王小波是我们这个时代最虚伪、最丑陋的神话之一, Wang Xiaobo is our one of our generation’s most hypocritical and ugly myths

王小东 – Wang Xiaodong

十一、 王小波是我们这个时代最虚伪、最丑陋的神话之一

Chapter 11, Wang Xiaobo is our one of our generation’s most hypocritical and ugly myths

from:

中国不高兴, China is not happy

第三部分 放下小菩萨 塑伟大之目标，

Part 3, Stop worshiping idols and create some real goals

Wang Xiaobo is one of our generations most hypocritical and ugly myths. Exposing this myth is a deed of supreme merit. Even if people aren’t persuaded at first, as long as a seed of doubt can be put out, a doubt with actual basis, then the myth isn’t far from being exposed. I’ve certainly thought about this before, but I was always a little busy, and I couldn’t stand reading his stupid articles. But, I was fortunate enough to meet a few of his fans. People who were closer to him or people who knew the truth about him would probably be more able to do this than me.

A post I put up that clearly alluded to Wang Xiaobo’s wife caused a bit of controversy. A person online named Alex had the insightful comment, “It seems as you have quite a bit of criticism for Wang Xiaobo…I don’t think Wang Xiaobo is stupid. His ideas are rather commonplace. I don’t know if you’ve read Wang Xiaobo’s novels or not, but that is where his true achievements are. Compared to Europe, his praise for America is rather limited, or even hidden. He ranks things like this: Europe, America, China. From what I understand, he’s only traveled through Europe so the things he was able to connect with were rather limited. This helped to form the construction of Europe in his head. Wang Xiaobo’s criticisms of China are not without merit. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what he was thinking, he insisted on placing these criticisms alongside his praise for Europe and America creating a certain bad effect. Many people have seized upon this point. For example, Mr. Zhu took Wang’s praise of Western culture and simplified it into ‘Western rationalism.’ Wang Xiaobo’s intentions are good and this is something lacking in many of the ‘freedom activists’ today. Although before he died he asserted that China needed freedom before it could really begin anything, I think if he knew about the events of the past ten years he might move a bit closer to China’s position.”

To be honest, I simply can’t read Wang Xiaobo’s novels or essays. From this perspective, my understanding of him isn’t that great so I can’t hold that strong of an opinion against him. But, one thing is clear, he certainly got taken really good in America. When he came home it was it was nothing but assaults on Chinese people and a perfect picture of the West. These are the actions of a cheat. This is what I’ve seen and this is why I have nothing but contempt for him.

The only things I’ve read of Wang Xiaobo’s are a few letters and a few articles attacking Chinese people. I’ve mainly got to know him through some fights he’s got into with some of my friends. But, it’s like Sir Athur Conan Doyle put it, “If you want to know if an egg is rotten you don’t have eat it.” No matter what his novels or essays are like, I still think he’s a rotten egg because I can smell his rotten odor. It’s that odor that prevents me from being to read his works and making a lot of comments him. I have to leave that work to others.

Alex, that person online, said, “You’re right about this point. It’s rather sad. Wang Xiaobo’s time living in America as a student was very representative. Later, he strategically avoided talking about this, preferring instead to talk about the faults of the Chinese people. This is his biggest fault. However, I’m more familiar with him than you are and I’m able to sympathize with him more. He didn’t buy into the myth of the West and he’s still much better than the freedom fighters nowadays. His top priority was giving these American-bred freedom fighters a dose of reality, showing regular Chinese people what Chinese people in America were really living like. If someone doesn’t know their own strength, they’ll spend an eternity working for someone else. There are a lot of Chinese people who are slaves to the West, but most of them would never admit it.”

Wang Xiaobo’s little brother was killed by an American and his body was left on the side of the road. According to the police, they estimated that before he died he had struggled for quite a long time. During that time, not a single American went to help him. Although his brother’s death came after he had already died, the tough life his brother was living was something Wang Xiaobo knew about very well. Originally, Wang Xiaobo had the most authentic personal experiences, and according to you guys, he could write very well. He came home to tell the regular people here what struggles the Chinese people in America were facing, but what happened? Tell me, how can you make not look down on him?

It’s been a decade or two, but these days, under the influence of Wang Xiaobo, Chinese people living in America are still displaying some sad signs. A friend of mine recently went to America. In San Francisco he went out to dinner with some friends who had been living there for a long time. Along the way the bumped into a white person who for no reason decided to hit one of his friends. My friend wanted to fight back but the four others absolutely forbid it. On the way back, no one said a word. Finally, my friend spoke up, “So, this is the life you’ve been living after all.” Their faces turned white. At last, they exploded. But, they didn’t have anything bad to say about the Americans, only assaults on the Chinese people and their lack of class. These people are all Wang Xiaobo and I will always look down on them.

沉默的男朋友 My quiet boyfriend

沉默的男朋友 My quiet boyfriend

新井一二三 Xinjing Yiersan

From: 123成人式 : Seijun Shiki (Coming of Age Ceremony)

Part 1: 现实和远景 Reality and a Vision

When we were in high school we’d spend hang out for hours together every day..

When I was 18 I graduated high school, but I didn’t get into college.

In April of that year my classmates were wearing light makeup and wearing pink, pastel green and other kinds of light colors. They were starting to enjoy the perks of being a college student. I started taking classes at a cram school in Yoyogi wearing the same old dark clothes of winter.

Cram school cost just about as much as college. Since I didn’t dare ask my parents for any spending money or consider getting a job, I had no way to buy new clothes. Every day I went to class wearing the same jeans I wore in high school. And when I say jeans, I mean overalls. I paired them with blue and red argyle flannels. I looked a lot like a female auto mechanic from the American Midwest.

Wearing those big pants, I got fatter and fatter every day. Cram school students are under a lot of pressure and they don’t have many opportunities to relax. Unconsciously I started eating a lot more. Bu, more importantly, cram school isn’t a real school: there’s no gym class and there’s no playground. If you take in a lot of calories and you don’t burn them off, you’ll inevitably get fat.

So, is laziness the root of obesity? Or is laziness the result of obesity? For a whole year I didn’t bother to check my weight. Cram school students have no standing in society, they are simply looked down upon. My life consisted of nothing more than putting on my big overalls everyday and going to class. If I gained a little weight, so what?

I was shocked. After only a year I had gained 25 pounds. That spring when I finally got into college and saw my old classmates their response was uniform, “How’d you get so fat? ‘I’ doesn’t mind?”

So it turns out that fat cram school student had a boyfriend. ‘I’ was a high school classmate of mine. During senior year we would cut class together, leading to my failure to get into college. ‘I’, on the other hand, got accepted into the not very prestigious engineering school at "C" University.

‘I’ loved to read books and listen to music, but he loved being alone more than anything else. I was his only close friend. Almost every day when I got out of cram school, ‘I’ would come pick me up and take me home. To keep my spirits up he’d write me letters. That year I received over one hundred letters from him.

Although his girlfriend gained 25 pounds, he never once said a word. Later, when I lost it all in a matter of months and started wearing makeup he still didn’t say anything. That kind of silence in a man is very rare.

When we were in high school we’d hang out for hours together every day. Only later did we start off on separate paths. After I started college every day brought new experiences and new friends. When I got home and read his letters he was still talking about whatever new book he had read. It simply wasn’t enough for me.

By summer vacation I had lost all the weight I had put on. Wearing a cool new t-shirt, I went camping for a few days. When I got back I didn’t call ‘I’. A few days later he called my house but I pretended I wasn’t home. After that I went to a park and burned all the letters he ever wrote to me. A two year relationship and that was how it ended.

After that I never saw him, wrote him or talked to him ever again. It’s been over 20 years since then, but to this day I still feel guilty. ‘I’ accepted me more than anyone else I ever met, but in the end, I ended our relationship without any reason or cause, without a single word of explanation.

中国可以不说 - China can choose to say nothing, Translation Part 1, 翻译第一部分

宋强 - Song Qiang

十九，中国可以不说 - Chapter 19, China can choose to say nothing

第二部分， 中国的主张 - Part 2, Propositions for China

中国不高兴 ： China is not happy (Unhappy China = 'official' title)

大时代、大目标及我们的内忧外患: Important Times, Big Goals and our Internal and External Troubles （The Great Time,Grand vision and our Challenges = 'official subtitle', 'yes, with the comma not being followed by a space like that, I know, right?)

Here we come back once again to the origin of ‘China can choose to say nothing’. Our sarcastic responses to some laughable performances actually almost caused us to face the wrath of Cui Weiping. Two years ago at SOHO (SOHO 小报) we posted an article mocking the famous Professor Cui Weiping. It’s actually rather simple: She was selling the Adam Michnik book she translated by herself. It was selling well so she raised the price quite a bit. Originally, no one really knew how to respond to that. The issue was, if the government decided to suppress the book she’d become a martyr for democracy. She played this up to her benefit. Everyone had an opinion about this, but no one wanted to say anything to offend anyone. But, eventually Zhang Xiaobo let it out, “Screw her! There, I said it!”

The article, “Who is reading Michnik these days?” goes something like this:

We need to accept that this is a huge moment in this history of thought. There’s female professor with a concern for the general welfare of the world selling her 400 page must-read primer on Democracy. It cost 30 RMB. After as things went well, the price went up to 35 RMB. Using one’s good name to make a quick buck doesn’t seem like Michnik had in mind. (Will there be any good soul willing to ask if Michnik is getting a cut?). Translators usually don’t think too hard about getting their check for the translation and at the same time collecting alms for the noble cause they are fighting for. The book isn’t being openly distributed, so it’ll naturally be face some barriers and run into some trouble. Her ‘out-to-save-the-world’ posturing combined with her brazen concern for profit cause us to think there’s a bit of tension in this story.

…

In the Buddhist test Quanshiwen (劝世文) there is a story where Yama gives two men about to be reincarnated two choices: do you want a lead a life of demanding, or a life of giving? The first man said: A life of demanding. The second man said: Then I’ll take a life of giving. Yama then set the two men’s fates. The man who wanted a life of demanding ended up as a beggar, every day outside collecting alms. The man who wanted a life of giving became a millionaire with a lot of economic power. He could go out every day and help the poor, fix the temples or repair the roads. Although the story is very simple, it gives those bright people who want to go out and save the world a bit of encouragement. The metaphor is a bit simple, but it works. No wonder our intellectuals are falling in line.

When the article got printed and then posted online Cui Weiping was furious and demanded: “Take it down!”

This is the attitude the freedom fighters take in response to articles they don’t like.

This is a paradox stemming from losing touch with the times. The truth under her furious anger might just be the mirror she needs to look into. In China these days, proponents of democracy fear being behind the times. But if look at their crap and false pretensions and you can’t help but feel optimistic about the future. Even if China goes along their path, the only ones who’ll get screwed are the regular people. If the corrupt elites take power, it’ll just be another post-Marcos Philippines. But, for the believers in democracy, it’ll be a beautiful morning.

不潮不用花钱 If it's not cool don't buy it

Ethnography.

If I only had the words. But y'know, greedy, don't fret.

Danah Boyd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzctKajhI0

林俊杰
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoT-waxlxew

My zero and my hero. Who would want to write a dissertation about Sui dynastry crap when you have this?

不潮不用花钱 - If it's not cool don't buy it （High Fashion)

hey greedy,don't fret
what you see is what you get
you name it,i have it
what you see is what you get

left left, left, left,
if you like left, go left
you don't need to think too much

boomb boom, boom boom,
got my heart beating and my eyes open
just remember the passion

Sometimes a light passes right by me,
and Newton did eat apples.
My ideas aren't too complicated
there's a limited about of time to get in.

Please, don't be going everywhere
You need cash to follow the trends
if you're not careful you won't have any
going everywhere for cash and then spending all you got,
Money can't buy you anything special

You said, you heard, heard what, who said what?
Going with the flow
Let it through, through, it's easy
if you don't get it, then don't reject it

Sometimes a light passes right by me,
and Newton did eat apples.
My ideas aren't too complicated
there's a limited about of time to get in.

little chick having chips on my sofa
bearbricks take a shit on my sofa
smudge babies lying on my sofa
neighborhoods and kicks singing "so-fa"

little chick having chips on my sofa
bearbricks take a shit on my sofa
smudge babies lying on my sofa

hey greedy,don't fret
what you see is what you get
you name it,i have it
what you see is what you get


Please, don't be going everywhere
You need cash to follow the trends
if you're not careful you won't have any
going everywhere for cash and then spending all you got,
Money can't buy you anything special

hey greedy,don't fret
what you see is what you get
you name it,i have it
what you see is what you get

hey greedy,don't fret
what you see is what you get
you name it,i have it
what you see is what you get


No, seriously, why are you translating 林俊杰 lyrics?
Because I couldn't find any english lyrics online?
I think you're missing the meat of the question.
No, I hear you loud and clear.

Update:

From the youtube comments, because I love them:

"so many sofas? where u download from thiz video? "

My thoughts exactly.

P.S. Dear China, please stop blocking youtube. This is really getting annoying. I promise not to watch videos of snatebiT anymore. Don't make youtube the new wikipedia, which strangely enough you can still watch! I'm freaking translating 中国不高兴, give me a break!

没有如果 No ifs

Friday Special: Big Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfETTcuNUSI

If I said there were no ifs in loving me
would you be sad if you missed your chance?
If you make if an excuse
isn't that a bit sad?

If I said there were no ifs in loving me
If you truly loved me you'd give it a go
What is there to think about, what are you scared of?
Hurry up and take my hand

People say,
The greatest distance on earth isn't between life and death,
but the space between us when I'm standing in front of you
and you don't know that I love you.
I always say,
If people can't even love one person without reserve
then the end is already here,
there's no need to wait for the world to be destroyed.

If I said there were no ifs in loving me
would you be sad if you missed your chance?
If you make if an excuse
isn't that a bit sad?

If I said there were no ifs in loving me，
If you truly loved me you'd give it a go
What is there to think about, what are you scared of?
Hurry up and take my hand

If, If
No If, If, if it disappears in then end,
I can't accept that.
Miss it, Miss it,
Miss it, miss it, if I miss it I'll be even more sad,
I won't miss another chance
(Yea, don't let it pass you by this time.)

Why are you translating 梁静茹 lrc's anyway? Well, because the other translated versions kind of ____.

Hat-tip to 黑兔子 for the 'go for it' line.

台灣人民真的很可憐

　台灣人民真的很可憐。

中國時報 2008.09.05 中國小社論

　前總統匯鉅款到海外，被國際反洗錢組織「抓包」，還把國民當白癡，理不直而氣壯地詭辯。

　陳水扁仍陰魂不散，已夠難過了。哪知現任總統也被鬼附體，言行全然不像五二○前的馬英九。在扁、馬不約而同地「打擊民心士氣」之下，也難怪股市跌跌不休了。

　阿扁的「無恥」，「台開案」後已眾所皆知，他死不認錯，一點都不意外；馬的「無覺」，這次倒讓國人開了眼界。

　「八三○」，在扁家洗錢風暴的陰影下，仍有那麼多民眾走上街頭。只要有點政治敏感度的人，都會感覺到綠營對「主權式微」的焦慮。稍微有點頭腦的人，不會敲鑼打鼓，而以噤聲緩行的方式，調整兩岸政策。

　但，馬卻火上加油，在這時刻拋出「非國與國的特殊關係」。

　阿扁把台灣的內部矛盾激化成敵我衝突，獨立之路愈走愈窄；馬則不先和解島內，只顧和解對岸，和解的高調恐怕也唱不久。

　股市反映的，是市場對政府的信心。這幾天，股市已搖搖欲墜，政府手忙腳亂地救，哪知總統卻反向「信心喊話」，宣示「六三三」須在他連任總統後才能達成。

　坦白，是馬的優點；但，白到「白目」，就不可愛了。

　不管扁的「黑白講」或馬的「坦白講」，現在國人聽來都「白目」到不行。受全民供養的「總統們」，請以蒼生為念，少開尊口吧！

Don’t say another word

The Taiwanese people really are deserving of pity.

The previous President’s money sent overseas has been seized by anti-money laundering organizations and he’s still treating the public like morons, dissembling and spouting sophistry.

Chen Shuibian’s ghost lingering around is already bad enough, but who would have thought the new President would also be caught up in the spell. He certainly doesn’t sound or act like the man before the elections. As Chen and Ma unconsciously work together in harmony to harm the public’s good feelings, it’s no wonder the stock market is plunging with no end in sight.

After the Taiwan Development Corporation insider trading scandal, Chen’s shame was already there for the public to see. He hasn’t made a mistake and this isn’t an accident. Ma’s silence has actually opened the public’s eyes.

On August 30, with the Chen family money-laundering case already leaked, there still were many people marching in the streets. As long as there are people who are politically sensitive, they’ll always feel the Green camp’s worries about the erosion of sovereignty. People with a little more in their heads won’t start beating the drums, but instead will keep a cool head and try to change cross-strait policies.

But, Ma has thrown oil on the fire, and has started to talk about a “Non-State-to-State special relationship.”

Chen has extended Taiwan’s internal conundrum to the level of antagonistic conflict. The longer we walk on the path to independence, the more narrow it appears. Ma, on the other hand, isn’t concerned with first resolving the internal situation, but rather is concerned with resolving the cross-strait situation. His calls for peace may be nearing an end.

The stock market reaction is a reflection of the market’s confidence in the government. These past few days, the market has already taken another dive and the government is scrambling to save it。 Who would have thought the president’s confidence calls would be opposingly matched with announcing his “633” policy needed to wait until his second term to be implemented.

Plain speaking is Ma’s strength, but plain blindness isn’t very attractive.

Regardless of whether it’s Chen’s black and white talk, or Ma’s plain talk, the people hearing the same “blindness” just won’t do. Enjoying the privilege of serving as the President, please just save your breath and put the people first.

退税經濟學

中國時報 - 2008.09.04 中時小社論

退税經濟學

全世界經濟景氣都差，各國政府現在流行「退稅救經濟」。先是美國吹起退稅號角，之後，新加坡、香港、南韓、日本、中國大陸等亞洲國家，或者已經退稅，或者即將退稅。

　四條小龍，三條退稅，剩下台灣還沒退。於是，包括在野黨，各方頗跑出不少聲音，呼籲政府退稅救經濟。

　經濟學上，針對搶救景氣，有兩派主要學說。一派稱為貨幣學派，主張用利率、匯率等金融手段，反制景氣循環。另一派稱為凱因斯學派，主張透過增發公債、擴大公共建設支出，提振景氣。

　有很長一陣子，貨幣學派在美國是顯學，所以，總是靠聯邦準備理事會，透過升降利率，調節經濟。總之，景氣太熱往上衝，物價走高之際，就調升利率；反之，景氣蕭條往下走，物價穩定之際，則是降低利率。

　不過，當前世界經濟走勢邪氣，竟然是漲價與蕭條一起來，成為「停滯性通貨膨脹」，利率升也不是，降也不是，貨幣學派玩不轉了。於是，中央銀行（聯準會）一邊涼快去，換財政部上場，改走凱因斯學派路線。

　於是乎，就跑出了發鈔票退稅行動，指望老百姓拿了錢，大方花光，刺激消費，增長經濟。問題是，大環境還是冷灶一個，就算放把火，也是只曇花一現，燒個幾 分鐘熱度，就復歸冷寂。各國政府其實已經技窮，但又不能不有所作為，於是，只好退稅發鈔票，表示點心意。台灣退不退稅，基本上，跑不出這個框框。

Tax-refund economics

The world economy is in recession. Each country’s government is taking to tax refunds to save their economies. First it’s America tooting the tax-refund horn, then it’s Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, China and the other Asian countries. They’ve either already issued refunds or about to.

Among the four Asian tigers, three have already issued tax refunds. Taiwan remains the only one that hasn’t. Due to this, there are calls from all sides, including the DPP, to issues a rebate to restart the economy.

In terms of economics, when pulling an economy out of a slump, there are two main schools of thought. The first school, called Monetarism, advocates using interest rates, exchange rates and other financial means to counteract the downturn in the economic cycle. The other school, called Keynesianism, advocates using deficit spending to increase government expenditure in order to revive the economy.

For a long time, Monetarism was the dominant school in America. Due to this, there was a constant reliance on the Federal Reserve. Through the raising and lowering of the interest rates they were able to make adjustments to the economy. If the economy started to overheat and prices started to rise, the Fed would raise rates. If the economy started moving towards recession and prices stayed stable, then the Fed would lower rates.

However, the current world economy is very unhealthy with both rising prices and recession appearing together, so-called “stagflation.” Increasing interest rates won’t help, decreasing rates also doesn’t work. The monetarists have nowhere to turn. In response, the Fed while has quietly moved to change the management at the Department of the Treasury to move towards a Keynesianist approach.

Due to this, they rushed to get out rebate checks in the hopes that taxpayers would take the money and go spend it all, jumpstarting consumption and growing the economy. The problem it’s still like a cold stove. Even if you light it, it’s still only a flash in the pan, it’ll burn for a few minutes and then go out. Each country is already helping the poor, but they can’t not take some extra action, so they’ve issued rebates to show they care. In deciding to whether to issues rebates, Taiwan can’t escape these fundamentals.