2016/01/18

What do people ‘deserve'?

In Taiwan recently we had the news about three siblings who sold puddings on the internet as a way of receiving donations to help support themselves. They were found to have ‘luxuries’ like mobile phones and expensive t-shirts, and there was a social media backlash.

Some questions:
Should poor people who receive donations from others have ‘luxurious’ things?
What constitutes ‘luxury’?
To what extent should the poor be able to enjoy valuable things?

Let’s talk about this statement:
From viewpoint of donators (the rich), receivers (the poor) are seemingly not allowed to have something donators (the rich) have.

2016/01/03

What's Leisure For?

We’ve all heard some version of this:
在忙碌的現代社會中,每個人都是匆匆忙忙的。學生忙著學業,上班族忙著工作,主婦忙著做家事。每個人都太忙了,忙得忽略了休閒的重要性。其實,適當的休閒使我們放鬆緊張的情緒,有助於健康。因此,我們應適當安排自己的生活,在工作、讀書之餘不忘休閒。
-from a high-schooler’s translation homework this month
We’ve also all heard some version of this:
“We’ve been so perfectly acclimated to the sick society we’ve created, we actually believe we’re NOT DOiNG ENOUGH. More, more, more, we’re driven to do more, more extremely, faster, harder, louder, bigger, swaggier. There is no connection of the infinite growth model & ever more consumption to the exhaustion of all vital resources and by extension life on earth a.k.a mass extinction. How much is enough ‘stuff’? Ask yourself, why are we being told that idleness is to be avoided at all costs; that if you’re not “productive” you’re not therefore valuable.  We must let go of our emotion-backed obsessions to be productive ALL THE TiME.  We must realize that we are not our “productivity”, or the “value” of it. We must stop trying to profit from our leisure.