The idea of pride in one's culture and history

Last Sunday, I reluctantly went with my dad to attend a wedding function of his friend's daughter in Makati Shang but thankfully, I had a good time with him! We chit chatted about his friends =)

My dad and I hitched a ride with his Chinese Mafia friends. They are a bunch of old men, mostly 10-20 years older than my dad who are hardcore Binondo like Chinese. Practically all of them were self employed most of their life, speak in a more natural Chinese accent than Greenhills Chinese, married to pure Chinese women, require their children to marry Chinese and to be self employed if you're a son, and best of all they always meet up for breakfast during weekdays in McDonald's.

I'm particularly drawn to one of my dad's old friend, they call him Professor. Unfortunately, I never got his name and he doesn't know my name as well. Mr. Professor is a retired physics professor in UP, a subject that I like a lot next to Math (my favorite), and a school that I think is the best in the country by far. I was drawn to him because I believe we have a lot of similarities in terms of how we think and frankly I admire and like his profession. I wouldn't mind being a physics teacher for 30 years but I would probably prefer to be math teacher. After figuring out that I am an economics major in the small school beside his school, he talked to me about the financial crisis in the States. He asked me about the sequence of events in a recession, Greenspan's tenure, the budget deficit and etc. He also gave his opinion on how he thought CEOs in corporate America are being excessively paid, how lending practices were too loose and needs to be regulated, how unfortunate Bush spent his country's money too much on war and etc. Ofcourse, most of these opinions were not of his own but that of others which he agrees with. I was impressed on how updated he is with the economic events.

I think I made a striking impact on him when I brought up Sun Tzu's little wisdom on war - that one should only go to war when there is a monetary gain (profit) because going into war costs and depletes a lot of resources (money) to a nation's coffers. His face lit up as if I had said something ingenious and striking. But he was mainly impressed because he felt proud of his culture as evidenced by how he later spent a lot of time talking about how the Chinese knew so much wisdom from thousands of years ago. He encouraged me to learn more about Chinese history as there's a lot to be learned from there. When I told him I read the english translation of 3 Kingdoms, he told me that it's different and that I should read the Chinese version (which I would've if I could) which is way better.

I was reading Obama's first book when I came upon what was said to him by a black man that American schools are for white people. They only teach them about white culture, white history or THEIR history etc. As a result, black children should not be expected to be enthusiastic in going to school and doing well. The American schools should teach them about black history and culture and that will make the black children do well in school. He told Obama how bias and manipulative the white schools are. Personally, I think this is his own interpretation or his "own truth" and a disfigured and debilitating perspective on reality.

My soon to be wife, like the rest of the Filipinos and 3rd generation Filipino Chinese, enjoy the idea of going to Europe and taking a look at its very rich history. They get so excited talking about going to the Louvre and seeing all these wonderful White arts and culture or going to visit the Buckingham Palace just to admire its beauty. I try to burst their bubble sometimes by telling them that Britain's bankrupt, Forbidden City is much bigger, the royalties act like clowns and are just an entertainment expense for bankrupt Britain to attract tourist and etc. I always felt that they should appreciate their own culture and history (no matter how big or small) more than they should of others which has no relevance to them nor cares about them. I was thinking like the black man and the professor.

Later on, as I thought about what the black man said and how backward it was, hindering his own people from progress, I realize I was being as racist and as blind and as backward as the black man was. Being proud of my Chinese culture and history and boasting about it to other people is like subtly sizing them up and dividing ourselves from each other. It's like saying: "I have this nice toy and it's mine. You don't have it and it's not yours, it's mine!" Nothing can be further from the truth and backward than the thought of: "This is my history and culture, not yours and you have no claim to mine. That is your history and culture, not mine and I don't care about it."

This may be absurd, but why shouldn't the white and black man have as much claim and pride as I do with the Emperor Kang Hsi? Because they are not yellow, but white and black? Because they were not decendants of Kang Hsi as evidenced by their skin and where they were born?

But isn't it also very likely that there could be some black or white folks who were direct descendants of Kang Hsi and that there are some yellow comrades who weren't? Wouldn't they genetically be more related to Kang Hsi than their certain yellow counterparts?

"We are all one people, not I, you, we or they but US" as the saying goes. The sooner we share and realize that, the faster we should progress. The world economy and technology has progressed more rapidly in the last hundred years than it ever did in mankind's history. It's hard to dispute that global trading, sharing of goods, services, knowledge and technology among nations did not have an impact to the fastest growth that we have experienced in our history. Today's Harley Davidson motorcycle (made from all around the world) is better than the Harley Davidson motorcycle (made in USA only) of 50 years ago in terms of quality, technology and price. Now if we share our racial culture, history and wisdom with one another, take out the colored lines that divide us from one another and consider it as ours, wouldn't our own individual humanity be richer?

Now there's a saying by Rudyard Kipling (our kind of people):

Now this is the Law of the Jungle - as old and as true as the sky;
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back
FOR THE STRENGTH OF THE PACK IS THE WOLF, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE WOLF IS THE PACK.

I think this law not only applies to wolves.

Things I learned from a few Americans

Obama

1.) Audacity of hope - Not blind or ignorant optimism, but hope rather than cynnicism in the face of difficulties, darkness and difficult times. It takes strength to do this.

2.) Everybody, your friends and your team, have faults and will continue making new mistakes. Don't dwell and waste your limited time and effort on the negatives or irritability of others. It can hinder you from progressing with your work or task at hand.

3.) Abraham Lincoln's quote - "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Don't let differences in opinion, ideas and conflict divide you and your family especially when you have the same goals and vision. Don't blame each other. Work on your own faults and weaknesses instead. I know this could sound simple but it takes real effort, development and strength of character to do this.

4.) The most dangerous threat or enemy in a country, team or family is not found outside but rather inside of the country, team or family. This dangerous threat or enemy will try to divide us amongst ourselves. When united, we stand a chance to face our enemies. When divided, our enemies need not face us at all. Remember the stories in 3 kingdoms or just imagine going against a basketball team that's fighting against each other.

5.) True greatness of America is not in its tall sky scrapers, military power or the size of its economy but the pride is based on a very simple premise summed up in a declaration made over 200 years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Come to think of it, this mentality came first before the sky scrapers, military power and big economy.

John Templeton

1.) Stay ahead by working hard.

2.) Hard work is a gift from God. An ABILITY given to us.

3.) Use your time wisely by keeping yourself preoccupied with the few important things only.

4.) We all have limitations including our time, our effort and our mind. We can only do one thing at a time most of the time.

5.) Like weeds, distraction and excess comes to us continuously. We must always discard them. Keep it simple.

6.) When you rule your mind, you rule your world.

7.) You cannot have peace of mind without strength of mind.

8.) Happiness comes not from having a certain set of circumstances but from having a certain set of attitude. I guess that explains how a poor handicapped man can be happier than a rich athlete.

Ben Franklin

-Read Poor Richard's Almanack!

Some favorite quotes:

1.) If you'd be wealthy, think of saving more than getting (a distraction): The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes equal her incomes. (This is harder than it sounds)

2.) You can die quicker by being too lazy than working too hard.

3.) Necessity never made a good bargain. Don't be in that position.

4.) Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit enough to be honest.

5.) Wink at small faults - remember thou hast great ones.

6.) Little Strokes, fell great Oaks.

7.) An empty sack cannot stand upright.

8.) Work on getting rid of one habit a year. After 10 years, you'll be a very changed man.

9.) Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

10.) He that lives well is learned enough.

11.) He that pursues two hares at once does not catch one and lets the other go. One thing at a time.

12.) Path to wealth - Industry, Savings and Discernment.