The Use of Power

April 4, 2010

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Lord Acton

There’s a lot of truth to what Lord Acton wrote.

William Pitt, The Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778 said something similar: “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.”

The corruption that Lord Acton and William Pitt talk about does not only apply to a nation’s political and business leaders. It influences common citizens, who put pressure on their government to react violently.

As China grows its power, how will that corruption manifest itself?  Will China become like the British Empire or the United States and continue to wage wars around the globe in the national interest? Maybe, or will China re-define what the use of power means?

“China is presenting its ascent not as a power shift, but as a paradigm shift. It claims that its rise will be different from other powers in the past and sets an example for a fundamental revision of the nature of great power politics.” Source: In The New Times

See Power Corrupts http://wp.me/pN4pY-40

 

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Noodle Culture

April 4, 2010

China has a unique food culture. My wife loves noodles. I’ve followed her down narrow Shanghai streets to a famous won-ton and noodle shop on the corner of Chang-le and Shang-yang Road. The front is open and the ceiling low with each narrow table crowded with Chinese sitting on small chairs shoveling noodles in with chopsticks.

My wife orders a small bowl of noodles with peanut sauce for me and a bowl of blood soup and another bowl of noodles with spicy hot Sichuan peppercorn sauce for her.  As she eats, sweat beads her face but there is not one word of complaint—not one sign that she suffers. Instead, this seriously satisfied look spreads across her face as if she has entered a Chinese noodle heaven.

When we are visiting Nanjing Road in Shanghai between People Square and the Bund, we always stop at the same food shop where my wife orders steaming hot noodles with the same peppercorn sauce, and I order deep fried, fresh chou dofu (stinky tofu) with the same sauce that makes me sweat.

At celebration feasts, a wider variety of food will be served from whole fish, crab, a variety of vegetable dishes and tofu.

See how Western culture has created An Invasion of Fat http://wp.me/pN4pY-hb

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

One Party Advantage

April 4, 2010

The West’s loudest criticisms of China are a one party system, limited religious freedom and government censorship. Is it possible that these same things are also China’s strengths?

President of China, Hu Jintao

Clean water, air and plentiful, healthy food are precious. China’s one-party system ruled by scientists and engineers excels at solving these challenges. Instead of becoming embroiled in partisanship battles over political and religious differences, as in the United States, China is moving ahead to clean up their environment with no “Tea Bag People” or opposition claiming global warming is not caused by carbon emissions.

China has already become the leader in solar power and wind turbine technology. Now, in the last few years, China has emerged as an early leader in adopting “clean coal” technologies. The next industry China is poised to dominate is high-speed rail with plans to add more at home while considering a line from Beijing to London.

The motivation behind this sudden awareness to the dangers of pollution is because China’s government, with a cultural foundation in Confucianism, must meet the needs of the people or be swept from power. Even if a few complain and suffer, the needs of the many must come first.

Discover Hitting Endless Homeruns

 

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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2 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, environment, government, politics, religion | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Double Menu Caper

April 3, 2010

Our hotel was outside Xian’s city walls.  We had a view of the battlements that were centuries old. At night, the walls and towers were outlined with white Christmas lights.  I ached to get up there and walk those walls.  It was 1999, and I’d wait more than nine years before that happened.

Our second day in the city, we walked from the hotel into the city to a Xian restaurant. I went in first and the hostess, who didn’t speak a word of English, handed me a menu written in English.

This is a different restaurant from the one I mention.

My wife, dressed more like a Chinese peasant than an American, came in after me and she was handed a menu in Chinese. My wife glanced at my menu. She took it out of my hands and gave it back to the hostess.

“We’ll use the Chinese menu,” she said. The prices in Mandarin were less than half the English version.  A stunned look appeared on the hostesses face.  It was a Candid Camera moment, and it was all I could do to avoid laughing.

See I ate no Dog, I Ate no Cat, Guest post by Bob Grant http://wp.me/pN4pY-8y

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Dragon Air

April 3, 2010

The first time I went to Xian, China’s ancient capital before moving to Peking (Beijing), was in 1999. The airport terminal looked like something out of Casablanca.  Stairs were rolled into place and we walked to the terminal.

The last time I went was in 2008 and there was a new airport that would put most in America to shame.

China is replacing old airports and building new ones—hundreds, and they are building them with the future in mind. China is also planning to buy another 218 aircraft this year.

I flew with Dragon Air

In 1999, the taxi driver cheated us. He said his meter was broken, but he’d give us a bargain, which turned out to be higher. Then the hotel tried to cheat us. While my wife was arranging a car and driver to take us to see Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb and the Terra Cotta Warriors, the desk clerk said we would need two cars.

I saw a sign in a corner that said vans were available and the price was lower. I picked up the sign, carried it to the desk, and held it where my wife saw it. She turned to the clerk  and if words could fly, her’s would have been arrows. We got the van.

See more about Xian

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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