(*) this entry is what i wrote when i woke up at about 6 am to a terrific rainy season thunderstorm, and had somewhat of an ideological breakdown. beware - the language is flowery.
(*) The excess of overall comfort in which america and the west live in and count upon and necessitate is either truly remarkable or nauseating.
(*) both places at which i've stayed thus far have resulted in myself waking up to the scene of multiple individuals sleeping in the "lobby" of my "hotel". the first i'm assuming were 2 of the hagglers who got me to rent the place. they slept on the hard floor.
after all travelers, in their usual filth and grime, had traversed over it and assumedly was not mopped.
today, i went to check my email and was met by the site of the family - mother, father and child - on cots. here is a place with maybe 10 beds - 2 in my room not being used, and the FAMILY sleeps on a cot.
i immediately, and somewhat instinctively, saw my family there, with grinch (my sister's retarded dog) curled up somewhere, and to the mother who had just woken, all i could mumble was an "excuse me"
(*) this tears at "Atlas Shrugged". Should i feel nothing towards these families - as i will eventually go back to my bed, indoor plumbing, refrigeration and the new 21st century? "Atlas" suggests i show no pity, but that is all i can do. i doubt these individuals have had as many opportunities borne out of institutions as myself. to say they have not tried as hard as i, also, is i'm *unreadable* a misnomer. i've always been guaranteed a roof over my head - these people i'm guessing have not.
(*) or maybe they have and strictly don't care of the size / quality of the roof over their head. in that case, i do not look at them with pity, but with inspiration - to be content with what one has. but the question i ask is, is it futility or actually being content? do they believe the western version of the american dream is so impossible as to be futile & they must give up their pursuits? if so, aren't they quitting? but does "atlas" require great achievements from every member of society? as beneficially ideologically as that sounds - (1) factually impossible (2) the standard of great becomes morphed into normal & expected. "great" dies.
(*) what frustrates me the most about society is its craving for hyper consumption in excess. this is true in both china and america. although ironically, what is most advertised in china seems to be based on western thought or marketing scheme. i wonder what a purely chinese excess hyper consumption would look like. Bruce Lee? Fu man chu? what sells to be "hip" today for chinese youth is an exact vomit-inducing replica of mtv. its not even an ode to the USA: young chinese ads pay great respect & homage to the god that is mtv.
(*) what i enjoy about chinese hyper consumption is the fact it is all forfeit & blackmarket counterfeit. sure, the chinese consumer wants what is hip, but at least they secure such style & socioeconomic status at a reasonable, discounted, bargain basement price. there is always some way around the advertising system in china. and what is more or less shocking, is the lack of government interference with these blatant black market sales. a blind man can visualize the amount of counterfeiting occurring within the belly of the chinese salesbeast. its not like they're all speak easy DVD stores. they might as well be labeled "blackmarket blockbuster dvd" or "blackmarket flix". i'm assuming on the government license application, the purpose each entrepreneur fills in is "sell bootlegged dvd".
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