On our cruise from Valaparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina around the tip of South America and through Cape Horn and the Strait Magellan, we are reminded of the historic context of the passages. This is an inhospitable part of the world – only 300 miles away from Antartica – the Atlantic and Pacific clash with 40 foot swells and 100 mph winds. And this is still summer. The area is littered by ships making unsuccessful attempts around the continent to find routes to the East Indies and new world.
Direction is ever important for navigation, and sailors use compass terms in highly specific terms. Variations by degrees, minutes or seconds may lead to safe passage or disaster. Our common use of bearing though allows for greater latitude.
• “Following True North” implies certitude in our moral compass. Following this direction indicates that we are keeping true to our heart and integrity.
• “Heading South” implies life is falling apart and becoming more decrepit.
• “Go West”, similar to the Village People song, implies recreation of oneself, discovery and innovation. For the US, going West is our Manifest Destiny.
• “Returning Back East” is revisiting our traditions and heritage. Coming back home.
With President Hu’s visit to the White House and Obama’s State of the Union Address, the question of US direction comes into question. There is much to emulate from China. They are a strong competitor – robust economy stronger than Japan’s, students achieving higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics than the US; and a society with unstoppable motivation to improve their lives.
So, instead of continuing in our Westward direction should the US re-navigate to go East and be more like China? Let’s see what the arts have to say about this.
In Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue, the protagonist is a 5 year-old boy growing up in an enclosed room with his mother. Unable to leave the 12’ by 12’ space, Donoghue’s relates a convincing story of how two individuals can coexist, accommodate and grow under stifling conditions. As we understand the circumstance for their confinement, we see how claustrophobic conditions can be shaped into an environment that is reality. Once the two are thrown outside, a literal extension of Plato’s Cave, they are overwhelmed by the expansiveness of the real world. What they have learned from their confinement is applicable, but woefully inadequate.
Donoghue’s novel is impressively fast-paced given the self-imposed boundaries of the premise. The star of the book is Jack, whose impressions of a limited and limitless universe are memorable wisdom for any jaded, world-weary adult.
The Kids Are All Right came out over the summer, and is in Oscar contention for its performances. The story of two women who raise their children through parental confusion and marital crisis has been coined by some members of the press as a Lesbian-family story. The writer/ director, Lisa Cholodenko, has created more though. She spins a relatable tale of any family bringing up children. The fact that this one happens to have two female parents may be the hook, but that is merely incidental. The ensemble cast works fluidly and soon the audience forgets the hook and becomes enmeshed in the characters.
The movie is symbolic of Western cinema not that it portrays gay characters, almost every country in the world has done that by now, but that it shows the couple as no more or less tough than their straight counterparts. They are not glamorous, hard-working or exceptional. They are hard-working beings trying to make it in the world with their share of travails and mistakes. One reason we enjoy the story is because the lesbian characters are “normalized” their uniqueness is just part of the variance of US’ diverse society. Annette Bening is in a tight race with Natalie Portman to get the best Actress Oscar, but my bet is on Annette’s performance.
We can extrapolate from these examples.
The US can learn much from China in terms of being more industrious, proactive, and being less entitled. But the constraints in freedom of expression, ability to challenge the status quo, and diversity of population handicap China from becoming a world power. These tenets are essential for societal innovation or Schumpeter’s creative destruction. With these constraints the country will continue to grow, but eventually the government will encounter the will of its citizenship to break against them. Good business and good political economy demand the ability to question and allow for diverse perspective.
Similar to the inhabitants of the Room, the country can make the best of its restrictions, but only when it decides to step out into reality will it face the “true” reality requiring a new set of skills to compete. Acceptance of its own population diversity, e.g. Tibetans or Muslim Uighurs, is the first step.
For now there is no other direction for the US to emulate but the one it created – Going West.
January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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