Current Affairs
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Angry Black Mencius
A controversy of sorts has emerged over the planned Washington DC statue of Martin Luther King. Apparently, some organization called the US Commission on Fine Arts, which has a role in the proceedings, feels that the model of… Continue reading
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Taoists in Texas Moving to Vermont
A story in today’s NYT reports on a family in Texas that has embraced the "voluntary simplicity" movement: the are giving away most of their possessions, to free themselves from the burdens of material things, and moving to… Continue reading
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Confucian Civil Unions, Perhaps?
I’ve been thinking more about the California gay marriage decision and Confucianism. Thanks to the comments from my last, brief post, I have a new idea: a modern Confucian would be more likely to accept civil unions for gay… Continue reading
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California Gay Marriage: Confucius Agrees
The news today, somewhat unsurprisingly, is that the California Supreme Court has overturned a state ban on gay marriage. What would Confucius say? I wrote about gay marriage and Confucianism once before, and I think the… Continue reading
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Sadness
I have seen some deeply saddening pictures of the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. Roland has reproduced one especially heart-rending scene; I will not print it here. So much death, so suddenly and unexpectedly. The mind… Continue reading
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In Sympathy for the people of Sichuan
It is difficult to respond to a terrible tragedy on the scale of what is unfolding in Sichuan. Unlike Burma, there is no hard political edge here, just awful human suffering. So, I turn to Tu Fu (Du… Continue reading
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The Face of Legalism Today
I know, I am beating a dead horse but I couldn’t not post about the sad and frustrating stories coming out of Burma. It seems that the military dictators are more interested in going forward with a sham… Continue reading
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Nationalism, Globalization and “Three in the Morning”
Chuang Tzu’s happy irony came to mind when I saw this story the other day: Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say. The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for… Continue reading
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Mencius on Taxes
Yesterday was tax day in the US, the day when federal, and I believe most state, income tax forms must be filed. For many years I used to do my taxes by myself, and this day was certainly… Continue reading
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Just to be clear about it: Neither China nor the US is a Confucian country
The annual report from Amnesty International on executions is out and, to no surprise, China leads the list with the US taking fifth place. To me, this points to a fundamental similarity between the two places, however much… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 