Dear Beijing, We The West Do Not Want War, Just Your Tourist Dollars (satire)

There is growing evidence that at some point in the not-so-distant future, Beijing will own a significant amount of shares in corporations which currently are considered Western business entities.

A few of the West's elites have been groomed by gifts given to them when they visit China in exchange for favouring Chinese businessmen from Beijing whose associates in Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and other major cities both in China and overseas (especially in the Middle East, the UK, and US as well as Africa and both North and South America).

There is also suspicion that during the Gaddafi era, Libya had purchased munitions which originated in China, including chemical weapons which fell into the hands of al Qaeda during the on-going proxy war in Syria.

Complicit in this global reach by China are mass media outlets such as CNN, FOX, NBC and various media empires owned by Conrad Black and Rupert Murdock whose company stock is owned by Chinese interests, both businessmen and various fronts owned by the Chinese army.

Today it makes perfect business sense for China to compete with America and the EU for a greater share of the world's wealth.

Also, there are government loans China has made to America which could have been jeopardized when President Obama prorogued Congress because the GOP vowed never to let ObamaCare become funded after it was enacted.

Had Beijing panicked, it could have called in multi-billion dollar loans that help keep the US economy afloat in today's stock market.

However, mainstream media outlets have been subtly promoting the booming Chinese economy, an economy that involves what the West would call "slave labour".

In villages all across that nation, there are volunteers who manufacture clothing, plush toys and related material made of textiles for the good of China, some of whom are in prisons.

As well, the average wage of Chinese employees who work for Foxconn, maker of iPhones, is under $1000 / month. Most of them work more than 40 hours a week with overtime exposing many of them in excess of 80 hours.

Given that the typical worker may work more than 63 hours a week at over 9 hours a day. In contrast, workers may spent less than 15 hours resting and at leisure. In fact, it is likely that workers spend up to 16 hours working in a given day with 8 hours devoted mainly to eating and sleep.

Such work conditions are deplorable since it has contributed to work-related stress.

One of the side effects of such stress as the recent clash between Chinese Han workers and Chinese minorities mainly from Western China (XInjiang), where a mix of Muslim Hui who were moved there from south-eastern China near the border with Vietnam to counter the influence of non-Sinitic Turkish people (Uighurs) in Xinjiang.

As part of their propaganda, Beijing has claimed that Uighurs are terrorists, when historically they have been freedom fighters dedicated from freeing their Turkic homeland from foreign invaders (the Hui and Han people moved there) after the Soviet era was established and the end of the Great War in 1918.

Such movements of Sinitic people is done to reduce the population density of the region China has conquered including regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet. Historically, Beijing had directed Chinese Hui warlords under its control to conquer the Uighurs due to fear of invasion by Russia along the western border. In response the Uighur warlords aligned with Moscow.

As a result, the Soviet Union fought a proxy war with China with American and British interests supplying munitions to both sides. Much of the German munitions captured by both the UK and the US flowed through the Chinese conduit consisting of volunteers from Shanghai who supported the Allied Nations predominated by the UK and the US with support by Japan, who provided for passage to the trenches in Normandy.

Returning to the Chinese invasion scenario described in this article, I submit the hypothesis that it will mainly an economic one. Eventually in time, so much of the West will be owned by China that the West will openly encourage mass media outlets to spread the propaganda that the East and West will soon become one.

Eventually this will lead to the positive result of increased space travel because both the Eastern hegemony and the Western hegemony of socio-economic progress will influence Big Business and their corporate monoliths to not only invest in China but also allow up to 49% ownership of Western companies.

As well, the resulting economic growth will allow corporate interests to develop space travel aligned along a mix of corporate and government agreements to bring capitalism to the stars, both aligned to the Chinese state capitalist model as well as the Western free-market capitalist model.

Therefore I would like to deny the scenario given in the blog article presented with my opinions on this matter as presented to you.

This scenario sounds distinctly anti-Chinese and indicates a neo-conservative tendency for hyperbole which is out of proportion to the current situation both in the West and in China.

In response to counterarguments that I am pro-Chinese, I also deny that Beijing supports my opinion. Indeed, if they do not already known that I endorse caution about the tendency towards Chinese domination of the West in both the economic and political sphere.

For world domination of the idea that China rules the world is as vile as the idea that America, the EU or even Canada rules the world.

How can there be freedom if China were to not only export its manufactured goods to the West without the West imposing tariffs to protect their respective markets, but also to "export" its people?

Perhaps Beijing might be doing this by supporting Chinese tours in the West. However, it is likely that only the Chinese elites and their supporters among the upper middle class could afford such a move, provided that they retain the Chinese culture.

Yet this same culture also implies a sort of entitlement, which on the long run may explain the prevalence of narcissism in Chinese in spite of their emphasis on teamwork over individual work.

Holding onto cultural traditions which risk the emphasis on self esteem may be disturbing the character of the Chinese people to the point where the narcissistic personality arises, as long as the world revolves around them. For there is a hint of egocentricity occulted by the emphasis on teamwork.

All aspirations of world domination by China externalizes the character disturbances of the Chinese that narcissism brings out in people.

Likewise, any aspiration of world domination by the West is a reflection of the disturbed character that a narcissist truly is.

Having stated this point, I would consider the scenario in the accompanying article as being far-fetched because it retains a hint of Cold War politics in its rhetoric.

In conclusion, the points I have made in this article make assumptions about the economic, psychological, and social aspects of both the East and the West. While the first two aspects are mentioned, and explored in some detail, the social aspects are briefly mentioned.

I am of the opinion that the Chinese would not invade the West as an army when it is better to let the Chinese tourists come visit us. Additionally, it is better to let the Chinese businessmen come trade with us than to plan war with the West in the classic context.

So my response to China is: "We do not want war; we only want your tourist dollars!"

Reflection on My Lot in Life

I am of the working poor because I have trained not to exercise my ego in the unhealthy manner that Western society embraces.

In Buddhism, fame and fortune is what a Buddhist does not seek, because it will distract from peace of mind.

It really isn't important to become a celebrity as it is to seek the Buddha.

Modern society has a love-hate relationship with celebrity: it's ok if someone with talent seeks fame and fortune, but when that person falls, we are free to either offer emotional support or to criticize them.

The same goes for the rare person who follows the Buddha.

To me, mere riches are but an illusion designed to distract me from my path. I do not write this to boast about being poor. I write this out of acceptance of my lot in life.

The thought of becoming rich in the future causes me to fear such a destiny because it would complicate my life unnecessarily, and may even threaten my life with possible death due to home invasion and robbery.

Perhaps my choice of being of the working poor is a wise one. I do not know for sure; only time will tell.

Ego

Ego is about me, myself and I,
as well as what's mine and my possessions.
Ego lacks compassion and wisdom,
but thinks it is more intelligent
than anyone else — filled with vanity
and so puffed up with pride!
All it takes is two egocentric people,
and their egos will soon butt heads,
leading to trivial arguments
that make the observer shake his head.
Ego is why a woman demands attention
from her lover, and why a man's worth
is measured by his conquests.
It takes meditation to control the ego,
for we all need do so in society,
lest our ego lead us astray,
and our very lives in ruin.

Is Buddhist Wisdom the Cause of Success?

Success is determine by the number of your failure.

If you think you have not failed, then your success has blinded you to the little failures you swept aside on your way to riches.

In Buddhism, wisdom requires many hours of meditation. The test of wisdom is determined by who remains calm under stress because of meditation. Those people who never practice meditation only have the wisdom of experience to guide them.

However, such wisdom is useless when being mugged by robbers or getting a bailout from the gov't (corporate welfare).

Clever people are either egocentric or other-centric e.g. are of service to others, and helpful to everyone.

Cunning people mainly are egocentric, which helps to amass wealth as the cunning are notorious for giving away their tips of making the ego work for you. For this is where our vanity comes from.

A person with a healthy ego will let other people take the limelight as their egocentricity is great while the guy is people-centric.

Success thus requires truthfulness even if it means a handful of people will not buy your sales pitch and shop elsewhere.

Success also requires learning from experience. This requires humility i.e. the ability to feel shame and wish for repentance.

It is not became of Buddhism that a lama of the red robe such as the Dalai Lama becomes a Buddhist.

Rather it is a sense of pride to know that your brother, sister, mother or father is a Lama that drives mothers and father to tell the lamas, "My child is the new rinpoche because she preached the Dharma to her rag doll, and also to her plushies." Ok, I apologize for that joke.

The Ego Prayer (poem)

If the very nature of Being
is to become "I am",
what a challenge for someone
who foolishly chooses
Ego over selflessness!
For this person would sooner
choose having No-mind
over all the suffering
that Ego has brought to life
on this good earth.
So let this person lose
his hold over all clinging,
if only to let go of Ego.