The Useless Tree

Taoism

  • More on the Politics of Cultural Openness

    Rebecca MacKinnon has a post (and the video) of a talk she gave a few days ago at the Berkman Center on "China and the Global Internet."  She makes the key point that the CCP has already lost control of… Continue reading

  • Box of Rain

    Thinking about an old Grateful Dead song and how it reminds me of the Daodejing. Here are the lyrics to "Box of Rain:" Look out of any windowany morning, any evening, any dayMaybe the sun is shiningbirds are winging orrain… Continue reading

  • Learning from Children

    I noticed this article in the NYT today: In the view of the primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, the extraordinary social skills of an infant are at the heart of what makes us human. Through its ability to solicit and secure… Continue reading

  • The Tao (or would it be the Te) of “The Wrestler”

    Last week I saw the movie "The Wrestler."   I liked it – not a great film but good (and I can see how, even though Mickey Rourke was quite good in the lead role, Sean Penn was deserving of this… Continue reading

  • Bad “Integrity” in the Daodejing (with one reference to Zhuangzi)

    The discussion of the meaning of "de" – 德 – "Integrity" continues.  Peony has another nice post up that explores the possibilities of understanding "de" as "virtue." In the comments there the question of whether someone can have a bad… Continue reading

  • Uselessness: Now More than Ever!

    An article in today's NYT bemoans the state of the Humanities in American colleges and universities: …in this new era of lengthening unemployment lines and shrinking university endowments, questions about the importance of the humanities in a complex and technologically… Continue reading

  • Do not go gentle into that good Dao

    Dylan Thomas was not a Daoist.  This thought comes to mind today as I mourn my aunt's passing.  She was 77 and in chronically bad health for some time.  She had to go to the emergency room at about one… Continue reading

  • Confucian and Taoist Perspectives on the US Economic Crisis

    When stock markets made back some of their losses at the end of 2008, I was hopeful that the economic decline in the US might be easing.  But no.  The past few weeks have brought markets down once again.  Credit… Continue reading

  • The Natural Order of Things

    This morning I followed a link posted by Andrew Sullivan that led me to an article by Matt Ridley in The Spectator entitled, "The Natural Order of Things."  Of course you know what I was thinking.  And while I found… Continue reading

  • Freedom of Speech in China (with a bit of Chuang Tzu thrown in for good measure)

    Over at ESWN, Roland has translated a rather remarkable commentary from The Beijing Daily News, by Shin Minte. (original Chinese here).  It's title says a lot: "The Pursuit of Truth is Tied in with Freedom of Speech."   I don't… Continue reading