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'.
Dianchi below national standards, nearby construction may be halted
发布者It's a bummer, but I can't say Kunming is really uncomfortable, and am not planning on leaving - there are a lot of worse places. The thing that bothers me the most is the mushrooming of the number of automobiles over the past 6 years or so, and the construction of all the new buildings - reminds me of many US cities, but has happened with less organization.
419 million year-old 'missing link' discovered in Yunnan
发布者Use of the word 'law' in scientific discussions is usually misinterpreted by many laymen, as well as (apparently) some scientists. Calling something a 'law' does not mean no doubt can arise concerning its validity (e.g.: Newton's various 'laws'). Science deals in theory and we deal in habit, but no one deals in certainty, except as (what psychological theory explains as) a psychological phenomenon, often associated with habit, and sometimes associated with revelations or satori. All theories, including that of the 'existence' or 'nonexistence' of God (questions which have nothing to do with science, despite the cries of Hawkins and the noisy new atheists), are open to revision and reinterpretation - sorry, but that's the best we can do.
Interview: Photographer and artist Zi Bai
发布者Good subject matter, that on which the world chokes.
What does it cost to raise a child in Kunming?
发布者Which high schools cost Y80,000 a year? Those for the elite, perhaps.
What does it cost to raise a child in Kunming?
发布者How many more children do you think Kunming needs?