User profile: Alien

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Forums > Living in Kunming > What if China and America...

The goal of the businessman is 'I win' - whether it is win-win with his competitors is secondary, and the fact that it is secondary is what produces the endless cycles of violence. But that's why SunZi, on war, applies. It's about individual ego. Meanwhile, the game itself, which is not a game because with games one can choose not to play, rests on the loss incurred by labor, which is systematically in the position of losing vis-a-vis capital - that's why the system works until it doesn't. Hence the contradiction, the class struggle, the movement of history and the self-destruction of the system - which may just take everybody along with it.
Win-lose - ultimately, it's lose-lose; thanks for participating in the effort that has got us this far, but win-win will now have to be something entirely different. May we be saved from the gods (people, nations) and their ego-problems. Enough with the games awready.

It's been fun and it all relates to the OP, but, obviously, all from a million miles away.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > What if China and America...

No argument with Sun Zi's theories about manipulation, war etc. - but it's interesting that it all starts with the idea of enemies, which seems to put everything on a field of competing individual interests, creating at best allies that can be trusted only conditionally. All highly useful, but I wonder, given the development of technology, whether there isn't a limit to the collective survival value of such thinking, and whether we can't come up with an alternative that is less likely to end in, perhaps universal, catastrophe. Evolutionary theory - theory about 'Nature' and the competition of species - presents absolutely no guarantee, and very little encouragement, of the idea that any species might be able to overcome its logic - but then no other species has ever had the resources of very, very radically, intentionally and collectively (with incredible abilities and possibilities for sophisticated communication) modifying and creating its own environment - the 'nature' of humanity is, in a nutshell, to create culture.

Nothing is written, and nothing is guaranteed.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > How do you teach a class of teenagers?

I'm coll with Hammer's suggestions - creativity is often necessary when following guidelines that aren't working. However, the idea of 'they can waste their time, but why should I waste mine' makes me consider that there is a reason: you are getting paid for it, and if the project of the kids' learning English is a worthwhile one, whether they want to or not - and it's worth considering that it may not be - then I think teaching is a responsibility that shouldn't be ignored.
After all, there is a hell of a lot of worthless, or even negative, activity going on in the world that goes by the name of 'work'.

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Not quite what you'd call a jumping place, but not bad at all for rather standard US-type meals, not overly expensive, and with a really good salad bar that's cheap, or free with most dinner dishes after 5:30PM. You can get a bottle of beer or even wine if you really want to, but I've never seen anybody do it - maybe that's just to take out. Chinese Christian run, and they hire people with physical disadvantages, who are pleasant and helpful. Frequented by foreign (mostly North American) Christians and Chinese Christians - was started by a Canadian couple associated with Bless China (previously, Project Grace), who are no longer here, but no religious pressure or any of that. Steaks are nothing special, and I avoid the Korean dishes, which I've had a few times but which did not impress me.

As a shop and bakery, it's very good bread at reasonable prices, of various kinds (Y18 for a good multigrain loaf that certainly weighs well over a pound. Other stuff too, like granola and oatmeal that is local, as well as imported things, including American cornflakes and so forth, which some people seem to require.

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Large portions, seriously so with the pizza, which is Brooklyn/American style, I guess. Convivial, conversational, good place to drink with good folks on both sides of the bar, especially after about 9PM.

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Really good pizza and steaks. The wine machine fuddles me when I'm a bit fuddled, & seems unnecessary. Good folks on both sides of the bar.