Today is Boxing Day, a public holiday in Hong Kong, interrupting the week long self-declared holiday for enough offices.
Feeling good and light-hearted as I often tend to, with Starbucks ice mocha frappuccino now available at a supermarket in the neighborhood so that I do not have to lug them clear across town from CBD. To think, I can help with balancing global trade right from within my own neighborhood, driving Japanese SUV filled with Saudi crude refined in China, spending USA liquidity on Starbucks productivity, exchanging ideas with folks from all over. How good can life get?
On your note, my confession, feel, and take:
I do not care for -isms as a rule.
I am partial to health, family, friends, passion for work that is hopefully more meaningful than not, cash flow, savings, investment, and that each day be like a beach holiday.
I do not care for organized religion led by folks I did not choose for myself, and feel it only matters that I lead a life that is more blameless than not, respect others (especially old folks, women and children), and generally leave them alone, unless I am being my usual and regular charitable self, when I intervene and make a difference in improving their lives.
On intervention, I am generally of the Admiral Zheng He school of thoughts, or what I imagine his thoughts were, not different from James T Kirk ... arrive, observe, learn, appreciate, think, pick up some dust collectors, and leave.
Again on intervention, should one do so in the rare cases, do so on the side of the then underdog, for more likely the David is being picked on.
On Iraq, it was a made up country, ruled by a despot. It was a bad idea to invade, because the act was (i) enabled by absolute power, (ii) not accompanied by understanding, (iii) devoid of thought, and (iv) once in, bad idea to leave, because the situation will spread sooner, but (v) while in, bad idea to stay, because the matter will progress to worse than bad.
What Iraq is all about depends on who one listens to.
To me, it was all about shaping a global order of things, and the shapers (neocons) miscalculated due to lack of learning, the planners (Pentagon) screwed up due to lack of experience, the supervisors (Congress) messed up due to incompetency, and the executers (military) did not do the job because it was the wrong job coupled without the right tools.
That does not mean Iraq adventure is not a god sent, in that the new century can be brought on and nurtured the right way, China is left alone to progress.
WAT-WOT-Whatnot, coupled with Iraq adventure has other effects. Russia looks good while killing innocents in Chechnya, Columbia looks proper even when deluged with extraordinary rendition, Burma looks fine with its haveas corpus-less prison system, N.Korea looks reasonable for testing the bomb, and Iran looks like a world power talking at the head table.
With all of the above mentioned nonsense and goings on happening, the residents of Hong Kong, all 7 million small, can proudly pronounce, we are the freest, most tolerant, wealthiest, and mathematically most proficient society in the entire galaxy, bar none, we have habeas corpus in action, and we don't even invade others with our ideas - we just make money off of them, tax-free, protected by rule of law, and it all has naught to do with the British, for they fell, and yet Hong Kong stands, so much better for their leaving, as they engage in the same nonsensical act in the Mesopotamia desert, not having learnt the harsh lessons the first, second, and third time around, supported by their lackies, the Aussies, New Zealanders, and other usual riff raff mercenaries.
As the threaders often ponder over the implications of Argentina and explications of Zimbabwe, we can also give an occasional thought to the rights of Hong Kong and wrongs of, ... say New Zealand, for lack of otherwise clearly qualified strategic competitor at any other GPS coordinate.
Ah ... much better, what a way to start a brand new day, highlighting reality in the midst of Maurice darkness, and seeking truth amongst CB facts :0))))
Chugs, Jay |
