The people in China who end up becoming creators of tech- and culture-related content — the kind consumed by China’s billion-strong wang min (网民) — are often those bottle-half-full Chinese youths who dropped out of U.S. universities. These are the modern 邯郸学步 types: they have not truly mastered the foreigners’ stuff, but have already managedContinueContinue reading “网民”
Category Archives: essays
Citizenship — A Pipe Dream
Bristol, Rhode Island There are 193 member states in the United Nations. Nearly all of them are republics of one kind or another. Republic of this. Federal Republic of that. People’s Republic of something else. The modern world is a forest of republics. Given the prevalence of republics among humans, one suspects that in theContinueContinue reading “Citizenship — A Pipe Dream”
Wiggums, Szyslaks, Nahasapeemapetilons—A Super Bowl Story
Super Bowl fun with Moe, Wiggum, Apu Super Bowl LX is just a week away. Earlier today, an email landed in our inboxes from the company’s event committee announcing this year’s Super Bowl Squares challenge. Two brackets, two winners, no cost, a modest gift card. The twist: instead of employee names, each square is labeledContinueContinue reading “Wiggums, Szyslaks, Nahasapeemapetilons—A Super Bowl Story”
Separation & Unity 3/6
唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Birth & Merit 1. Human life begins in lotteries Some of these lotteries operate at the level of groups: race, sex, skin color, facial features. Others operate at the level of the individual: height, intelligence, health, temperament, the family into which one is born, whether that family is wealthy or destitute. StillContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 3/6”
Separation & Unity 2/6
唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Ownership and Use I. What Do You Really Own? China’s Seventy-Year Housing Right In China today, a private individual may buy an apartment, live in it, sell it, rent it out, or pass it on to heirs. And yet, under Chinese law, the right attached to that apartment expires after seventy years.ContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 2/6”
Separation & Unity 1/6
唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Power & Wealth As China enters what is very likely to be the defining century of its history, an increasing number of observers—friendly, hostile, or simply curious—are asking the same question: what has made China successful? Some will point to luck: historical timing, global shifts, or the exhaustion of older powers. OthersContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 1/6”
2025: The Year the Postwar Order Broke
the new Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2025 feels like one of those rare hinge years—the kind that only become obvious in hindsight, but which you can feel while you’re living through them. Eighty years after the end of World War II, the world order born from that moment is quietly, then loudly, falling apart.ContinueContinue reading “2025: The Year the Postwar Order Broke”
China-Hating Chinese
Three Types of China Haters Who Are Ethnically Chinese Over the past decade, I’ve encountered a strange breed of Chinese people—not dissidents, not reformists, not critics motivated by genuine concern, but China haters who are ethnically Chinese—people who are visibly Chinese, whose wealth, education, and career were made possible by China, yet who resent andContinueContinue reading “China-Hating Chinese”
洋人的乏走狗
1. 我有时候去那个野树林子里走一走，满眼看见的都是树，大多笔直挺拔，有的则是歪八斜扭。我就想，为什么大多数树林子里的树，都是笔直挺拔，而有些树，天生下来就是歪的，骨子里就是坏的？世上真的是有坏种这种东西吗？
我刚上大学的时候，有一天……点击文章标题👆阅读全文 ->
多少百年债条!
“中华人民共和国中央人民政府今天成立了！”
1949年10月1日，毛泽东主席的宣告响彻天安门广场，也震动了世界。但许多人不知道的是，这句话背后还带着一个石破天惊的行动——人民政府宣布：废除所有自鸦片战争以来西方列强强加给中国的不平等条约，所有这些条约带来的外债，我们一概不认！
你知道这笔被甩进历史垃圾堆的债务究竟有多庞大吗？让我们看看这些触目惊心的数字……点击文章标题👆阅读全文 ->
Yego’s Chronicles 