"holier than you" never win... your problem

is you don't seem to know how to effectively communicate, (not that I know much either)

the first thing is that you don't respect your listeners. You seem to still subscribe the notion that there is one ultimate truth of this world. But many things in the world are actually subject to different views and different valuation.

I give you one example, I for one am totally with you on that China's achievement ranks one of the best in human history. But if one person stand in front us, telling stories how he was forced to labor in some factory, or how his family lost the house in a city center, or how he lost his father because he could not afford some sky-high drug price, what would you say? My bet is that you will probably just turn the head around, as I probably would do too, pretend that you didn't hear anything, that any society has to go through some collateral damage to move ahead. I'm with you on that, and I probably will even defend your points. But if someone jumped out and said, "no that's illegal", or "that's inhumane". Can you or I just yell "shut up"?

the answer is NO, dear. As a choice, we might disagree with those voices, but we not in a position to judge another value system. In their world it may be very well hold true that minority group's right, or even every individual's right, should be equally protected. We may try to argue that those things would be ideal but not too practical in today's China, but who are we if we simply try to tell them to simply shut up? If not due to such voices, the world might still be in slavery society today, heck, slavery is the most economically efficient system, isn't it?

so, brother, there is a line between telling what you have seen, which is more and that's very good, what you have felt, which is deeper and that's very good too, and implying that you are the messenger, and thus "holier than" others,

btw, if you don't respect, then probably there is no point to communicate at the first place.

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• Good point! 坚决拥护你继续当版主:-) -aChineseBostonian- ♂ (0 bytes) () 09/18/2007 postreply 20:48:01