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[Charlemagne 8]

MH,
I thought about that after I posted and you are absolutely right. The range of this place is what is mind-boggling. All over the world, every range of politics and weather, ranging in ages from MouseMan to Holden and that's just the little I know. We all have something to talk about. We all have common ground. And it seems as if none of that stuff that seems to consume everyone in the "real world" makes any difference here.
I love this place.
CVIII

[Lucy]

tullio has asked a question on comparative cost of Hong Kong and USA.

Well, I only been to USA once. So i am not sure your living standard. But I guess it is relatively higher? There were many huge size meat in the supermarket. Of course we can buy meat in Hong Kong too, but the meat in that supermarket i saw in the US was so abundant that people seem can never "finish" it..Houses and malls are bigger there with the houses of most people having CARPETS. People have cars, at least motorcycles. Even the cup of a coke in McDonalds' is bigger. This is what i saw last summer when I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I guess large cities like San Francisco are much more exciting?? I like calm places, but some exciting trip in the weekend is good too.

As for Hong Kong, our situation is not that good. We have six million people here. And the workforce is about three million people. The latest umemployment rate is 7.3 (seasonally adjusted). We have 253,000 people umemployed. Some university graduates have spent half a year until they are able to find a full time job. I think that five years ago most jobs hiring university graduates would pay HKD10000  (that is about UDS1282 ). Now most of us would accept around HKD7000. Most of those who are umemployed are middle age people with semi-skills. The did textile and factory work in the past but now most factories have been moved to mainland China as the rent and labor wage there are MUCH MORE cheaper (1/10 that of HK). We are now entering into a "knowledge economy"/"information economy". But those middle age people did not receive much education (the colonial governemnt did not introduce the compulsory and free of charge nine year education policy until after 1970s). Our government can do little to help them. It does provide retraining programmes, but not to train them to be sales executive or so on, but only train them to be nannies (for women) and security guards (for men).  Their life chances are low. My mother did even apply for those nanny classes, but the seats were limited that the government could not admit all the women. My mother was not admitted. Fortunately she has a job now as a cook and general worker (cleaning, sweeping the floor, photocopying, checking visitors' identity, etc) for a construction company. And the company requires my mother and several other co-workers to work from 8am to 7pm. She earns HKD6300 per month. But she is already VERY contented. She said a low paid job is better than no job. I would also not refuse to have a job of HKD5000 per month once I graduate. Sociology is seen as one of the Big Four (big four no-career disciplines) in Hong Kong. My mother always complains that I should have study for a education degree instead of sociology. Companies in Hong Kong like hiring BBA graduates. You know....the Chief Executive (like your president) of our government earns about HKD140,000 (about USD17949) per month. a little bit disappointed for his poor service.

It is not that "smooth" tullio read from newspapers in the US. Besides economic issues, our society was also once occupied by a number of social issues like "the right of abode in hong kong of the mainlanders", "empty promise of 85,000 public flats, etc.

Two days ago my family bought a new air conditioner. We needed a technician to install it for us. Two technicians came to do the job. The air conditioner was so heavy and sharp that they, with such rich experience, still got their hands bleeded. I was scared and immediately gave them enough tissues...They still finished the job for us. Sometimes I think our government pay little attention to lower class people. Its decisions are only influenced by big buisiness men in Hong Kong. It just does not care enough for the lower class which do most daily technical, practical operations for Hong Kong.

I hope the technicians' hands will get well soon.

[Mysticeti]

Very interesting thread.  My sincere thanks to all who shared.

A few items touched a nerve and I feel compelled to add my two ents.  What follows is a bit of a rant.  Hopefully I won't offend anyone...

Taco Bell -- I've never actually eaten at one so I should probably ust keep my mouth shut, but... Was it the death knell (no pun intended) for Mexican culture when Taco Bell opened a 'restaurant' in Mexico ity?  I'm not quite sure why but I find it somewhat repulsive that so many non-American's first brush with "American culture" is via McDonalds and other fast food or junk food (Coke) outlets.  Should fat and empty calories be US ambassadors?  I realize these franchises are American icons but can't we do better?

"There were many huge size meat in the supermarket..." (excerpt from Lucy).  It might not surprise you to learn that obesity is running rampant in the USA.  I've heard reports that something like 25% to 33% of Americans are overweight.

Last week a friend went to a restaurant on my recommendation and I asked if they liked it.  They hesitated a minute and in a reluctant tone said "it was OK".  Having eaten there recently I was surprised it wasn't "very good".  Was the service OK I inquired?  No, the service was excellent. Was the food bad?  Nope, the food was very good.  To make a long (sad) story shorter it turns out that everything about their meal was very good or better except the portion size. It wasn't large enough. Thus, the overall experience was only "OK".

In a land where one can have just about anything, some people it eems, just want more.

I love Starbucks Coffee but isn't it a bit ridiculous that "tall" is the smallest cup size on the menu?  (You can ask for a "short" by the way.)

It no longer shocks me to hear detractors of the USA call Americans "capitalist pigs".

Somehow the worthy aspects of capitalism have been overtaken by materialism, consumerism, and over consumption.  I shudder to think what might happen to the environment should populous nations such as China and India adopt the American lifestyle where nearly everything is disposable because you can always buy more and it's too much other to fix something that was designed to break in the first place.

tullio wrote: How easily, then, did material acquisition and accumulation become the measure of individual worth.

How does one gently point out to someone that might be materially focused that they're selling themselves short?  Would telling someone "even if you do die with the most toys, you're still dead" or "even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat" help?

The dominant linguistic model in modern America is the language of advertising, which relies heavily on suggestion, allusion, inference, and connotation to repeat endlessly the same message: "buy me."

If it were up to me, having a ReplayTV would be manditory.  That way, if you're going to watch television, you can at least skip over the darn advertisements.  I'd much rather purchase something because it was designed better or improves my quality of life rather than because some advert tapped into my subconsious and triggered a buy impulse.