Latest Posts
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Vive Le Confucianism!
Family week continues here at The Useless Tree. Today, thanks to this article in the WaPo, we take a look at France, where they seem to have institutionalized the Confucian desire to "cherish the young:" France heavily subsidizes… Continue reading
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The Opposite of Denial
This afternoon, my next-door office neighbor, the indefatigable Abu Aardvark, walks into my office and shows me this chart (click to enlarge): From this source (it leads to a PDF): "Is There A ‘Civil War’ in… Continue reading
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Confucian Families
The NYT is on a sociology of the US family tear it seems. On Sunday it was marriage, and today, the household division of labor and child-rearing: Despite the surge of women into the work force, mothers are… Continue reading
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Speaking of Marriage…
This story ran yesterday in China Daily, but I only saw it today: Criticized by some as a harlot but canonized by others as a charming expecting mother, a Chinese blogger is stirring a lot of on-line debate… Continue reading
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Is Marriage Necessary?
The answer seems to be, in practical and empirical terms, no: Married couples, whose numbers have been declining for decades as a proportion of American households, have finally slipped into a minority, according to an analysis of new… Continue reading
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New Left or Old Mencius?
A nicely written profile of Chinese "New Left" theorist Wang Hui in the IHT: In the last few years, Wang has reflected eloquently and often on what outsiders see as the central paradox of contemporary China: an authoritarian… Continue reading
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Do Words Mean What They Say?
If you actually read the Communique of the Sixth Plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the CCP, it seems to be saying some pretty good things, like this: The plenum puts forward the main objectives and tasks… Continue reading
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A Sincere General
British general, Sir Richard Dannatt, is willing to name the Iraq war for what it is. His honest is bracing: Sitting in an armchair in his office at the Ministry of Defence, he declares simply: "I am going… Continue reading
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A Socialist Harmonious Society
I have been remiss in reporting on the Sixth Plenary Session of 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The annual gathering of the Central Committee – about 300 of the top Party leaders – has… Continue reading
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Denial
"Naming enables the noble-minded to speak, and speech enables the noble-minded to act." – Analects 13.3 Let’s keep that in mind as we read this: A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have… Continue reading
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