Sunday, March 31, 2024
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Monday, March 25, 2024
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
March 20 (W), 2024 The Sociological Minds-Eyes
A couple of Youtube channels with independent thoughts (or book/film selections) from Taiwan caught my attention. Taiwan's economic-political system tends to be seen as a type of state capitalism or quasi- capitalistic entity, with some similarities with Hong-Kong-before-1997, Japan, Singapore, and S. Korea, all under an umbrella of a bigger, "advanced" capitalistic camp.
These Youtube channels that I found stood out with wider politico-economic ideologies. They have something relating to Sociology, Philosophy, and History. Here is one of them. (I selected a couple of videos form the following channel - https://www.youtube.com/@superycinema).
A reflection after having watched the videos:
Watching videos from this channel always reminds me of a small episode when I taught sociology at a Midwest technical college a while ago.
This was about a female student attending my sociology class. After a couple of weeks' classroom sessions, she told me that some friends alerted her that sociology was not a good idea to be a selective course (note, most Gen Ed courses were not required for their degree programs. So, they were open as selective courses for credits) before her registration. That's why she had hesitated for a while to take this class. I asked her to tell me more about what "not a good idea" meant. She told me that so far she felt sociology quite interesting, not like what she was told that sociology taught people "against the society's values...," and advised her to take psychology, instead. But she was glad that she took sociology.
Then I asked if she could give me some examples about "against society's values". She frankly pointed out that they told her things like GLBTQA rights/atheists, diversity issues, some taken for granted traditional values, pitying "underdogs," and a few religious denominations' practices...etc. that were not what they believed for. She added that she was a pious Christian.
I could fully understand where she was from. But, this short story happened a long time ago. Now, things could be changed.
Among the 4 major sociological perspectives: Structural-functional, Symbolic, Conflict, and Feminist analytical approaches, from my observation, most students had hard time, or preferred not to "recognize" the conflict perspective to analyze social issues/problems. Same as within the Structural-Functional's manifest, latent, and dysfunction sub-perspectives, the latter two, tended to be challenging to be applied in analyzing social events for most students. It is easier to see issues or problems from the individual level. To link with institutional or societal/bigger cultural level, even, global level, required more efforts. As C. Wright Mills (1959) describing an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture shaping the person's choices and perceptions, such a sociological imagination takes great endeavors to cultivate.
Well, one more episode just popped into my mind. This one was from my hind-sight perspective, hopefully, not tinted with too much sociological imagination. It was during the fall semester of 2015 to 2016 (ya, the heated election season with a very "special" school administration under a very conservative governor,) suddenly several sessions of sociology were cut down, replaced by psychology which I taught too, but I preferred to teach sociology. One more interesting phenomenon was that more students with military background registered my Art Appreciation and Sociology sessions in 2016 than before. Yes, in the past, many semesters I had a few students with such backgrounds attending my courses. From my understanding, they knew I served in the military before. Such an experience turned into a point of preference for them to select my sessions. (The course had multiple sessions taught by several other instructors as well). But, in this semester (the hot campaign season,) the dean told me that two students reported that I said something regarding political in/correctness that s/he did not agree with!!! (Well, this was not a math, chemistry, or computer science class, was it?)
Indeed, just being a messenger of sociology was not an easy task!! Trying not to be over sensitive about identity: being the only, non-native English-speaking non-Caucasian instructor in the college, always in high alert, not to step on the sensitive red-line (for 18 years), consumed much more nervous energy than that of teaching per se. Perhaps, between teaching natural sciences and social sciences, the teaching philosophy and pedagogy exists some differences, particularly, at the technical college level?
The term Baizuo originated in the 2010s, attributed to several surveys through overseas Chinese, most of them, in the US., who left their motherland for varieties of reasons. Most of them disliked the CCP regime’s ideology and practices. The surveyed communities tended to be residents of the middle or higher social classes of high-tech practitioners or small businesspersons. As a result of their specific lifestyle, short of understanding, experience/education, or ingrained with their traditional, ideological constraints in humanitarian equality, and their hard-working, marginal journey in the West, most of them are "uncomfortable and even hostile" (Cheng, 2019, p.184) to new concepts in racial/class/gender equity, sexuality, family, religion and the rest of diversity issues. This conservative phenomenon is quite similar to some small capitalistic bourgeois mentality or residents of the rural areas in the US.
Cheng’s research also reminds me of one recent event about a successful reporter of the CCP-regime. Due to some reasons, he/王某人 offended his government, later escaping to Japan, working as a youtuber. He got a visitor visa to travel to Taiwan and observed the key elections in the early January of 2024. Amid the trip, in a Taiwan night-time talk show, he mockingly mimicked a physically challenged candidate whom he saw during a political campaign activity - to please the audience of that night. Such a behavior aroused the anger of Taiwanese people who asked him to apologize to Mr. Chen, a lawyer running for a congressional position, and all the disabled people in Taiwan. But he felt people in Taiwan just making a fuss, unwilling to make such an apology. Then, he framed the whole issue was a plot done by a political party in Taiwan that he disliked. Furthermore, he stirred up his hardcore fans’ sentiments through his video site to attack Taiwan Government, like the popular tactics of pitting people against people approach employed by Mao in early 60s, and still practiced now – the Maple Bridge Experience (楓橋經驗). He, indeed, is one-of-a kind of the popular media high-achiever! Corresponding to his mindset, as we know, there is a super famous talk show star in the CCP, who made fun of disabled people as part of his performing motif!!! Having taught Diversity Studies for many years, I could understand where they come from. Another explanation may be that there exists a wide "cultural lag" between CCP-China and Taiwan... ( I wrote a critique on this issue posted on Jan. 25, 2024: https://ci8395.blogspot.com/2024/01/jan-25-th-2024-are-some-bad-apples.html, for reference).
Tracing back even further, the term, Baizuo, used by those who were anti-CCP style of communism, probably also, initially aiming at mocking American and Western communists who traveled to China to support the communist revolution. Later, the widespread of the Baizuo concept was reinforced by the Western liberal ideologies and some European governments, particularly A. Merkel’s administration, for their alleged over-tolerance during the refugee crisis, and the rise of popularity of D. Trump's populist policies (Cheng, 2019). Since then, the term has begun to be widely used in English, particularly around the American conservatives, notably, the Chinese anti-communism and pro-democracy activists in the US., who use the term to refer to others who don’t hold the similar ideology as they do.
Just found some interesting studies relevant to the topic. I excerpted a part of it attached below:
"D. Trump announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in 2015. His right-wing electoral strategy has appealed not only to Chinese nationalists but also to many Chinese liberals". (Lin, 2021). "For nationalists, Trump's populist, anti-immigrant campaign has appealed to them, though that appeal is also noted as more of an opposition to American liberalism or even liberal democracy itself". (Zhang, 2020; Lin, 2021). "Over time, the term has come to be used to describe people who uphold similar policies, such as B. Obama, rather than focusing on their race". (Chen, 2022). "For Chinese liberals, or at least some of them, Trump's toughness and conservatism toward CCP-China have appealed to them, and they want to use similar conservative ideas to promote a liberal democratic system in China. Both liberals who support Trump and those who criticize him invoke cases like the Cultural Revolution/文化大革命 or the Great Leap Forward/大躍進 as an overall critique of leftists and believe that the American left will similarly lead to these happening in the United States. The former equate the removal of Confederate memorials with the destruction of the Four Olds/破四舊, Black Lives Matter activists with the Red Guards/紅衛兵造反, and MeToo with the big character poster/遊街示眾貼大字報 or struggle session/楓橋鬥爭活動. They draw the conclusion that the 'white left' is wreaking devastation on America through these analogies. The latter, though, connect Trump's populism to Maoism". (Hendriks-Kim, 2023; Gao, 2023)
An interesting phenomenon is that these groups of people, even holding the US. green card or naturalized as the US. citizens, seem blind to an individual who has been entangling with hundreds of civil and criminal cases, inciting a mini-coup against his own country, disturbing social order for many years, attempting to turn this nation into a banana republic and the rest of anti-democratic activities. And then, these groups of "seeking-freedom-democracy-and-protection" immigrants, regard him as a persecuted victim by his government. No matter what, as long as this person with his populist proteges, dares to yell at the CCP-leader and the regime, then, he, to be the leader of the US, and a proxy avenger for them, seemingly can serve the best interest of their once-damaged mindset done by the CCP regime? But what about other purposes to choose/adopt and stay in this country?
Tracing back even further, the term, Baizuo, used by those who were anti-CCP style of communism, probably also, initially aiming at mocking American and Western communists who traveled to China to support the communist revolution. Later, the widespread of the Baizuo concept was reinforced by the Western liberal ideologies and some European governments, particularly A. Merkel’s administration, for their alleged over-tolerance during the refugee crisis, and the rise of popularity of D. Trump's populist policies (Cheng, 2019). Since then, the term has begun to be widely used in English, particularly around the American conservatives, notably, the Chinese anti-communism and pro-democracy activists in the US., who use the term to refer to others who don’t hold the similar ideology as they do.
Just found some interesting studies relevant to the topic. I excerpted a part of it attached below:
"D. Trump announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in 2015. His right-wing electoral strategy has appealed not only to Chinese nationalists but also to many Chinese liberals". (Lin, 2021). "For nationalists, Trump's populist, anti-immigrant campaign has appealed to them, though that appeal is also noted as more of an opposition to American liberalism or even liberal democracy itself". (Zhang, 2020; Lin, 2021). "Over time, the term has come to be used to describe people who uphold similar policies, such as B. Obama, rather than focusing on their race". (Chen, 2022). "For Chinese liberals, or at least some of them, Trump's toughness and conservatism toward CCP-China have appealed to them, and they want to use similar conservative ideas to promote a liberal democratic system in China. Both liberals who support Trump and those who criticize him invoke cases like the Cultural Revolution/文化大革命 or the Great Leap Forward/大躍進 as an overall critique of leftists and believe that the American left will similarly lead to these happening in the United States. The former equate the removal of Confederate memorials with the destruction of the Four Olds/破四舊, Black Lives Matter activists with the Red Guards/紅衛兵造反, and MeToo with the big character poster/遊街示眾貼大字報 or struggle session/楓橋鬥爭活動. They draw the conclusion that the 'white left' is wreaking devastation on America through these analogies. The latter, though, connect Trump's populism to Maoism". (Hendriks-Kim, 2023; Gao, 2023)
An interesting phenomenon is that these groups of people, even holding the US. green card or naturalized as the US. citizens, seem blind to an individual who has been entangling with hundreds of civil and criminal cases, inciting a mini-coup against his own country, disturbing social order for many years, attempting to turn this nation into a banana republic and the rest of anti-democratic activities. And then, these groups of "seeking-freedom-democracy-and-protection" immigrants, regard him as a persecuted victim by his government. No matter what, as long as this person with his populist proteges, dares to yell at the CCP-leader and the regime, then, he, to be the leader of the US, and a proxy avenger for them, seemingly can serve the best interest of their once-damaged mindset done by the CCP regime? But what about other purposes to choose/adopt and stay in this country?
Zhang in another paper (2019) summarized the commonality of hundreds of relevant responses to his research: "they accused Baizuo of being hypocritical humanitarians who advocate for peace and equality only to 'satisfy their own feeling of moral superiority'; of caring only about topics such as immigration, minorities, and LGBT rights; of tolerating the 'regressive values' of Islam for the sake of multiculturalism; of supporting the welfare state at the expense of tolerating lazy people; and of being 'ignorant and arrogant westerners' who 'pity the rest of the world and think they are saviors' ".
Well-known to the world, the CCP-regime hoisting the giant banner of fighting for social justice, horrifically persecuted and purged many so called Five-Black-Categories, deemed as historically over-privileged classes and advantaged individuals, or anti-communist-equality reactionaries. How can the victims or survivors of these groups forget such nightmares? A “gestalt communism” based on those cruel treatments may shape their views toward other types of socialism or communism that grow out of nourishing cultural-backgrounds, such as the political parties/organizations in the Scandinavian countries, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, the US., and the rest of more than 90 countries in the world. Thus, doesn’t the over-generalization-analogies seem tinted with oversimplified stereotype mixed with their specific super-inferior complex, ultra-nationalism, and some sort of the Dunning–Kruger syndrome? (The so-called: 身在曹營心在漢, 在美受生活, 反/害/厭美是工作).
Furthermore, with such a different humanistic progressing gap exists in the wide spectrum of human development amid many cultures and countries, lots of individuals, groups/organizations, and nations engage in different types of humanitarian endeavors can be easily labelled by the do-good-doubters as “SJW” (social justice warriors), a derogatory term referring them as the commonly known - Gauche caviar, Boba liberals, champagne socialists, cultural Marxism conspiracy theorists, the pushers of declining of the West, liberal elites, limousine liberals, just to name a few. One good example is an interesting yet horrific film – “Green Inferno,” depicting such a controversial sentiment to the bone.
Perhaps, being through thousand years of feudal-monarchical vicissitudes, suddenly, a brand-new ideological product of the western industrialization thrusting into an old empire may not bode well. Then, what happened was under such as a speedy change, without time to digest, a toddler was on the pilot seat, flying an airplane, carrying 1.3 billion of obedient passengers over the world…
Whether mushrooming from an infertile/inhumane breeding ground or developing from the long tradition of humanistic historical context, generates quite different modes of socialist and communist ideologies and practices in human societies. The CCP-Style of hybrid (fake) communism, has not much to do with the original Marx and Engels’ thoughts except an over-growing apparatus of the autocratic police state.
The establishment of the CCP regime creates a false if not misunderstood experience of socialism/communism to its people. Such an authoritarian-ideological framework is ingrained in many of its well-surveilled citizens, even in the intellectual circles, whether inside the regime or probably, more in overseas.
Whether mushrooming from an infertile/inhumane breeding ground or developing from the long tradition of humanistic historical context, generates quite different modes of socialist and communist ideologies and practices in human societies. The CCP-Style of hybrid (fake) communism, has not much to do with the original Marx and Engels’ thoughts except an over-growing apparatus of the autocratic police state.
The establishment of the CCP regime creates a false if not misunderstood experience of socialism/communism to its people. Such an authoritarian-ideological framework is ingrained in many of its well-surveilled citizens, even in the intellectual circles, whether inside the regime or probably, more in overseas.
Here is a previous post relevant to this topic too.
Title: Reasons against a fake-communism?
Title: Reasons against a fake-communism?
Monday, March 18, 2024
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Monday, March 11, 2024
Sunday, March 10, 2024
March 10 (Sn), 2024 Gender Ideology and Power Structure - some examples in the past and now
On this International Women's Day, have a glimpse of some examples in the past
and something needs to keep on striving for...
and something needs to keep on striving for...
Saturday, March 9, 2024
March 9 (Sa), 2024 Women and Population / 女人與人口
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Some visual learning materials I used in covering Gender Issues and Demography in Sociology before:
1. This cruel practice lasted more than a thousand years....
2. This inhumane ritual is still practiced on millions of young girls in the world:
The FGM process is too brutal to watch.... I skip the videos.
A previous post:
Friday, March 8, 2024
March 8 (F), 2024 Passing the Banton / 薪火相傳
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Some visual learning materials I used in covering Gender Issues in Sociology before:
This cruel practice lasted more than a thousand years....
This inhumane ritual is still practiced on millions of young girls in the world:
The FGM process is too brutal to view the videos.... I skip the videos.
March 8 (F), 2024 Investing
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Some visual learning materials I used in covering Gender Issues and Demography in Sociology before:
This cruel practice lasted more than a thousand years....
This inhumane ritual is still practiced on millions of young girls in the world:
The FGM process is too brutal to watch.... I skip the videos.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Monday, March 4, 2024
Friday, March 1, 2024
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