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October 31 The World Financial CrisisI've been reflecting on the current world financial crisis and thought I'd put some of my thoughts down in writing.
Early on in the twentieth century, humanity decided to change what it viewed as the center of its guidance. Divine authority, which had hitherto functioned in such a role, was impulsively replaced with materialism. Society would be driven by this new, dominant world faith. At the crux of materialism's doctrine was the assertion that improved living conditions, education, housing, food, clothing, automobiles, and various other products, would secure people's happiness. Materialism preached that moral behaviour was in no further need of religious intervention, that it had already rooted itself in human nature and needed only to be honed by proper education and fortified by a sound criminal justice system.
This dogmatic materialism appointed itself in a position above reproach and, like a paranoid king, immediately silenced any competing pleas that challenged its projects of worldwide economic exploitation.
In some nations, materialism established totalitarian regimes, inspired initially by proponents entertaining humanitarian ideals. These used unlimited means of coercion in controlling the lives of their ill-fated subjects, promising them a utopian paradise. The result of this great experiment on human life was a series of fiascos that has led to the collapse of most of these wily and abusive administrations.
Materialism also took the form of a seductive program of modernization wherein the masses were caught up in a frenzy of fanatical fervour. Its gospel of human betterment created consumer culture which offered its brainwashed disciples instant gratification for their animal impulses and appetites. The result of this program was an inept school system, disintegration of the family unit, an alarming crime rate, drunkenness, extreme forms of political prejudice, the degeneracy of art, literature, and music, religious fanaticism and hatred, terrorism, corruption of the press, apathy and lethargy, and a host of other social problems and pathologies.
After the Second World War, materialism advised humanity to collectively undertake programs of development in order to improve the impoverished conditions of many regions of the planet. Half a century later, such an undertaking can be pronounced an abysmal disappointment. Far from doing what it set out to do—narrowing the gap separating those few nations living in riches undreamt of by the Pharaohs and Caesars of the past and the vast majority mired in desperate need—social and economic development has seen the gap widen into a gulf.
In the new millennium, these devastating failures are quickly corroding humanity's stubbornly steeled certitude that material good is the only real good. Humanity is beginning to question the competence of the financial, educational, legal, and governmental institutions that it was so sure would guarantee civilized behaviour in a morally starved populace.
Corruption—both subtle and overt—is corroding the vitals of society. The systems that have held things together for the past century are falling apart. They can no longer check corruption's advance. World leaders are finding themselves increasingly powerless to deal with the dark matters at hand, spawned, in part, by the empty, ephemeral pursuits of a dazed society, oppressed by towers of rampant materialism.
Like that great ocean liner, the Titanic, we once thought our financial structures to be unsinkable. But now we see them tottering. And now we see our world leaders demonstrating their inability to devise anything more than temporary solutions. They are even beginning to admit their powerlessness.
The world is indeed ill, but consider that no-one has paused in his daily routine of appeasing his appetites and transitory pursuits to pause and reflect on what the cause may be. Has materialism been our redeemer or has it been poison sold as medicine? Obviously, it isn't working. So now what? What force can generate self-discipline and restore people's commitment to virtuous behaviour?
October 29 Evaluating Stuff on the World Wide Web: Part 3 of 3Evaluating ESL Schools as Places to Work
I've had discussions with ESL teachers here in Shanghai about whether or not it is ethical to publish reviews of ESL schools as places to work. Some felt wary about it calling it "negative publicity" which wasn't constructive. Others felt that, not only was there nothing wrong with it, but it was healthy.
Here are my thoughts. First of all, let's say there's an ESL school which we'll call "Green Dragon English". Its administrators are really abusive. They require that the foreign teachers work seven days a week. They break the contracts by cutting the number of annual holidays in half. They find excuses for not giving employees their full salaries. They keep spare sets of keys to the employees' apartments. Male managers enter into the female teachers' apartments without warning, when they're in the shower or in bed. They occasionally call teachers individually into their offices to criticize them, reprimand them, and ask them to be grateful to the school. I needn't go on; you get the picture.
As a result of these abuses, the teachers keep leaving the school, many before the end of their contracts. Because of the bad experiences, most of the teachers go back home; only a few stay in China getting jobs at other schools.
The teachers don't bother publishing evaluations of the "Green Dragon English" school. They just want to go back home and try to forget about their horrible experience. Because reviews of the school are unavailable on the net, more foreign teachers get hired by the school. All these new employees had to go on is the school's own website or advertisements which, of course, are buttered up to look very choice. They save up lots of money and come all the way to China. After a few months, they begin resenting their decision to come to China to work for Green Dragon English.
Do you see what's happening with this "revolving door" of employment? It's kind of like the rape victim who doesn't bother telling the authorities what has happened. She just wants to forget that it ever happened and try to go on with her life. And because she kept silent, the man who harmed her is allowed to continue harming many other women.
If the foreign teachers had published evaluations of Green Dragon English, the school would suddenly find it difficult to recruit foreign teachers. Without foreign teachers, they cannot function as a school, nor as a business. They would begin to "pull up their socks" as the Australians put it, and "get their act together". They would learn that, how they treat their employees, will have a direct effect on their business. And now with the knowledge that such a school is not a good one to work for, people won't have to go through the pain of coming all the way to China only to have a traumatizing experience.
Another point to consider is this. Excellence in both teaching and administration is essential. And all too often schools look only at the quality of teaching. Even if the teaching is first rate, if the administration is horrible, the school will cease to function. Both are equally important. Often, managers will evaluate the teachers but the teachers will not evaluate the managers. This is part of the problem. The school freely changes the teachers at will—firing and hiring new ones. But the teachers are not in a position to fire and hire new managers. Because of this, it is important to evaluate the school's administration because it corrects this injustice.
There really is nothing wrong with evaluating a company, just as there is nothing wrong with reviewing a movie. Yes, giving truthful, negative evaluations of a movie will hurt the business of the movie's company. Few people will go and see it. But, friends, this is justice. October 28 Evaluating Stuff on the World Wide Web: Part 2 of 3Reputation: Valuable or Not?
Reputation is an interesting thing. Before I came to China, I thought that it was only something movie stars and other famous people had. The average Joe doesn't care much about his reputation unless he's in Hollywood trying to make a name for himself. And even the famous movie stars get their reputation harmed all the time when a particular journalist publishes a story about them getting arrested for driving while under the influence or something. Such a journalist, in the West, never gets sued by the movie star he's harmed for "ruining his reputation", either because it is not illegal to do so or because he really doesn't care.
Perhaps, more than anyone else, politicians care about their reputations. They hire special PR people to advise them what to say to get the public to forgive their mistakes. They do this because they want to be voted in for another term. Ironically, however, this doesn't happen in China.
The only time the average Joe may be concerned about his reputation is when it affects his income. For example, if many patients complain about a doctor online, he will not only lose them but won't be able to get new patients. But the existence of reviews has a positive influence. It causes the doctor to do a good job. If his reputation was protected by the existence of laws preventing people from publishing reviews of his services, he would be less motivated to excellence in his work.
The same is true with an employer. If companies were protected from having their reputations harmed, by former employees giving them bad reviews on the net, there is little to prevent them from harming their employees. They can get away with abusive treatment. If companies were protected from having their products reviewed, they can get away with producing lemons.
I would argue that the existence of reviews and the freedom of allowing users to publish these reviews help keep the quality of goods and services high. The key question really is this: who is responsible for a person's reputation? I would argue: none other than himself. If someone does a good job, he will naturally build himself a good reputation. If he does a bad job, he will justly receive a bad reputation.
Although there is nothing wrong with saying bad things about the goods and services they provide, I do believe, however, that there is something wrong with saying bad things about people directly. Backbiting is wrong but not because it damages a person's reputation. When we are humble, we really couldn't care less about our reputations. It is only ego and arrogance that make a person try to protect and build his reputation. Backbiting is wrong because human beings, unlike man-made businesses, companies, and products, are, in the belief of some, a divine creation, or, in the belief of others, a product of nature. We cannot exist on this planet without unity among ourselves; otherwise, society and civilization are going to disintegrate from war, oppression, and brutality. Backbiting, more than anything else, is the greatest adversary to unity. So, in the case of the ex-wife blogging in hatred against her ex-husband, I believe that this wasn't the way to go, but not because it damaged the man's reputation. October 27 Evaluating Stuff on the World Wide Web: Part 1 of 3Evaluating Products, Services, and Companies
With the appearance of the internet, giving evaluations of services, employers, and products is becoming ubiquitous. Such a practice is freely done in countries like Canada. Various websites allow people to rate and review anything under the sun. The purpose is of course to advise people whether or not to purchase a particular product, procure the services of a particular establishment or person, or work for a certain company.
For example, if someone wants to buy a digital camera, he can go to a number of websites which not only list prices and features of available models, but also allow owners of the brands and models of digital cameras to rate and review them. Based on the information he obtains, he can make a wiser decision about which digital camera to buy. Prior to the advent of the internet, which makes this information more readily available, people had to rely simply on word of mouth before making a purchase.
People can also find reviews of companies on the internet. When deciding where to work, someone can read reviews of the company by former employees. From the information he gathers, he can best decide which company he would like to join.
Evaluations of services exist as well. Someone wants to get his car repaired. He can find reviews of particular service stations on the net. Someone wants to take someone special to a good restuarant. His city has hundreds of them. How does he know which one to choose? He can find reviews of restaurants on the internet.
But hold on here! One day, in China, I came across an article in the local English newspaper. It said that a lawsuit was filed by a man against his ex-wife. His ex-wife, in her personal web-log ("blog"), wrote a number of negative things about the man. The man argued that this ruined both his personal and professional reputation. The courts ruled in favour of the man; his ex-wife was charged RMB 5,000. I thought this was strange. In Canada, I'd never heard of such an occurrence.
This raises the question: the law in various countries aside, is there anything wrong with using the internet to review a product, service, business, or person? And what of the issue of harming someone's or something's reputation? October 24 Movies of the Late 1980sFilms in the late 1980s explored issues about morality and the decline of civilization. Birdy looked at the psychological effects war had on soldiers as did the Japanese animated masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies while Platoon revealed war as a morally repulsive enterprise. Witness examined corruption in law enforcement, Decline of the American Empire looked at the harmful effects of adultery as did Fatal Attraction, The Mission looked at decadence in colonialism, and religious and cultural imperialism, and the French films Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon of the Spring examined the evils of backbiting and plotting against one's neighbour. Dead Poets Society and the teen comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off explored the shortcomings of the education system.
My favourites from the late Eighties (1985-1989) are the following:
Birdy (Drama, 1985)
Stars: Matthew Modine, Nicholas Cage. Brief Summary: When a quiet bird lover loses his mind in Vietnam, his extroverted friend tries to snap him out of it.
Witness (Thriller, 1985) Stars: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis. Brief Summary: Amish child witnesses a murder and a police conspiracy is uncovered.
Decline of the American Empire (Drama, 1986) Stars: Dominique Michel, Dorothy Barryman. Brief Summary: Decline in morals in the American Empire is revealed through harmful promiscuity.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Comedy, 1986) Stars: Matthew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones. Brief Summary: A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite of what the principal thinks of that.
The Hitcher (Thriller, 1986) Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell. Brief Summary: Boy travelling in the boonies picks up a deranged hitchhiker.
The Mission (Drama, 1986) Stars: Jeremy Irons, Robert De Niro. Brief Summary: Jesuits are forced to defend mission they have built in South American wilderness against Portuguese aggressors.
Fatal Attraction (Thriller, 1987) Stars: Glen Close, Michael Douglas. Brief Summary: Extramarital affair turns deadly when psychotic mistress refuses to let go.
Jean de Florette (Drama, 1987) Stars: Yves Montand, Gerard Depardieu. Brief Summary: Neighbours conspire against a hunchback farmer.
Manon of the Spring (Drama, 1987) Stars: Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil. Brief Summary: Part 2 of Jean de Florette has hunchback's daughter growing up to exact revenge on her conspiring neighbours.
Roxanne (Comedy, 1987) Stars: Steve Martin, Darryl Hannah. Brief Summary: A witty man with a very large nose tries to find romance.
Beaches (Drama, 1988) Stars: Barbara Hershey, Bette Midler. Brief Summary: Two childhood friends stay in touch through the years, often reversing ecoonomic positions.
Die Hard (Action, 1988) Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman. Brief Summary: One policeman battles terrorists (and police beurocracy) who hijack an office tower.
The Naked Gun (Comedy, 1988) Stars: Leslie Nielsen, George Kennedy. Brief Summary: The clumsiest cop in the world is on a mission to save the queen from assassination.
Dead Poets Society (Drama, 1989) Stars: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke. Brief Summary: An eccentric teacher at a conservative, private school helps liberate his students' thinking.
License to Kill (Action, 1989) Stars: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell. Brief Summary: 17th Bond film has 007 taking revenge on a drug lord who fed his friend to a shark.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the late 80s (1985-1989) as rated by the general public:
1. Aliens (1986)
2. Cinema Paradiso (Italy) (1988)
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
4. Back to the Future (1985)
5. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
6. Ran (Japan) (1985)
7. Goodbye, Children (France) (1987)
8. Grave of the Fireflies (Japan) (1988)
9. The Princess Bride (1987)
10. Platoon (1986)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 5,000. Search conducted 19 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes. October 22 Movies of the Early 1980sIn the early 1980s, a plethora of movies featured eye-popping special effects—movies like one of the favourite horror movies of all-time, The Thing, continuation of the Star Wars films (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), and other science fiction classics like The Terminator and Blade Runner. The big directors of many of these films, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up to begin the popular Indiana Jones adventures. Films on political and social issues sprung up which featured countries other than the United States, films like Missing, The Killing Fields, The Gods Must Be Crazy, and Gandhi.
My dozen favourite flicks from the early Eighties (1980-1984) are the following:
The Empire Strikes Back (Sci-Fi, 1980)
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford. Brief Summary: Second entry in the "Star Wars" trilogy has the rebels continuing their fight against the evil empire.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (Comedy, 1980)
Stars: Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo. Brief Summary: An African bushman is chosen by his tribe to get rid of an evil thing sent by the gods: a Coke bottle.
Blade Runner (Sci-Fi, 1982)
Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Young. Brief Summary: A gloomy futuristic Los Angeles is the scene of a policeman tracking down rebel androids.
Gandhi (Epic, 1982)
Stars: Ben Kingsley. Brief Summary: Biography of the Indian leader.
Missing (Thriller, 1982)
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek. Brief Summary: Father and wife of a man search for him after his disappearance in a Latin American country's coup.
The Thing (Horror, 1982)
Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley. Brief Summary: A metamorphic alien, buried in the Antarctic ice, is dug up and wreaks havoc on a scientific outpost.
Return of the Jedi (Sci-Fi, 1983)
Stars: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher. Brief Summary: The final Star Wars battle between the rebellion and the empire.
Beverly Hills Cop (Comedy, 1984)
Stars: Eddie Murphy. Brief Summary: A smooth-talking policeman hunts down the Beverly Hills' killers of his best friend.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Adventure, 1984)
Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw. Brief Summary: Indie investigates a satanic cult responsible for the fall of a village by stealing its magical stones.
The Killing Fields (Drama, 1984)
Stars: Sam Waterston, Haing Ngor. Brief Summary: True story of Kmer Rouge taking over Cambodia and one local's determination to escape.
The Neverending Story (Fantasy, 1984)
Stars: Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway. Brief Summary: A boy discovers values by reading a fantasy about a world crumbling apart from apathy and lethargy.
The Terminator (Sci-Fi, 1984)
Stars: Arnold Schwartzenegger, Linda Hamilton. Brief Summary: A cyborg from the future is sent back in time to terminate a mother whose son is to lead the war against the machines.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the early 80s (1980-1984) as rated by the general public:
1. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Das Boot (Germany) (1981)
4. The Shining (1980)
5. The Elephant Man (1980)
6. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
7. Raging Bull (1980)
8. Amadeus (1984)
9. Return of the Jedi (1983)
10. Blade Runner (1982)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 5,000. Search conducted 19 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes.
October 18 October 2008 Update1. With the most recent blog entry (below), I've finished off my series on human relations.
2. Today Carolyn and I went to The Holiday House. For those of you living in Shanghai who want Halloween stuff (costumes, decorations, etc.), check it out. They also have a lot of party stuff like paper plates, candles, cards, etc.). After Halloween, they will fill their shop with Christmas stuff, then Valentine's Day and Easter stuff. Anyway, the address is No. 1188 Pan Yu Road (south of Hong Qiao Raod). Note that Pan Yu Road can also be called Fan Yu Road in Chinese. There is a sign on the street but the shop is located a ways inwards. The phone number is 64477189.
3. Carolyn and I will be renewing the lease on our apartment. Though my work is far away, it's close to Carolyn's work and the subway. Moving would be too much of a hassle and we like our apartment. The landlord will not be increasing our rent, thankfully. Related to this is the issue of tax. Most landlords in Shanghai don't want to pay tax on the rent (5%). It is illegal not to pay the tax. In order to get an official receipt (fa piao) for the rent, the tax must be paid. In order to get my full salary, my employer requires that I provide a fa piao of my rent (this is common in China). Luckily, our real estate agent will get them for us. We have to pay the tax ourselves but it's a small price to pay to get my full salary.
4. Carolyn is turning 30 this year by Chinese reckoning (29 by the western). As I mentioned previously, in China it's customary to have a big dinner banquet every ten years (10, 20, 30, etc.). Two of Carolyn's friends are turning 30 and have birthdays near hers, so, on November 1st, the three of them with their husbands (including me) will have a hotpot dinner together.
5. I take the subway everyday to work. When I arrived in Shanghai over five years ago, there were but two lines (plus the elevated - now line 3). Now there are 8 lines. I became curious as to why there is no Line 7 currently and found a map with all the planned lines they're constructing (up to Line 13!). Here are some links:
Interactive Shanghai Metro Map:
Printable Shanghai Metro Map (with info on existing and future lines):
Map of existing and future Shanghai Metro Lines:
Human Relations 23: Unity in DiversityA sociologist and historian, originally from the Middle East, whose grandfather toured Europe, the U.S., and Canada to promote peace prior to the First World War, educated at Oxford University in England, and who married a Canadian woman, wrote an amazing essay, the size of a small book, in which he identified three "false gods" plaguing the world.
Shoghi Effendi believed that the only thing that would save the world was that all cultures, colours, classes, and nationalities of people united in their diversity. He expanded on a simple concept of his grandfather—that the beauty of a flower garden consists in its diversity of colours and shapes. None of the flowers are better than the others or more valuable than the others—they are all equal and are able to live together peacefully and in perfect harmony and unity, knowing that the diversity of their shapes and colours enriches the beauty of the garden. With human beings, it's the same. We cannot try to make everyone the same, nor can we use our differences as an excuse for contention, nor can we exalt one colour, class, or culture above the others. Equal, united, and diverse is the only way we can live successfully in a global society.
The twentieth century, however, was plagued by ideas contrary to the three principles of equality, unity, and diversity. Three pernicious doctrines emerged which Effendi referred to as "false gods". Fanatical adherents, blindly seduced, were completely convinced that their particular ideology would save the world. And the implementation of each did nothing but wreak havoc on society. Shoghi Effendi wrote back in 1941:
"…an idolatrous world passionately and clamorously hails and worships the false gods which its own idle fancies have fatuously created, and its misguided hands so impiously exalted. The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshiping. Their high priests are the politicians and the worldly-wise, the so-called sages of the age; their sacrifice, the flesh and blood of the slaughtered multitudes; their incantations outworn shibboleths and insidious and irreverent formulas; their incense, the smoke of anguish that ascends from the lacerated hearts of the bereaved, the maimed, and the homeless."
The problem with these "false gods"—nationalism, racialism, and communism—is that they seeks to exalt one nation, race, or class above the others. They attempt to assert that one particular group of people is to have dominance or privilege over the rest of humanity.
We can treat each other well as individuals, but groups of people so need to do the same. Loyalty to and identity with one particular group must give way to a wider loyalty and identity, one which is the entire human family living in the same home—planet Earth. There is nothing wrong with loving one's country or ethnicity, but we must realize that "the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens". We are all earth-dwellers and we are all equally valuable in the eyes of our Creator.
This concludes my series on Human Relations. Movies of the Late 1970sAll hell broke loose in 1975 with the advent of the blockbuster—Jaws. In the late 70s, the Brits were obsessed with comedy (enter the Monty Python films), while the United States was obsessed with the Vietnam War (enter The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now). Sci-fi took off with an explosion of special effects technology (Star Wars and Alien). The most popular James Bond movie of all-time was released: Moonraker.
My favourite flicks from the late 1970s (1975-1979), are the following:
Jaws (Thriller, 1975)
Stars: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfus. Brief Summary: Large shark terrorizes a beach resort.
All The President's Men (Thriller, 1976)
Stars: Robert Redford, Dustin Hofman. Brief Summary: True story of journalists that uncovered the Watergate conspiracy involving U.S. President Nixon.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (Thriller, 1976)
Stars: Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen. Brief Summary: A twelve-year old parentless girl lives alone and has to defend herself against malevolent adults.
The Silver Streak (Comedy, 1976)
Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor. Brief Summary: Man investigates the possible murder of an art professor aboard a train.
Star Wars (Sci-Fi, 1977)
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford. Brief Summary: A rebellion forms against a dark empire in another galaxy.
Suspiria (Horror, 1977)
Stars: Jessica Harper. Brief Summary: A new attendee at a European dance school discovers that it is run by a coven of witches trimming off the students.
Who Has Seen the Wind (Drama, 1977)
Stars: Brian Painchaud, Douglas Junor. Brief Summary: A boy discovers values when growing up in Saskatchewan during the Great Depression.
Coma (Thriller, 1978)
Stars: Michael Douglas, Genevieve Bujold. Brief Summary: Doctor discovers that too many patients are going into unexplained comas after routine surgery.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Horror, 1978)
Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams. Brief Summary: Beings from another world replace humans with emotionless duplicates.
Midnight Express (Thriller, 1978)
Stars: Brad Davis, John Hurt. Brief Summary: A young US man is arrested for hashish possession at a Turkish airport and is thrown into the worst of prisons.
Alien (Sci-Fi, 1979)
Stars: Sigorney Weaver, Tom Skerritt. Brief Summary: Crew aboard a spacecraft pick up a deadly alien.
The Black Stallion (Adventure, 1979)
Stars: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney. Brief Summary: A boy tames and trains a wild horse for racing after the horse saves his life in a ship wreck.
The China Syndrome (Thriller, 1979)
Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon. Brief Summary: Conspiracy and cover-up of an accident at a nuclear power plant.
Moonraker (Action, 1979)
Stars: Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale. Brief Summary: Secret Agent James Bond is sent to investigate the disappearance of a U.S. Space Shuttle.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the late 70s (1975-1979) as rated by the general public:
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
2. Star Wars (1977)
3. Taxi Driver (1976)
4. Apocalypse Now (1979)
5. Alien (1979)
6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
7. Jaws (1975)
8. The Deer Hunter (1978)
9. Annie Hall (1977)
10. Life of Brian (1979)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 5,000. Search conducted 16 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes. Movies of the Early 1970sAfter a struggling decade as far as Hollywood movies were concerned, things picked up in the 1970s. A film came out which many consider the greatest movie of all-time—The Godfather. Its sequel many consider to be nearly as good. This was significant because most sequels prior to The Godfather films were flops.
My favourite flicks of the early 1970s (1970-1974), are the following:
Love Story (Romance, 1970)
Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Ali McGraw. Brief Summary: A rich college boy meets a lower class girl; they fall in love and marry against his parents wishes. Illness strikes.
The Andromeda Strain (Sci-Fi, 1971)
Stars: Arthur Hill, David Wayne. Brief Summary: A satellite crashes to earth having picked up a deadly virus from outer space. Comments:
Sounder (Drama, 1972)
Stars: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield. Brief Summary: Father is sent to jail for stealing food for his family during the Great Depression.
The Day of the Jackal (Thriller, 1973)
Stars: Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale. Brief Summary: A subversive group hires an expert assassin to kill Charles de Gaulle of France.
The Paper Chase (Drama, 1973)
Stars: Timothy Bottoms, John Houseman. Brief Summary: The tough conditions of university law school.
Paper Moon (Comedy, 1973)
Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal. Brief Summary: A con artist tours the countryside with a little girl during the Great Depression.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the early 70s (1970-1974) as rated by the general public:
1. Godfather, The (1972)
2. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
3. Chinatown (1974)
4. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
5. Sting, The (1973)
6. Sleuth (1972)
7. Cries and Whispers (Sweden) (1972)
8. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France) (1972)
9. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Germany) (1972)
10. Harold and Maude (1971)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 5,000. Search conducted 16 October 2008. Search excludes Documentaries and TV movies.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes.
October 17 Human Relations 22: Economics Is Not the AnswerWhen monarchies were no longer seen as serving the best interests of the masses, citizens of nations began to seek more humane and logical systems of government. One of the key problems with the monarchical system, they thought, was that the king and those who worked for him in his magnificent palace were far more privileged than the masses, or "peasants". The king was free to tax the peasants whatever he wished for his own material benefits and well-being. The king hired soldiers to protect him from those who protested. The soldiers obeyed him because they were paid well—much better than the masses. No-one could call into question the king's decisions. He wasn't elected to office, but simply the son of the former king. So he couldn't be easily ousted for doing badly. The act of dethroning a corrupt king was a mammoth undertaking. It required a large group of rebels to war against a large army supporting the king.
After enough civil wars, many of which lasted decades, people finally decided that the system wasn't working. They began to brainstorm about alternative systems of governance. They had had enough of the extremes of wealth and poverty in a two-class system: the wealthy king and his aides and the masses of peasants.
But humanity made a hasty and invalid assumption. The biggest catastrophe of the 20th century was not a particular war, economic collapse, or natural disaster but the erroneous belief that, if economic systems were perfected, humanity, with better health, housing, food, education, and living conditions, would be liberated from its misery. Good economics was seen as the panacea.
Many nations, mainly those in the east, were beguiled by a new system of economics that was concocted by western intellectuals. After eastern nations became republics, they favoured blind adoption of this western system over creating their own unique systems of governance. The name of this system was communism.
The totalitarian regimes shaped by communist ideals bent upon using all forms of coercion in regulating the lives of hapless populations subjected to them. Whatever name you wish to call them—"false prophets" or "incompetent physicians"—revolutionary intellectuals and politicians justified their succession of abuses by promising the creation of a utopia wherein freedom from want would engender fulfillment for the human spirit. This new system which promised to lead humanity away from the brutalities of monarchical oppression simply became its twin. Once again, a dual-class system was implemented—the rich communist government and the poor peasants who kowtowed to their abuses and served them.
After decades of mounting recklessness, cruelty, and tens of millions of deaths from starvation, this great experiment, with human lives and dignity hanging in the balance, collapsed as a reliable pathway to human welfare.
Another equally pernicious economic philosophy took the western nations by storm. The wolf of unbridled capitalism dressed in the sheep's garb of modernization promised citizens in those countries which adopted it a society of bliss and liberty where anyone's dreams could be realized. But what has happened in reality is that the triumph of animal impulse and the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure have led to disintegration of the family unit, towering crime, dysfunctional educational systems, gambling, drunkenness, and a host of other social problems and pathologies.
Whether transmitted by communism or capitalism, materialism is the cancer that has infected and destroyed the human spirit. The belief that improving one's standard of living will lead to bliss has been proven wrong time and again. A good economy isn't the cause of human well-being, it is the result of it. The key to humanity's survival is not satisfying appetite for material goods but learning how to treat each other. October 14 Movies of the 1960sThe 1960s was probably the worst decade for movies, at least for Hollywood productions. Most of the highest-rated films of the period were made outside of the United States. These "foreign films" include Russia's Beware of the Car and Operation Y, Hungary's The Witness, France's The Sorrow and the Pity, and Spain's Not on Your Life.
The "spaghetti westerns" appeared, called so because they were filmed in Italy. The Sixties also saw Alfred Hitchcock's crowning achievement: Psycho. Actor Peter Seller's scored a winner with Dr. Strangelove, wherein he played three roles, an achievement echoed only recently by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers films. The hugely successful musical The Sound of Music was made. Science Fiction as a genre really took off both on television with "Star Trek" and in the cinema with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
For the Sixties, there are but four films that really stand out for me.
Lilies of the Field (Drama, 1963)
Stars: Sidney Poittier. Brief Summary: A travelling handyman runs into a group of nuns who expect him to build them a chapel for free.
Dr. Strangelove (Comedy, 1964)
Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott. Brief Summary: Black-comedy of a psychotic general's planning a nuclear attack of Russia.
Doctor Zhivago (Romance, 1965)
Stars: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie. Brief Summary: Epic about a poet-doctor's romance during the Russian Revolution as he tries to find happiness.
The Sound of Music (Musical, 1965)
Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. Brief Summary: Stoic father is transformed by his musical nanny.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the decade as rated by the general public:
1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
2. Operation Y (1965)
3. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
4. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
5. Psycho (1960)
6. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
8. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
9. Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 1,000. Search conducted 10 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes.
October 12 Happy Thanksgiving 2008!Thanksgiving began in the year 1578 when English explorer Martin Frobisher (for whom Frobisher Bay is named) held a formal ceremony to give thanks for surviving the long journey and establishing a settlement in what is now Newfoundland. Frobisher was later knighted. Other settlers arrived and continued the ceremonies.
French settlers, having crossed the Atlantic, arrived with explorer Samuel de Champlain. They likewise held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed "The Order of Good Cheer" and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbours. After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763, all the citizens of the city of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving.
Nowadays, Thanksgiving, by special order of parliament, is celebrated on the second Monday of October. It is a national holiday which creates a "long weekend" giving people time to travel to be with their families. The typical Thanksgiving dinner consists of turkey baked in the oven with breaded stuffing. It is served with gravy and an assortment of vegetables, especially mashed potatoes, and turnip. Pumpkin pie is a typical dessert. The main purpose of Thanksgiving is to give thanks for a plentiful harvest.
Happy Thanksgiving! October 11 Human Relations 21: Consultation1. See others as your equals
2. When faced with others' faults, remember your own
3. Seek companionship with those who uplift you, and share your light
4. Purify your speech
5. Purify your listening
6. Respond to others' "attacks" properly
7. Establish social justice by means of consultation
Our society has made an invalid assumption. The assumption is that when someone writes a book and puts letters before or after his name, such as PhD. or Dr., what he writes is correct, or, at least, more correct than what a group of common people would say.
James Surowiecki put this assumption to a number of scientific tests and published the results in his book The Wisdom of Crowds. What he discovered was that, consistently, a group of ordinary people was collectively more intelligent than an expert.
This principle is what justifies a revolutionary practice which is now being used all over the world, but which has yet to be discovered by the masses. The practice is called consultation.
The purpose of consultation is to show that the views of several individuals are preferable to one, just like the strength of several people is of course greater than one. Consultation can be used in ordinary, personal matters as well as affairs of the greater community.
For example, when someone has a project to accomplish, should he consult his friends, the outcome would be much better. Should the people of a village consult each other on their affairs, the right solution to their challenges will come to light. The members of each profession, such as industry, scientific research, and commerce should consult on issues in their field.
A business operating on the traditional method of the "boss" making all the decisions won't go nearly as far as one in which all the members consult together on issues of the operation and growth of their company, because the ideas of one man, no matter how intelligent or "qualified" he is, are never as brilliant as those of a group of people.
Another reason for using consultation is that it establishes social justice. Everyone gets a chance to express his or her views; no one is allowed to dominate or dictate. It allows everyone to see each other for what we are in truth: equals.
The methodology behind consultation is far removed from the adolescent, competitive bickering that goes on in places like parliament. For efficient and effective consultation, here are the 9 steps / rules:
CONSULTATION 9-POINT GUIDE
1. Each member should strive to acquire the attributes of purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment, humility, patience, and servitude. These qualities will help the members express themselves graciously which will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the process.
2. Absolute love, harmony, and respect must exist among the members of the group.
The members of the group must be freed from estrangement and operate as the rays of one sun. Should unity not be present, the group will become dispersed.
3. Each member of the group must proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care, freedom, and moderation to express his or her views.
4. They must search out the truth in every matter and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one's views will ultimately lead to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden.
The best way to do this is to be detached from your own opinions. Once you express it, it is no longer yours: it belongs to the group. If the group accepts it, changes it, or rejects it, you can't take it personally because it is no longer your idea. You no longer own it; it belongs to the group.
5. Express your thoughts with complete freedom, frankness, and openness.
You should do this without being afraid of displeasing or alienating any of the others. Should any one oppose your opinion, you must on no account feel hurt, for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth emerges only after the clash of differing opinions.
6. It is not permissible to belittle the thought of another.
7. It is not permissible to ask others to voice your suggestions.
This indirect way creates an atmosphere of secrecy which is detrimental to the process and may lead to misunderstandings and complications.
8. After everyone has expressed their thoughts on the matter at hand and the matter has been examined in all its aspects, a vote can be taken and a majority prevails.
9. All must submit and obey the majority decision even if they disagree.
The reason for this is that, when the decision is carried out, the group can monitor to see if it works. If those who disagree with the decision object to or censure it, this would prevent any decision from being enforced and the group will never know whether it will work. When everyone follows it, it is free to be carried out. If the group discovers that it doesn't work, they can meet again to adjust it or change it completely.
Prior to consultation, the group can elect by secret ballot a chairman and a secretary. The chairman facilitates the discussion. He or she ensures the rules are enforced and everyone gets to speak in turn. The secretary writes down the decisions that are made so that the members can be reminded of them. An odd number of people is best to prevent tie-votes. If there are too many people, the process will take a long time. If there are too few, the quality of the decisions will be lower. So, if possilbe, aim for a number like nine people.
One of the reasons for the existence of "problem people"—those who constantly whine, complain, criticize, blow up in anger, and so forth—is that their voices fall on deaf ears and they learn that only extreme forms of voicing their concerns attracts attention. When the management of a company makes a decision without consulting the rest, employees begin debunking it amongst themselves. The practice of consultation prevents all these behaviours from arising and casting dark clouds over the company. It allows everyone to voice their concerns and share their ideas in a mature and healthy way. And the resulting decision is always of better quality than when one or two decide and try to impose it on the rest.
Furthermore, just imagine if we became significantly more democratic and scrapped all these juvenile political parties and were free to elect, without being manipulated by smear ads and multi-million dollar tax-paid campaigns, individuals to our government. Then the members of parliament would sit down together with a list of items to deal with and use the nine steps of consultation listed above. Just imagine it! No competitive bickering. There would be no opposition, a group who opposes simply for the presumed glory of opposing. Ideas had the freedom to be tried out instead of being paralyzed by partisan interests and corruption. There would be no stubbornness in continually carrying out an idea that has proven it doesn't work, simply because you want to save face or avoid getting slammed by the opposition saying, "I told you so, buddy!" The quality of all the decisions would be much more improved. The speed of implementing them would hit warp.
Imagine how successful a business would be if it used the nine-step guide to consultation. Imagine how united a family would become, a community, a village! Image the cures for all the diseases that would be found because scientists would start sharing the results of their research with each other instead of hiding them because their egos demand they receive full credit.
This process of consultation is perhaps what the world needs now more than anything else. It has been tried and tested in communities all over the world and it works like a charm. I believe certain departments of the United Nations are using it as well.
October 10 Canada Rated World's Soundest Bank System: SurveyForget storing all your cash in a Swiss bank account. Yes, they make great chocolate and fantastic army blades, but, when it comes to sound banking, they're only 16th in the world. Why not open a Canadian bank account? Canada is ranked number one in the world; Canada has the planet's most reliable banking system. What follows is a recent article by Reuters.
(Reuters) - Canada has the world's soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia, a survey by the World Economic Forum has found as financial crisis and bank failures shake world markets.
But Britain, which once ranked in the top five, has slipped to 44th place behind El Salvador and Peru, after a 50 billion pound ($86.5 billion) pledge this week by the government to bolster bank balance sheets.
The United States, where some of Wall Street's biggest financial names have collapsed in recent weeks, rated only 40, just behind Germany at 39, and smaller states such as Barbados, Estonia and even Namibia, in southern Africa. The United States was on Thursday considering buying a slice of debt-laden banks to inject trust back into lending between financial institutions now too wary of one another to lend.
The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report based its findings on opinions of executives, and handed banks a score between 1.0 (insolvent and possibly requiring a government bailout) and 7.0 (healthy, with sound balance sheets).
Canadian banks received 6.8, just ahead of Sweden (6.7), Luxembourg (6.7), Australia (6.7) and Denmark (6.7).
UK banks collectively scored 6.0, narrowly behind the United States, Germany and Botswana, all with 6.1. France, in 19th place, scored 6.5 for soundness, while Switzerland's banking system scored the same in 16th place, as did Singapore (13th).
The ranking index was released as central banks in Europe, the United States, China, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland slashed interest rates in a bid to end to panic selling on markets and restore trust in the shaken banking system. …
At the bottom of the list was Algeria in 134th place, with its banks scoring 3.9 to be just below Libya (4.0), Lesotho (4.1), the Kyrgyz Republic (4.1) and both Argentina and East Timor (4.2).
RANKINGS
1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. Luxembourg
4. Australia
5. Denmark
6. Netherlands
7. Belgium
8. New Zealand
9. Ireland
10. Malta
11. Hong Kong
12. Finland
13. Singapore
14. Norway
15. South Africa
--------------------------------------------
124. Kazakhstan
125. Cambodia
126. Burundi
127. Chad
128. Ethiopia
129. Argentina
130. East Timor
131. Kyrgyz Republic
132. Lesotho
133. Libya
134. Algeria
SOURCE: World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009.
(For the full World Economic Forum report click on:
(Editing by Kim Coghill. Article released Thu Oct 9, 2:41 PM) October 09 Movies of the 1950sOne of the significant changes in films of the 1950s was that most of them were released in colour. From what I understand, colour had been available for a long time but was prohibitively expensive. Now that the film industry and Hollywood had become a mammoth enterprise, making films in colour was affordable.
Alfred Hitchcock reached the pinnacle of his success, directing three of the greatest films of the period, Rear Window, North by Northwest, and Vertigo. In Japan, Akira Kurosawa emerged as an equally successful director with films like The Seven Samurai and Rashomon.
There are eight movies from the 50s I love. They are…
Sunset Boulevard (Drama, 1950)
Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson. Brief Summary: Unemployed screenwriter becomes involved with a faded self-indulgent film star.
The Greatest Show on Earth (Drama, 1952)
Stars: Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton. Brief Summary: Follows the hectic life of a circus troupe and its eccentric characters.
The Country Girl (Drama, 1954)
Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly. Brief Summary: Washed up singer / actor tries to make a comeback.
Kiss Me Deadly (Noir, 1955)
Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker. Brief Summary: A doomed hitchhiker pulls a man into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious and great "whatsit".
The Night of the Hunter (Thriller, 1955)
Stars: Robert Mitchum. Brief Summary: An evil preacher stalks children.
Giant (Epic, 1956)
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson. Brief Summary: After the United States steal a petroleum-rich piece of land from Mexico and call it Texas, a family struggles with divergent attitudes.
Touch of Evil (Noir, 1958)
Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles. Brief Summary: Corruption is uncovered among the police in a dreary Mexican-US border town.
Ben-Hur (Epic, 1959)
Stars: Charlton Heston. Brief Summary: Childhood friends at the time of Christ - a Roman and a Jew - become bitter enemies.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the decade as rated by the general public:
1. The Seven Samurai (1954)
2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
3. Rear Window (1954)
4. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
5. The Great War (1959)
6. Welcome Mr. Marshall (1953)
7. North by Northwest (1959)
8. Paths of Glory (1957)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. Fires on the Plain (1959)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 500. Search conducted 7 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes. October 07 October Holiday 2008China has a three-day holiday which they scramble into a seven-day holiday. They free-up two more days by working on the weekend before the holiday, freeing up the five work days. Then the weekend after is free, making seven days in all. Because the holiday is the same for all 1.3 billion people in China, you can imagine the crowded trains, planes, and automobiles. Carolyn and I stayed in Shanghai.
Carolyn's mom is turning 60 on December 31st. Actually 59 but the Chinese add a year because, when born, you're considered one-year-old. In Chinese culture, when it's your birthday, you treat people for dinner instead of being treated. Every ten years is significant in China. So, when you turn 20, 30, 40, etc. usually you will invite guests (either family or close friends) to a dinner party at a restaurant. Everyone will give you "hong bao" (red envelopes filled with cash. Then you will pay for the dinner. Hopefully you can make a profit! ;-)
Carolyn's mom invited the whole family for dinner, including her six brothers and sisters and their spouses and children. Carolyn and I went to her parents' home first for lunch. A few others came. While they had a ma jiang competition going on, Carolyn, her mom, one of her mom's brothers, one of her mom's sisters, and myself went to Century Park, one of the largest parks in the city, for a stroll.
After this, we went to a big, fancy Chinese restaurant for dinner. Carolyn and I had purchased the birthday cake for mom. Chinese homes are not equipped with ovens, so it's pretty much impossible to bake a cake here. They must be bought at a bakery. So ... Happy 60th to my mother-in-law! I've added photos from the day to the photo album.
Human Relations 20: Response1. See others as your equals
2. When faced with others' faults, remember your own
3. Seek companionship with those who uplift you, and share your light
4. Purify your speech
5. Purify your listening
6. Respond to others' "attacks" properly
7. Establish social justice by means of consultation
This is perhaps the most difficult of the seven-point guide. We can fulfill items 1-5. We can truly see others as equals, overlook their faults while trying to improve our own, choose friends who uplift us, encourage others, purify our own speech, speaking only to praise, and purify our listening so that we don't give those who backbite an audience. But, what do we do when someone says very mean, hurtful things to us? This is very difficult.
The first thing to do about any attack is to be careful about how you interpret its motives. What is the intent of the person behind the attack? All too often the person is just angry and we got in their way. They are not attacking us: there is no need to take it personally. Here is a true story:
One time a man was emceeing the entertainment portion of a business convention. He was young but had done an excellent job as an emcee previously which is why he was asked to do it again. He introduced a female workmate who was to play the flute. He said, "Sonya really is an excellent flutist. So now I invite her up to show us her stuff." After the entertainment portion there was a social. Immediately, another female colleague marched up to the emcee and said angrily, "As a member of this company, I would like you to apologize to Sonya Williams". The young man was surprised and embarrassed wondering what was going on. He asked her to explain and she began chewing him out for the way in which he had introduced Sonya. Later on, the company's board of directors of which the young man was a member, met to discuss a number of matters of company business. One of the women on the board, in front of the young man, interrupting the chairman, said sharply, "Are we going to call Sonya Williams to apologize?" Nobody knew where this was coming from. Then she explained, "During the convention, she was introduced in a very insulting way. The emcee asked her to come up and strut her stuff." The young man went red in the face. He was defended by the other board members who said that he'd done an excellent job as emcee. One of the board members called Sonya who was just as miffed and said there was no need to apologize.
It is clear that the young male emcee didn't intentionally do anything to hurt Sonya. But several people present interpreted his introduction as one of malice. They acted on that faulty assumption by verbally attacking him.
I would guess that most of the time when verbal attacks are made, there has been a misinterpretation of intentions. So, the first step in dealing with an attack is to investigate what's eliciting the behaviour. This is why so many advice books on dealing with people advise that we don't take things personally because most of the time the attacker isn't intentionally attacking the victim.
What, then, do we do when the attack really is personal? We've all been in situations when the person really is attacking us out of spite. The great 19th Century educator, the Persian nobleman, Baha'u'llah, said the following:
"Should anyone wax angry with you, respond to him with gentleness; and should anyone upbraid you, forbear to upbraid him in return, but leave him to himself."
The key is not just what we do, but what we don't do. Someone is angry. And when someone is angry, he or she is not going to listen to reason, because it is not their mind that is driving their tongue; it is their adrenaline. Let the person simmer in their own vices until he has calmed down and talk to him kindly when he is civilized. As the book "Dealing with People You Can't Stand" says, sometimes, one simple sentence spoken gently will defuse the bomb about to go off, a sentence like, "Thank you for taking the time to share with me about how you feel."
There are really three ways of responding to an attack: 1. Attack them back 2. Ignore / Withdraw 3. Respond with loving-kindness.
Most of us do either of the first two. Those who like to return the attacks argue that if you don't do it, you will let them walk all over you and they will do it again. But, what ends up happening when you return the attacks is that the attacker intensifies his attacks in both magnitude and frequency. The second option is perhaps effective only when the person delivering the attack is a stranger, someone you won't see again.
One time after arriving at the Vancouver International Airport, I was informed that my flight was delayed for three hours. I wasn't able at that time to check in my luggage and I had to go to the bathroom urgently. My suitcases were too large and heavy to carry so I'd placed them on a cart and wheeled it into the washroom. I parked it beside what I thought was the edge of the toilet stalls. When I got into the cubicle and was in the process of relieving myself, I heard a toilet flush beside me, meaning that the "edge" was in fact the first cubicle. I had parked my cart in front of its door. Before I could say or do anything, the occupant tried opening the door with great difficulty, and exclaimed angrily and sarcastically, "Oh, thanks for parking in front of me!" After washing his hands, as he was leaving the washroom, he yelled in my direction, "Yuh f@*#ing idiot!"
The first point is that, again we have a situation when motives were misinterpreted. Yes, I had done the wrong thing, but not intentionally. It had been a mistake. The man had taken it personally, foolishly thinking I'd done it on purpose.
If I had responded to his verbal attacks, I ran the risk of getting into an argument and fight with him. I could have apologized from where I was and tried to make amends, I suppose, but I knew that I wouldn't be seeing him again and having a conversation while on the crapper would have been awkward. So I elected to remain silent. I didn't feel hurt from the man's words because I knew that he was in error thinking that I'd attacked him and reacted as if I had.
Withdrawal is fine if the person who attacks you is a stranger. You will never see the person again anyway. But what happens when it's your employer, workmate, classmate, or a family member? Those who, in every situation, go with number two—withdrawing—are faced with a difficult task when the people delivering the attacks are their classmates, people in their own family, or working in the same office. They can't keep on forever changing their jobs or schools. In every job and every school they will be attacked by unkindly tongues; it's inevitable.
No matter how often and how many people attack you verbally for reasons of malice, you should never allow yourself to be defeated. Aggression and hatred are brewing all over the world. For people you know, live with or work with, try number 3. When they hurl poison towards you, hand them honey in return. If they inflict a wound upon you, be a balm to their sores. By this way, you will change their behaviour. If you simply withdraw, they will do again next time. If you counter-attack, they will become your true enemies.
A friend of mine was always getting criticized by his employer. In the midst of brewing with anger over the manager's criticisms, one night, he began trying to identify good things about him and made a list. The next time, he was ready for him. One day, in the midst of criticism, he interrupted his employer to begin praising him. "You really are a wonderful manager," he said with great sincerity. And then he began to identify the specific things that the manager did that were really well done. He told me later that the manager was completely taken aback and lost for words. Gradually, the manager criticized the employee less and less.
October 06 Movies of the 1940sThe 1940s are regarded as the "Golden Age of Cinema". Three films of the period are considered the greatest of all-time; namely, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and It's a Wonderful Life. Big-name directors began to appear, like Alfred Hitchcock, who won a Best Picture oscar for his Rebecca in 1940. Other famous directors of the period include Frank Capra, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, John Huston, and Michael Curtiz.
My ten favourite films from the 1940's are…
The Grapes of Wrath (Drama, 1940)
Stars: Henry Fonda. Brief summary: Based on the classic novel, a family moves to promising California during the Great Depression.
The Letter (Thriller, 1940)
Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall. Brief Summary: Cold wife shoots lover and tells elaborate lies to protect herself.
Casablanca (Romance, 1943)
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman. Brief Summar: During World War II, a café owner in Casablanca, Morocco is paid a visit from a long-lost lover.
Madame Curie (Drama, 1943)
Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon. Brief Summary: Biography of Marie Curie and her discovery of Radium at the turn of the century.
Going My Way (Drama, 1944)
Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald. Brief Summary: A reform-oriented priest is assigned to a dwindling parish.
Anchors Aweigh (Musical, 1945)
Stars: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra. Brief Summary: Two sailors on leave - a cassanova and an introvert - help a woman get into show business.
It's a Wonderful Life (Fantasy, 1946)
Stars: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. Brief Summary: Suicidal man is shown, by an angel, how he has touched the lives of those around him.
The Razor's Edge (Drama, 1946)
Stars: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney. Brief Summary: Philosophical story of a young man seeking the goodness of life rather than following the practical path.
The Snake Pit (Drama, 1948)
Stars: Olivia de Havilland. Brief Summary: A woman is admitted into a mental hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown, and she cannot remember what caused it.
The Heiress (Drama, 1949)
Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift. Brief Summary: A wealthy spinster with a cruel father is met by a fortune hunter who wants her to elope.
The top ten significant, feature-length* movies of the decade as rated by the general public:
1. Casablanca (1942)
2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
3. Shoe-Shine (1946)
4. Citizen Kane (1941)
5. Double Indemnity (1944)
6. Murder, He Says (1945)
7. The Third Man (1949)
8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
9. Maltese Falcon (1941)
10. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
Source: Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), power search, settings: minimum votes: 300. Search conducted 6 October 2008.
* Movies with a run time of at least 60 minutes. October 05 Human Relations 19: Purify Your Listening1. See others as your equals
2. When faced with others' faults, remember your own
3. Seek companionship with those who uplift you, and share your light
4. Purify your speech
5. Purify your listening
6. Respond to others' "attacks" properly
7. Establish social justice by means of consultation
Not only should we make our speech pure but should allow ourselves to listen only to pure speech. If we listen to others complain about people, then we are guilty of complicity in their backbiting. Refuse to listen and politely change the subject or leave. Don't react to the backbiting by upbraiding the person, as this will simply make you both guilty of bad speech.
Here is an interesting question: what is justice? Because we are all equal, it is really institutions that judge what people have done and bring them to justice. On the individual to individual level, justice means that we don't just believe what tall tales come our way, but investigate the truth for ourselves. Real justice means that we "perceive honour and nobility in every human being—this independent of wealth or poverty". Real justice means that we see through our own eyes, not through the eyes of others, and we know things by our own investigations, not from listening to the hearsays of our neighbours. Real justice means that we acknowledge good qualities even in our enemies and remember our own faults when faced with the failings in others. Justice has nothing to do with trying to get even with someone.
When we kindly refuse to listen to bad speech and gossip, we will give those with vindictive tongues no audience and they will learn that they cannot revel in their entertainment abilities. Sure, what they say may be true but why do we want to spend our lives of a mere 80 years listening to hurtful words spoken about our fellow human beings?
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