Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Ain't This America Instilling Patriotism the American Way

China - Xinhua - Original Article (Chinese)

Instilling Patriotism the American Way[/b]

[b]Americans love their country: They love it deeply, they love it absolutely, they love it foolishly. The flag is placed all over, the anthem is sung everywhere and the daily recitation of the pledge is unalterable.

Unlike China, America is a very antiquated and tradition-bound country. The lives of the people are dominated by strange ceremonies and irrational superstitions.

How quaint ! · · ·

For "instilled," read "the result of brainwashing."

In the first half of the 20th century, of course, it would have been Nazi Germany. · · ·

You're kidding, right?
No brainwashing in China?


They must think we are extremely stupid.

'
Well, that too, perhaps.

I beg to differ. China and Chinese are both superstitious and extremely tradition-bound. Why do you think that the colors on their flag are red and gold?red is for good luck and yellow(gold) represents a higher mind. There are frog figurines with coins in their mouths in most Chinese households, because that represents prosperity. Chinese men incorporate certain personal rituals before gambling(and yes, even though it is highly frowned upon in mainland China, it still occurs), Ay Chinese New year, the biggest holiday, they climb up a bao tower, and if you get to the top(it's very slippery), you will have good luck the rest of the year. Firecrackers are lit and thrown out the front door to ward off evil spirits, and most doors are circular, and painted red for blessings. Many Chinese still run the Happy Buddha's belly for good luck. In a Chinese wedding, there is a special tea service where the bride and groom serve the elders in the family.

Culturally, family is very important, and not just for the living. When my dad went back to China, he found that my grandfather's concubine(another tradition) had refused to let my grandmother(the official wife) be properly buried. My dad paid to have this done, with a big feast to welcome my grandmother's spirit into Heaven. When my dad died, he wanted an American burial at Riverside National Cemetery(because it was free and that appealed to my dad's extremely frugal nature) and a small commemorative plaque put up at the near by Buddhist temple for prayers to be said for him and his parents. We honored that, and part of the ceremony meant writing prayers in Chinese, and then burning them so that the smoke carried the prayers to Heaven.

All these superstitions and traditions are thousands of years old. And still practiced by billions of Chinese world-wide.

As to instilling patriotism, look at the modern Chinese operas and ballets, the songs taught by red kerchief-wearing children sung during school, and the re-education camps(my grandparents and one aunt were forced to "attend" one) for those didn't speak the accepted party line. The Chinese Government is not a whole lot different than our own, in certain respects. The culture is different, but only in the traditions and superstitions. Both cultures still have plenty of each.

The Europeans suffer from the same delusion. Our culture here in America, is not their culture, so therefore, to them, culture does not exist here.

I am not a fan of those that wrap themselves in the flag, but try to take away our rights, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but allow profits to override what is the greater good of our country and citizens, slap "Support Our Troops" magnets on their cars and then ignore the very soldiers that they claim to support, only bringing them out and dusting them off for 4th of July, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Or go on and on about the declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, yet have a hissy fit when other speak and disagree with them.

No government, culture or country is perfect. But I live here, I like the country(geographically) and most of the weather. So if I don't like something, then I will try to change and improve it.

This was 100 percent fabricated out of pure horse manure.
I can recite plenty of "lively excercises" used by marching troops but in all my fifty four years I've never heard the one above.

I can think of a few that start off with
"I don't know but I been told"

I have to agree with Checkers. When one clicks on the YouTube link to see the video, there are several of those cadences listed. Many are off-color and some describe how hard it is to be a soldier/Marine etc. None say "One two Three I love America". Two things show that this is a false claim: 1)it doesn't rhyme, and 2)it has no cadence to keep a steady march or run. Those items are needed for a proper cadence.

I attended a film class a year and a half ago and two exchanged students from China were part of the class. Our teacher showed M. Butterfly (Jeremy Irons 1993) which they enjoyed immensely, especially the sex scenes, until M. Butterfly was revealed to be a male.

They berated the teacher, berated the class, went to the Dean's office and demanded to see him at 9 PM (It was a night class). The Dean demanded the teacher give them a formal apology in front of the class.

They told me a lot of interesting things about China, and considered it a land far more free and open than the U.S..

Anyway, if you have not seen M. Butterfly, I highly recomend the film.

I saw Anthony Hopkins do this play in London and it was magical theater. I did not know the ending and when he threw his lover across the stage many in the audience stood up. I would have never given the ending even here at R.R. The costumes and make up were the best I've ever seen and Hopkins was magnificent. I came back to California wondering if there was a theater anywhere that this play could be performed. Yes, it was done in Los Angeles but I was not living there at the time.

I wonder what China would do with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?"

'
I expected some reaction to my posting from Xinhua, but after all my decades of immersion in American "culture" I still manage to be surprised by the almost pathological humorlessness that it so characteristic of it.

The stereotype in the quote is one that has been so often applied to China, that I thought it would be entertaining--and illuminating--to reverse it and see it applied to ourselves.

Am I really the only person here to find it amusing?

Numan, I have spent my entire life trying to uplift the culture of American children. You seem to believe that America has reached their ultimate culture but every generation has to be started from scratch. The worst possible position that Americans find themselves is sitting for hours on end in front of a television set.

The commercial for the up and coming NFL games is taken from a very famous Mozart Opera. I've had several people calling asking what the music is? For the Record, it is from "The Magic Flute." I get calls a lot when Hannity starts his radio show and that is a piece of music I heard during its American Premiere and it is the Orff "Carmina Burana." Paul Simon did a commercial for Obama using the Bach "St. Matthew Passion."

Would the Chinese people know anything about this music? I don't play games with culture, I train children to learn to listen, sing, play music and head for the art museums and live theater. The famous Opera Composer, Puccini wrote an opera based on a Chinese fairy tale called Turandot. The New York Metropolitan Opera Company got permission from the Chinese Government to stage the opera in Beijing. It took a year for the permits to be issued and every costume had to be approved by the History professors at the University. The sets were all hand done by Chinese artists. The Met taped the entire set of actions before a single voice could be sung. I saw the tape when it was performed in Beijing and never repeated again. Just watching the Chinese Audiences react to this Italian love story was worth the time it took to bring it to us via tape. There is a lot of dance music in the opera and the Chinese went crazy with joy. Humorlessness? Not in my world. You come off as a bit of a snob.