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Free Speech Saturday September 22
I just saw this video on YouTube about a student being subdued by police officers at the University of Florida with a taser. There have been a flurry of comments in both directions, but I saw many that suggested that his freedom of speech was restricted, and that this is yet another indication of how America isn't really "free".
As a former venue employee and facility manager, I have experienced this many times before: controversial speaker, daring student, question and answer session. Student takes the microphone, goes on a tangent about His Issue, lectures the audience before asking a question, and then asks a incendiary, loaded question.
The speaker, however popular or unpopular, is up on stage to be heard, seen, and understood. They're not there to have tomatoes thrown at them: this is part of the social contract of asking someone to come speak. While there may be difficult questions that may come up in due course, the manner and nature of such questions should fit the paradigm in which they are being asked.
This student clearly had not only an agenda, but likely never expected to get his questions answered. I am sure he would have liked to have them answered, but should have been able to assume that his mic would be turned off, questions deflected, or otherwise. He was conducting a stunt such that you and I could talk about it. He succeeds in that regard.
However, we regularly hear "freedom of speech" bantered about as if we have a right to run our mouths off wherever and however we like. I believe this to be a gross misinterpretation. Let me say it in clearer words: you are not special. The world does not care about you. Okay. There we have that.
If I walk into a cafe, order a sandwich, and then climb up on the table and tell everyone who votes Republican where they can shove it, I'd be a pretty dumb fool to wave the "freedom of speech" flag when the manager asks me to leave.
This lecture was a public event, but was held in a private forum by a private group. Sure, if only prescreened questions were allowed to be asked, or if the speaker him or herself had to restrain their expression for fear of punishment, then I would believe there is an issue at hand regarding the First Amendment. However, what we have here, is a common affiliction in the US: just another asshole who has a point to raise and thinks he is right with little regard for public order or common courtesy.
Damn.
Another one?
Japanese Disneyland Wednesday September 12
I met a British gentleman yesterday who has been in Japan for approximately 17 years. For my job, I often meet these so-called "lifers" who, for one reason or another, have committed to living (and dying) in Japan.
The first time he went to Osaka, he hated it, he said. The second time, he also hated it. Then, the third time, he got married. Add seventeen years. I had to laugh a little at that; I am well-familiar with the slightly self-deprecating attitude taken by many Westerns who have, adopting Japanese culture even in English, chosen to live in this society. It's never as bad as they make it sound, but it's not necessarily good, either.
This gentleman said one of the best things I think I've ever heard to describe Japan, though, so I thought I would share it. He felt that Japan is like Disneyland: everything is clean, sparkly, interesting to look at. Behind the scenes somewhere, it's actually much dirtier, but there's no reason to show that. Moreover, and here was the best part -- when Japanese people go abroad for vacation, it's almost as if they are entering "a different land" in Disneyland. It's as if the United States was Country Town USA, and then you suddenly walked into the Arabian Nights land.
Japanese people never really "leave the theme park" when they are overseas. They're just in a different "land".
Of course, this is excepting those who live overseas for a long time: long enough, and you'll probably start to see Japan Disneyland as it is: a themepark in the middle of the rest of the world where other things are happening. Once you have that perspective, you're less likely to want to stay here: it starts to feel small and confining.
That's exactly where Yuiko is. She told me the other day she finds it "hard to breathe" in Japan. It's her home country; her family lives here. What would cause her to say such a thing?
Anyway, I don't have a concrete point here. I just wanted to get this down on the blog before I forgot about it.
A trip to China and back Sunday September 9
Last weekend, about 25 people from my company participated in IWNC's program at Jin Shan Ling on the Great Wall of China. I was lucky enough to be selected, both through my personal endeavors and exceeding sales goals, as well as a little help from my friends. I knew from the moment the challenge was announced at work that I would go; money, while important, is never quite as good of a carrot as a non-monetary goal.
"If you reach x, we will let you go on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Great Wall, complete with your successful colleagues, where you will participate in team-building activities, share knowledge, and learn more about yourself." And that was about it for me; I knew I had to go.
China reminded me a lot of Thailand: actively developing. Some decent infrastructure exists (the Courtyard sported wireless Internet, approximately a 1km hike from the Great Wall), but there are key points that would strike a chord with the unacquainted: throwing away toliet paper rather than flushing it, as the pipes cannot support it. Beijing was busy and over-polluted; I left the airport terminal to find myself holding my breath. As the Olympics are slated for July 2008, the Chinese officials have a lot to do in a short time.
This trip made me think a lot about what it means to live in a "developed" country.
This evening, I left work (yes, I was at work on a Sunday, please forgive me) and returned home on the subway to do some errands. First, I stopped by the coffee shop (no, not a cafe, really, a coffee shop) and ordered 200 grams of Ethopian Mocha; they told me it would take 15 minutes to roast and grind, so I went over to the ATM, transferred money to the US (good exchange rates right now!), transferred money to the travel agent to pay the deposit for Yuiko and I's trip to Hong Kong in November, and then I went to the store to buy yogurt, cereal and jam.
I boiled a kettle while scooping 3 spoons' worth of freshly-ground coffee into my French coffee press, which is oddly made in Japan, not China, and I bought down the road at Tokyu Hands two weeks ago.
When I think about all of these things, the amount of production, coordination, and distribution that went into all of these little consumables, I realize just how easy I really have it. I truly lead a luxurious lifestyle, just by being here every day. It's a shame that most people don't pause to take a breath to realize how truly lucky we are.
But then again, needing all of these systems to sustain our normal lifestyle, are we really the lucky ones? Food for thought.
