Paper Street

You sociologists think you know everything. You think studying humans like lab rats will make the world a better place? What gives you the moral superiority to say that the rest of us should accept some deviant behaviour? On what grounds do you tell me what culture I should follow? Why do you think everything is wrong about the world? Why must everything you say be the worst case scenario?

We don’t make progress by studying our own culture, and making up theories about why the crime rate changes. Let’s face it, for all you guys say about society, and group mentality, and culture, you don’t have the slightest clue what your neighbour’s going to do tomorrow. If you don’t know how one person thinks, how do you expect us to believe you when you say the world’s going to collapse because of Capitalism?

How much do you think you’re accomplishing when you’re standing outside the WTO meeting, and yelling your lungs out? Very productive use of your time. Capitalism gives the world jobs. The world’s richest countries all run a capitalist system. Why? Because it’s the easiest. It’s the fastest growing. It’s the most productive. It gives people the opportunity to get rich. Sure, you have to be lucky, and sure, you’re not always going to succeed – but what’s a few failures going to do to put down a truly dedicated individual?

You think Sam Walton got rich because he was privileged? Why do you think people like Walmart, or Ikea? Capitalism breeds good entrepreneurship. You live comfortably in a Capitalist economy, and you hardly know what it does for you. Sociology keeps telling us what we are doing wrong. Well, do you ever consider what we got right?

Division of labour lets us produce more food per area than ever before. Forget organic or subsistence or alternative farming. Can you really feed the world’s poor by cutting back the food output from your farms?

No, and here’s the truth. It benefitsd all parties to have free trade. Even if the labour standards aren’t the greatest, and the environmental record isn’t stellar. By promoting a global free market, humanity is gaining more as a whole.

Yeah, we have problems with the environment. There are human rights issues all around the world. The economy isn’t in the best of shapes. But what of the alternatives? The Great Socialist experiment has already failed. The socialist nations are in as much trouble as the capitalist nations. Sure, Europe has a great Social Safety Net – but that doesn’t mean the United States has bad standards. The US isn’t lagging behind in healthcare standards, and the EU is certainly no more powerful than the US. The communist experiment has collapsed, and the world’s foremost emerging economy, China, is fully taking advantage of the Free Market.

Does Capitalism ‘exploit’ workers? You can look at this both ways. The capitalist economy does indeed bring capital to the places with the lowest wages and the lowest taxes. And people get paid very little. Here’s the catch: they’re desparate to be paid. So yes, they get paid little, compared to our ‘extravagant’ wages here, but they’re also more desparate for what little they can get. In that sense, the capitalist economy brings jobs to those who want it and need it the most.

Should companies ‘exploit’ the poor? Until the governments say no, there’s no reason the corporations should disadvantage themselves. If you’re so concerned, get the governments to change. The power is with the people, after all. Then you’ll see, maybe it isn’t so bad after all. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to make a living.

Have you read the news lately? There is a global rice and wheat shortage; Japan is having trouble filling its grocery stores with butter; oil prices are at an all time high while the oil companies are making record profits; there is an island of plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean reported to be at least twice the size of Texas; global fish species like wild salmon are projected to be gone by the end of the century; meanwhile, the United States is in the process of approving the biggest ever military funding budget for their continual war in Iraq.

Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me. We are so disengaged with the political process, we are so enamoured by our Capitalist-Consumerist culture that none of this concerns us. Some of you unfortunate souls whose lifestyles depend on the consumer mindset in the capitalist economy may have heard me rant to the death about why you need to rethink your life. I think people like you are the scourge of this planet.

So you think earning more money will make you happier? You think living in a bigger house will make you more comfortable? You think owning a bigger car, with your brand name clothes and your designer sunglasses makes you better? You are the reason why there is still widespread poverty in places all over the world. Get off your high horse, and take a look around. It’s not all about your earning power, and not all about the prestigious schools, and your fancy degrees.

Your consumerism is driving the capitalist corporate empire to conquer and enslave millions of workers in the developing world. Your insistence on paying bottom dollar is making the multi-billion-dollar corporations richer, while making the peasant-class factory worker in China suffer for mere dollars a day.

In the midst of consuming your ‘goods’, throwing out your junk plastic, eating your expensive meats, you are clogging up the oceans, sawing through forests, and killing tha atmosphere. Have you no self respect?

Do you think just because you are born into the wealthiest class of humanity, that you deserve to be treated like a prince? Your very existence goes against every principle that has allowed humans to survive and become a dominant species. No, it is not normal for you to live using hundreds of times more resources than your counterparts across the world. Having more money doesn’t mean you are entitled to waste it on useless consumer crap.

Listen to me. People like you need to change. No, you need to lead the change. Having spent your life in luxurious and lavish conditions, you now have the moral obligation to lead the revolution.

Why do people starve, when we produce more goods than we can sell? Why do people work in sweatshops for pennies an hour, when someone across the ocean sitting at a computer terminal can earn millions in an instant for trading imaginary capital? Why do people die of diseases that already have cures and vaccines? Why should you be on the priviledged side? Do you have any idea what you’ve done just by living the way you’re used to?

Do you really think you’re doing the world a service by learning from these ridiculous educational institutions? Do you think you’re contributing to the world by developing more technology that will end up being more waste and more pollution in the end?

I hope you’ve opened your eyes.

Why is it that people are “proud” to be white-washed?

To begin, I need to describe my background. Both my parents are from South Korea, however they arrived here both when they were young – my mom when she was in grade 7, and my dad when he was in grade 10. Both my parents speak in fluent Korean, however my mother actually has no distinguishable accent when she speaks in English, and my father only has a subtle accent too. At home, they speak to each other with whatever language comes out first, and speak mostly in English to me and my sister.

Culture wise: my dad is very involved in the Korean-Canadian community, involving most of his volunteer work and business interaction within this community. He however is very open minded, and not even close to the average traditional Korean. Both my parents would shock other Koreans with how open-minded their method of parenting is. And actually, from what I hear, my parents are surprisingly less strict than some “white” (for a lack of a better word) parents I’ve met.

As a result, my upbringing wasn’t very “Korean” at all. English has become my primary language spoken at home, and I’ve lost most of my Korean language knowledge. I can still understand fundamental basic conversations and pronounce written words, however my speaking confidence has drastically reduced to almost nothing.

Culturally, my beliefs and social interaction are completely Westernized, so much that people blindingly call me “white”. At first, I took this as a compliment but then realized how ridiculous it is to be proud of this sort of thing. I personally am extremely proud to be who I am, and the best part is that I am stuck between two cultures. And why would this be so great? Because I can choose take the best of the two worlds.

I believe that I became Westernized because I truly believe in most of their mindsets and ideologies. To me, they simply make more sense. Similar in the way that my parents became Westernized – not because they were “brain-washed” I mean “white-washed”, but because they experienced both cultures and chose what worked out best.

Now it bothers me, when I hear people say things like “thank you” when someone says something like “ha ha, you’re so white-washed”. I understand at times it could be just a joke because sometimes I joke too, but it bothers me when people truly believe that being white-washed is a great thing.

Being white-washed means you are culturally naive. While you are actually part of both cultures, you chose to destroy one aspect of you and deny its existence, while letting the other take over. And is being white-washed a choice? Where it once was, you’ve blindingly let it take over who you are.

When someone says “oh, we totally didn’t notice you were Asian” is the same thing as someone saying “oh, we totally didn’t notice you were Black.” Is it a good thing? What’s wrong with being Asian? What’s wrong with being Black? Why does a portion of us believe that saying we are “white” is a compliment, and something to be proud of?

My suggestion is that we accept who we are. As most of you who know me notice, I personally am not very fond of the Korean social culture, mindsets, and ideologies. That is to say however, that I am still proud to be of Korean roots.

And I do not believe that I am “white-washed” at all. What I do believe, is that I have chosen to become more “Westernized” because of my choice to live that type of lifestyle.

We can choose our culture, but we cannot change our roots. To deny one’s roots is to deny who you are are as a person. Just suck it up, and be proud… that regardless of culture, you are who you are.

And I love it.

Note: I’m not saying it’s bad to be white, I’m just saying it’s ridiculous to blind yourself of one culture, if you are part of both. This includes being culture fundamentalists. Arrogant fobs make me angry too.