而产生灵感的。 这句话对我的启发很大。
活到老学到老,寓学于乐。在咖啡里既要胡闹寻开心,又要顺便学点东西。咖啡里很多同学很有才,在这里我学到了很多东西。借此机会,再次感谢老板娘,感谢以七月为核心的班干部以及所有的同学。:)
retro wrote:
老尚偏心。你这“饭”已扒到第62碗,才给我们剩点“残羹”。有严重歧视之嫌。:(
当初,我夫妻俩就是为这七上八下的“敬意”搁下了一批书籍和光盘,至今令我十分悔恨不已。
曾在《纽约时报》读过一文:在80年代南韩经济腾飞的时候,从美国回去的韩国人都几乎被讥笑为“要饭的”。现在锅内的情形看来也是重蹈覆辙,甚至有过之而无不及。
abc wrote:A君是学经济,做生意的。但在谈论“价值”一词时,我们似乎想不到一块去。可喜的是,A君俊才,又不耻下问。如能程门立雪,固执弟子礼,尚老师定会捻髭颌首,道:唔,这孺子可教。:)
首先赞下, 尚老师这篇是很好的文章。
其次,我也想谈下自己的观点,讨教尚老师。
- posted on 12/26/2007
谢谢楼上两位朋友阅读并留言。
我在CND上一向是被左、右两方的愤青、愤中和愤老们夹击的,当然也是双方争取的对象。:)
我对中国还是爱之深,故有时难免恨之切。另外,我从来是把国家与政府分开来看的。我对美国政府的批评亦如是。按罗素的说法,这是我们的责任和义务,否则对不起被砍伐了的森林。:)
retro老弟,我有些东西贴在下面这个link,您在国内可以看到,如果您不在意浪费您的时间的话。
http://www.ivpp.ac.cn/bbs/forumdisplay.php?fid=6 - posted on 12/27/2007
看了尚老师的N多侃,很受启发,谢谢尚老师。
国家是生我养我的土地,我们永远与这个国家联系在一起。
政府是管理我们国家的组织,政府有所作为,是国家之幸,人民之幸。政府无能或为恶,是国家之不幸,人民之不幸。
bz
尚能饭 wrote:
谢谢楼上两位朋友阅读并留言。
我在CND上一向是被左、右两方的愤青、愤中和愤老们夹击的,当然也是双方争取的对象。:)
我对中国还是爱之深,故有时难免恨之切。另外,我从来是把国家与政府分开来看的。我对美国政府的批评亦如是。按罗素的说法,这是我们的责任和义务,否则对不起被砍伐了的森林。:)
retro老弟,我有些东西贴在下面这个link,您在国内可以看到,如果您不在意浪费您的时间的话。
http://www.ivpp.ac.cn/bbs/forumdisplay.php?fid=6 - posted on 12/27/2007
尚能饭 wrote:
The spirit of Christmas
Dec 19th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Americans are in a funk. They should cheer up a bit
“DUMB and Dumber”, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls in love with a classy beauty, Mary Swanson. In one scene he asks her the chances of “a guy like you and a girl like me” ending up together. The answer is “Not good”. “Not good like one out of a hundred?” asks Lloyd. “More like one out of a million,” Mary replies. Lloyd pauses for a moment, then shoots back, “So you're telling me there's a chance?”
That is the American spirit. Americans have traditionally been much more optimistic than Europeans, and happier too. They believe that people determine their own destinies rather than being the mere playthings of fate. They also believe that their children will have a better life than they do.
This helps to explain the dynamism of the American economy. Americans regard failure—even bankruptcy—as a stone in the road rather than a damning verdict. It also helps to explain the appeal of the American experiment. “The American, by nature, is optimistic,” JFK once said. “He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” Europeans ask, “Why?” Americans ask, “Why not?”
But the past five years have produced a dramatic souring in the country's mood. Three-quarters of Americans now think that the country is “on the wrong track”. The number of people who are hostile to trade and immigration has risen sharply, as has the number who think that America should engage less in world affairs. Trust in government is half what it was in 2001. Both the president and Congress have bargain-basement approval ratings. And people are increasingly pessimistic about the future. Barely a third thinks that their children will be better off than they themselves are. The reason why the man with the message of hope, Barack Obama, and the man who hails from Hope, Mike Huckabee, are doing so well is that people think hope is in short supply.
There are good reasons for this pessimism. People are tired of the Bush administration, with its partisanship and incompetence. The Iraq war has shattered America's image of itself as a mighty but good-hearted giant. Iraq means chaos and Abu Ghraib rather than the triumphant export of democracy. The war may be going better of late, but the majority of Americans still think that it was not worth the fighting, and the bad news about the economy is burying the good news about the “surge”. Americans are accustomed to thinking of their houses as pots of gold (and pots of gold that can be remortgaged when you need a bit of extra cash). The gold is now turning into lead.
This is creating a bull market in pessimism. The likes of Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs have transformed themselves into cable stars by ranting about cultural decay and “broken borders”. Patrick Buchanan's latest book is called “Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America Apart”. “We are on a path to national suicide,” he says. America is not just “coming apart”, but also “decomposing”.
There is certainly no shortage of bad news. But coming apart? Decomposing? The current issue of Commentary—a magazine hardly noted for its sunny disposition—contains an excellent article, “Crime, Drugs, Welfare and Other Good News” by Peter Wehner (a former senior White House aide) and Yuval Levin, which shows why Mr Buchanan is talking through his hat.
Both violent crime and property crime have declined dramatically since 1973. New York City will probably notch up less than 500 murders this year, the lowest since the early 1960s (the figure for 1990 was 2,262). Teenagers are cleaning up their act. Teenage drug use has fallen by 23% overall since the 1990s, and by 50% for LSD and ecstasy. Teens are drinking less, smoking less, having sex less and dropping out of school less. The birth rate for 15-19-year-olds has fallen by 35% since 1991. At 10%, the high-school drop-out rate is at a 30-year low.
Welfare reform is working. The welfare caseload has dropped by 60% since 1994. A series of social evils—overall poverty, child poverty, child hunger—have all decreased. Employment figures for single mothers have surged. The number of abortions fell from over 1.6m in 1990 to fewer than 1.3m this year. The divorce rate is at its lowest level since 1970. Education scores are up.
Things are not all hunky-dory. The violent crime rate has ticked upward in the past couple of years. Illegitimacy is at an all-time high. But this is a very different world from the 1970s, when America's leading cultural indicators all started to point towards Gomorrah. American civil society, aided by sensible social policies, is gradually repairing the damage of the past few decades.
Lighten up, Pat
What about Mr Buchanan's particular bugbear, immigration? For all the passion that this is igniting, America is blessedly free from the alienated immigrant populations that so trouble France and other European countries. America still has a genius for employing and assimilating newcomers. English classes are crammed and English-language tuition is a giant business. And America's ability to suck in and assimilate immigrants is part of a bigger and better story. European economies face profound long-term problems because of their citizens' reluctance to reproduce. Americans have the highest fertility rate of any rich country. That is a long-term vote of confidence in the country's future.
In fact, Americans have always had a vigorous tradition of pessimism, in counterpoint to the optimistic one. In 1819 John Adams worried about the duration of “our vast American Empire”. In 1948 Richard Hofstadter complained that “competition and opportunity” had gone into decline and that Americans were looking “wistfully back toward a golden age”. Much of today's pessimism may prove as unfounded. Americans should rediscover the spirit of Lloyd Christmas, idiot though he was.
I am impressed by the spirit of this article. :)
It looks like American society becomes solid day by day while the government is going into madness?? That seems totally in contrast to the situation in China.
It's easy to change a government, but it does take many generations to cure a broken society and deprived culture.
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