Observer observed

You tube blocked..."Site Forbidden"

2009-03-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Fucking YouTube blocked in China. Can't get to it using StupidCensorship eaither... which is odd... Just takes me to a "Site Forbidden" page. What the fuck? Is there something going on in China that the outside world could fill me in on, since I have no access to it here! Usually these sites get blocked when something bad happens, and they don't want the people to hear/see it.
~Anyone?

PC censorship...ggrrr

2009-03-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

We have a PC run literary newsletter here in China, the name of which I will not disclose; however, the upper editors often choose not to publish entries because they are not written for a, "1950's small town America" audience. Of course, one of my pieces didn't make it through the needle hole of PC p.c.ness (Peace Corps political correctness)...
If you'd like to see the article, leave a comment with your e-mail address, and I'll send the 3 pg. article...on Chinese aesthetics and gov't.

2009-03-04T07:49:00.001-08:00

As I lay here in my bed on this cold Chongqing night, I can't stop thinking about a conversation I had earlier tonight with my friend Robb, another foreign teacher here in Beiebei. I asked him if he believes in capital punishment. I'm always interested in Robb's opinions, as he can surely hold his own. Further, he and I seem to live on opposite ends of the planet when it comes to religion, and I, being an atheist, am always interested in the moral reasonings of theists. As an attempt not to pigeon hole him into an answer, I tried to allow myself to be open minded, and we ended up having a great discussion on the matter, which I could've probably talked about for another two hours had I had the time.
First of all, let me say that every opinion I firmly announce as my own, is truly something that took me years to mold, and call my own. Still, I hold the right to change my mind, if the logic seems plausible in either direction. The case of capital punishment seems to be much more of a gray area than simply a "for", or, "against" scenario. It comes down to this... does the state hold the right to take some one's life? Is it the responsibility of the state to remove those individuals who seek to harm the society, and kill it's members for their own personal benefit?
Such considerations need to be observed from a deontological position, as well as a consequential one. Capital punishment has existed longer than we care to admit, but only recently has the idea of rehabilitation come about. Rehabilitation centers came about in the western world in the form of prisons, and as the system grew, and the sate decided more and more types of people needed "rehabilitating", the ideal was quickly abandoned, and has now reverted more into a penal code of retribution, and capital death sentences. The rioting of inmates set these rehabilitation practitioners over the edge with the Attica riots in 1972, in NY.
Although I have not declared a personal position on the matter yet, I must say, when I think of the rehabilitation in the hands of a governing body, I slightly cringe. I question their definition of "rehabilitation", and can only think of Anthony Burgess's Clockwork Orange[1962]...taking away someone' s right to punishment as an autonomous being. Think about it, this is not a contradiction-
In my opinion, in America, it seems that the political process has distorted most aims for justice when it comes to both rehabilitation, and sentencing. The culmination of this trend appears in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which spawned the United States Sentencing Commission and its Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The act is not without its critics, but it is still upheld in our courts today. Yet, as the new century begins, no alternative approach shows any signs of supplementing the just deserts sentencing philosophy -- no matter how preposterous in practice the claim that a given punitive sentence is justly deserved may be in most cases.
This is one topic that is still up for debate with me, I certainly haven't formed a proper opinion about it, but I am welcoming to further readings.
When it comes to other countries *cough, cough* A more pragmatic, and zero tolerance approach is taken. This, as I am usually against pragmatism, is surely not the way for me. Every case is different, specific,and I do believe that morality has a lot to do with the circumstances of the situation. -NOT that it is relative, because this is a philosophical fallacy. You really cannot have a truly relativistic morality, but we aren't getting into that now! Certainly not. I am simply mentioning the dangers of a duty driven morality proposed by the likes of certain enlightenment philosophers, like Kant.
A duty driven morality would also implore a zero-tolerance form of punishment, and I do not endorse such a thing. What are your thoughts?
~Kristen

Tim in China

2009-02-26T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, after all my travels, my brother Tim is the only one who comes to visit me where I stay. Since I'm here in China for two years, he has had some time to save for the expensive air-fare from where he lives in NY, to Chongqing. I was fortunate enough to meet him in Beijing, where we spent 5 days playing tourist, before both us returned to Beibei, Chongqing. A few of the sites we visited were: the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Sq., the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, many underground markets, many obscure factories, and my favorite, the Great Wall. While the ancient architecture was quite amazing, the hustle and bustle of the world's most populated country's capital was a bit overwhelming for me. I also made the life decision never to live in a cold cold climate. oooh I missed Hawaii during that visit quite a lot!
I had a great visit with my not-so -little little brother, which made me just miss the rest of my family, so This Blog is for you! I love and miss you all!

Skin "Care"

2009-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

你们好 (Ni Hao)
While killing time in a shopping plaza, waiting to meet up with a friend, I took a stroll down the skin care isle. Having only bought one tube of face cleanser in China, I had never closely observed the selection. China has many choices in skin care products, with one catch...most of them contain "whitening solution". This is a common solution used in various countries all over the world, particularly Africa, and parts of Asia, and It churns the age-old question concerning " What is Idyllic Beauty?".
This whitening solution is, essentially, a bleach...a concentrated acid solution, applied to skin to...lighten it. After a few applications, your skin peels, and the new layer reveals evidence of a lighter, bleached tone. These products are heavily regulated in the USA by the FDA, but not for their controversial use. The FDA regulates the main ingredient, Hydroquinone because if overuse occurs, scaring, as well as loss of elasticity is more inevitable than not, as well as it possibly being a dangerous carcinogen. So, I was upset when I saw US brands offering these solutions. Here is a "whitening kit" from Olay...and a Loreal product called "White Perfect Deep Whitening".
Although these companies can not sell most of these products in the US, they still make a killing here in China. You have to search long, and hard to find facial products that don't have a bleaching solution in them.
What frustrates me more, is that it is so accepted! The question I raise is...Is it alright to change you skin color for "aesthetic" reasons? Many cultures change their appearance for aesthetic reasons, weather it be tattoos, piercings, scaring...you name it, but this seems to be a cross-cultural practice. I don't think you can even say it is a "cultural" thing, when it spans so many diverse groups of people.The people who use these solutions are easy to identify because they often neglect their hands, neck, or other features, and thus, have quite different skin tones in those areas. The process must be continued in order to keep the true color from returning. As I write this, I wonder if I even have the right to criticize, as I love to tan in the summer sun. Thinking my skin looks better if it's more tan. For some reason tho, that seems a lot more natural to me than this bleaching acid... I know I even criticize people who use tanning beds, instead of the sun.
When I first moved to China, my host sister and I went for a stroll around her community. She, like many Chinese women, carried a dainty parasol to shade her skin. She said, "Oh, I don't know why Americans want to be so tan! We don't want that! We want to be more White." I was astonished, and taken aback by her comment. Aesthetics perplexes me, and this obsession with beauty=lighter skin=a better life=....the list continues... perhaps people will say that my judgment is irrelevant because it is "outside" the realm of knowledge for this case. I am a marginalized knower in the epistemology of skin bleaching, as I am just a young, white female.
I just don't agree with the companies that exploit the use of such a damaging skin "care" regime.

travels, and cell phones

2009-02-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Well, for the past two months, I've been traveling all around the southwestern part of this gorgeous country, and stumbled upon some intriguing observations. First, I'd like to discuss the hindered use of my cell phone, on behalf of the Chinese communication monoply.
Here in China, you pay-as-you-go. You add money to your SIM card when you are getting low, and I know I'm getting low when I get a long message in Han zi (Chinese), ending in 1008, which I, regrettably, read. (I digress- As a Peace Corps volunteer, we are taught oral Chinese, and not written, so...although I recognize a little, I am almost completely illiterate in China...fun!). Anyway, I learned the hard way that you can add money on your phone when you are out of province, but it won't register until you RE-ENTER the province your SIM card is registered in, and in some cases, the re-use is as specific as right down to the city you live in. This makes inter-provincial communication very difficult. To add to this annoyance, it is extremely expensive to use your phone outside of the province. So, When I first left Chongqing, where my Peace Corps site is, I traveled to Hainan. My phone was out of order the whole time. After returning, I went straight to the company, and asked them to "un-lock" it for me for when I leave the province again. Little do I know, you can use your phone out of the province, but only if it has money one it that was placed there FROM your province. So When I left later for Guizhou province,I was able to use my phone, but it quickly ran out of money, because the out-of-province rates are through the roof! I re-charged in Guizhou, but was still phone-less, because it won't work, unless the money you add is registered in YOUR province.
Why does this frustrate me so? MANY REASONS besides the inconvenience of not being able to communicate...

China has a monopoly on many things inside this "communist" nation, including Media, Real Estate, Energy, and Communication. There is one main cell phone company that lies at the root of this evil. China Mobile... It seems that the head honchos want to limit people's ability to communicate between provinces, and even cities, by raising the cost so high, that it is just impossible for the poverty stricken, and even struggling small middle class of China to find out what is going on in their own country.
In the US, we are used to the nation-wide plans, and cheap international rates we receive just from punching in a few numbers. Here, once you leave the province, you waste all your money on overly expensive, necessary calls, and then can't re-charge the money on your phone, OR, your phone simply does not work. Customers are treated like prisoners in their own country, by severely limiting the flow of information from place to place. It all just seems so deliberately oppressive, taking away the voice of their own people.
Much has been said about CCTV, the China sponsored news networks, but that is another story.

There must be something said for this severe control of inter-provincial communication, that only the rich have the ability to communicate without breaking the bank here in China. IN addition, the monopoly shows no signs of dispersion, although reform has been discussed for years...yeah right...communism thrives on monopolies.

On a lighter note...my travels were amazing! The fist picture is me in Sanya, Hainan. The second is in Xingping, Guangxi.

State sponsored Censorship

2009-01-24T00:13:00.001-08:00

It's a debate carried through the ages of all societies from ancient to postmodern...Censorship. Is the argument for censorship plausible, or just down right insulting? I hope you can sense my bias opinion here, but as an American living in southwest China, I find the idea appalling.
Barack Obama gave his inauguration speech the other night, and, as usual, delivered a strong, elegant oration about his hopes for the coming term. However, certain statements regarding communism, and dissent were censored out of the speech when translated into Chinese. Obama Censorship. My natural reaction to this is outrage, and disappointment. As a university teacher here in Chongqing, I see no effort on behalf of my students to counteract this government sanctioned oppression. Of course, some of my students would disagree with me, saying that this is not a form of oppression. To me, any attempt on behalf of a governing body to keep their citizens away from the "truth" is oppression. You Tube video on Internet censorship.
Since this IS a philosophy blog, lets take a look at some actual arguments for and against censorship:
The basic example of an argument about censorship that I can think of takes place in a Dr.'s office. A patient has a disease. The Dr. says, "I have this treatment plan that may cure you"; however, he leaves out the part where the treatment plan itself may cause great discomfort, harm, or even paralysis. Is it that the Dr. is of higher moral standing to make that decision about your life than you are? Is he misleading you by not offing you all the information for you to make your own informed decision?
In America, we must sign ,"informed consent" forms, saying that our Dr.s have given us all the information we need to make our own informed decision regarding our health.
NOW- relate that to state sponsored censorship- censorship then becomes a question of morality- THINK IT THROUGH- rooted at this value is the issue of harm. We shield our children from overly violent, and sexual material in order to 'protect' them from harm, but as an adult, fully capable of wielding our own opinions, state run censorship begins to look more like the gov't is protecting ITSELF from the people. The question becomes, who is protecting whom, and from what? Why? What is "harm"? Who decides?
What continues to vex me, is the complacency of it all. If you tell a child they are not to look at something, of course, the only thing on their mind is to try and look at it; yet, here in China, a completely complacent population exists of adults! OK- from Morality of harm to the ethics of good and evil, when taken to the extreme, no one is black or white on the issue. I for one, am PRO censorship when it comes to the sharing of private information. I would disapprove if a website decided to sell my financial records to another website, claiming it was ethical because of non censorship laws. However, when it comes to basic information about what is going on in the world, and historical facts, censorship is still thriving in China. Immanuel Kant opposed censorship in the enlightenment. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant argues that judgement is sharpened by experience, and imagination...creating reason. The censorship of reason is only the limit one imposes on their own mind.
I just don't understand the complacency. it's not fear- fear never stopped a revolution. What is it? In my opinion, censorship only demonstrates how weak a society is, by implying it has no trust in itself. Censorship is the mark of an authoritarian government, a big brother scared to death of losing his status as favorite offspring. A government who has no faith in the opinion of its subjects has no business governing those subjects. As Voltaire said, "We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard".
I welcome all comments!
~Kristen

Consumed by Observations!

2008-09-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been in China for alomst 4 months now. Ten weeks in Chengdu, and almost a month now in my new teaching job at Xi Nan Daxue (Southwest University) in Beibei, Chongqing. Being a Peace Corps volunteer in China has proven quite different from expected. Physically, the challenges China presents are quite manageable. You see, most of us volunteers were all prepared to live in horrible conditions for the next two years, and instead, are in decent appartments, with running water (which, of course, must be sanitized before consuming), electricity, and much more! China is not your "classic" peace corps experience.
However, mentally, China has proven to be quite a challenge. I intend to dedicate this blog to my philosophical observations of China, and myself as I attempt to dive into the abyss of many topics- philosophy of the Other, aesthetics, metaphysics, ontology, and of course, epistemology. I hope to start a philosophy club here with my English students, as I am told they only read Confucious and Marx, and a small amount of Plato. Critical abilities are severely lacking withing the walls of this vast country. Creativity is almost no where to be found. I firmly believe that a lack of curiosity within a person makes that person stagnant, and devoid of anything interesting. A lack of curiosity within an entire COUNTRY is a country full of zombies, chasing after nothing more than the flesh that will sustain their hunger (money), but never moving past a zombie existence.
We'll see...

Ok- stay tuned!