The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • Why No Chinese Terrorists?

         Chan Akya has a notable piece in today’s Asia Times, "Islam and the absence of Chinese terrorists."  Akya makes a culturalist argument, suggesting that deep historical forces, manifest in various elements of traditional Chinese culture, especially including Buddhism,… Continue reading

  • This is Not what Confucius had in mind!

         A story from the BBC (original Xinhua story here): China acts on funeral strippers Five people have been detained in China for running striptease send-offs at funerals, state media say. The once-common events are held to boost the… Continue reading

  • The Best Way to Care for the Aged: Put them to Work?

         Two articles in People’s Daily raise some interesting questions when read together.     First, we have "China expects communities to take more care of elderly people," which tells us: China is encouraging communities to provide services for… Continue reading

  • The Fame Motive

         In today’s NYT we have this article,"The Fame Motive," which considers our desire to find personal validation in the attention of others: Money and power are handy, but millions of ambitious people are after something other than the… Continue reading

  • Taoism is not Corrupt

        I just found an article at the Asia Times that discusses government corruption in India, China and Indonesia.  An interesting comparison, but it had this rather bizarre paragraph: Culturally, the Taoist framework of self-maximization has much to do… Continue reading

  • Mencius on Airport Security Screening

        Story in today’s NYT: "Faces, too, Are Searched at U.S. Airports."     Mencius: "Nothing reflects the person so well as the eyes.  The eyes won’t hide the evil in a person.  If a person’s heart is noble,… Continue reading

  • John Mearsheimer, Taoist

          Just found this little piece in the Block Island Times (h/t War and Piece) about a talk given by a few international relations specialists at the Naval War College in Newport.  John Mearsheimer was one of the participants. … Continue reading

  • Transracial Adoption: Confucius Agrees

          A good story in the NYT today about transracial adoption in the US, focusing on the complexities of white parents with black children.       As I read through it, it struck me that a Confucian point of… Continue reading

  • Slouching Toward Transparency

         Back in February I wrote a short piece (about 1000 words) about how the PRC government is losing its battle against the free flow of information.  I sent it to the LA Times, where I have published a… Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu and the Airplane Bomb Plot

            Today we have what appears to be a significant victory against global terrorist networks: the arrest of a ring of people in Britain who were preparing to blow up airplanes.   It is noteworthy that this was the… Continue reading