Current International news involving the United States and China.

While researching and writing a current events paper for one of my other courses, I stumbled upon this article. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-to-leave-global-postal-union-next-month-barring-last-minute-action-exit-could-send-global-parcel-rates-soaring. This article is an interesting read about the United States (USPS) leaving the Universal Postal Union. There are a couple of reasons for why the USPS wants to leave the Union that has over 192 states in it, but one of the main reasons relates to China. The Union has a yearly due that is paid by every state within the Union. How much each state pays is dependent on if the state is developed economically or not. The rates for each state was made over 50 years ago when China was a developing state, so this means that China does not pay nearly the same amount as the United States in dues which leads to China making large amounts of profits by being able to cheaply ship items from China. China is now one of the largest economic states in the world, competing for directly with the United States with shipping goods. The United States is upset with the fact that China does not have to pay nearly as much, and because of this, the United States is leaving the Union. This article was an interesting read about something that I had no idea that was happening, and I highly recommend the article.

Tao Te Ching and the Yin

When reading the Tae Te Ching, I was making notes throughout my book about my thoughts at the end of each page. I found page 43 because it had reminded me of the quote from Theodore Roosevelt, “speak quietly and carry a big stick”. The opening phrase on this page is what mainly reminded me about this quote saying, “the softest thing in the world / Rides roughshod over the strongest”. There seems to be a common theme where quiet or soft things have a strong effect. This is seen on pages 63, 68, and 78. This theory is similar to the philosophy of the yin and the yang if the yin is soft and the yang is hard. These passages have a common theme of staying in the yin portion of life. 

Tao Te Ching 67

In Tao Te Ching, I liked page 67. The term “sage” is an interesting concept in Daoism. The idea of trusting people who are trustworthy and not trustworthy bewilders me. How does “sage” create harmony? Then it does to Te meaning goodness and trust. Then on page 51, Te is now respect. Fast forward to page 64 and Sage “desires no desires/ prizes no prizes.” I am still trying to figure out what these terms mean, and it might just take me re reading the poems.

On page 67 it talks about compassion, frugality, and presumption. I like how it says, “Nowadays,/ people reject compassion/ but want to be brave,/ reject frugality/ but want to be generous/ reject humility/ and want to come first.” I feel this describes American culture because our society is focused on “me” and how can I come in first, do whatever it takes to get that high paid job, and we certainty don’t live frugal lifestyles. We can agree to disagree, but I don’t think we value the three treasures of compassion, frugality, and humility as a society. I think it is interesting that this poem is trying to teach these three treasures to the Chinese.

Taoism and Leadership

I think that the attitude towards rulers and government that is presented in the Tao Te Ching is very interesting. The main point that I have noticed is the teaching of a less strict approach to leadership. The Tao Te highlights that the more you try to control with force the more your people will slip away. I feel like this has been seen many times around the world when unfair dictators are overthrown by the people, for example, during the protests and uprising of the Arab Spring. I don’t know if a world will ever exist in which rulers will strive to provide the best for their country and people without manipulation or hunger for power but it seems like that is the ideal in Taoism.

Randomly Interesting and Totally Unrelated Confucius Topic

I was browsing the web and I happened to come across multiple articles, but one in particular, that mentions the closing of Confucius Institutes at various colleges and universities. I didn’t feel it to be related to my previous post on Confucius and thought it was so interesting that it was deserving of its own blog post.

Apparently, there are various universities throughout the United States that have a Confucius Institute run by the Chinese government. I am not 100% sure how this works and plan on doing further research on it. Some of the colleges, such as the Arizona State University have closed the Institute due to some people claiming they “view the centers as Chinese government propaganda.” I found this really interesting, especially thinking about how positively portrayed Confucianism is portrayed, at least here in America. Why did they start these institutes in the first place if they are believed to be propaganda? I think this is an interesting thread of news stories that seem to have been developing for the past few weeks and I plan on keeping updated on them as well as furthering my research.

BBC Documentary on Confucius (Sept. 17 Class)

The BBC documentary we were assigned to watch was definitely an interesting perspective into the life of Confucius and why he believed the things he believed. In the documentary, at one point it said something along the lines of how he believed that in order to properly respect those who have died, we need to respect the living. To me, this is the classic example of filial piety of respecting those older than you, particularly parents, grandparents, and other authority figures such as teachers.

I found the documentary particularly interesting because while I had learned about Confucius and the idea of filial piety many times before, I never really heard any backstory on it, or what his childhood was like. I thought it was interesting to learn about the state that China was in as a country at the time he was growing up, and how that may have influenced the way he saw the world and his ideas that came later in his life. He is definitely an influential person, not only to Chinese society, but he was clearly influential enough here in the US that we often learn about him and what he stood for.

9.18.19

While reading the Tao Te Ching #58 really made me think about our world we live in today. It made me think of how many different perspectives that we have, and that we are all entitled too. It talks about the Government, and when it’s quiet people are “cool ad refreshed” and when it’s talking, “people get worn down and hopeless” we see this in our world today in the sense that many people disagree and uproars happen when political people from countries will say something. We see this in our media https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/23/bad-sign-for-trade-talks-trump-calls-china-president-xi-enemy.html this is the link that talks about how President Trump talks about China and their President. This being said I can only imagine people didn’t agree with his comments, just like probably in China people didn’t like it either

Government in the Tao Te Ching

When reading the poems from the Tao Te Ching, I thought it was especially interesting that that poems 57-60 focused on government since that was a new theme for the poems, and one fairly distant from the other themes discussed in the poems. I thought the ways that the poems shaped the ‘ideal government’ was especially interesting, especially upon reflecting on the ways that we might see these ideals in our society today. For instance, in 59, it is noted that “governing people and serving heaven/is like living off the land” (ll. 1-2) meaning that the government is meant to serve the people first. I think that this idea is a really common one in our own society, with the idea of the ‘government for the people, by the people.’ I also thought that 59’s idea of “there is nothing that cannot be overcome./There is no limit” (ll. 5-6) sounded very much like the ideal of the ‘American Dream,’ of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and achieving anything if you put your mind to it and work hard enough. 59 expressed this idea very concisely in the next lines, stating “You can become the country/And the country’s mother/And nourish and extend it” (ll. 7-9). Those who were able to achieve ‘the American Dreamk’ ended up giving all the immigrants who ended up coming to America hopes about what it could and should be like here, and those who had succeeded were then able to lift up those newcomers, spreading throughout the country and becoming the ideal that we imagine for America today.

Luke, I am your Yin Yang

The Yin Yang is about balance, so why then is it even possible to compare this to The Force from Star Wars? How influential was Daoism on the creation of the Dark Side and Light side of the force? Often times when we think of the Dark Side and Light Side of the Force we think of Good vs. Evil but it is much more than that, it is about the balance between one side and another, both from their perspective are the good side and in return believe the other is the bad. Without the existence of the dark there would be no need for the light. It isn’t that simple though because a side must always exist, and in return their counter balance will naturally form equally.  In regards to Star Wars, if all the Sith were killed essentially only the light side would exist, but for how long? There would be division among the light side and a new “light side and dark side would emerge” If we read to much in to good and evil it is hard to understand but to know there must always be counteractive forces to ensure one does not grow too strong is the reason the force exists.  It is similar when we look at Daoism, balance of life v work, wealth v generosity, bad v good all exist within us. Daily mini struggles to determine what makes us happy or complete. If we eat too many snacks, we should work out to maintain a balance in our bodies, if all we do is eat snacks we will become unhealthy… and ironically if all we do is work out we risk missing the joys of life like an ice cold soda and nachos.  Of course Daoism is more complex and deep in its importance as a way of life, much deeper than the simple balances of life I used as examples, and even deeper than that of the Star Wars Force.

The idea behind Daoism from what I understand though is balance. Balance is key to life, and it transcends religion into normal routines and daily life. I often believed Daoism was less of a religion and more of just a way of life, or “The Way”. Balance comes in many forms and though I barely scratched the surface of what Daoism is all about, I believe when using the comparison of Star Wars or the simple balances of daily tasks it helps us understand the foundation of it.