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ERH 322WX Reflective Essay
Virtual Scrapbook Reflective Tag
Virtual Scrapbook Reflective Tag
Through the process of creating my virtual scrapbook, I have come to appreciate San Francisco’s place in Beat culture. Prior to this scrapbook, class discussion and sections from On the Road painted a picture of San Francisco as a the Mecca of the Beats on the West Coast. Sal Paradise is right at home in Frisco, where his affinity for the city, the sea, poetry and wine combine in harmony. The lights at night combined with the fog gives Kerouac a mystical impression of the city, where creates a home on the West Coast.
Through my research and accumulation of photographs and music for this virtual scrapbook, I first became roughly acquainted with the history of San Francisco and its rise to prominence during the Gold Rush in 1849. Then I listened to a variety of music I knew was associated with the Beats (from class discussion), and settled on the cool sound of West Coast jazz musician Charlie Parker. Parker was an influence to the Beats through his spontaneous style and open defiance of musical conventions. He was to jazz what Kerouac and Ginsberg were to literature and poetry. I also chose the music of the Flamingos because of their slow and dreamlike doo-wop sound, which I thought paired well with my opening photos and descriptions of San Francisco. I was surprised by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s role in Beat culture, via the City Lights bookstore, as a safehouse for their work. As is the case with Naked Lunch, Howl, and even On the Road, society often is not ready to accept the prominent works of the Beat authors and poets. Ferlinghetti and his bookstore helped to encourage the writers, as well as give them public exposure.
During this course, especially while we covered On the Road, I was compelled by Kerouac’s descriptions of San Francisco to gain a greater appreciation for this magical city. Even though it is impossible for us today to experience the Frisco Kerouac knew, hopefully this scrapbook gives the faintest taste of the sights and sound of The City by the Bay.
Virtual Scrapbook – Kerouac’s San Francisco
Under the Dome
In this thorough investigation, Chai Jing answers almost any questions about China’s struggle with industrial pollution. The sheer amount of fascinating points raised by Jing could be enough material for a paper, or potentially a book for that matter. She discusses the personal threat smog is to her infant daughter; whom she attempts to protect from a lifetime of lung disease by carefully monitoring air quality reports and limiting her time outside. Jing goes into depth about the danger pollution presents, which I found surprising, fascinating and above all terrifying. The very real threat of lung cancer is part of daily life of those who live in very urban areas with heavy vehicle traffic or steel-producing towns that burn billions of tons of coal. It’s astonishing that lung cancer rates have risen over 400% since the Mao Zedong took power. I had previously figured that smog inhalation would result in a bad cough or shortness of breath in old age, rather than the reality of entire households (especially in rural areas) being cleared out by lung cancer. One of the more significant points Jing brought to light was the economic obstacles to environmental reform. In short, blue-collar workers of China rely on steel mills and power plants for employment and China’s developing status makes enforcing regulations difficult (or simply unimportant). For example, Jing joined inspectors at a vehicle checkpoint in the Yanqing district of Beijing, at which officials inspected for emission control devices. Most trucks were sold as being in compliance with an emissions standard, yet most lacked control devices completely or were far above the allowed limit. This goes to show the negligence for environmental policy and maximization of profits that characterizes Chinese industrialism. Ironically, after hearing about the filters and masks to protect against poor air quality, one of the truck drivers was smoking a cigarette. I’ll admit at this point I opened my room’s windows and took a deep breath of American mountain air and couldn’t be more appreciative.
“Thousands evacuated as China chemical fire reignites” – BBC
An unfortunate potential result of China’s loose business regulations, seemingly to remove all obstructions to economic growth. Damage to the environment and to human life seems to be low on the priority list for Chinese industry leaders and policymakers.
A lesson in Chinese Opera from Dr. Xu
Prior to Dr. Xu’s lecture on Chinese opera, my exposure to this art form was only in glimpses from movies. I was familiar with the general sound of these performances, which I now know is not just a coincidence from movies, but an actual constant in Chinese opera. The pattern and formula used when singing seems to me like it would get repetitive and tiresome, however the impression I got from Dr. Xu was that this was a staple of Chinese opera dating back over a thousand years. To the Chinese, not using the formula of rising, falling, flat or mixed tones might be like a musical sung in only one note: very strange sounding. Hearing the ideal Chinese opera voice, from the early recordings up until Dr. Xu singing herself, was very interesting because of how different my westernized ears heard the songs, versus how some of the Chinese members of the audience heard them. It sounded strange and different to me, almost like a song played backwards; to them it might have sounded perfectly normal and beautiful. Often what is the most strange and different is also what is most interesting.
Chinese Government’s Influence Extends Beyond the Grave
Worried that the Dalai Lama will chose not to reincarnate, the Chinese government has decided that he must be born again. This precaution is in order to ensure the next Dalai Lama also is subjected to Chinese policy in Tibet via spiritual lineage. Currently tensions between Beijing and Tibet are very high, and the CCP is determined to maintain firm control over Tibetan-Buddhism. I’ve learned a lot about measures the CCP takes to control the public, but insisting that the Dalai Lama does not have the personal choice to choose reincarnation is on its own special level of subjugation. Simply ridiculous.
Government Accountability: Chinese Perspective
Photo cred: EPA/ALEX HOFFORD
Putting myself into the shoes of a citizen in today’s China, keeping my government accountable would be much more difficult to than it would in the United States. Overall accountability would be possible, as we saw with the Hong Kong protests of late last year, yet the biggest obstacle to get around would be government censorship. One of the most effective ways to draw the spotlight of the public to a wrongdoing of the government is to use the media. Media outlets allow controversial events that deserve the people’s attention and awareness to be circulated and made public, often drawing criticism to the government and pressuring change. This tactic is used frequently in the United States to hold the government accountable, however in China this is a different story entirely. Media censorship in China is very cleverly managed and implemented, allowing privately owned and run outlets to exist as long as they abide by Communist party regulations. Politically sensitive topics are carefully ignored and strict guidelines keep newspapers and news channels away from stories that might cause instability. An appeal to the media to expose some wrongdoing by the government would go nowhere, or potentially land you in jail.
So what other options would the people of China have?
Other methods to hold the government accountable potentially include voting power and protests. Voting power can be ruled out fairly easily as an option because of the hand-picked candidates whose “love of China” makes it unlikely that reforming government would be on their agenda. That leaves protest as the most feasible and effective way to hold the People’s Republic of China’s government accountable. The most significant issue with this is organization. Along with the censorship and control of the media, the Chinese government’s censorship of the internet would make organization and communication of protests difficult. Chinese censors specifically target internet communication that promotes collective action and public gatherings in order to control and curtail collective action. The recent Hong Kong protests were possible because it was started by students at the University of Hong Kong. Students provide an insular, politically volatile population that is easily organized through word of mouth and gossip while not having to worry about jobs or families. Therefore the highest likelihood of collective action holding the government accountable lies with student bodies, which is interesting because it was mostly students who attacked and sometimes killed their professors during the Cultural Revolution in a Maoist frenzy. This goes to show that when it comes to political movement, university students are among the most impressionable and easily mobilized to action.
Mao’s Bloody Revolution Review
This BBC documentary, hosted by Philip Short, provides a very straightforward view of the conflict between the Chinese Nationalists and the rising Communist party led by Mao Zedong. I was familiar with the general aspects of this period of Chinese history, however this documentary shed key insight into the specifics of Mao’s life and rise to power. The tight grip communism held over the Chinese people was jaw dropping to see in action. Groups would go out into the streets and kill massive amounts of mosquitoes, sparrows and other pests simply because Mao told them to. The efforts of these apparently brainwashed people were so effective that famine resulted from uncontested insect populations following sparrow extermination. Volunteer iron production, persecution of the educated and the destruction of once revered religious icons all also resulted from the fanatical devotion to communism. Today Chinese society would rather overlook the injustices of the Cultural Revolution led by Mao. This fanatical mob mentality that led to the destruction of centuries-old Buddhist icons or historical texts is an unpleasant memory today’s more progressive China.
Why does this matter?
Although China’s government doesn’t resemble a communist cult anymore, repression and censorship are present issues in China’s society today. Instead of sweeping history under the rug (Tienanmen Square also relevant) the government needs to acknowledge the past and build off of it. Honesty is the best policy, and China could use a healthy dose of transparency.