I watched Edward Burtynsky's film, Manufactured Landscapes. Very powerful film with excellent photography. The film shows how the industrialized countries use the developing countries as overseas garbage dumps. The film is told in documentary style and features the assination of a president - whom happens to be still alive and in office - George W. Bush. Aalthough the filmmaker didn't profess the the film to be "real" in a way, it's depiction as a documentary that distorts reality to reveal a larger truth. The issue brings up many questions on what is percieved as fiction and non-fiction in documentary fim.

I have always knew that most of the world's ships when they retire get shipped to India and Bangladesh to be ripped apart and it's scrap gets used over there. You may think oh great they are recycling the metal but what are these workers subjecting themselves too, toxic chemicals and oil leaking into the sea for years to come. The movie makes an interesting point that most used computers from industrialized countries end up in China somewhere to be disassembled and every bit of available metal taken out to be re-used. Again you may think oh great they are re-cycling the material. Think again, what are they doing to their health? Better put what are we doing to their health? What they are doing is taking a soldering iron and un-soldering the IC borders and anyone who has done this knows first hand of the stink of melting solder and plastics. Well if you have not tried this I suggest you try it first hand and then imagine what 1 person multiplied by a 100 or 1000 what the entire city must smell like. The film mentions that these fumes can be detected as you are approaching the city.

Most of the film is set in China with some footage taken in Bangladesh because as the director said he wanted to film and photograph an extreme example of environmental destruction although it is happening everywhere in the world. I found it amazing that people walking out of the movie theater maybe thinking well that is China. Maybe so but in reality it is their own junk that goes there and the Chinese are the ones who are trying to clean it up with whatever limited resources that they have available and then make more products from this junk to be sent back to the industrialized countries and so on the cycle continues. So who are the real victims? I believe the Chinese and other developing countries are the ones who are suffering at the expense of the rich industrialized countries whom are the criminals. There may be no argument now but in 50 years form now I am certain that this could be a case of environmental destruction committed by industrialized countries leading to mass genocide more tragic than any war and the holocaust combined.

I wonder what would happen to the United States and other industrialized countries if the workers of all the factories and call-centers of China and other developing countries all of a sudden stopped work for a day. I would love to see it and the more I think about it the easier it would be to organize in a country like China because they have only one time zones - hey lets all call in sick on November the 9th! As for me I will be heading back to China to work later this year.

Comment! (3) | Recommend! (1) | Categories: Manufactured_Landscapes [t], Pollution [t], China [t]

I am not sure why is it that the apparent "Western" culture is so popular. I see the Western culture as the destroyers of humanity. First of all what is "West"? This is something I am still trying to figure out. Is it Canada? USA? Europe? Africa? South America? India? Russia? China? What language do Westerners speak? English? French? Swahili? Turk? Hindi? Chinese? What is geographically west is different from what is culturally and politically west. It seems to me that what is East and West depends on who is in the center. So who is in the center? It seems like it is always "ME". How do we decide who is "ME"? Is it power that decides? From what I see and hear and read it seems to me at least that the "Westerner" is the English speaking American. Both of which do seem to have power. If this is true why do we want to make ourselves like the Americans? If their food alone will not kill you then their work ethic combined will kill you. Their society is too individualized, which seems to lead to a more anti-social behavoir. They work their 9-5 jobs and come home and complain about how they hate their job. They talk about how proud they are to live in a free country and yet they complain how they are tried to their jobs. How can this be freedom? When you work so much to pay off your house. The only social interaction they may have is with their co-workers and families if they get home in time. They may spend more time on the computer talking to someone in another city who does the same thing yet they may never meet each other in real life. Their society is based on "everyone for themselves". You grow up and then leave and are left to survive for yourself.
I don't want to say it but the opposite of this culture seems to be the one that is more rewarding. Perhaps it is the "Eastern" culture but who is to say exactly what is "Eastern"? They eat far healthier. They have jobs that continue from generation to generation. They have extended families that live and care for one another. They have better social networks of friends. They may seem to work more hours but considering their diet and social networking they may just out live everyone else. The more people you have in contact with the more chances that you will be able to get married. Who the hell wants to date a computer? Stop this world-wide effort to make the common language English! Learn a minority language! Keep the friendship and peace.

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: Westernization [t]

I managed to finally see the Japanese movie Nobody Knows, about the four children who were abondoned in an Tokyo appartment. Today I realised how true and real the story is and I refer this to a popular childrenfs song back in the late 70s early 1980s (The reason I can recall this song is because I remember learning in in school at about that time, now most children learn popular cartoon theme songs on TV) ? Shabon dama by Ujyou Noguchi. In this song previously posted in Japanese here, Noguchi tells about how farming life was long ago in Japan. Shabon dama are soap bubbles in Japanese and these soap bubbles are analogous to the short but fragile life of children. Long ago poor farmers could not afford to raise more than one child so they would prefer the son because he could help out on the farm when he is older, the other usually the girl they would kill or abandon somewhere.
In Nobody Knows it seems that the young mother is some kind of prostitute such that each of her four children were from different men. The movie is a powerful representation of modern day Japan where a young single mother with little responsibility for her childrensf welfare abandons her children and takes off. The dedication and courage the children have in refusing to seek help because they felt that they would not be allowed to stay together and their ability to take responsiblity to care for each other.
Many people may not be able to believe that is could happen but indeed I have read and heard about in the Japanese media. Usually single parents or parents of handicapped children who either out of irresponsibiliy or not being able to put up with children abandon their children.

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: Japanese movies [t]

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: Zhuang [t]