Asian History & Modern Society | Asian American Poll

ASIAN HISTORY & MODERN SOCIETY
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:25:27 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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AC Dropout--

Hi, sorry it took so long for me to respond, but you had some valid points, so it took me longer to think about it.

You are absolutely right when you say focusing only on the economics of the problems that we face, is only half-way. There are certain problems in the world where well no matter how much money we throw at it, the problem cannot be solved--one such problem that comes to mind is the problem of income disparity. By it's very nature, the problem exacerbates as the economy grows.

But I still must disagree with you that being free and being rich are uncorrelated--they are very much correlated. One leads to the other.

Take your example of concubine/extra-marital affairs for example. You say that the women marrying rich men isn't strictly an asian phenomena--which is precisely what I'm trying to say. But then you say that women marrying rich men has nothing to do with a country being rich or poor?? I must disagree. You don't agree with me? Take a look at websites for mail order brides. Please note that the women are from developing world. You think guys in these other countries have websites in their own countries that says, "Buy a Wife from the Good Ol' U.S. of A.!"

Unwanted female babies like you said are definitely a cultural phenomena. But like I said, females are valued higher in society where women are allowed to own property or work. You are right, when you say China could be 1000 times richer and still have the same problem--south korea in fact has a much more skewed number than china. But Korea today is far more liberal then Korea in 1950. It would be better if grassroots efforts at seriously changing social attitudes occurred in churches or other social institutions. But if general apathy towards social issues hinder feminist efforts, then the best alternative course effort is to institute government sponsored programs--such as subsidized welfare for single mothers etc. But to subsidize such programs take money--obviously economic developement would come in handy to institute such programs.

I definitley see the world in black and white. However, even though I see things into moral imperatives, I am a pragmatist. For example, I believe that abortion is morally wrong. However, I think that as a matter of public policy, that abortion should be legal. Also, I believe that drug use is harmful for society; however I believe as a matter of public policy, htat drugs should be legal.

I think that trying to uplift the economic status of a nation is very important in achieving gender equality. Take India for example. Indian parliament is enlightened enough that it holds a certain number of seats to women. However, are Indian women in real life, better off then Korea? I beg to differ on that point.

Rare Stuff--
I think your worship of 'eastern' spirituality and disdain for evil 'western' materialism is unfounded. Neither is materialism a western phenomena nor spiriutality an eastern phenomena.

I agree with you that it's better to be poor and free then rich and enslaved. But to that I say, it's the most supreme to be both rich and free-- and that many mongolian woman are enslaved, because they are poor--in fact a lot of mongolian men are enslaved for the same reasons. There is a reason why Mexican immigrants brave dangerous conditions to work menial jobs in the United States. They are chasing after dreams and opportunities--to be free to chase after their goals in life.

white woman--
rare-stuff seems to espouse certain fascist ideology, but you shouldn't lose your mental calmness, and make unconstructive retorts. I leave it up to you to decide what I mean by that.

ka Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 14:21:49 (PDT)

"There are exceptions but they are still less than I had expected. I mean, my experience was that they lose their pride when they get into puberty.(I hope this doesn't sound prudish.)"

Once again you just come off sounding quite idiotic. So ALL white women lose their pride when going into puberty? I have to disagree. I for one never lost my pride. Adolescence is a tough time in a person's life, and when you're in your teens you just want to fit in with the crowd, so if that's what you mean by "losing pride" I guess I see what you mean...

Also I did not aim to impress you. My self esteem is strong enough such that I do not feel the need to impress some loser on a chat board. I was simply refuting your gross generalizations of white females (forced to be charming and artificial), and since this is an Asian American forum, that is why I brought up Asian American females as a comparison.

white girl Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 13:48:52 (PDT)

white girl,

1)My aim was to say that Asian people who are often referred to be "culturally backward" (here:the Mongols) can have some spiritual advantages in comparison with modern Westerners.
2)I did not generalize regarding Asian women. I didn't even mention the word "Asian".
3)Maybe you ignore that my statement bases on a worldview different from yours.You cannot force me to be impressed by things you are proud of.
rare stuff Tuesday, April 23, 2002 at 07:38:50 (PDT)

white girl,

"I've seen...I think not"-this was now a prejudice of yours. Please note that I cannot criticize Asian females because I know only 4(!) of them. On the contraty I know many white females from everyday life because I live among whites. There are exceptions but they are still less than I had expected. I mean, my experience was that they lose their pride when they get into puberty.(I hope this doesn't sound prudish.)
rare stuff Monday, April 22, 2002 at 16:28:51 (PDT)

"Western females are forced by their society to be charming and artificial. They are rich to buy things which please Western men."
rare stuff

What the hell are you talking about?? Obviously you now NOTHING about Western females. I am a WF who is smart, hard working and completely independent, and I have nice manners, but by no means am I artificial! I think a lot of whites would say this about Asian females, that they are forced by their society to be submissive, not speak their mind, be thin, quiet and pretty and just wait to get married. White women hold down jobs in every industry available, are CEO's, CFO's, etc. We are rich because WE WORK FOR IT, we buy ourselves things because WE WANT TO BUY THEM. I make a good income, and all of it goes to me, to please myself and to build my investment portfolio to ensure a good life for myself. I do not aiming to please men.

I've seen your harsh generalizations of white women on other boards, and I have to ask, why do you hate WF's so much, because none of them will date you? And are asian women perfection? I think not.
white girl Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 18:55:44 (PDT)

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