Tell it to Steven Hawking. A person's physical stature does not limit his/her potential for work that does not rely on his/her physical stature (e.g., English teaching, as well as physics). The cultural attitude that those who are discriminated against because they do not fit the culturally desired norm should be outcast or should be provided for by special environments that can be sold as entertainment venues to those who will not deal with their own prejudices is a cultural attitude that perpetuates discrimination against all who are 'different'. The problem here, as elsewhere, is a matter of dehumanizing those who are 'different' - prejudicial culture that regiments anything that deviates from its standards, rather than dealing with the prejudice itself. Why not have a theme park within which 'foreigners', with all their funny habits, can be kept, so that they do not disturb the 'normality' of cultural prejudices? Actually, there could be many: one for 'black people', one for Tibetans, one for Japanese, one for gay people, one for Han Chinese people who have given up their 'traditional' clothing for 'western-style' clothing (e.g., the great majority of Chinese, over the past century or so) - in fact we could subdivide and subdivide until nothing was left but mutual nonrecognition. All these would help to maintain the narrow identities of 'normality' that can be relied upon to advance support the cultural attitudes that promote the continuing inability of people to recognize each other as human, and to celebrate and accept their differences - not as entertainment items, no matter how 'cute', but as full human beings. How different is all this from apartheid?
This effort to maintain prejudice can, of course, be profitable to those who invest in it, and convenient for social engineers and political elites who want to maintain an elite power status by reliance on it.
The place is an insult to our common humanity and a spotlight on cultural attitudes of exclusion. Those who find that they enjoy such displays should take a good look at the nature of the culture that has formed them so narrowly. Cultures change; cultures have always changed; cultures are presently changing and will continue to do so; there is nothing sacred about cultural attitudes. Our common humanity is an ongoing project, and those who imagine they are not part of such a project are simply contributing their own blindness to it, and limiting themselves in the process. It's not the 'dwarves' who are the problem, its the people who will not accept them as within the boundaries of 'us'.
Survey: Kunming adults happy, children stressed
发布者@Spartans: I don't know Gombrich, but the concept sounds like what we've all been up to our ears in for a very long time - has to do with the nature of money and the profit system, gone viral.
Kunming police now permitted to carry sidearms
发布者My impression is that 'rubber' bullets are pretty good at stopping people. Anybody out there with relevant military/police experience?
Qujing mine disaster lands two Yunnan officials in jail
发布者Notice recent events in Turkey. Carelessness about safety in mines is despicable.
Kunming opens province's first 'baby refuge'
发布者Actually, adopting babies has long been socially acceptable in China, it's just that most adoptions have traditionally been adopted from relatives or within villages, etc. But the long tradition of respect for extended family relations has had the flip side of suspicion of outsiders & their offspring. In the past, too, dire poverty has meant that women have had to give up children to those who could afford to take care of them. Dire poverty also contributed to infanticide, especially female infanticide. Chinese society has been through a lot.
Kunming opens province's first 'baby refuge'
发布者@Liumingke: Good point - better to share the babies we got than to keep producing more & more - world is getting crowded.