During my first visit to Hong Kong, I stayed in the Chungking Mansions, which was a building consisting of shops and and rooming houses on various floors. I had a deluxe room, which had a bathroom. The shower consisted of a nozzle on the sink and drain in the floor.
There were two elevators the size of telephone booths. One stopped on odd floors and the other on even. The line was too long for me to wait so I took the stairs and noticed that several patrons used the stairwells to dump their garbage. Years later I read in a guide book that a group of prostitutes ran their business out of the Chungking Mansions but got so disgusted that they left. I shouted out, “I stayed there!”
The Chungking Mansions feature in Wong Kar Wai’s film “Chungking Express.” If you haven’t seen it, you should.
In 2014 I attended the Galway Arts Festival. The great thing about Ireland was that I could turn to the stranger sitting next to me and spend the next half hour discussing the play we’d just seen. In America, they’d think I was some kind of serial killer and leave. On my last night in Galway, I was walking back to my hotel after the play and realized I hadn’t discussed it with anyone. Just then, I guy on a bicycle screeched to to a stop and said, “Did you just see Ballyturk? What did you think of it?” I started talking and other guys on bicycles pulled up. We spent 40 minutes discussing the festival while standing on the side of the road.
It’s a great festival and the Irish are wonderful people. If you ever get a chance to go, do it.
because many politicians violate the norms of democracy, something I had thought all Americans believed it. In an effort to say not just what I’m against but what I’m for, I’ve come up with a nonpartisan list of what these norms are. It may not be complete but is a good summary.
Decisions
Based on objective facts
Arrived at by valid arguments
The goal is fairness and to do the best for everyone.
Norms of Democracy
Freedom of speech, religion, and assembly
Free press
Right to a fair trial
Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment
Government by the will of the people
Equal opportunity for all (but not necessarily equal outcome)
In Conclusion
Isn’t this how we’re supposed to do things in America? This stuff shouldn’t be controversial yet I hear many people advocating positions that fly in the face of these basic values. It is deeply disturbing. If we lose this we’re lost.
