中国快速崛起赶超美国面临最严重问题是水和空气

中国目前的经济增长率每年超过10%。即使增长率在未来几年降低到7%，中国经济仍然可能在2050年，甚至在2040年赶上美国。那么，中国需要加大政治和社会改革步伐来达到这个目标吗？

快速崛起 挑战美国

中国的快速崛起是美国在21世纪必须面对的最严峻的挑战之一。按照目前的经济增长速度，中国经济可能到本世纪中就能赶上美国。这样可能会导致全球贸易和投资体系重新洗牌，以及国际间政治势力的重新分配，这将对美国国家利益造成极大挑战。

那么，这种情况到底会不会发生呢？中国是否需要加大改革力度才能在2050年前赶超美国呢？

一场辩论会

12月1日，美国智曩机构卡内基国际和平基金会举行了一场辩论会。辩论双方分别是美国加州大学戴维斯分校的胡永泰教授和加州大学圣地亚哥分校的巴里.诺顿教授。这两人都是学术界非常有名的中国经济问题专家。巴里.诺顿教授更是以一篇2004年发表在美国“外交政策”杂志的致中国总理温家宝的公开信中，批评中国政府没有通过市场调节、而是通过政府的行政手段为经济降温的文章而声名大噪。

中美差距 越缩越小

巴里.诺顿教授认为，尽管中国经济面临著各种各样问题，但是中国经济仍然会一直处于高速发展中。未来几十年时间里，中美两国经济之间的差距将会越缩越小，中国经济最终会超过美国经济。

诺顿教授表示，中国自从80年代开始改革开放以来，每年的经济增长率都在10%以上，中国现在的国民生产总值是25年前改革刚刚开始时的10倍。诺顿教授认为，到2015年，中国将成为全世界第二大经济体，也将取代日本成为亚洲经济的主导力量。这一切都证明，中国目前的经济和政治改革已经足够让中国经济持续增长，而美国必须准备好面对中国快速崛起所带来的挑战。

严重的短期问题

不过，诺顿教授也指出，中国经济在不久的将来将面临非常严重的问题。他说：“中国经济在降温过程中将面临一些非常严重的短期问题。我们知道高速汽车在减速时都会产生一些问题。不过我认为，中国凭借著创新能力、企业精神以及资金人才的大量输入，中国经济将很快复苏并继续向前发展。”

有限的经济和政治改革

美国加州大学戴维斯分校的华人经济学家胡永泰教授的观点，和诺顿教授恰恰相反。胡永泰教授认为，中国目前有限的经济和政治改革完全不足以让中国保持当前的经济增长速度。因为中国面临严重的腐败、贫困和社会阶层差距扩大等问题。

胡教授指出，刚刚在10月份结束的中共16届六中全会上，中国政府也提出，只有加大力度进行民主、法律和社会改革，中国才能实现到2020年建立和谐社会的目标。

用水成最严重的问题

胡永泰教授把中国经济比喻成一辆在高速公路上快速行驶的汽车。他说，这辆速度太快的汽车所引发的环境问题是非常严重的。他说，中国的空气是全世界最脏的，中国的许多城市都列入全世界污染最严重的城市之列。不过，中国经济发展面临最严重的问题还是用水问题。

他说：“所有迹象都表明中国再过20年就没水可用了。没有水，你还谈什么发展。所以中国现在要建3条运河来解决严重的水资源问题。但是，一些很有说服力的科学数据已经表明，中国的碳黑排放量将导致中国降雨量减少。因此，发展运河运水的方法是行不通的。

胡永泰教授认为，中国必须在社会动荡、政治纷争、生态失去平衡等问题发生前加快政治和社会改革，否则经济的快速发展便会成为过去式。

巨大的黑洞 中国71亿社保基金被贪污侵占挪用

新京报


中国国家审计署11月24日发表报告披露，中国价值2万亿元人民币的社保基金中，共有71亿元被挪用。其中在1999年前发生的23.47亿元，2000年以来发生的47.88亿元。因种种原因，部分基金至今不能收回。

新京报报导，中国国家审计署11月23日公布了对中国29个省区市、5个计划单列市的企业职工基本养老保险基金、城镇职工基本医疗保险基金和失业保险基金的审计结果。审计显示，截至2005年底，上述三项保险基金累计结余2918亿元。

从审计情况看，社保基金还有一些历史遗留问题尚未解决，有些地方未能严格执行国务院有关规定。此次审计发现的违规问题金额，在1999年前发生的23.47亿元，2000年以来发生的47.88亿元。

其具体情况是，1999年前发生的违规问题金额大多是涉及保险基金安全和完整的问题。其中动用保险基金对外投资11.48亿元；购建办公用房、职工宿舍和其他房产3.77亿元；委托金融机构贷款未收回1.89亿元；用于规定范围以外的支出1.25亿元；经商办企业0.68亿元；弥补行政经费0.33亿元和违规担保0.22亿元……

另有原行业基本养老保险统筹基金结余未移交财政专户存储等3.76亿元。当时三项保险基金财务会计制度尚不健全，一些地方出于保险基金保值、增值的需要，出借和投资了一部分基金；有些社保机构动用三项保险基金购建了办公用房或其他一些房产，既无法变现，也没有正常的资金来源归还基金。以上问题虽经有关部门查处，但因种种原因部分基金至今不能收回。

2000年以来发生的违规问题金额47.88亿元。其中，扩大三项保险基金开支范围用于弥补“补充医保基金”及借给企业等16.69亿元；用于委托金融机构贷款、对外投资等5.44亿元；用于购建办公房及弥补行政经费等0.32亿元；未按规定实行专户管理23.37亿元。

此外，审计还发现一些地方基金管理不够规范。一是社保费代征机构未按规定时间将保险基金收入16.20亿元交入专户；二是社保经办机构在决算中少计保险基金收入8.12亿元。

这次审计也发现个别地方由于保险基金管理混乱，造成损失。如河南新密市将企业职工养老保险基金637万元存入两家城市信用社，由于2002年11月信用社撤销，资金面临损失。

宁夏石嘴山市医保中心自2000年以来，会计资料管理混乱，账目不全，部分凭证缺失，该中心主任和财务科长采取截留银行承兑汇票的手法，将某企业交给医保中心的3190万元医疗保险费转移到其亲戚、朋友名下。

另外，审计还发现，有些行业主管部门存在截留社保费的问题。如建行贵州省分行与工行贵州省分行少申报缴费基数，在征得贵州省社保局的同意后，对已提取的基本养老保险费和失业保险费6422.64万元予以截留。

而云南省在景东县、永平县相继发生「社保金案」之后，近日罗平县再次发案：196万元社保金被出纳贪污，他不仅用这笔钱赌球、买彩票，甚至还包养了情妇，最终只追回60万元。但云南省劳动与社会保障厅称，这只是个例，全省近200亿社保金的管理井然有序，不会对投保人的利益带来损害。

中新网报道，审计结果表明，虽然按照国务院规定，三项保险基金应当及时足额徵缴，存入国有商业银行，纳入财政专户管理，严格按规定范围发放，专款专用；基金结余除购买国债和存入银行外，不得用于其他任何形式的投资。但一些地方未能严格执行上述规定，问题虽经有关部门查处，但因种种原因部分基金至今不能收回。

中国国务院总理温家宝22日强调，并且强调社保基金是“高压电线”，任何人都不得侵占挪用。今年8月，上海揭发挪用涉及金额高达32亿元人民币的社保基金案，上海市委书记陈良宇等一众政商界高官因此落马。但一些省市侵占挪用社保基金的问题仍然相当严重。

中国劳动和社会保障部基金监督司司长陈良介绍，目前社保基金的收支总规模已超过两万亿元。劳动和社会保障部基金监督司司长陈良认为，社保基金出现问题，首先是基金监管法规不完善。其次管理力量和手段有限。有些地区的基层甚至没有电脑，只能人工记账。

另外社保基金管理人手极少，全国基金监管人员不到一百人。如广东某市只有1个人管理着1.7万家企业的工伤保险工作。此外，有些人法制、政策观念淡漠；还有监督不到位。

香港星岛日报说，温家宝22日主持召开了国务院常务会议，讨论全国社会保险基金的管理问题。国务院常务会议则表示，社会保险基金必须切实管好用好，确保安全完整、保值增值，这是政府的责任。会议特别强调，社会保险基金是“高压线幱笥驛任何人都不得侵占挪用。

会议要求各地政府及有关部门，对审计发现的问题认真整改，侵占挪用的资金要限期归还，损失的资金要采取措施补足，违法违纪问题要一查到底，并严肃追究有关人员的责任。会议还指出，要努力完善制度，加强管理，确保全国社保基金的安全。要定期向社会公布社保基金的使用和运作情况，同时进一步研究基金保值增值的政策措施，以提高资金回报率，给民众带来更多实惠。

报导指出，上海社保基金案的爆发引发了中国一系列的社保问题。根据中国财政部一项调查发现，其实早在上海前市委书记陈良宇下台之前，全国十个省区都被查出社保金的管理存在问题且情况相当严重，由于社保金数额庞大，已变成地方政府随意挪用小金库，资产流失突出。

在上海市社保基金案曝光后，中央决策层已决心将地方社保基金的监管和运营分开，一些地方政府亦正式设立社会保障监督委员会，加强社会保险基金的监督管理。不过，有专家指这样的委员会难以独立运行，恐难起到成效。

有关社保专家指出，当前中国社保基金管理模式的主要缺陷之一，是地方政府社保部门既当监管者，又同时成为委托人、投资人和资产管理者，角色模糊不清，政企不分，容易使养老基金缺乏独立和足够的行政监管。

而上海曝光当地官商勾结大量挪用社保基金的丑闻，引发外界关注，国家审计署正在对此进行专项调查。这一案件已经导致上海市委书记陈良宇、前国家统计局长邱晓华以及上海富豪张荣坤等纷纷下马。受上海社保资金案的影响，中国暴露出上万亿的社保基金缺口。

Why We Fight: The Battle of China

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7068446902546257813

Why We Fight: The Battle of China

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7068446902546257813

10 Steps to Becoming a Great Leader

By Marty Nemko

Even if you're just a clerk, you can become a leader. A wonderful leader. Here's how:

Envision yourself as a leader in your own image. Great leaders aren't alike. They come in flavors. The naturally great speakers spend more time speaking. The brilliant strategists stay in their office strategizing. The masters of efficiency focus on making every aspect of the business hum. Before you get your first leadership position, assess yourself: What are you best and worst at? Mold your leadership style to emphasize your strengths, and plan to delegate or outsource the rest.
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Hire cleverly. No matter what flavor, leaders must hire wisely. Nothing is more important. Don't waste time placing ads--there's too much dishonesty in résumés and cover letters. Better to ask everyone you respect for solid candidates. In job interviews, don't bother asking obvious questions such as "What is your greatest strength and weakness?" It's easy to prepare smart answers to those. Instead, simulate tasks the candidate will do on the job, then grade his or her performance. When you're down to a few finalists, ask each for 10 references. Call them at night, when you know they won't be in the office. Leave a voice mail saying, "I'm considering Joe Amazing for a very important position. If you think he's truly excellent, call me back. If not, don't call." If you get seven or more calls, you have the right person.

Speak well. I'll be honest with you--if you're a dullard, you could learn all the speaking techniques in the world and still be a terrible speaker. But assuming you're bright, here are a few keys to effective speaking: Keep it simple. Use anecdotes and metaphors where appropriate. Speak at a moderate pace and in your most pleasing tone of voice. (Try different parts of your vocal range in a tape recorder. Learn to use your favorite.) Do the same in everyday communication, but remember that the key to effective conversation is listening to what is said and what is not said. Also, watch for changes in body language. Listening well is much more difficult than people think. And it's crucial.

Develop an inspiring vision. You can develop an exciting vision for your employees, no matter how mundane the organization. Let's say you're heading the long-term-care division of an insurance brokerage. All but the most jaded employee would be inspired by your announcing: "We are going to ensure that all of our customers get the very best insurance at the very best price, which will give them the peace of mind and security they deserve, without breaking their budget. We're going to trumpet our excellence so we get more customers. And with all the money we're going to make, I'm going to ensure that you are all well paid. We'll even adopt a local school, and I'll give it 5 percent of my own salary. We are going to make a difference in our community." Throughout every moment of every day, live the realization of that vision. Work hard to follow through on implementing that vision, and celebrate little accomplishments along the way. Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.

Fire fast. If quick efforts to remediate a bad employee don't work, fire the person quickly. A bad employee can infect the rest. To avoid lawsuits, try to counsel the person to leave voluntarily, offering to help the person find a position at which he or she might be more successful.

Prioritize decisiveness over inclusivity. The best managers know when to encourage team involvement in decision making and when to act unilaterally. Today's corporatethink too often emphasizes decision making by consensus. Usually, the result is a tepid idea that took a long time to generate. It's hard to get a bold idea that an entire group will agree on. Great leaders generally get a modest amount of input and then make bold decisions on their own.

Know just enough tech. You don't need to be an expert at information technology, accounting, or the science behind your product. In fact, acquiring high-level tech expertise is usually not a good use of a leader's time. You must simply know enough about these fields to be able to understand, ask questions, and then provide direction to those technical experts. Often, the best way to do that is what I call the "Hey, Joe" school. You simply call an internal or outside expert in those fields and say, "Hey, Joe, would you meet with me a couple of times to give me an overview of what I need to know about computer servers [or whatever]?"

Manage time. Constantly have a little voice asking, "Is this a wise use of my time?" Nothing is more important than making the most of your time: not a PDA, not a Day-Timer, not a filing system, not anything. Effective leaders don't rush, but they recognize that time is their most valuable commodity. And they're miserly with it. That means saying no or delegating a task when you could better use your time elsewhere. It also means that everything doesn't need to be done perfectly. Sometimes, good enough is good enough. (But you have to know when!)

Look good. Alas, we live in a shallow, beauty-obsessed society. So, if you don't look good, you start out with a strike or two against you. Fortunately, leaders are not expected to have Hollywood looks. But it's worth a bit of primping to persuade all those shallow folks to think of you as leaderly. Wear attractive suits in timeless designs. Choose moderate hairstyles and makeup. Tip: If you're on a budget, rather than buy cheap new clothes, shop at high-end thrift shops. That $500 suit can often be bought for 75 bucks.

Work long hours. I'd rather disappoint you with the truth than anesthetize you with lies. No matter what you may have heard from Oprah, success at the top generally requires you to work long and work smart. In addition to accomplishing more, working long hours provides a role model for your workers. If you want to work just 40 hours, fine, but don't expect to be a great leader. I know dozens, and their average workweek is 60-plus hours. But there's a big payoff: Being an effective, beloved leader of an important enterprise is one of the best ways to feel that you live a meaningful life.

也谈中美差异——致部分北美WSN！

著名”的MITBBS上总能看到关于什么所谓的中美差异比较的文章，一忍再忍，鞭炮我终
于要爆发了。

总有一堆人在北美的WSN们乐此不疲的写着相同的话题，一面彰显着自己丰富长久的海外
生活经历，一面又显示着自己理性客观公正，深明大义的态度立场。可是WSN们啊，你们
有没有想过，任何体育竞技项目还按不同年龄，性别，级别分组，你总拿一个develope
d 的country和我们developing的祖国比个什么劲呢，这未免太有失公正了吧。要不叫人
家developed总得有个原因吧，你们都完成了，还不该比我们好点么。但凡在北美有点生
活经历的，都再清楚不过那几条所谓的优点，什么环境好，素质好，物价低。。，可就
是这帮已经再清楚不过的人，总是不厌其烦的写着，读着相同相似的文章，然后一堆捧
臭脚的煞有介事的杂么杂么嘴，说：“嗯，写得不错，说得很有道理！”试问一句，您
老天天吃着8毛钱一沓的鸡蛋，干吗非得靠看别人文章加深认识，表现出一副相当同意的
样子，难道连这种事情都是当局者迷要靠别人点醒？你说我要说在北美的WSN们智商低吧
，明摆着要被人拍死嘲笑死，可是这帮人办出来的事写出来的东西，有时真让人不禁感
叹都说恋爱中的女人智商低，原来北美的PHD们某些方面智商更低，还一副心比天高，身
为下贱的WS样！以后也可以当成形容词来用，你丫比北美PHD傻，你丫才比北美PHD傻！
你比北美PHD WS，你才比北美PHD WS！

最近听了个讲座其中有句话印象很深刻，democracy can't survive over population,
decency can't survive over population!人很多的时候，民主是行不通的；人很多的
时候，达到体面优雅也是有难度的。里面举了个例子，有两个卫生间，两个人用的时候
，每个人都可以从容悠闲，尽情享用，可是当有20个人要用的时候，还能做到那么从容
，想在里边呆多久就呆多久么？所以，北美WSN们，你们拖着巨大负担的祖国已经在尽她
的全力，做的够意思了，尤其是这个群体，我相信绝大部分在国内还是过着相当decent
的生活也被祖国大家庭相当decent地对待着，可往往就是越被娇生惯养的孩子，就越是
容易不知足，越是牢骚满腹，成天jjww不知天高地厚。我眼前浮现的景象就是一个绑着
沉重沙袋的母亲，在跑道上歪歪斜斜地艰难地但仍努力向前跑着，旁边几个长期锻炼步
伐矫健还无任何负重的健将们已经不知道超了她多少圈，那个母亲的孩子们，在场边不
停地狂嘘他们的母亲，怒其不争，说你看看人家，别怪我不爱你，我其实很想爱你，但
你实在太不争气，太不长脸！要我是这个母亲，我肯定一巴掌扇过去：“想爱谁爱谁去
，哪凉快哪呆着去，最好被淹没在伴随着鸟语喷发出来的吐沫星子里才好，还能给你亲
老子减点负！”。可是我们祖国似乎比我厚道多了，当然更比WSN们厚道宽容，还远接高
迎欢迎不孝子回家。

她是有这样那样不尽如人意需要发展完善的地方，但如果非要比较，非要还列出几点系
统比较，那么：1.她是你老子！；2.在她里边你可以尽情地讲着你从牙牙学语到学会骂
老子都用得语言，你驾驭它轻车熟路！；3.她怀抱才是你的地盘，在那里你是主人，你
最从容踏实！；4. 你生身老子不是长期和你两地分居终年见不得一面长年忍受相似之苦
，就是被困在这“物美价廉”的洋地方抑郁至死（不过很多不孝子哪个老子都不care，
就看着鬼佬亲）；5.也许在你地盘上，你的生活能稍微丰富些，不用天天对着电脑，守
着个海外论坛

JJWW，对骂，YY,或互相碰臭脚，不用N个堂堂PHD不厌其烦地乐此不疲地浪费着他们那不
一般的智商描述着8毛钱一沓鸡蛋，80块一台21寸电视空气好以及为祖国扼腕痛心为国人
哀叹惋惜的“耻子之心”。

至于回不回国，在哪发展呢，人与人不同，家庭与家庭不同，背景与背景不同，工作环
境也会不尽相同，所以作为一个“有学识，有见识，有气质”的留美人员呢，应该有这
最基本的综合自身各方面因素分析考虑作出决定的能力，不用跟风人云亦云，也不用天
天妒火中烧看谁在哪混好了就难受，更不用被点儿别人反复灌输的8毛钱鸡蛋空气好人口
素质高人际关系简单的没有任何信息量的bullshit混淆视听。谁在哪混好了混栽了的情
况都不一定会适用于你，那么牛的留美博士，自己的情况自己最清楚，自己的决定自己
做！而且呢，个人认为，有货有种有自知之明的同志们呢，到哪都吃得开混得下来，我
没有说一定会混得很好，但一定混得下来，对于就会在虚拟的世界里YY发泄的人儿呢，
到哪都落得个身为下贱的下场。

把自我解嘲的本领用到自己身上有时会为你增添不少幽默感，使你成为朋友谈话聚会的
宠儿，把自我解嘲的本领总加在自己的国家其实只能使你自取其辱，彰显内心的劣根性
！

也不知道什么时候自己变得似乎这么“左”，这么爱国，呵呵，其实我也不是什么又红
又专，根正苗红的有志青年，就是觉得这帮人太不厚道，太WS，太劣质，太缺乏自知之
明，让鞭炮我有些出离愤怒，当然也就是自己发泄下，炸着听个响过把瘾，没指望把他
们炸醒，要不也不该发到我自己这基本没什么点击率的杂草丛生的blog上了，呵呵。而
且很大一部分“心比天高，身为下贱”的家伙也不是能炸得醒的，劣质产品很多出厂已
经劣质了，无法重新生产也无法退货，凑合留着耍吧，嘻嘻。

不知道什么时候自己似乎也沦落成愤青了^_^.

此文无任何针对性，切勿对号入座，我相信没有自己主动拾骂得，如果那样成帮我佐证
了我对北美WSN们智商情商的评价，哈哈。

出去courtesy的考虑，本文中多处省略TMD^_^，其实我多少感觉有些遗憾哩，使我的表
达、语气多少失去了点味道和分量，哈哈，豪放粗俗如我的同志可以阅读时在文中各处
任意加上TMD，基本就能感受到我原汁原味的表达了^_^

被误传的经典名言——原来我们一直搞错了它们

误传一:天才是1%的灵感加上99%的汗水
　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——爱迪生

　　从小到大，老师都会用爱迪生的这句话教导我们好好学习，天天向上。现在才知道，虽然伟大的发明家爱迪生确实说过“天才那就是1%的灵感加上99%的汗水”这句话，但是，我们的老师和教材偏偏每次都漏掉爱迪生后面那关键的一句话：“但那1%的灵感是最重要的，甚至比那99%的汗水都要重要”。

误传二：不存在一个掷色子的上帝
　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——爱因斯坦

　　爱因斯坦曾经说过：“上帝不掷色子。”他这句话是针对量子物理而说的。量子物理中有一条非常重要的测不准原理，它彻底打破了“决定论”的物理学，而爱因斯坦恰恰是支持决定论的，这与爱因斯坦的宗教信仰有关。爱因斯坦并不是一个狂热的信徒，但他始终相信上帝的存在（不一定是某个宗教的上帝），他认为量子力学的不确定性观念就好象上帝掷色子一样不可相信。这是他的本来意思。

　　那么，现在让我们看看，我们的教材是怎样篡改爱因斯坦的话的——绝对令你目瞪口呆。教材说：“爱因斯坦反对量子物理，是因为爱因斯坦觉得量子物理学家承认有一个掷色子的上帝存在，不是一个真正的唯物主义者。”

误传三:中国是一只睡狮，一旦它醒来，整个世界都会为之颤抖 　　　　　　　　　　　
——拿破仑

　　“中国是一只睡狮，一旦它醒来，整个世界都会为之颤抖。”谁都知道这是拿破仑说过的一句话，我们接受这句话，是因为一个伟大的外国人对中国有如此崇高的评价，作为一个中国人，我们深感自豪。而我们也深信这只睡狮已经醒来，已经让世界感到它带来的颤抖，因为中国人民已经站起来了，已经当惊世界殊了。但是我们很长一段时间不知道这句话的中间还有一句：“它在沉睡着，谢谢上帝，让它睡下去吧”。

误传四:我们在错误的时间，错误的地点，同错误的对手打了一场错误的战争
　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　 ――布莱德利 　　

我们过去知道的是美帝国主义侵略朝鲜，而中国人民志愿军则是一举打败了武装到牙齿的美军，取得了一个伟大的胜利。我们是第一个让美国人在没有取得胜利的情况下签署了停战协定，大灭了美帝气焰，大长了人民威风，连美国人也如是说，这句话就是明证。但是，布莱德利说的这段话却是有前提的：“如果我们把战争扩大到***中国，那我们就会被卷入错误的时间、错误的地点同错误的对手打一场错误的战争”。

误传五:存在即合理
　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　――黑格尔

　　“存在即合理”，黑格尔的这句“至理名言”几乎连小学生都耳熟能详。许多人为之困惑，却不求甚解，认为黑格尔这句话意思是说：凡是存在的事物就天然具有合理性，“存在”是“合理”（价值判断）的必要充分条件。

　　殊不知，这种误解大概来自旧版本黑格尔著作翻译者的谬误。如果没记错的话，前年看过的《小逻辑》以及《法哲学》里，译文是： “凡是合乎理性的东西都是现实的， 凡是现实的东西都是合乎理性的。”

误传六:民可使由之，不可使知之
　　 　　　　 　　 　　 　　 　　 　　－－孔子

　　这句名言出自《论语.秦伯》中的“子曰民可使由之不可使知之”，如果表述成“子曰：民可使由之，不可使知之”，则是宣扬愚民权术的名言。

　　《论语》主要是记载孔子的语录，上下文之间往往没有多少联系。当时的文章，除了句断，其它标点符号还没有发明。所以，被误读是可能发生的事。

　　如将这句话更正为“子曰：民可，使由之；不可，使知之。”则与孔子另一句名言“有教无类”一脉相承。也使得作为中国历史上第一位伟大的教育家孔子的形象跃然纸上。

如何投资幸福？

如果你想变得更快乐，忘了花钱这件事吧--留心如何享受你的生活，才是真的。

诚然，一所更大的房子，一辆更靓的轿车，或许能暂时博你一笑。

然而，学术研究显示，仅仅靠积累更多的财富，并不会永久性地增加你的幸福感。

那什么才能做到这一点呢？我反复研究了一些经济学家和心理学家的工作成果，得出了九点秘诀。

1. 留点时间给朋友。根据华盛顿佩尤研究中心(Pew Research Center) 2006年的一份报告，43%的已婚人士表示他们“非常幸福”，而在未婚人士当中，这一比例仅为24%。

“已婚人士独处的时间较少，”加利福尼亚大学圣地牙哥分校管理学教授大卫•施卡德(David Schkade)说。“人脑中有部分组织会因为其他人的存在而受到刺激。你会变得更活跃，精力更充沛，做事情更投入。”

同样地，定期与好朋友碰面也可以提升幸福感。

“对于友谊的价值，我们总是能很快找到大量资料加以证明，”英国华威大学(Warwick University)的经济学教授安德鲁•奥斯维德(Andrew Oswald)说。

他指出，资料显示，比起把自己的下一步晋升放在第一位，把朋友放在第一位会让你觉得更有意义。

2. 忘了加薪吧。虽然与朋友们定期到城里转转可能会增加你的幸福感，但是如果你花上好几个小时在商店里购物可能就未必能得到相同的幸福感了。

诚然，当你刚买下那件新衣服或者那台平板电视的时候，你会感觉很棒。但这种兴奋的情绪很快就会消逝，你又会开始渴望别的什么东西。

你在获得加薪的时候也会如此。不消多少时间，你就会认为加薪是想当然的事，你又会感到不满足。专家称这种现象为“享乐适应”(hedonic adaptation)或是“快乐水车”(hedonic treadmill)。

3. 千万别“嫌贫爱富”。研究显示，一旦人们达到了基本生活标准，即便要使自己的幸福感增加那么一点点，也要额外付出大量的金钱。

然而，你的收入和财富可能还远远不够－－如果你开始将自己与周围的人相比较的话。比如说，如果你搬到一个你只能勉强支撑的社区，你就会感到心情很糟。

原因很简单：你四周都是富裕的家庭，这会时时提醒你，你没多少钱。
“如果你从窗外望去，看到的都是收入比你低的邻里，你会感到更幸福，” 奥斯维德教授说。“人们总是渴望搬到精英社区。他们并未意识到，他们不会像期待中的那样幸福。”

4. 减少花在路上的时间。如果搬进豪华社区还意味着来回奔波的时间更长了，那可能会进一步伤害你的幸福感。

研究显示，通勤是生活中最令人沮丧的活动之一。虽然我们通常很容易适应辛苦的状况，但是人们很难适应通勤的变幻无常。前一天，你在上班途中还是一路畅通，而另一天，你就有可能遇上交通阻塞，被严严实实地堵上45分钟。

雪上加霜的是，来回奔波的时间增加意味着休闲时间的减少。研究显示，我们更享受休闲、而不是工作的乐趣。

5. 想想高兴的事情。你从新房子，或是最近一次加薪中得到的快乐可能会逐渐消退。但是，如果你花上几分钟想些高兴的事情，你可能会重新找回一些幸福的感觉。

还记得富裕的邻居是怎么让你感到贫穷的吗？其实，重要的是你所关注的东西。试着把注意力放在你拥有的财富上，而不是对邻居的财富念念不忘，这样可能会让你感觉更幸福。

6. 享用美食。调查发现，吃是人类的最大消遣之一。

“吃是一种相对令人愉悦的行为，它可以满足一种基本的需求，”施卡德教授说。“但是，如果你不把精力集中在食物上，你就不会享受太多的乐趣。这也是为什么法国人能更好地享用美食的原因。他们很少自己吃饭，他们在吃饭的时候也很少同时做着其他事情。”

7. 挑战自我。休闲比工作更加令人愉悦。但是，你也应该想想如何度过你的休闲时光。

在办公室忙了一整天后，你可能会拖着疲惫不堪的身体回到家中，直接倒在你那台新的平板电视面前。但实际上，研究表明，如果你多做运动，你会感到更快乐。

假设你开始了一项锻炼计划。关键是：制定具有挑战、但又可以实现的目标，因为你会享受不断进步的感觉。

同时，试着不时地调整一下锻炼计划，这样你从中得到的快乐才不会消退。

定期锻炼还有一个好处，你会变得更健康，进而会增加你的幸福感。根据佩尤研究中心的报告，在那些声称自己健康状况极好的人当中，只有6%的人同时表示他们“并不是太幸福”。相比之下，在那些声称自己健康状况不好的人当中，这一比例高达55%。

8. 参加志愿活动。如果你想帮助自己，先试着帮助别人--让自己投身到慈善活动中去。

“这不仅会使你感到自己有价值，你也会看到其他人在做好事，这会让你感觉更好，”施卡德教授说。“这会使你认识到，世界还是一个美好的地方。”

9. 让时间决定一切。调查发现，人生中的幸福感呈U型走势。人在接近40岁的时候，脾气通常会越来越暴燥，而在40岁以后，又会逐步恢复。

或许，因为我们没能实现年轻时的抱负，我们的幸福感逐渐下降了，而一旦我们接受了人生的现实，我们的幸福感才会恢复。或许，中年人的不幸福感反映了他们面临的时间压力，因为他们要为工作和家庭奔波。

但是，无论是什么原因，随着年龄的不断增长，你可能会感到更幸福。不大确定上面八个诀窍行不行得通是吗？也许，你只需要把一切交给时间来决定。

Guerrillamelon

Guerrillamelon
■性格基因
　　你是个自我压抑的人，对于事情的看法比较悲观，虽然害怕挫折和痛苦，面对变局时，仍能冷静以对，这是你最与众不同之处。你的成长过程并不如外界或自己期待的顺利，感情的路走来也不算顺遂。身心的负面经验，让你自小就比一般人来得早熟，对于死亡与性的感受深刻，一生似乎都在这两个议题中打转。对于自我要求相当严格的你，全身 上下总是上紧发条，很难完全放松。你要小心自己有自残或习惯自舔伤口的倾向。对于喜欢的事物，可以一头栽进去而无法自拔，对于不感兴趣的事，则是碰都不想碰，对于人你也是如此。
　　■生命路线
　　你是一个意志力很强、干练、早熟，但不怎么快乐的人，不管年纪多大，总是给人一种老成的感。如何变得更豁达、真正快乐的善待自己，是你必须致力的课题。你性格的矛盾和痛苦点，经常透过感情和与家人的互动展现出来。经常为他人牺牲，但末了又会心不甘情不愿，这样的人生是浪费能量且毫无意义的。对于酒精、咖啡因、尼古丁和药物的摄取量要节制，否则会受制于这些有害物质。性的压抑会衍生成对很多事物的不满。学会用“减法”过日子，才能真正领悟有“舍”才有“得”的道。

.......
http://app.astro.lady.qq.com/exam/414/414_8941.htm

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4. 小说阅读网全面的热门及原创小说。
5. 白狐网络原创奇幻言情小说。
6. 榕树下中文原创文学发源地。
7. 天地文学最近兴起的中文原创文学基地。
8. 兽血沸腾一场艳福无边的奇幻冒险。
9. 新结婚时代两代人三种不同状态的个性婚恋。
10.三宫六院七十二妃一部帝王奋斗史。

十大体育关键字
1. nba因为姚明，NBA感觉更亲切了。
2. 体育男人永远津津乐道的话题。
3. 世界杯2006世界杯留给我们多少遗憾和激动。
4. 齐达内一代大师就这样悲情告别。
5. 贝克汉姆“万人迷”小贝不仅仅是足球明星。
6. 足球一直是世界最受欢迎的运动。
7. 亚运会仍然是中国人的运动会。
8. 刘翔12秒88，再次让全世界记住了中国飞人。
9. 姚明问鼎NBA第一中锋。
10.多哈亚运会中国军团雄霸多哈。

十大影视关键字
1. 电影把影视搬到网络上，看看谁才是最卖座的。
2. 免费电影盗版碟的钱都已经省下来了。
3. 神话 成龙、金喜善古今大战不死情。
4. 网络电视P2P技术让网络电视更为流畅。
5. 电视剧观众的品位越来越高了。
6. 武林外传情景喜剧创造的的又一个奇迹。
7. 视频互联网2.0时代的必然产物。
8. 王子变青蛙台湾偶像剧轻松幽默当道。
9. 夜宴冯导1500万美元的《王子复仇记》。
10.疯狂的石头一部前所未有的现代喜剧电影。

十大数码关键字
1. 诺基亚消费者心目中具有极高的品牌影响力。
2. 佳能数码相机产业领头军，消费者最喜爱品牌之一。
3. 联想手机国产手机的第一品牌。
4. 三星手机最早一批进入中国手机市场。
5. ipod苹果电脑最受欢迎的数码音乐播放器。
6. 惠普打印机倡导绿色办公成绩斐然。
7. dell笔记本戴尔的直销模式深入人心。
8. 索尼psp最时尚的SONY多功能掌上游戏机。
9. 罗技摄像头始终走在行业尖端。
10.索尼摄像机旗舰品牌步入大众生活。

十大生活关键字
1. 美女美女永远是网民的第一看点。
2. 星座越来越多的人接受并相信星座命相说。
3. 美容面子问题比什么都重要。
4. 翻译在线翻译方便快捷，不再求助于人。
5. 机票网上订票让飞机更加方便快捷。
6. 图片在最短的时间获得最多的信息，只有图片。
7. 人体写真这是一门深奥的艺术。
8. 心理测试让自己更了解自己。
9. 天气预报生活息息相关的，就是网民最关注的。
10.列车时刻表出行第一步。

十大网站关键字
1. 百度有问题百度一下。
2. 163网易多次改版，是否迎合了用户？
3. 淘宝网淘宝见证了网上购物从悄然兴起到遍地开花。
4. 中国移动用户不少，投诉也不少。
5. 3721“上网助手”再次成为焦点。
6. 4399最受欢迎的在线FLASH游戏中心。
7. 世纪佳缘严肃婚恋交友网站。
8. 招商银行银行业唯一上榜网站。
9. 手机之家专业手机测评、服务网站。
10.汽车之家发展较迅速的专业汽车媒体。

Get Rich Quick!

http://mmmlife.com/2006/08/get-rich-quick/

I want to be rich and retired and happy. You probably do too. At this moment thousands of people are thinking about how they can get richer, faster.

The real secret is this: getting rich is easy. Very easy. My easy, 2-step process goes something like this:
Work
Don’t spend anything

Its really a pretty simple equation. The money you have = What you make - What you spend. And for most of us, the “What you spend” category is right up there with “What you make”. So the simple solution is obviously to not spend anything.

Hungry? Find some free bread at La Madeline’s Thirsty? There’s a water fountain. Rent? Live in a cheaper neighborhood with several roommates. Entertainment? TV is free. Internet? Go to the library. Sick? Robutissin! (Chris Rock)

Its sort of sucky really that too many of my friends seem to be caught up in getting rich. You feel like you’re doing the right thing, being frugal, saving money, putting it away, depriving yourself a little bit, knowing that in 35 years you’ll have a nice nest egg.

But that’s in 35 years, and in the meantime, you’re really paying for it in life.

So let me qualify my comment above: I want to be rich, but not if it comes at the expense of happiness and fun in my life. Frugality is fun for a bit, but not when it takes over and becomes the driving force in your personal finances. The driving force in my life is the desire to go out, smile, affect other people, and enjoy this one life I’m living right now.

This is hardly a license to burn through your money or not save. You need to keep putting money in your retirement accounts. Don’t be an idiot about how you spend your money. But do not seriously deprive yourself today in the name of a larger retirement fund in the far future.

A habit of extravagance will hurt you, but you need to make sure your enjoying life today too, or its really not worth it. The extra Starbucks coffee isn’t going to make or break the retirement account.

Do some honest self-reflection to ask yourself what things you really want in life. You can get to “financially rich” faster than everyone else in the race if you don’t spend at all, but its probably not worth it. Ask yourself which things really matter to you and which things don’t. Learning to cut back on things you really don’t need will finance the things you really want without eating into your retirement account.

Deprivation will drive you to misery faster than it will to retirement.

酸甜苦辣各自知:什么样的华人在美国做保姆?

中华网报道，一提起打工，人们就想起餐馆跑堂外卖和其他的体力劳动者，但打保姆工的人似乎又很不一样，她们无需专门学习什么技巧，带孩子，打扫房屋好像都只是需要足够的爱心和耐心就足够了。

华人保姆的群体比较特殊，她们大多没有菲律宾保姆挣得多，她们没有美国文化的背景，也不会英文，她们带着各种不同的目的和不平衡的心态走进这个群落，这几年她们似乎很“红火”，中文报纸上找保姆的远远多过提供保姆服务的，纽约的一家职业介绍所最高的纪录是曾经3天之内送走了17位保姆。但她们都有着各自的酸甜苦辣。

什么样的华人在打保姆工华人保姆群中有不少人都是初来美国，没有专业的生存技能，但渴望赚钱养家；也有不少是先来给自己的子女带孩子，后来才当了专职保姆。

“我一到美国就开始当保姆，40多岁奔50了，英语也学不来，车也不敢开，洗盘子也洗不动了，又没办法像男人那样去干体力活，保姆可能是最适合我的职业了。”张阿姨坦率的告诉记者。为了已经开始在美国上中学的儿子，作为单身妈妈的张阿姨说，她恨不得能同时给两家或者三家当保姆。

大纽约地区各处都有保姆职业介绍所，比如纽约法拉盛的王小姐职业介绍所，一到周末就很热闹，不少做保姆的人把这里当成自己的“娘家”，来这里和王小姐聊天。王小姐告诉记者，她们管这些打保姆工的人叫“阿姨”，因为她们大多数年龄都在40到60岁左右，有不少在国内受过良好教育，甚至做过医生，教师，公司职员，属于大陆所说的知识分子阶层。



她们当中有只身来美淘金的，也有探亲来美短期停留的，还有不少是随着子女移民过来养老的，也有时间久了留不下又走不了就黑下来的，还有一些是甚至连房子都没有，专做住家保姆的，出于养家糊口、贴补家用、发挥余热和找寻生存门路等各种各样的原因，做起了保姆。王小姐说：“这些阿姨都挺不容易，尤其是都需要一段时间平衡自己的心态。她们当中什么情况都有。不过最近一段时间大陆签证一直非常难，所以保姆也不像以往那么好找，做保姆的很抢手，经常是供不应求。”

华人保姆的收入因为这些华人保姆多数不会英语，会开车的也很少，所以基本上是在华人家庭做保姆。华人保姆的收入比美国家庭相对要低一些，不过一些住家保姆不仅解决了吃住的问题，更是现金交易不需纳税，所以她们每个月个人的开销不大，基本上都是净收入。据华埠人力中心介绍说，在纽约的行情是一个普通的保姆的收入基本在1， 000美元到1，200美元，1，200到1，500美元的一般是家里房间超过四居或者带两个小孩的。一些会开车，有身份，接送小孩上学，负责工作更多做得更久的管家级保姆有时会拿到15002000美元的薪水。

现在在纽约，1200美元能请到一个熟练保姆已经是很不错的了，新泽西也已经在至少1，000元以上。现在市场上低价位的已经比较难找，高价位的也得看雇主的需要。刚来美国的生手，连洗涤剂说明都看不懂也不会用，电炉烤炉就更闹不明白，尤其是没有经验的收入比较少。市场上来自马来西亚，广东，四川的保姆价钱比较高，因为她们菜做得好；现在美国的华人中盛行请月子保姆，因为白天黑天都要带孩子等，要比普通保姆高四百美元左右。

保姆选择什么样的雇主保姆们对雇主也是挑来挑去的，这里面大多是要看双方是不是对路子。从来不讲自己大学毕业的一位女士说：“我从来不告诉他们我的学历，也不告诉他们我的画还拿过大奖，否则他们很可能让我教他们的小孩画画，费心费力费时间，最后可能还得不着好，工钱也不多一分。我希望我的雇主不要居高临下地看人，请保姆来是给他们帮忙的，但并不是让他们施舍同情心的，我干我的活拿我的钱，心安理得，没有必要看别人的脸色。”

一些和中国大陆来的保姆打过交道的人说，大陆保姆一般文化层次比较高，但也最不容易心甘情愿地只做保姆。大陆出来的保姆更容易将人情化和职业化混为一谈，加上不同背景的人在美国做保姆是出于语言和生活上的无奈，所以很难平衡自己的位置。不像菲律宾保姆从小就做这些事情，所以很职业，有什么做错的地方马上道歉，觉得自己的职责没有尽到，而中国的保姆遇到同样的情况，往往会冒出怨言，在心里想：“昨天我们还像朋友一样在聊天，今天怎么换了这个态度对我。”

鲜有华人保姆寻求法律保护这些华人阿姨有很多苦衷，因为身份、语言和举目无亲的现实状况，她们很多时候遇到了不公平的待遇也只能自己往肚子里咽苦水。虽然大多数华人家庭都比较友好，但也有拖延克扣工资，超时工作，甚至性骚扰等情况发生，有些苛刻的家庭连周末回家的电话都不允许保姆们自己打。

身为母亲、妻子、女儿的她们也绝不会向家人诉说，她们中的大多数也都是抱着出卖劳力和实践来赚钱这样的规则，勤恳热心地工作。据职业介绍中心的人告诉记者，这些华人保姆“故事很多，苦乐自知，委屈不少，不愿诉说。”亚美法律援助处的律师KimerLing告诉记者，这个专门为亚洲人提供援助的中心很少收到华人保姆的诉讼，印度人的倒是不少。据他们所知，华人保姆的情况其实条件更为不好，但很少有人诉诸法律。

其实她们是有很多权利受到保护的。除照顾小孩和老人及残障人士外，她们应该5天工作，周末休息，40至44个小时的一周工作时间，虽然在法律规定之外他们可以和雇主签订特殊一些的家庭服务工作需要，但是可以先签好合同保留保护自己的权利。

保姆们的心愿这些华人保姆的心愿究竟是什么呢？“我不说你可能也猜到了，我要供儿子上大学！”单身妈妈张阿姨从儿子上小学就来到了美国，找了很多工作都没成功，但是后来当起了保姆竟也攒下了些钱，现在儿子上了中学成绩还不错，她说哪怕再干上5年到10年把儿子的大学供完，自己这辈子就不干保姆了。”

“虽说人在屋檐下，不过我在美国做保姆挣两年的钱，就可以给我爸妈在国内买上一套房子，我知足。”现在还差两个月就能存满这笔钱的李阿姨说起自己的宏伟计划就高兴，她盘算着可以给自己也买上套房子后再挣上两年钱就回家，“回去我也雇个保姆！”职业介绍所的王小姐告诉记者，“其实在美国打磨过的人都很现实，她们这些阿姨有的是为了帮孩子供房，有的是为了赚钱寄回家，还有很多就是为了现实的生活，有的老人干脆是图个乐子发挥余热，不过也有有家不能回的辛酸故事。”她说这些在美国放下架子做阿姨的女人们，大多都脚踏实地，因为他们每个人心里都有自己的一个愿望。

R.I. law gives consumers rebates on spot

http://slickdeals.net/?sduid=72641&t=314024&u2=http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20060719_rebate19.1397912.html

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

BY PAUL GRIMALDI
Journal Staff Writer


A new Rhode Island law requires retailers to offer rebates on the spot to buyers rather than making them send off coupons or log onto Web sites to get their money.

Passed in the waning days of the General Assembly session, the bill went into effect July 3, without Governor Carcieri's signature.

Sponsored by Rep. Brian P. Kennedy, the bill mirrors Connecticut state law. The Hopkinton Democrat said he's tried several times to get the law passed here.

Under the law, retailers advertising a manufacturer's rebate on any sale item must apply the rebate amount at the time of the sale and complete the rebate redemption process themselves, rather than requiring the consumer to do it.

The law prohibits retailers from advertising a "net," or final, price for an item that includes a payment from a manufacturer -- unless the retailer gives the buyer the amount of the manufacturer's payment at the time of the sale.

"In many cases, [companies] assume consumers are going to forget all about it," allowing the businesses to keep the money, Kennedy said. "Offering a deal and then making the consumer jump through hoops to get it is inappropriate and not all that great a deal."

Rebates have become a contentious retail practice in recent years as the number of offers has mushroomed and the problems getting payments have multiplied.

Retail-industry research estimates that 40 percent of all rebates are never redeemed, said John Palangio, director of the consumer protection unit for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch. That rate translated into $500 million in unredeemed rebates last year, Palangio said.

"The great disconnect is when you open your Sunday circular and see a price [advertised] -- that is the price eight or ten weeks later," after the rebate process is complete, he said.

Last year, Rhode Island joined 39 other states in a federal lawsuit against Young America Corp., a Minnesota company that processes rebates for manufacturers and retailers. State treasurers say the company, the nation's largest rebate processor, improperly keeps unredeemed rebates that should be turned over to the states as unclaimed property.

That lawsuit is pending.

Separately, Massachusetts filed suit against Young America to demand that it submit to an audit of $43 million in uncashed rebate checks. Bay State officials claim the company kept that amount over seven years in return for charging its clients lower fees. The arrangement could be an incentive to deny legitimate rebate requests.

The attorney general's office in Rhode Island regularly receives complaints from residents upset about "thick and confusing" rebate rules, Palangio said. Among them are hard-to-read fine print, tight deadlines, rules demanding proof-of-purchase seals from packages and requiring rebate documents be filed in triplicate.

But, he said, consumers who see the process through to the end are rewarded.

"Once you have gone through that painstaking process," he said, "manufacturers are pretty good about giving you the rebate."

Paul T. DeRoche, of the Rhode Island Retail Federation, said stores and manufacturers will have to adjust to the new law, as they have in Connecticut.

"It was a pro-consumer bill," he said. "[But] I'm not quite so sure the manufacturers would say the same thing."

Jerry Cerasale, a spokesman for the Direct Marketing Association, said member companies are urged to make rebates simple.

"DMA believes that any rebate offer should be clear to the consumer," he wrote in an e-mail to The Journal.

A CVS Corp. spokesman said the Woonsocket drugstore chain was aware of the new law, but declined further comment. Other retailers contacted for this story did not respond before The Journal's deadline.

The law may simply mean companies will do away with rebates in Rhode Island, DeRoche said.

"But you've got to let it play out," he said.

Kennedy, the law's sponsor, said it will take time for retailers and manufacturers to get used to the new law.

"My guess is it probably hasn't filtered out to every retailer in the state yet," he said.

In hindsight, Kennedy said, he would have set a later effective date for the law, giving retailers time to adjust advertising and accounting systems.

Palangio saud he expects some confusion as buyers and sellers get used to the new law.

"This is kind of landmark legislation as far as consumers in Rhode Island," are concerned, he said. "I think, when consumers become aware of this, there's going to be an avalanche," of complaints.

pgrimald@projo.com / (401)-277-7356

钱多未必更快乐

钱不过就是钱。真的。

如果你正在读这篇专栏文章，你无疑是希望自己在理财方面能获得成功。但不要自己欺骗自己：拥有更多的钱并不能使你更快乐。

近年来，经济学家和心理学家们将关注点转向了“快乐研究”──如果你的人生目标就是多挣钱、多攒钱，那这类研究的结果可有点让你不快了。仅仅有钱似乎并不能让你获得很多快乐。

快乐完全是相对的。高收入者往往会对他们的生活感到更满意，这一点毫无疑问。2004年的一项调查显示，家庭年收入在9万美元以上的人中有43%声称自己“非常快乐”，而家庭年收入不足2万美元的人作此表态的只有22%。

但实际情况似乎比上述调查结果要复杂。的确，如果你原本生活穷困，钱能给你带来快乐。

但加州大学圣迭戈分校的管理学教授大卫•施卡得(David Schkade)认为，一旦你获得了温饱，钱多钱少对你来说真的没有太大差别。他说：“一旦你跻身中低收入阶层，你要收入增加很多才会觉得生活有了明显的不同。钱是重要的，但并不像人们认为的那么重要。”

事实上，尽管生活水平不断提高，但上世纪九十年代末时只有30%的美国人称自己“非常快乐”，低于七十年代初时34%的水平。经济学教授大卫•布兰奇弗劳尔(David Blanchflower)和安德鲁•奥斯沃德(Andrew Oswald)的相关研究结果发表在《公共经济学月刊》(Journal of Public Economics)2004年7月号上。

面对这一调查数据，研究人员开始猜想，我们的快乐感并非取决于我们的财富和收入的绝对水平，而是取决于我们的财务状况与朋友和同事们相比处于何种水平。

这或许有助于解释为什么有如此多的高收入者形容自己的生活“非常快乐”。这些人士大多数时间未必真的那么开心。但当调查者要求他们评估自己对生活的满意度时，他们想到的是自己在社会上的地位──这促使他们声称自己是快乐的。

精确衡量。当高收入者不考虑自己在财富金字塔上所处的等级时情况会怎样？看看丹尼尔•卡恩曼(Daniel Kahneman)等五位教授6月30日发表在《科学》杂志(Science)上的一篇文章吧。

这几位教授分析了来自374位上班族的调查数据，这些人被要求在一个工作日中每隔25分钟就报告一次自己各种感觉的强烈程度。从报告结果看，那些收入较高的人并不更快乐，相反，他们更有可能报告说自己感到忧虑或愤怒。

这五位教授还研究了详细记录人们如何分配工作时间的政府数据。他们发现，收入较高的人花在工作和上班途中的时间也更多，他们不得不用在住房装修等非工作活动上的时间也更长。所有这些活动都会降低人们的快乐感。

施卡得教授总结说：“更富裕的人日子不见得过得更好。但如果你问他们对自己生活的感觉，(与那些较不富裕的人相比)他们的幸福感要高些。”

花钱买时间。这就产生了一个问题。如果金钱和快乐不能成正比，什么才能使我们更快乐呢？这里有四点提示。

--缩短用在上班途中的时间。想用加薪后多得的收入在远离工作地点的郊区买一所大房子吗？可别这么做。

虽然我们适应生活中所遇到困难的能力往往强得惊人，但通勤问题却是个例外。哈佛大学心理学教授丹尼尔•吉尔伯特(Daniel Gilbert)说：“通勤问题是你无法适应的，因为它完全不可预见。每天驾车上班都像是在经历一个不同的地狱。”

--舍钱而取时间。缩短你的工作时间有可能使你感觉更快乐，即使这意味著收入的减少。

如果你的生活水平下降会怎样？痛苦可能不会像你想像的那样严重。诚然，你在购买新车时会很有成就感。但这种良好的感觉很快就会消失，你会觉得新车也不过就那么回事。学术上将这称之为“享乐性适应”。

--深思熟虑花钱的方式。虽然购买新车不会使你获得长久的快乐，但去欧洲旅行一次或许可以。

吉尔伯特教授说：“钱本身不会使你快乐。能够使你快乐的是你用钱做的事情。众多数据显示，花钱买体验比花钱买耐用商品要强。”

买车似乎是一项不错的购买选择，因为车具有长久的价值。可事实是，车会越用越旧。吉尔伯特说，人生体验不会随著时间的流逝而贬值，美好的记忆会长留心间。

--明智地使用休闲时间。调查显示，人们从休闲中获得的快乐比从工作中获得的要多。但这很大程度上也取决于你如何支配自己的休闲时间。

看电视一类的被动性活动通常不会使人获得享受美食带来的快感。而与朋友们交往等积极的休闲活动带给人的快乐又是一顿美餐所无法比拟的。

施卡得教授说：“与朋友们光顾一家好餐馆，你既能见到朋友，又能吃到美食，这是一种最佳组合。说到如何享受美食，法国人可是行家。”



你现在快乐吗？


我们可能比以前富裕了，但我们不见得比以前快乐。以下是一些统计数据：

--上世纪九十年代末，29%的妇女称自己“非常快乐”，低于七十年代初时36%的水平。在此期间感觉自己“非常快乐”的男子由32%下降到31%。

--家庭年收入在9万美元以上的人比家庭年收入不足2万美元的人要快乐得多，但他们的快乐程度比家庭年收入在5万至89,999美元之间的人却高不了多少。

--对909位妇女进行的一项调查显示，通勤和工作是最不令人享受的两件事。

（资料来源：《美国经济评论》(American Economic Review)；《公共经济学月刊》；《科学》杂志）

Jonathan Clements

中国人正在上的４个大当——肯定包括你

Chinese American)

第一大当：房产

买房意味着什么？意味着你拥有了一个属于自己的房子。是的，你是这样以为，但是在中国你并无法拥有这个房子，只是租给你而已。因为房子是你的 , 地不是你的 , 只是把土地使用权租借给你 70 年 ( 从现在退 70 年那是抗日战争时期 , 谁见过那时候的房子 ?) 。房子通常情况下 30 年左右就会遇上拆迁或者旧房改造。也就是说你花了买房的钱，却只能得到租房的实际效果。当然这还不是最坏的。最坏的是，当几十年后你发觉上当了！有一群流氓冲进你用一辈子积蓄买下的房子，画上一个大大的拆字！然后把你的家当全部当垃圾一样的仍出门外，不顾你的苦苦哀求，甚至还在报纸上给你按一个钉子户的臭名，任大众辱骂的时候你就会知道什么叫做绝望！

　　形容中国的房地产有一个很有名的笑话是这样写的：

以前，有个地主有很多地，找了很多长工干活，地主给长工们盖了一批团结楼住着，一天，地主的谋士对地主说：东家，长工们这几年手上有点钱了，他们住你的房子，每月交租子，不划算，反正他们永远住下去，你干脆把房子卖给他们起个名堂叫做 ----- 公房出售！告诉他们房子永远归他们了，可以把他们这几年攒的钱收回来，地主说：不错，那租金怎么办？谋士说：照收不误，起个日本名儿，叫物业费！地主很快实行了，赚了好多钱，长工们那个高兴啊！过了几年，地主的村子发展成城镇了，有钱人越来越多，没地方住，谋士对地主说：东家，长工们这几年手上又有钱了，咱们给他们盖新房子，起个名堂叫做旧城改造，他们把手上的钱给我们，我们拆了房子盖新的，叫他们再买回去，可以多盖一些卖给别人，地主又实行了，这次，有些长工们不高兴了，地主的家丁派上用途了，长工们打掉牙只好往肚子里咽，地主又赚了好多钱。又过了几年，地主的村子发展成大城市了，有钱人更多了，地主的土地更值钱了，谋士对地主说：东家，咱们把这些长工的房子拆了，在这个地方建别墅，拆出来的地盖好房子卖给那些有钱的大款还能赚一笔，地主说：长工们不干怎么办？谋士说：咱给他们钱多点儿，起个名堂叫货币化安置，咱再到咱们的猪圈旁边建房子，起个名堂叫经济适用房，给他们修个马车道让他们到那边买房住，地主说：他们钱不够怎么办？谋士说：从咱家的钱庄借前给他们，一年 6 分利，咱这钱还能生钱崽，又没风险，地主又实行了，长工们拿到钱，地主的经济适用房到现在才建了一间，长工们只好排队等房子，直到现在，还等着呢 ------

　 于是，长工们开始闹事了，地主有点慌，忙问谋士怎么办？谋士说：赶紧通知长工们，房子要跌价了，别买了，租房住吧，正好把我们的猪圈租给他们，结果，这么多年后，长工们的钱全没了，还在租房住，直到永远！

　　这个笑话虽然有点夸张，但实际上这何尝又不是事实呢？有人说既然如此？为什么中国人还要买房？疯了一样的买？为什么？还不是愚民教育的结果，就好象 60 年代，鼓吹人们必须购买三大件：手表、缝纫机、自行车才算是成功人士才可嫁人娶妻。 70 年代鼓吹人们必须购买新四大件：电视，冰箱，洗衣机，装电话才算是出人头地才可娶妻生子一样，记得当年装电话可是要几千块钱一部啊（人均收入不到 200 的小城），而北京上海更有上万一部的时候，还得排队买号搭人情，和今天的买房又何其相似？

　　而今天所有的狗屁学者又开始了这一套愚弄百姓的旧招：白领一族新标准，成功人士新选择 X 环 X 路小户型， X 环 X 路商住型。收了你几十万后，还得每个月收你租金（新物业费），银行利息，以及各种巧立名目的加息、政策等等等等。总之不怕你不被整死，就怕你死得不够惨！老百姓咋就怎么乐于上当，而且百上不厌呢？我真是气得浑身都湿了！

第二大当：就业

当有人终于开始感叹：当年当知青的时候，当有人下岗之后感到没有生路，只能静坐抗议却无人理会，只能沦落街头还被人编首歌嘲笑着人生豪迈，重头再来的时候。你可曾想过！他们也曾经和今天的白领一样风光！他们的收入和地位也曾经让周围的人艳羡不已？你可曾想过 20 年后的今天！你一样会和他们一样沦落街头，众叛亲离？！

　　有人说嘿！你不知道有失业保险，养老保险， XX 保险么？呵呵，我在北京漂泊 N 年，交了无数保险大概有好几万吧，但失业的时候跑断腿也没人给我啥保险，反而很多保险都被冻结了说我交得断断续续的，我简直又气得……这还不算，你以为你到了 60 岁真的就可以拿到养老保险了吗？天上又不会掉钱！今天的老年人拿的退休金是我们在挣！而今天 30-40 岁的人通常都有好几个兄弟姐妹！意思就是，今天的老年人能在 60 岁拿到养老保险是因为有 5 个人供一个老人！而我们这一代老去之后则是一个人供我们两个老人！钱从哪里来？没得来！您要是能活到 90 岁估计能领到一些养老保险，嘿保重吧您。然而即使是这样，家长们还是疯了一样的把孩子往各种企事业国有单位里送，我身边就经常有这样的例子。我老家一个远房亲戚，找关系拖朋友，花了七万块钱通过公开招聘把儿子送进了交警队，干上合同制的 police 。一个月拿 800 块。结果第三年被竞争上岗给刷下来了。一家人哭哭啼啼，我说刷了好，你上那班一辈子挣不回那七万，赶紧先洗洗睡，改明再凑点钱做小生意去吧！没准还能赚点。

　　当年我毕业的时候，我妈也是领着我抱着钱，把我往 XX 部送。我一看负责招工那人那德行，就忍不住的恶心，再一看薪水，妈呀，我这不是白干 10 年不吃不喝才拿回成本。所以我私下威胁了那家伙一把，吓得那个大腹便便的 X 科长再也不敢招收我。我才得已：离家出走 .

　　我就想不明白？中国人咋就这么傻？这么迷信国字呢？醒醒吧，思维正常一点行不？做事之前自己算算合算不合算成不？

　　还有那些年纪轻轻的小白领们，找工作最好把薪水要高点，别要医疗保险和啥保险，然后自己把钱存起来最保险，将来用得着。

　　第三大当：教育

一张文凭值多少钱？一张文凭值多少钱？一张文凭值多少钱？印刷成本两块钱顶了天了。一个老师工资多少？嘿，两个学生的学费足够一学期了！一个班的书本印刷多少钱？两个学生的足够了！一个班房租多少钱一学期？嘿嘿两个学生足够了。！嘿！中国教育你凭啥收那么多钱！？

　　嘿！百姓们！我们为啥要上当？因为从小统治阶级就告诉我们考上秀才才光荣。哦对不起我说错了，是考上大学才光荣。但老百姓从来不去想一想为什么光荣？为什么光荣……

大学秀才又怎样还不是废物！

知道你的孩子是什么人在教么？在中国一般是无法适应社会的人才会沦为一个教师，举个例子。前段时间我因为一个项目的关系，找了几个大学的硕士生做程序。结果有几个人笨得很，完全不给你考虑，非得你守着才干活，而且给个文件明显有一个错别字，也不给改，等你发现了还跟你较真，是这不是他的错，是你给的就是错的。一点责任感，一都不会考虑究竟是为了做事而做事还是为了做好一件事而做事。我还是很心平气和的给他们讲道理：你们必须学会为别人思考，思考别人想要什么结果再去做事情。否则无法在社会上生存。结果那几个说：我们才不要去社会上，我们考试成绩好得很，学校要我们留校做老师。再说了本来我们就没什么错，你怎么安排我们怎么做，你不安排我们就不做。这是我们的尊严和原则。我说：如果你去守门，老板没安排你下班的时候锁好仓库你就不锁了吗？您心寒吗？以后您的孩子就是在这样的人的指导下学习和成长。您放心么？

　　难怪现在读大学的同居，逃课，打架，自杀…… 但家长们还是愿意花钱把孩子送进学校去，而且是花一辈子的钱。

　　第四大当：买车

中国人疯了吗？买车？为什么要买车？？？当然您有了钱花不光了，您爱怎么买怎么买，买车买房，反正油价怎么涨你也花不完钱，房子要拆迁你也不心疼。但是大多数老百姓呢？

　　我以前有个同事住北二环，公司西直门那里。每天坐地铁上班最多半小时。可非得买一二手夏利，每天早上 8 点开始在路上堵着，然后一点一点的挪到公司。嘿，一个月停车费都不少。可人家就觉得开了车自己身份高级一点。别说开个夏利，就是开个奥迪我也没见谁对谁三磕九拜。除了显得自己比别人傻一点外完全没有别的作用。

　 还有一次，我遇见一个月收入才 4000 的小姑娘，在计划贷款买车。于是我就问她：小姑娘，你又没做生意，自己按时上班，地铁又方便，买车干什么呢？想了半天，实在估计也想不出什么理由来了就说：有时候去超市买东西吧，打车又觉得近了点不划算，走路又远了点。所以自己开车去了！听得我差点没恶心死。你开车去超市买个方便面不觉得恶心么？装备了大哥大去拣垃圾，也是拣垃圾的！别以为买了车能证明什么。

调整身份(I-485)时面临的姓名调查的烦恼

近几个月以来，我所律师收到许多焦急的询问电话，都是有关调整身份(I-485)时面临姓名调查(Name Check)的。姓名调查又被称為背景安全调查。

何為背景安全调查？

首先，我们需要瞭解「背景安全调查」究竟调查什麼。根据规定，所有申请人，為取得美国的移民福利（包括绿卡、入籍、再次入境等）都必须接受犯罪和国安的背景调查，只不过调查的复杂程度有所不同。尤其是「九一一」事件之后，移民局大幅度提高了背景调查的数量和范围。移民局的背景调查会考虑很多因素，不同类别的申请需要不同程度的背景调查。

移民局的背景调查主要通过以下三种主要途径：

（一）部门间边境系统的姓名检查（The Interagency Border Inspection System Name Check），缩写為 IBIS. IBIS是一个多个政府机构联合的中央信息系统，包括从各个机构收集的信息、数据库、以及系统界面，可整合关於国家安全方面的数据。移民局可以快速地从这一系统确认所有在系统中的信息是否影响移民个案的判处。IBIS系统的好处是快捷，检验结果通常立刻获取。

（二）联邦调查局的指纹检查　（FBI Fingerprint Check）该检查提供关於申请人在美国的犯罪背景有关资料。一般来讲联邦调查局会在收到移民局要求的24至48小时内检查结果传给移民局。如果发现与FBI指纹库裡的记录相吻合，FBI会及时通知移民局。绝大多数申请人的指纹检查结果均為「无纪录」或「无吻合」。

（三）联邦调查局的姓名调查（FBI Name Check）：所有申请绿卡、入籍的申请人都要求接受这一调查，它就是造成许多移民申请延误的「罪魁祸首」。姓名调查完全不同於指纹检查，是本文介绍的重点。

绝大多数移民调整身份申请都是卡在了联邦调查局姓名调查这一环节。在姓名调查问题上，许多申请人存在著或多或少的认识误区，认為既然移民局负责背景调查，那姓名调查造成的延误应向移民局讨说法；更有客户打电话要求律师直接与移民局联繫，以期加快调查的进程。其实姓名调查属於联邦调查局全权管辖的范围，移民局只是许多向联邦调查局要求提供安全背景调查结果的眾多政府机构之一。由於彼此独立，移民局虽是调查局的一大「用户」，但并未因此享受什麼特殊待遇。移民局对联邦调查局可谓鞭长莫及，而移民律师由於不是调查局的直接用户，在加快姓名调查的问题上更没有任何话语权。

虽然申请人对姓名调查没有直接查询、要求加快的权利，而且联邦调查局的内部程序往往又不為人知，但这并不意味著申请人永远无法知情，要饱受到网上各种传闻的误导。有的申请人收到移民局关於调整身份要求补件的通知(I-485 RFE)，便兴高采烈地认為自己的姓名调查已通过了；更有的申请人以為自己案子姓名调查所造成的延误与律师办案不力有关。其实，各位焦虑的申请人应该先瞭解一下联邦调查局的调查程序。古人云，君子取之有道，而我们各位申请人也不妨 「待之有道」，便可处变不惊。

揭开联邦调查局的神秘面纱－－姓名调查过程的剖析。

联邦调查局责任包括负责收集美国国内情报，调查联邦犯罪，保护人民免於恐怖袭击等等。调查局设立国家姓名调查处（National Name Check Program），主要负责对联邦政府僱员做背景调查(有些像中国的「政审」)，其主要的服务对象是各联邦机构。「九一一」后，姓名检查的要求以几何级数暴增，越来越多的联邦「用户」在做出行政决定前，向联邦调查局寻求个人背景资料。

国家姓名调查处的僱员负责审查分析潜在可识别的文档以决定某一个人是否曾经是联邦调查局的调查对象或曾在调查中被提及；如果答案是肯定的，任何有关信息将传递到提出调查要求的机构。值得一提的是，联邦调查局从不作出最后决定，只负责将调查结果匯报给客户机构。

国家姓名调查处的数据来源于联邦调查局中央纪录系统，该系统涵盖了联邦调查局总部，各分局，以及附属办公室的记录，并包括所有调查局的调查、行政、人事、和普通文件。国家姓名调查处的官员通过检索系统进行电子和手工检索。

国家姓名调查处的姓名调查程序复杂，在此我们只以移民局提交姓名调查要求為例，简单介绍以下几个步骤：

移民局向联邦调查局通过传真、电话、文件副本、或存储磁带等形式，正式提交姓名调查要求。

国家姓名调查处对移民局提交的申请人姓名进行批处理搜索。具体做法是对每个姓名所有可能组合以及相近的生日在通用索引中进行电子查找。大多数姓名在48至72小时内显示出「无记录」: 表明通用索引数据库没有关於该申请人可供识别的信息。「无记录」对申请人而言是大好事,表明申请人从没有成為联邦调查局调查对像或在以往的调查中从未提到过。

因為名字和出生日期并不足以将文件和个人互相关联，所以需要额外的调查。国家姓名调查处对剩餘的申请人进行第二轮人工检查，又会出现有一批「无记录」申请人。

国家姓名调查处对剩餘的纸张/电子文件进行审查以确保它们与姓名调查的要求相关。

国家姓名调查处对可供辨别的文件进行分析，已获得相关或不良纪录的信息，并告知移民局。大约在所有移民局提交的申请人姓名中有不到1%的申请人被发现有不利的信息；如果与移民相关的话，姓名调查处会对移民局提交一份总结报告。
移民局提出的姓名调查要求一般在两个星期内得到初步回应。根据联邦调查局较新数据，大约有百分之八十的申请人，其姓名调查会在72小时之内完成而顺利过关；剩下的百分之二十，大约需要等六个月；不到百分之一的申请人的等待时间要超过六个月。在初步回应时被发现与数据库记录相吻合的申请人，由於有些涉及复杂而且敏感的信息，无法迅速出具调查结果。即使联邦调查局已经向移民局提交初步回应，姓名调查最后能否通过仍取决於移民局能否获得完整信息以做出申请人是否有资格调整身份的决定。

联邦调查局官员在国会听证会作证时曾表明，联邦调查局的目标是120天完成姓名调查，其中86-92%的申请在30天内完成，98-99%的申请在120天内完成。当然，面对联邦调查局的统计和目标，我们只有表示审慎的乐观，因為根据我们目前掌握的数据来看，目前在120天无法完成姓名调查的绿卡申请人在全部被调查的申请人中所佔比例要远大於2%。

结语:

如果美国经济继续升温，各行各业对职业移民的需求也会越来越大。尤其是职业移民的前三类优先，申请人数节节上升。由於对职业移民二三类优先的劳工证已採用PERM程序，极大的缩短了审理的时间，这既是利好消息却又造成另一个不良后果：获得I-140移民申请批准的人短期内大量增加，但欲调整身份（I-485）的移民申请人因為受国度签证配额，导致某些职业移民类别排期倒退不能立刻调整身份，以获得绿卡。至於姓名调查的延误，更是对已提出调整身份申请的移民雪上加霜。由於亚裔的姓氏复杂，谐音现象严重，同名同姓也屡见不鲜，更加增大了联邦调查局姓名调查的难度。

美国房地产 已成买方市场

美国商务部7月27日公布的数据显示，由于月末库存达到历史新高水平，同时5月新屋销
售被向下修正，6月新屋销售下降。美联社说，这是四个月来美国新屋销售首次出现下降
，同时也进一步证明，近几年价格飞涨的房地产市场正在有所冷却。

　　美国商务部公布的数据表示，6月份单户型住宅销售量经季调后下降3.0%，年率为1
13.1万户。5月份新屋销售经修正后年率为116.6万户，较初值123.4万户下降了5.5%。

　　CNN报道说，美国房地产巨头最近也表示目前的美国已经是买方市场，由于有源源不
断的房屋可供销售，美国的房地产价格低靡，很多销售商持房待售。

　　来源于美国房地产经纪人全国协会6月份的报告显示，自1月份以来，美国的房屋销
售已经跌至最缓慢的地步，而价格获利已是十数年最低水平。

　　房地产产业集团称，6月份的现房销售连续第三个下降，房屋的销售量比一年前降低
了9%，更让人不安的是，销售弱势正在蔓延，全美国四个地区的销量都下降了。

　　美国中部地区的房价从5月份的22.9万美元缓慢上升至23.1万美元。但这只比一年前
增长了0.9%，这是自1995年以来房价年度升幅最小的。而在去年10月份，房价还比一年
前猛升了16.8%，当时房屋供应紧张，求购者众多。

　　美国房地产产业集团的首席经济学家大为?雷利在一份声明中说：“房屋价格方面的
变化与房屋的存量有直接的关系—一年前我们的房屋供给量有限，当时是卖方市场，月
销售量创下了历史记录。”

　　雷利继续说道：“销售商们已经认识到由于房屋供应的增加，他们需要在价格方面
表现得更有竞争力。”

　　美国目前房屋市场的总存量是370万，比一年前大幅增加了39%，也就是说按照目前
的销售速度来说，达到了6.8个月的销售存量，比2005年6月份4.4个月的存量有大幅的提
高。

　　美国房地产经纪人协会的声明说，目前的美国房地产市场已经转变为“买方市场”
，它认为这对想购房的人来说是一个好消息，而反过来，对于想卖房的人来说就是坏消
息了。

　　该协会主席维也纳.瓦说：“过去几年被火热的房地产市场弄得很气馁的人们现在有
了更多的选择了。”从地区来看，美国东北部的现房销售量下降得最多，其次是南部。
上个月，南部的销量比去年同期下降了5.5%，中间价滑至19.1万美元，比年初下降0.5个
百分点。东北部的销量也比一年前下降了9.8%，但中间价为29.8万美元，比2005年6月增
长了7.2%。中西部的销量与一个月前相同，但比一年前减少了6.2%，中间价为17.5万美
元，比2005年6月份下降了1.7%。

　　西部的现房销售与5月份相比没有什么变化，但比2005年6月份猛降了17.1%，西部地
区的中间价为34.2万美元，与一年前相同。

中国“高薪族”还太少，什么人能拿30万以上年薪？

| 消息来源：金陵晚报 | 八阕编辑：2006-08-10 | 网址：http://www.popyard.org | | 抄送朋友 | 打印保留 |

联想最新披露的年报显示，杨元庆在2005至2006财年的薪酬为2175万港元。“我想我们对得起这样的年薪。”联想集团董事局主席杨元庆如此回应被炒得沸沸扬扬的高薪事件。

曾几何时，“薪金”的高低逐渐成为了社会衡量个人能力的重要标准之一，工资待遇问题也成为了一个非常敏感而又现实的话题。“高薪”意味着可靠的经济来源，优越的生活，自我价值的体现。但是，要拿到高薪同时也要具备什么样的个人素质？高薪到底离我们有多远？当然，像杨元庆这样拿千万年薪的“打工皇帝”，实在极少。据江苏商报的一项调查显示，目前南京能拿到百万年薪的人“凤毛麟角”，50万元以上年薪的也微乎其微，多数集中在30万元左右。商报此次对南京高薪人群的全面扫描，目的是想在为这群令人羡慕的人群画像的同时，描绘出一个新的价值导向：对于正在和国际接轨的中国经济而言，更需要一种承认和尊重职业经理人价值的机制和文化。在中国力图通过经济发展提升国际形象和地位的时代，“高薪族”更有理由成为为社会所追捧的明星。因为这种人，现在还太少太少。

功名成就之后的低调

3 年内，他让生活、地位有了质的飞跃。在平常人看来，梁先生应该是年轻有为，名副其实的金领。财会专业出身的他，仅用了极短的时间，便从一家外企小员工成为大型国企的财务经理，不到30的他，年薪几十万，拥有私房、私车。怎么也想象不到，这位从一辆丰田车内钻出的魁梧男子，是一位2000年毕业的南大高材生。也许是因为职务阅历的原因，加上魁梧的身材，记者见到梁先生的初次印象，觉得他比实际年龄要显得更沉稳、成熟。与80年代相比，70年代没有他们的晚辈张扬和张狂，对待自己的功名成就总是低调处之。谈及自己几年的从业生涯，他非常谦虚，仅用“运气好”来解释一切。2000年，从南大毕业后，抱着所有年轻人都有的闯荡梦想，梁先生只身一人来到深圳。很快，谋到了一份工作，在一家外企做财务，月薪3000多元。当时的那段岁月，非常辛苦。“3000多元，在南京还算可以，可在深圳，消费水平非常高，我是捉襟见肘。”逆境能磨炼人的意志。为了熬出来，学到更多知识和经验，梁先生放弃了大量的休闲时间，钻研公司财务工作，研究财务方面的门门道道。“没有女朋友的时候，我是以公司为家。”不图名、不图利，在这家外企埋头苦干苦学了一年半的时间，积累了丰富的财务经验。这个时候，他有了回南京的念头。在外度过艰辛的两年，所谓的闯荡江湖也试过了，其中的艰辛与不易也品尝过了。独生子女的恋家情结，让梁先生毅然放弃深圳的发展，回到了南京。重回南京之时，恰逢华润物流招人，经过几轮面试，他击败了数个应聘者，顺利地成为该公司的财务经理。梁先生告诉江苏商报，这家公司之所以看上他，是因为他的那份敬业精神。他表示，分配给我的任务完不成，我是绝对不会离开公司的。“态度决定一切。也许他并不比别人聪明，但是本着踏实、勤恳工作的态度，他就一定会做得比别人出色。”而这一次，他彻底摆脱了在深圳时的窘境，年薪达到了十几万元。“我回南京那时，房价比现在便宜多了。所以，我利用工作几年的积蓄买了一套房，并不是多大惊小怪的事。”“为什么又会离开呢？对薪金的不满意？还是感觉压力大？还是有其他方面的原因？”记者追问道。他说，在华润物流，身为财务经理，由于公司企业内部的一些机制，压力确实也比较大。离开最主要的原因是公司准备发展分公司，让他到分公司去负责。而分公司的地点，又是深圳，等于他转了一大圈，又回到了原点。因此，他没有同意，毕竟已经在这边安家了。第三次跳槽，他又“幸运地”被南京一家大型房地产企业录用了，同样是财务经理，年薪又涨了不少。对现在的工作，他表示还算满意，工作也没有在外企那么累。不过近段时间比较忙，因为企业比较大，目前同时在管理两大项目。对于今后，他笑言，他不喜欢一成不变的工作，他对每个行业都充满好奇，在了解各个行业的同时，也是对他自己的一次一次的考验。将自身价值发挥到最大化。因此，他每2～3年就会换一次工作。

低调的“钻石王老五”

他来自农村，通过自己的奋斗、打拼，如今已拥有了数百万家产。未婚的他，是令人艳羡的钻石王老五。“没什么好说的，我就是一个普普通通的打工者。爸妈都是农民，晚年没有任何劳保，所以我要多赚钱，让他们生活得好一点。”Peter的开场白，谦逊又实在。Peter现在的职位是，全球500强企业之一的 Avnet（Avnet即安富利公司，美国第二大的电子元器件和电脑产品分销商）的高级销售主管。据他的朋友Andy介绍，Peter的年薪至少五六十万，但是为人相当低调。在接受江苏商报采访时，Peter一再表示，自己的经历没什么好说的，像他这样的人在南京一抓一大把，没有什么值得讲述介绍。 1993年毕业，至今，工作12年，12 年期间，换了5家单位----对于自己的经历，他描述得如此简单。据江苏商报了解，1993年，Peter从广西桂林电子学院毕业后，进入南京的国企单位熊猫集团，成为一名普通员工，领着一个月一千多的月薪。对于那段岁月，他表示，很辛苦----国企特有的体制问题，令他们这样的年轻人很是压抑，年轻人自我发挥的空间被束缚了。“有力使不出来，我们都只能成为一群愤青。”但在当时，因为工作相对稳定，保障制度也比较完善，呆在国有企业还是很吃香的。“因此，想到外面谋求更好的发展，踏出那一步，相当的不容易。始终也下不了决心。”在走与不走的矛盾之间，Peter在熊猫也耗了五六年。但当Peter真正“走出来” 之后，就开始后悔了。“出来得太晚了。”1999年，他成了一家外资企业的负责人。“为什么外企会选中你呢？”Peter说，他是被招聘进去的。有着五六年大型国企的工作经验，电子专业出身，有经验、有技术----Peter身上的这些特点，都是外企非常看重的。成功应聘后，他的第二份工作，年薪十几万。 Peter介绍，他的朋友Andy，是在熊猫工作时的同事，也是很好的哥们。和他一样，在熊猫郁闷地度过了几年之后，也选择了下海。据悉，Andy来到了一家美资企业，做了一个负责人，也享受到了美资企业优厚的年薪。Andy自己告诉记者，当时，他的前任离开时的销售业绩是200万美元，他接手后，将业绩翻了几番，达到了1000万美元。“但是，在外资企业里，作为一名负责人，算中层干部，除了丰厚的年薪听起来比较诱惑人，工作的日子实在是很无聊。”他介绍，在外企，他的下属普通员工们都很辛苦，身为负责人的他只需要把工作分配给下属，随机抽查他们的工作情况就行。其余时间，闲得让他要“抓狂”。在外企呆了3年的时间，Andy的体重增加了几十斤，达到了160斤。这个时候，他选择了离开。征得家里人的同意后，Andy又重新回到了熊猫集团，做起了产品研发。现在他已是熊猫一个下属公司的副总了。对于Andy的决定，Peter表示，当初Andy和他商讨过此事，他也曾经一度有过同样的念头----重回国企。 “你看，Andy，他现在很稳定，拥有地位，很好的保障，工资待遇虽然没外企多，也算个白领吧。但是，我最终还是没能抵得住外企的‘高薪诱惑’，打消了回国企的念头。”Peter半开玩笑地对江苏商报说。“为了生活的更好，我还要打拼，现在赚的钱是远远不够的。”人往高处走，Peter又换了几家单位，年薪由十几万，涨到二十几万，再涨到现在的四五十万。

复杂的金领生涯

用他自己的话讲，他这近二十年的经历，太复杂，可以写成一本书。的确，十多年时间里，他不停地置换身份，扮演不同的角色：国有企业负责人、港资企业高管、自己当老板、外企高管、回归国有企业高管……如今，他仍然不愿意一成不变。接下来，他会做些什么？他会选择什么样的身份？连他自己也给不了一个确切的答案。“我永远不想安分地过日子，即使放弃高薪。钱对我来讲，并不是最重要的。”接受江苏商报采访时，Jesson撂下这样一句话。1987年， Jesson从北京航天航空大学毕业后，非常顺利地被分到了机场工作。“当时的国有企业，待遇不错，在外名声也好听，有着一技之长的我就在那边度过了两年。当然，这两年也不是混过来的。我的性格不允许我自己浪费时间。两年时间内，通过实践，我在技术上积累了丰富的经验，加上踏实工作的好口碑，我的工资从最初的几百元涨到了2000多元。”上世纪 90年代，深圳、上海等地兴建机场，首都机场的部分骨干被分往这些地方。在这次“骨干分流”的大潮中，Jesson被分往上海的浦东机场。此时的他，已是处级干部，月薪也涨到了5000元左右。“上海是很多年轻人向往的城市，何况您还有一份非常稳定丰实的工作，为什么选择离开？”“因为家人在广州，想回家。”在些次采访中，江苏商报发现，在外打拼出一番事业的男士，非常看重家庭。在家庭与事业的选择上，他们会毫不犹豫地选择家庭。也许，这正是这些成功人士固有的一份自信，塞翁失马，焉知非福？回到广州的他，脱离了原先的国有企业，下海了。很快，他就得到了一家港资企业的赏识，成为这家公司在大陆区域的总经理，不仅有丰厚的年薪，还拥有部分公司股份。Jesson非常直率地表示，境外企业要想在大陆很好地开展业务，人脉关系非常重要。这家企业就是看中他的人脉关系，因为他曾经在大型国有企业呆过，好歹也是个处级干部。仅一年多的时间，他的年薪加上公司年底分红，“我拿到了几百万”。世事难料，Jesson 再怎么不安分，也绝没想到，他与这家港资企业的缘分会结束得如此之早。这是他工作时间最短的地方。1997年，因为亚洲金融风暴，这家港资企业濒临倒闭。 “我成了无业游民啦。”夹杂着浓重广东口音的Jesson，很喜欢开玩笑。“失业期间，在家好好琢磨了一番，给政府打工，给私人老板打工，烦了，厌了，前面赚了几百万，想着自己也可以当老板了。”在广州“创业潮”的带领下，1998年，Jesson开办了自己的IT通信设备工厂。可是，由于工科专业出身的他，只懂技术，不懂管理，以至产品开发出来后，后续资金不够----Jesson第一次创业失败了，前面赚来的几百万元，全部赔了进去。他指着两鬓的白发说，这些都是那个时候烦出来的。什么都没有了，一切从头来过。“老板梦破灭了，继续我的打工生涯。”“继续打工”之前，Jesson读了MBA，弥补自身所缺乏的管理才能。准备充分的Jesson，凭借多年来在业内的关系网，得知天津摩托罗拉工厂招聘高管。这一次，同样非常顺利，他被聘用了，他又成了一名替人打工的金领。在摩托罗拉的两年，是Jeeson收获颇丰的两年。但同时，作为一名外企中高层管理人员，很多时候又会闲得发慌。“恰好当时，你们南京一家大型企业出了些事情，我和这家企业的领导是朋友，他邀请我去帮他。”Jeeson知道，这一次，他的工作又要换了，“我当即答应下来。过了几天，便递了辞呈，来到了南京。”“他们给你的薪酬如何？”面对健谈的Jeeson，江苏商报抛出了最敏感的问题。“当然没有前几家给的钱多。但是钱的多少，并不能衡量我的价值。一方面，我很现实，我需要钱。另一方面，我又不现实，给我再多的钱，整天无所事事，我也不愿意。”听到“金领”字眼，Jesson直摇头，表示，他现在已经不是金领了，顶多算个白领。但他也毫不避讳地坦言，当他把这个企业盘得有气色后，他得到的分红或者是奖励也足可以让他踏入金领的行列。

美联储暂停加息 中国的房地产老板们叫好

中国经济网


美国联邦储备委员会本周二以9票赞成1票反对通过了维持现有利率水平不变的决定，基准的联邦基金利率(也称银行同业隔夜拆借利率)维持在5.25%的水平。这一结果不仅让华尔街的投资者缓了一口气，也让中国的房地产的老板们缓了一口气。

　　自2004年6月份美联储首次上调利率以来，美国联邦基金利率已经连续进行了17次上调，每次上调幅度为25个基点(即0.25%)。美联储加息引发了全球性的加息浪潮，在过去两年里全球主要工业国家几乎全都进行了程度不等的加息，有些国家甚至不止一次的加息。就在上周，欧洲中央银行、英格兰银行和澳大利亚央行几乎同时宣布加息25个基点。甚至饱受增长乏力之苦的日本上个月也宣布加息，抛弃了实施近6年的零利率政策。如此广泛和连续的加息让人们有理由相信世界经济真的进入了“加息周期”。

　　自去年下半年起，中国的房地产开发商和投资者们开始对美国的利率水平异常关注起来，有关美联储加息可能对中国经济造成影响的分析和报道也不时见诸报端。不过，中国央行对加息的心态是复杂的。加息无疑会增加人民币升值的压力，而不加息则可能纵容国内的投资过热。正是长期的超低利率政策推动了中国经济高速发展，也是长期的超低利率政策引发了中国房地产市场的空前繁荣。有中国媒体用“世界经济迎来‘息魔’”形容当前的加息风潮，正是这一心态的真实反应。

　　尽管中国的地产大亨们信誓旦旦地宣称，加息对房地产市场没有影响，但销售下滑和价格上涨乏力已经成为不争的事实。中国最火热的上海地产市场甚至已经出现了价格下降的迹象。在通常情况下，加息会对房地产投资和证券投资产生最直接的影响，因为这两类经济行为对利率的敏感程度最高。国家统计局最新公布的统计数据显示，二季度，全国70个大中城市房屋销售价格同比上涨了5.7%，明显低于去年同期8%的涨幅。其中上海房价今年第2季度还出现了2.8%的下降。此外，加息对股市的影响也非常明显。今年4月份，央行将人民币贷款利率小小提高了27个基点就导致了沪深股市的深幅下跌，而下跌幅度最大的当属地产类股票。这次加息仅仅是上调了贷款利率，存款利率仍维持不变，尽管如此，中国股市自2005年下半年开始的“牛市”还是被彻底扭转。由此可见，利息变动对证券和房地产市场的影响绝对不容小视。

　　美国的利率政策走向历来对世界经济有着重大影响。对于发展中国家而言，美国加息可能导致国际资本流向逆转，从投资大规模内流转为大规模回流美国。1994―1995年墨西哥金融危机之所以爆发，美联储加息就是重要原因之一。美联储连续加息导致投入墨西哥的外资大规模回流，才使得比索汇率难乎为继，最终爆发了墨西哥金融危机。美联储持续加息对中国的影响同样不容忽视，如果美元利率持续上升乃至高于人民币利率，就有可能引起国际投资流向逆转，这对中国吸引外资是不利因素。

　　美联储连续加息对中国可能造成的最大影响是，在全球性加息风潮的影响下，中国也将很继续难置身度外，甚至可能被迫终止实施了十多年的超低利率政策，而正是这一政策导致了中国房地产市场的空前繁荣。如果美联储持续加息，流入到中国房地产市场上的热钱肯定会减少。如果美元利率超过了人民币利率势必会导致外资流入减少，为了避免这一现象的出现中国人民银行可能也不得不提高利率。而提高利率将对中国目前过度投机的房地产市场来说构成致命一击。消费者可能因为贷款利率太高而放弃或推迟购买房屋的计划，而开发商也将会因为融资成本的提高而缩减开发规模。当由于资金短缺而使得房地产的需求最终下降的时候，中国房地产泡沫就会破裂。

　　所以，美联储暂停加息让投资者缓了一口气，也让中国的房地产开发商和投机商们缓了一口气。

　　不过，值得一提的是，美联储这一次只是暂停加息并不意味着其加息周期的真正结束。美联储在会后声明中称，一些通货膨胀的风险依然存在。为防范这些风险，可能会有进一步加息，但加息幅度及时机将取决于经济和通货膨胀前景。一个不容忽视的事实是，国际油价仍在高涨美国通货膨胀率也在高涨，这些都可能成为美联储再次恢复加息的理由。

美国《金钱》杂志：家庭理财五大问题解答

我需要多少钱才能过上舒适的退休生活？人寿保险要买多少才算合适？针对诸如此类5个有关个人和家庭理财的敏感话题，美国金钱杂志（Money Magazine）做了以下的讨论和回答。

我需要多少钱才能有一个舒适的退休生活？

答：大约是现在收入的70%到80%。得出这个数字的原因是退休之后某些消费会减少，比如你不用再花交通费，也不用再给同事买圣诞礼品。

当然，为了一些防止意外(比如健康方面的) ，如果你能额外存一些钱当然更好。而且在刚刚退休的头几年你的消费可能与现在差不多。

每个月买房子的按揭应该是收入的多少为好？

答：大约30%。这个数字是比较现实的，承担这样的按揭生活还可以比较舒适。根据Moody’s Economy.com计算，家庭总收入为$56,810的人可以买价值$230,700的房子，这样每个月的按揭是收入的24%。

听说用100减去我的年龄得出来的数字就是我总投资里应该投入股票的百分比，对吗？

答：不对。以前有人用过这个公式，理由是：你的年龄离退休越近，越应该减少高风险股票的投资，而增加比较稳定的债券类投资。

不过现在看来这个老公式过于保守，按照今天的人类平均寿命看，人们退休后的日子还很长，所以要保证钱增值率能跟得上寿命的延长。

另外，未来人们的养老金不会象过去人一样得到那么多。那么，新的公式是什么呢？应该是120减去你的年龄，这样的投资方法才有可能保证你退休后的生活质量。

买人寿保险时要买多少才合适？

答：收入的5-7倍。当然，这个数字也不是完美的，但总比不买要好。关键还是要按照各家庭自己的情况而定。

比如，你是不是有孩子的家庭里唯一赚钱的人？如果是，你的保险额至少要10倍于现在的收入。如果你没有孩子，没有按揭，配偶和你收入相当，你可以不买人寿保险。

想知道你需要多少保险么？可以到life-line.org网站去计算一下。

如果我就职的公司发行股票的话，应该投进去多少钱合适？

答：大约是收入的10%。有时公司会用股票配合你的401K投入或者以股票的形式发奖金，这样一来你的投资里一些自己公司的股票了。除此之外你就不应该再买入更多自己公司的股票。

为什么呢？因为你为公司工作已经是一种相当大的投入。如果公司发展得好，你的工作就更稳固；如果公司发展的不好而你又买了很多股票，那你不仅会失去工作还会失去所有的投资，不信就看看Enron公司雇员的遭遇吧。

西南政法大学法学一毕业生改行提刀卖猪肉

西南政法大学毕业，在超市精肉部找到工作，老师傅要收其做关门弟子，传授“一刀准”绝活。

本报讯（见习记者刘敏实习生余丽丽）提刀、斩肉，8分钟内，一块约120多斤重的半边猪就被周龙分解成了18大块。至昨天，周龙已在超市卖了整整一年的猪肉，但谁也没想到，他是西南政法大学的一名法学专业大学生。

大学毕业卖猪肉

上午，记者在中百仓储•中百山城超市红锦店精肉部见到了正捉刀斩猪肉的周龙。刚满24岁的周龙是精肉部年龄最小的员工，也是学历最高的员工。“一听说是卖猪肉，许多年青人都不愿意到这个部门来。”部门主管刘波介绍。

“这是我从学校毕业后找到的第一份工作。”周龙说，“以前在大学里学法律的时候，压根儿也没想到有一天自己会来卖猪肉。”2005年6月，周龙从西南政法大学毕业后便开始四处找工作，但却一直没找到，最后还是在一位同学的介绍下进入超市。2005年7月26日，周龙到中百仓储红锦店精肉部上班。

周龙正在超市分解猪肉

老师傅将传绝技

报到第一天，看到周龙人年轻，又是高学历，部门里的老师傅们都不看好这位“嘴上无毛”的年轻人，认为他干不了多久。

上班第一周，周龙按照主管要求斩了一个星期的猪骨，斩猪骨是精肉部门最基础的工作。“第一天下来，我手膀子都抬不起来了。”周说到，但想到这份工作也找得不容易，周坚持了下来。

3个月见习期满了后，老师傅们见周龙不但没有提前撤退，反而整天乐呵呵的，都开始喜欢这个年青人。部门里技术最好的王志伟师傅还将周龙收为自己的关门弟子，将传授自己20多年来练成的“一刀准”等绝技。

父母同学都支持

周龙工作的第4个月，师傅王志伟主动找到主管刘波———要将自己领班的职位让给这位爱徒。“我们年纪大了，还是把这些机会让给年轻人。”

经过近一年的磨练，现在已经是部门领班的周龙在技术上已经突飞猛进。

周龙还告诉记者，一开始，他也觉得读了大学出来卖猪肉面子上有些过不去，但现在没有这样的想法了，在这里上班后学到很多东西，干一行爱一行。在学校的学习他也能用上，部门向上面打报告、写工作总结主管都放心地交给他做。现在父母和同学都很支持他。

寻求压力之下的快意人生

http://news.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=news&MsgID=284627

30亿现金流入大部分失踪 草原兴发

：致命的谎言 南方日报


“领导们已经有一个月没有在公司露面了。”2006年7月17日，内蒙古赤峰市元宝山区平庄镇兴发大厦一楼电梯口，草原兴发的一位员工告诉记者。

　　记者试图联系多位公司高层，但均以正在接受证监会调查为由，拒绝接受采访。40天前，因涉嫌违反有关证券法规，中国证监会调查组正式进驻了这家公司。

　　事发于数月前草原兴发的一则“坦白”公告。今年5月18日，草原兴发发布了一则提示性公告，公告表明，2005年前三季度，公司在赊销业务发生时提前确认了销售收入3.39亿元，相应虚增了银行存款，并制造了虚假的银行凭证。

　　这些行径让人轻易联想到了曾经造假造得惊天动地的银广夏。公告之下想必掩藏着更大的秘密。本报记者经过近十天调查，试图还原出草原兴发上市多年来“海市蜃楼”的全景，却只得到了几根大致的线条。

　　但这已足够让人触目惊心。

　　数年来，草原兴发大张旗鼓地宣布，动用了10亿元收购了大批草原，但是公司一位中层却很无奈地告诉记者“我也不知道这些草地的具体位置。”还有那12家食品厂，草原兴发曾花掉了2.61亿元真金白银，却没产生任何收益。

　　另有确凿证据表明，草原兴发在运用公司资金炒作股票，2001年时曾有数亿资金在股市中游走。

　　遗憾的是，这些还远不是事情的全部——草原兴发通过IPO和两次配股共募集资金约12.49亿元；截止到2006年3月31日，公司的银行负债达到18.33亿元——总计30多亿的现金流入，大部分不知所踪。

　　知情者向本报透露，公司相关人士或将部分资金抽调到赤峰新区，投资地产。

　　传言中的“救世主”内蒙古平庄煤业（集团）有限公司一位负责人说：“平煤所有的资产填进去，也补不足里面的窟窿。”

　　而对于那些曾经被“草原绿鸟鸡”梦想打动的股民们来说，又如何来填补自己钱包的窟窿？从2001年开始，草原兴发（000780.ＳＺ）的股价从14元附近一路跌跌撞撞到了今天的2.71元。

　　对不起，这是个真相。而这样的真相出现，是因那个致命的谎言。

story about a poor but strong-willed man

disparity in Asian/white interracial dating FAQ Summary:

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~tanaka/disparity/disparity.txt

Newsgroups: soc.couples.intercultural,soc.culture.asian.american,
soc.culture.japan,soc.answers,news.answers
Followup-To: soc.couples.intercultural
Date: 01 Mar 95 21:09:41 GMT
From: tanaka@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu (TANAKA Tomoyuki)
Subject: disparity in Asian/white interracial dating FAQ
Summary:
Possible answers to the question, "Why are there much more
WM/AF couples than AM/WF couples in the USA, Japan, China
(mainland and Taiwan), Korea, ... everywhere?", which is a FAQ
in soc.couples.intercultural, soc.culture.asian.american,
soc.culture.japan, etc.

Archive-name: intercultural-couples/asian-white-disparity
Posting-Frequency: at most once every two or three months
Version: 7 (about 1300 lines)
Last-modified: 1995 3/1

--------------------------------------------------------------------
new in this version:
evolutionary psychology (Symons, Wright, Buss)
"The Joy Luck Club", "M. Butterfly"
comments by Sahai, Urushibata, Wilkinson
(NOTE non-reasons for the disparity)

see the version info at the end for the changes since version 4.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(information about this FAQ file)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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1. author/editor: as "Tanaka Tomoyuki" or "TANAKA Tomoyuki"
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3. source: Usenet, , Internet, etc.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------
(abstract (contents))

I speculate on the reasons why there are much more WM/AF (white
male/Asian female) couples than AM/WF couples in the USA.

(0) Statistical and legal facts

Causes of the disparity:
(1) racism, asymmetric conception of marriage, and "marrying up"
(2) male-dominant dating custom and AM timidity/"unattractiveness"
(3) pervasive media bias
(4) feminism and sexism
(4.1) WMs intimidated by feminism, mail-order brides
(4.2) AFs escaping poverty and sexism in Asia
(4.3) first generation AMs intimidated by assertive American women
(4.4) AMs expected to carry on the family line
(4.5) AAFs believe AAMs are sexist
(4.6) AF attractiveness enhanced by sexist ideal of beauty
(5) the height factor
(5.1) Is height a big factor?
(5.2) the origins of the height factor
(5.3) not so innocuous aspects of the height factor
(5.3.1) the sexist element of the height factor
(5.3.2) A part of the height factor may be related to racism.
(6) war brides and businessmen's brides
(7) colonization: national images of the conqueror and the subservient

(Conclusion)

(NOTE published material on the subject of this article)
(NOTE B/W couples)
(NOTE B/A couples)
(NOTE non-reasons for the disparity)

(Appendix A) suggestions on dating for shy AMs
(Appendix B) Alan Hu's Section 9
(References)

(In this article "Asians" include "Asian Americans" unless context
implies otherwise. When I say "Asians" I have in mind East Asians
(Japanese, Chinese, Korean) and, to a lesser extent, Southeast
Asians (Vietnamese, Filipino). There seems to be little disparity
in either direction for Indian/white marriages.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Introduction)
Some time ago I read a very well written article on Usenet
on interracial dating by Alan Hu [ajh 1994] (see References at
the end). His article covers such topics as:
--- is there anything wrong with interracial relationships,
and why do people always make a big deal about them?
--- what are some stupid explanations for the disparity
and why are they wrong?
--- why is media bias so powerful?
--- what should we do about all this? (see Appendix B)

I've been interested in the issues surrounding interracial
dating for the last 10 years or so, and I've always wanted to
write an article on it, but I was discouraged by the size of the
task. Alan Hu's views on the subject were similar to mine, and
what's left to be said didn't seem like an impossibly large
amount. I felt that I could complement his article by providing
more analysis of the reasons for the disparity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(0) Statistical and legal facts

(0.1) Statistical facts

--- The ratio of WM/AF married couples to AM/WF counterparts is
3.3 (to 1) in the USA, according to calculations based on data
presented in the paper [Lee and Yamanaka 1990].

For US-born Asian Americans (second and later generations) the
ratio is 1.7.

For foreign-born Asian Americans (first generation) the ratio
is 4.8. If I take out Indians from the group (leaving Japanese,
Chinese, Korean Vietnamese, Filipino) the ratio is 7.0.

--- According to the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner (Sunday
_Image_ supplement, December 2, 1990) WM/AAF marriages
outnumber AAM/WF marriages by 4 to 1 in San Francisco.
In Sacramento the ratio is 8 to 1 [ajh 1994].

(Tanaka's note: People I've talked to in the various parts
of this country told me that these ratios seem too low.
That is, the observed ratio from real life is somewhere
between 10:1 and 20:1. We suspect two reasons for this
discrepancy: (i) Most of the A/W couples that we see are
casually dating, not married (and will not marry). Among
dating couples the ratio is somewhere between 10:1 and
20:1. see Sahai's comments. (ii) The Hawaii factor.)

(0.2) Legal facts

--- "Only in 1948 were California's antimiscegenation statutes
declared unconstitutional, and it was not until 1967 that all
such statutes in the United States were removed from the books
or lapsed from disuse." [Chan 1991, Pages 60-61]
In other words, only 3 or 4 decades ago interracial marriage was
illegal in some states and socially unacceptable in the USA as a
whole.

--- However, even then, WM/AF couples were legally (and socially)
accepted as exceptions by laws such as the War Brides Act of 1945.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Causes of the disparity)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) racism, asymmetric conception of marriage, and "marrying up"

Why is it that in married couples the men tend to be slightly
older? men wanting younger mates and women wanting older mates
seems to be a human universal [Buss 1994].
This is the result of several competing pressures. On
one hand there is a pressure to keep partners close in age, so
that they may have more in common. On the other hand, there
are pressures to prefer a younger wife:

--- Female beauty and youth is valued so much, especially for a
wife. In the old days when medicine was not as advanced,
it was crucial for a wife to be young and healthy so that
she may have many, healthy children.

--- in men, qualities more valued than physical appearance and
youth are wealth and social status, both of which are
correlated with higher age [Buss 1994].

--- A marriage has had the aspect of the "wife serving the
master", doing the housework for him and raising his
children. It was somehow more natural for a younger person
to be serving an older, more accomplished person.

asymmetric conception of dating and marriage
The latter factor is the view that sees dating and marriage not
as meeting of two equals but as a union of the dominant and the
subservient. Sex is seen by many not as an activity between two
equal participants but as something that a man "does" to a woman
(I'm talking about heterosexual sex). Don't we (both men and
women) say "fuck you!" to express hostility and superiority?
Even for apes, mounting is a ritual of domination.

Racism affects Asians, whites, and others alike, and makes
people have the idea that whites are better or superior
[Daniels and Kitano 1970] [Tanaka 1994 V.Chin].
This combines with the asymmetric conception of dating and
marriage to produce the effect that a WM/AF couple is much more
acceptable than a AM/WF couple. An image of an AM/WF couple
just "doesn't seem right". It strikes a nerve. This is why we
see so few AMs in romantic relationships with WFs on TV and in
films (even, or especially, porno videos).

--- When a WM starts dating an AF, either he receives no special
resistance or comments, or he will receive both positive
and negative comments from his peers and family.

--- When a WF starts dating an AM, she gets mostly racist
comments from her peers and family:
"You are very attractive and intelligent and everything.
You can get ANY guy you wanted. WHY do you have to go
out with that ASIAN guy?"

People care about what other people think about them, especially
their friends and family. This striking difference in the
reactions to the two kinds of A/W interracial dating may be the
largest reason for the disparity.

(impressionistic) I'd say in the mainland USA, 80% of WFs will
not consider dating an AM. there may be regional differences
making the percentages, perhaps, 70% in California and 90% in
Indiana. much smaller percentage (10-30%) of WMs will rule out
the possibility of dating AFs. the percentage of AMs and AFs
who would not date whites solely because of race, I think, is
very small (5-20%).

"marrying up"
In many societies (including this one), it has traditionally
been more common for a female to "marry up" in the social
hierarchy than for a male to "marry up". I believe this
tendency is caused by the following. Since the male child
carries the family name and maintains the social status in the
hierarchy, there is an incentive for a woman to marry up to that
level, so that she may enjoy higher status and wealth. On the
other hand, there is no incentive for a man to marry up. No
upward movement in the hierarchy results from such a marriage,
and the couple may be uncomfortable because a person of higher
origin would be "serving" a person of lower origin.
(I have to change the above paragraph in at least two
ways: (a) In a really traditional society (like pre-WW2
Japan), it wasn't women who wanted to marry up; it was
their fathers who wanted to use their daughters as
tools. (b) There may be some incentive for AMs to
"marry up" to the white level as well.)

Such thinking is still strong among the women today. In the New
York area Ginie Polo Sayles offers a course called "How to marry
the rich" targeted at such women based on her book by the same name.

In an interracial context the motivation is mainly
socio-psychological rather than financial, since Asians and
whites in the USA earn roughly the same amount on average.
AFs would want to "marry up" socio-psychologically by marrying
WMs. There is less incentive for AMs to "marry up" to WFs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) male-dominant dating custom and AM timidity/"unattractiveness"

(2.1) male-dominant dating custom

Even though dating customs have been changing in this country
for the last few decades, it is still considered more normal
for men to ask women out. Usually men take the initiative,
planning things, thinking of things to do, ..., even bringing
up the big question, "Will you marry me?" All the women have
to do is to say YES or NO.

(2.1.1) biological basis of the male-dominant dating custom

males taking the initiative in courtship --- this is found in
all (?) human societies, all apes, all mammals, ..., in almost
all species of animals. now scientists believe that this
disparity is biological, and explained as follows.

for most species of animals, the potential rate of reproduction
is much higher for males than for females. for example, a
human male can impregnate a different female every day
(potential reproduction rate: 1/day), whereas a human female
can get pregnant only once a year (potential reproduction
rate: 1/year). for such a species, sexual aggressiveness in
males is an evolutionary advantage, much more so than in
females. a good strategy for females is to fend off unwanted
males until a male showing promises of good genes comes along.

while human behavior is heavily influenced by culture, behavior
of other animals are entirely (or mostly) biologically determined.
scientists (evolutionary psychologists) now believe that many
aspects of basic human behavior are based on biology.

(Martin Phipps pointed this out.
see [Symons 1979] [Wright 1994].)

(2.2) AM timidity/cautiousness in dating
Almost all people I have talked to said that they think AMs are
more well-behaved, timid, unadventurous, ... compared to WMs,
although media images may be influential in the formation of
such impressions. While this tendency may be slight in many
other situations in life, it is more marked in a dating
situation. Consider how gay people are cautious about
approaching people they are attracted to. I find myself being
similarly cautious in these situations --- just as gay people
wonder, "Is he (or she) straight?", I wonder, "She's cute, but
would she be interested in an Asian guy?"

This timidity/cautiousness in dating is caused by the following.

(2.2.1) American racism and discrimination causing general politeness
and conservative thinking.
American society generally expects AMs to be more passive
and quiet. sometimes, American society *DEMANDS* AMs to be
passive and quiet. consider the case of Vincent Chin: when he
was harassed with racial slurs and epithets, he didn't just
keep quiet as he was expected to; instead, he talked back to a
white man, and hit him. a fistfight ensued. this upset Ronald
Ebens so much that he drove around for 20 minutes looking for
Chin, and beat Chin to death with a baseball bat. American
legal system decided that the killing was semi-justified by
giving Ebens a very light sentence (fines and probation).
[Tanaka 1994 V.Chin]
Even Asian-Americans born and reared in the US get such
remarks as "We don't want your kind around here. Go back to
your own country." [NY Times 1994].
As a result:
--- Asians tend to be well-behaved, polite, etc. to avoid such
remarks and behavior.
(I wonder if there is a way to prove this tendency
empirically. What kind of statistics would support
this? Asian vs white ratio comparisons of explorers,
anti-establishment activists (journalists), etc?)
--- Asians tend to be more practical, conservative, and
unadventurous in their thinking. This tendency, together with
(i) Asian value system emphasizing education and (ii)
suitability of technical careers for first-generation
Asian-Americans with below average language skills, results in
the disproportionately large presense of AMs in practical fields
such as engineering, computers, and medicine.

(2.2.2) AMs are perceived as less attractive than WMs (see below),
resulting in such remarks as, "WHY do you have to go out with
that ASIAN guy?" (Section (1)), causing AMs to be extra cautious
in potential dating situations.

(2.2.3) Asian conception of dating
Dating, asking women out, hitting on women, ... these are less
expected of men in Asian cultures than in American culture
(which, in turn, may expect it less than in Italian or Mexican
cultures). A Japanese female I know told me that compared to
when she was living in Japan, in this country she gets hit on
10 or 20 as often. First generation AMs typically are too
"gutless" when it comes to these things, even though this
effect is smaller in second, third, and later generations.

from: Anant Sahai
|
| You (in my mind rightly) assert that AMs are less "adventurous"
| about asking females out. I think that there is an additional
| reason for this that you have not mentioned: the difference in
| the conceptions of dating.
|
| It seems to me that "white society" does not consider dating
| relationships to be that serious. They are considered to be
| temporary and a time for experimentation and "learning about
| yourself." This can be seen by phrases such as "he's just
| sowing his wild oats" and the like. In contrast, it seems to
| me that Asians do not share this attitude. To us (I am
| Indian), interpersonal relationships are far more important.
| This leads to a certain cautious and reserved nature.
|
| So, it is quite possible for a WM who does not seriously
| consider the probability of marrying an AF to go out with one
| "just to see what it is like" or to "get it out of his
| system." NOTE: This is not considered to be devious or evil by
| his society. An AM would be far less likely to just "try it
| out."

(2.2.4) Limited English (first generation AMs)
I have observed that Japanese females become fluent in spoken
English in the USA much more quickly than Japanese males do.
see Urushibata's comments in Section (4.4).

(2.3) AM "unattractiveness"
AMs are perceived as less attractive than WMs.
This is caused by the following.
1. racism. The white race is seen as better or superior.
2. media bias. See Section (3).
3. AM lack of confidence
All these factors may result in the sense of inferiority and
lack of confidence in the AMs. Such feelings and expectations
can be self-fulfilling. This is a big factor in dating.
4. AM well-behaved-ness
WMs tend to be less well-behaved and more boorish, but these
qualities constitute elements of male attractiveness.
"Arnold and Stallone are typical of the American idea of
masculinity. We're talking huge proportions, hairy chests
and sheer physical prowess capable of massive quantities of
senseless violence. IQ is optional, and Alan Alda is still a
wimp." [arthurhu 1994 (1990?)]

(2.4) how these factors combine

--- AMs will not be as active in dating, especially in asking WFs
out (because of timidity), and when they do, they have less
chance of success (because of perceived "unattractiveness", and
because of other factors discussed in this article).

--- There is something a bit adventurous about dating or marrying
out of one's race. WMs are more adventurous (less cautious)
than AMs. This contributes to the disparity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) pervasive media bias

The image of Asian-Americans and Asians as integral and common
part of society is severely under-represented in the media
[booklet "Asian Pacific Americans", Page 10].
When Asians do appear they are represented in a very skewed way
[Tanaka 1995 misconceptions].

Alan Hu writes in [ajh 1994]:
|
| [...] Asian men are portrayed as: asexual martial arts
| masters, asexual viet cong guerrillas, asexual servants, and
| asexual geeks.
| Asian women get to be prostitutes, geisha,
| repressed-daughters-named-May-Ling-of-cruel-oppressive-
| emperors-(there's another male role)-waiting-to-be-sexually-
| liberated-by-a-real-(white)-man, and recently, newscasters.
| [...]
| As another data point, look at the (infrequent) interracial
| couples in films: the man is almost invariably white.
|
| You may say, "Media bias shmedia bias, that's just for
| weak-minded people." If you doubt the tremendous influence
| the media has on what we know and how we think, consider
| these questions.
|
| --- Who is the president of the US? How do you know?
| --- What is the circumference of the Earth? How do you know?
| --- Who first invented movable-type printing? How do you know?
|
| If you were able to answer all of these questions based
| entirely on first-hand knowledge and your acute mental
| powers, I'll be thoroughly impressed.

The media consistently portrays WM, WF, and AF as attractive,
and AM as unattractive. The film "The Joy Luck Club" presents
this clear categorization.
--- Asian females are beautiful and good.
--- Asian males are sexist and bad.
--- white males are good.
see [Tanaka 1995 JLC].

Western men's fascination with "mysterious, sensuous Oriental
women" is more than a century old.
see [Wilkinson 1990] Chapter 12 Madam Chrysanthemum.

the image of attractive, affectionate Asian male is almost
nonexistent in the media.
there are some exceptions to the Asian stereotype:
the main character in the Taiwanese-American film "The
Wedding Banquet";
James Iha, the Japanese-American guitarist in Smashing
Pumpkins;
Russell Wong in the TV show "Vanishing Son"?;
Yo-Yo Ma; Brandon Lee; Lance Ito?
We need to have more of these.

(summary)
The pervasive media has the following effects:

--- We are influenced to perceive Asians as invisible and less
important than whites. We are also influenced to perceive
WM, WF, and AF as attractive, and AM as unattractive.
(This contributes to the factors discussed almost everywhere
in this article.)

--- In the media (and in real life) we are bombarded by images
of WM/AF couples: James Bond (and his clones) wooing Asian
girls, and John and Yoko, to name a few. This exposure
makes us see WM/AF couples as more normal or natural. We
are more conservative than we like to think, and to a large
extent we do what we think we are expected to do and avoid
what we are not expected to do.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(4) feminism and sexism

(4.1) WMs intimidated by feminism, mail-order brides
Many conservative WMs feel pressured by the feminism movement in
the last decades. They can't quite adjust to the changing
times, and feel intimidated by the modern, more assertive women.
They have a hard time finding conservative women and try to
meet AFs, who they believe are more subservient than the WFs.
Some men go so far as to seek mail-order brides from Asia. But
these men are just a tip of the iceberg; for each man who turns to
such a service, there are hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of men
who try to meet Asian women on their own or through personal ads.
There is no corresponding pressure for a AM-WF match.

from [booklet "Asian Pacific Americans", Page 12]:
| Approximately 50 companies, whose clients are generally white
| men, provide catalogs of women from Asian Pacific countries,
| primarily the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and other
| Southeast Asian countries. The catalogs give names, physical
| descriptions, ages, addresses, and other information.
| Generally, the client corresponds with several women in the
| catalog until he finds a suitable wife.
| In a 1984 pamphlet, the founder of American Asian Worldwide
| Services describes the attraction of such women for American
| men: "(Asian Pacific women) are born with tradition for
| respect toward their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and
| husbands. They believe that husbands should be the head of the
| family. They do not believe in women's liberation."

(4.2) AFs escaping poverty and sexism in Asia
Many Asian cultures give women rather limited opportunities,
more so than to men. Thus when AFs arrive in the US they have
an incentive to escape from Asian culture and date or marry men
who (they believe) will give them "western style" freedoms. No
corresponding incentive for a AM/WF matching.

(4.3) first generation AMs intimidated by assertive American women
Some first generation AMs are so conservative that they are not
even interested in American women, because they (the AMs say)
are too assertive and pushy. It's probably also because
interracial dating is too daring a thought for them.

(4.4) AMs expected to carry on the family line
"Males were very important and privileged in the traditional
Japanese family. They, especially the eldest son, were
responsible for carrying on the family line. This
responsibility might have discouraged them from making
nontraditional marriages." [Tinker 1982]
This may apply to other Asian groups and to second and later
generations.

from: Akira Urushibata
| (slightly edited by Tanaka)
|
| You may have heard that among Japanese families who spend
| intermediate terms (a few years -- several years) in North
| America and Europe, male children tend to attend Japanese
| schools and female children tend to attend local schools.
| It is not uncommon for brothers and sisters from the same
| family to be attending different schools.
| (Tanaka personally thinks this is pretty uncommon.)
|
| Moreover, many boys go back to Japan before the rest of the
| family, to attend a junior high school or high school there,
| while girls often continue to college in the foreign country.
| I've never seen any statistics, although I've heard of it
| several times.
|
| Indeed, there is a Janglish word "bi-lin-gal" that refers to
| Japanese girls (or women) who have lived abroad and speak the
| foreign language fluently. There is no corresponding word for
| males in colloquial Japanese.
|
| See "Japan's `International Youth'" Roger Goodman, Oxford Univ.
| Press, Claredon Paperbacks, page 152.

(4.5) AAFs believe AAMs are sexist
Many Asian-American females believe that AMs are brought up in
more male-dominated households and therefore more sexist than
WMs. They believe that WMs are more likely to have undergone
the effects of feminism, and therefore more likely to be
liberal-minded.

(4.6) AF attractiveness enhanced by sexist ideal of beauty
The current ideal of female beauty in this country focuses on
slimness to the point of forcing many women to attempt crash
diets. Women used to want to look like Marilyn Monroe and Jane
Mansfield; now they want to have skinny legs like Julia
Roberts's. AFs are usually smaller and thinner, and by chance
happen to fit this ideal better. (slimness is also related to
looking young. Asians often look younger than their age.)
A similar coincidental factor is that WMs tend to be bigger
and taller than AMs, and large body-size is usually considered
attractive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(5) the height factor

(5.1) Is height a big factor?

In the earlier versions of this article, this is all that I had
on the height factor in A/W dating disparity.
A similar coincidental factor is that WMs tend to be
bigger and taller than AMs, and large body-size is
usually considered attractive.

I didn't think it was such a big factor. We are not so
superficial that we are turned off by an otherwise-attractive
person just because that person is a little too short or too
tall, are we? I guess I never thought about it much because I'm
of average height for a Japanese male, and it was never an issue.

Then I came across this passage in a textbook.
The second condition for passionate love to occur is the
presence of an appropriate love object. For most
people, that means a physically attractive member of the
opposite sex, about the same age, with the male taller
than the female, and neither deeply involved in another
relationship.
(Baron and Byrne "Social Psychology" (5th ed.)
Allyn and Bacon, 1987. Page 209)

I was very surprised when I read this. Maybe the condition "the
male taller than the female" IS important for many people.
Maybe short males and tall females are having harder times in
dating than I had thought. If there is a large cultural
pressure to desire that the male be taller than the female in a
couple, then this would contribute to the disparity, and this
factor may be more significant than I had originally thought.

(5.2) the origins of the height factor

Many people seem to consider it desirable in a couple that the
male is taller than the female; in an "ideal" couple the male
would be a little taller than the female. How did this ideal
arise? A part of it must be that such a combination was most
common, and became an archetype.

the reason that males are usually bigger than females in humans
(and other primates?) must be the result of natural selection.
(I hope you believe in evolution.) The selection pressure
favored bigger, stronger males as fighters and hunters.

There is another, more subtle factor: perhaps our aesthetic
sense which makes big, strong-looking males seem attractive to
us may be biological or genetic [Buss 1994]. See Richard
Dawkins's book "The Selfish Gene" for the idea that behavioral
or psychological tendencies can be attributed to specific
genes, like genes for homosexuality.

Whatever the cause may be, this cultural pressure is there, and
since whites are taller than Asians on average, this contributes
to the disparity favoring WM/AF couples over AM/WF couples.

It's a factor that's purely coincidental and by chance (or
biological), and has nothing to do with racism or sexism, just
like if you get injured in an earthquake living in Tokyo (where
there are many earthquakes) instead of living in Indiana, you're
just unlucky, pure and simple. right?

(5.3) not so innocuous aspects of the height factor

Well, I don't believe that the height factor is entirely
coincidental and innocuous, for the following reasons.

(5.3.1) the sexist element of the height factor

The height factor is also supported by the image of a strong,
dominant male protecting the frail female, or perhaps the image
of a more important (significant) person being served by a less
important person. You could say that this cultural aspect,
related to the asymmetric conception of dating and marriage, is
an elaboration or exaggeration of genetic gender roles.

(5.3.2) A part of the height factor may be related to racism.
(This is a very subtle point.
Please just ignore it if you don't agree with it.)

(5.3.2.a) All white features become attractive features.

Once racism takes root in people's minds, it affects every
aspect of our aesthetics. All white features become attractive
features, not just height:
[1] light skin color
In Asian countries light skin color has always been an
attractive feature, for it was a sign of wealth and
nobility (not having to work outdoors farming, etc).
this trend was intensified by the Western influences.
this book (WAGATSUMA Hiroshi and YONEYAMA Tosinao,
"henken no kouzou" (structure of prejudice), NHK books,
1967) traces the changes in the Japanese aesthetic
standards through history, including those toward
whites and blacks.
You may wonder, "Then why do so many white people
have an obsession with tanning?" Well, that's a
different story (which doesn't weaken my argument in
any way). I read in the book "Manwatching" by Desmond
Morris years ago that (after Industrial Revolution) a
tan became a symbol of wealth. It shows that the
person is so rich that he/she can spend time frolicking
in the sun, instead of working indoors (e.g., in a
factory) all the time.
[2] light hair color
This must be the reason (or one of the reasons) why
blond hair is regarded so highly. I have heard
sometimes that blond females are no longer the standard
of beauty in this country. I disagree with this. Would
someone ask hairstylists the approximate ratio of number
of people who dye their hair lighter to that of people
who dye their hair darker (excluding those who are dyeing
their gray hair)?
[3] curly (but not "kinky") hair
[4] the shape of nose, eyes, forehead, ..., the whole face

In Japan this effect has been grave and insidious.
(The 7-year American occupation (see Section (7)) and
Hollywood movies were strong factors in this.)
[1] many women put makeup on their faces to look lighter
"One of these is the adoption of the Caucasian standards
for physical beauty. ... This is not a phenomenon
peculiar to the Japanese Americans, but one which seems
to be characteristic of many minorities. That the
blacks in the United States, at least for a long time,
adopted white standards of appearance is indicated by
the extensive advertisement and sale of skin bleaches
and hair straighteners." [Tinker 1973]
[2] many women dye their hair to a lighter color
[3] many women curl their hair
Japanese (or Asian) women perm their hair to look more
white. Blacks (used to) straighten their hair to look
more white. Malcolm X: "The white devil has taught you
to hate yourself so much that you put hot lye in your
hair to make it look like his hair."
(from "Autobiography of Malcolm X")
[4] many women have surgical operations on their noses, eyes, and
the rest of the faces to become more white-looking.

(A number of people have pointed out to me, "women with straight
hair get it curled; women with curly hair get it straightened."
That surely is a factor in perming hair, dyeing hair, cosmetic
surgery, ... . The principle is that in fashion (aesthetic sense)
humans are never satisfied with their bodies as they are.
Bernard Rudofsky, "Unfashionable human body" explores this issue.)

I've noticed that most movie actors and TV-stars in Asia have
relatively white features, indicating similar forces at work in
the rest of Asia.

(5.3.2.b) In the American media, the Asian male is a target of
mockery and derision, including his height.

I discuss the general case of this in Section (3) pervasive
media bias. Have you seen the movie "Gung-ho" (late 80s), with
the fierce mockery of the Japanese businessmen in the USA?

For the particular point of the Asian male's height, consider
the successful, Asian-looking midget actor who appeared in the
James Bond movie "Man with a golden gun" as a servant to
Salamanda(?) played by Christopher Lee. The actor may not be
Asian, but in the movie he speaks English with a weird,
fake-sounding Asian accent.
(I'm told that the actor, Herve Villechaize, was French. I
still maintain that the pretense in the film was that he was a
Pacific Islander. Do you remember the scene where he holds a
knife between his teeth and jumps from the ceiling? Also he
spoke English with an affected mock-Asian (definitely not
French) construction, like, instead of saying "I won't move."
he'd say "I no move." The story was set in Southeast Asia and
the script probably asked for a Pacific Islander.)

(5.3.2.c) summary

Therefore (following (a) and (b)), I am lead to believe that
although it is primarily the case that white males are considered
more attractive than Asian males because they are taller, there
is also a sense in which tallness is considered an attractive
feature because it is a white (as compared to Asian) feature.

In other words, even if tallness were not an attractive feature
by itself, it would still have become an attractive feature when
comparing WMs with AMs, just by the virtue of the fact that it's
a WM feature. In reality tallness is an attractive feature by
itself, and its effectiveness must be enhanced by the fact that
it's a WM feature.

"Aren't black guys taller?"
Some people have asked me, "blacks (black males) in the US seem
to be a little taller than whites on average. According to what
you're saying, doesn't this mean BMs are more attractive in this
respect than WMs?" My reply: height as an attractive feature is
not like, "the taller the better". The main thing is that the
male should be taller than the female in a couple. So I suppose
that height is not an issue with blacks as a group since they
are usually tall enough.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(6) war brides and businessmen's brides

Most of Americans who go to Asia and stay there long enough to
date are white males. They are typically businessmen and
soldiers. (it was pointed out to me that soldiers and business
people are mostly men because of traditional gender roles.)
Some of them bring back Asian brides. Even if they don't bring
back brides, some of them may have acquired a fondness for Asian
females.

I'm not sure how significant a factor this is in terms of
numbers. but war brides had a great impact in spreading the
notion that "Asians make good wives."

of course, this alone does not explain anything, because many
tens of thousands of Japanese businessmen and bankers are
stationed in the USA and Europe, much more than the American
and European businessmen in Japan [Wilkinson 1990, Page 220].
it is not the sheer number of stationed businessmen but other
factors in this article that cause the disparity.

from the excellent play and film, "M. Butterfly" (1994,
screenplay by David Henry Hwang):
Gallimard (French diplomat): [about the opera "Madame Butterfly"]
It's a very beautiful story. [...]
Song (Chinese singer): It's one of your favorite fantasies,
isn't it? the submissive Oriental woman and the cruel
white man. [...] Consider it this way: what would you
say if a blonde homecoming queen fell in love with a
short Japanese businessman? He treats her cruelly,
then goes home for three years, during which time she
prays to his picture and turns down marriage from a
young Kennedy. Then, when she learns he has remarried,
she kills herself. Now, I believe you would consider
this girl to be a deranged idiot, correct? But because
it's an Oriental who kills herself for a Westerner ---
ah! --- you find it beautiful.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(7) colonization: national images of the conqueror and the subservient

For the past centuries white westerners have invaded, conquered,
and colonized the lands of Asians and Asian-looking peoples
(indigenous Americans). In colonies the conquerors could do
anything they wanted with the locals, including the local
(Asian) women.

Take Japan for example. While Japan was occupied by the USA for
7 years starting 1945, it was common for American soldiers to
mug Japanese citizens, rape Japanese women, and to kill/harm
Japanese citizens and go unpunished. In occupied Japan the
press was forbidden to report the American soldiers' wrongdoings.
(Some of these cases are described in [Ienaga 1978].)
Poor women were forced to become prostitutes that catered to
American soldiers.

Japanese people thought then, "Since we lost the war and
unconditionally surrendered, they (Americans) can do whatever
they want with our country and our women, and we must bear the
humiliation."

Even today such things occur in Japan. In 1992 two American
soldiers fled Japan after becoming suspects in an armed
robbery. In 1993 an American soldier accused of raping a
Japanese woman escaped Japan. As far as I know neither the U.S.
Army nor U.S. government has taken measures to capture or try
these individuals [UPI 1993].

Perhaps this history has engraved in people's unconscious that
somehow there is something "normal" or "natural" about WM/AF
pairings (more so than the AM/WF counterparts). To the extent
that these images exist in people's minds they will contribute
to the disparity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Conclusion)
This disparity in A/W interracial dating that exists is a
manifestation of racism and sexism, mainly in the USA, and
historical imperialism.
(If you're not convinced, please take time to go over
the factors to see that almost all of them are linked to
racism, sexism, or imperialism.)
They cause biased images in the media, which in turn fuel more
racism and sexism.

I have no intention whatsoever to attack WM/AF couples --- WM/AF
couples in general, nor any particular WM/AF couples. I'm glad
they don't encounter great resistance from society. People
grow fond of each other between any races, ages, cultures,
nationalities, social classes, and other attributes, and some of
them date or get married. That's wonderful. However, there is
some resistance when the people are from different races. This
resistance is very great between an AM and a WF. There are
pressures to keep such a relationship from happening, and once
it's happened there are pressures to destroy it. I have
speculated on the nature of such pressures, which are ultimately
causing the disparity.

What I presented is only a speculation. It is not a deductive
proof in any sense. I saw a seemingly unusual phenomenon (the
disparity), and I thought and speculated about what could be
causing it. If you come up with something I haven't thought of,
please let me know.

As long as racism and sexism persist in this country, so will
this disparity. In my life I will do what I can to eliminate
racism and sexism. I hope you'll join us in this effort.

(Questions to ponder:
I want people to think more about what's beyond the
surface. Here are some sample questions.
1. Is it true that A/W dating disparity is caused
because WMs are less racist than WFs?
2. Why is it that, in the USA, the best basketball
players are mostly black but the best
(Olympic-level) swimmers are all white?)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(NOTEs)

(NOTE published material on the subject of this article)

Recently (in May 1994) I finally found some published material
that touch upon the subject of this article (facts on the
disparity, and its causes):
--- [Kikumura and Kitano 1973]
--- [Kitano, et al. 1984]
--- [Tinker 1973]
--- [Tinker 1982]
(I looked at two other related but less relevant papers.)

I was disappointed to find that the speculations on the causes
in these papers were not bold or comprehensive. In particular,
none of these papers mention the following factors.
(1) racism combined with asymmetric conception of marriage
(3) pervasive media bias
(7) colonization: national images of the conqueror
and the subservient
Perhaps this is mainly due to professional cautiousness.
I find it hard to believe that these researchers in the field
hadn't thought of things Alan Hu and I have written about.
([arthurhu 1994 (1990?)], which I found in late May, emphasizes
the factor (2). I don't believe it mentions (1) or (7).)

Please let me know if you find other published material.

Finally, an awful thought: so I speculated that AMs are less
active in dating, and perhaps that they have less success at
dating and marriage. Does this mean that today in the USA,
substantially more AMs spend lonely lives without ever getting
married? (I'm kind of scared to find out the statistics on this.)
(then I thought: marriages and long-term relationships
have to do with sincerity, trust, etc much more than
with superficial attractiveness. in fact, being too
concerned with superficial appeal is harmful to a good
marriage or a long-term relationship. so AMs in the USA
are in good shape here.)

(NOTE B/W couples)
Another related question is, why are there more BM/WF couples
than WM/BF couples? Black males' outmarriage rate in 1986 was
more than three times that of black females' (U.S. Bureau of
Census, 1987). Some studies show that the disparity goes the
other way [Porterfield 1982]. Porterfield's article gives
possible explanations for this disparity (whichever way it may
be). In sociology it has been known that there is a "general
tendency for the men of a racial, religious, or ethnic minority
to out-marry to a greater extent than the women".

(NOTE B/A couples)
The data presented in [Lee and Yamanaka 1990] indicates that
BM/AF couples are much more common than AM/BF couples. I've
known some BM/AF couples personally and seen many such couples
(in the USA and Japan), but I've never seen or heard of an AM/BF
couple in my life. (You don't have to write to me; I know they
exist.) This disparity naturally follows from the factors
discussed in this article.

(NOTE non-reasons for the disparity)

(non-reason 1) because men are more interested in looks than women are.

men (straight or gay) are more concerned with physical
appearance in a possible mate than women are in most (all?)
human cultures [Symons 1979] [Buss 1994].
but this would contribute to the disparity only if Asian
females are generally thought of as more physically attractive
than white females are, which I don't believe is the case.

(non-reason 2) because opposites attract.

this, if true, would contribute to the number of intercultural
or intercultural couples as a whole, but not to the disparity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Appendix A) suggestions on dating for shy AMs

I know that not all AMs are shy. I'm not. and I know some
Asian guys who are not. but some are, and for those AMs who are
on the shy side, here are some suggestions that may be helpful.

most of these suggestions are race-unspecific. any guy
(or even woman, actually) who is on the shy side would
benefit from these, I think.

An Asian male wrote to me in a letter (quoted by permission):
|----------------------------------------------------------------
| I think it is wrong to assume most WFs will not date an AM.
| I am a Chinese American male, and I really don't feel I have a
| problem dating WFs at all. I think most AMs assume WFs will not
| date them because of all the racial prejudices, etc.
|
| If you ask any WF, chances are she get hit on by males of all
| races except AMs. AMs seem to lack confidence when it comes to
| hitting on WFs. They simply don't try.
|
| (So if you try, you'll be surprised.)
|
| I also know most AFs prefer to date AMs. I strongly recommend
| AMs ask those AFs out. Otherwise, it is just matter of time
| before someone else does.

another letter from him:
|----------------------------------------------------------------
| Date: Mon, 15 Aug 94 ...
| From: ...
| To: TANAKA Tomoyuki
|
| Tomoyuki -
|
| Thanks for putting that up. I also have few more suggestions
| for the article as well.
|
| 1. Do something to improve your outer appearance. Buy some new
| clothes, develop a new attitude about life. If you seem upbeat,
| people around you will notice and rub off on you.
|
| 2. Have pride in your Asian-ness, don't just say it, do it by
| living it. I found my Asian pride through practicing martial
| arts (yeah yeah, it is stereotypical but it helps). People
| don't look down on people who are proud; in most cases they
| respect them. I found this to be very important for self
| confidence. If you have a lot of pride in yourself, it is easier
| dealing with racism and many other problems we face as AMs.
|
| 3. Do something to improve your physique. I started
| weightlifting around 19 and it has helped my confidence
| tremendously. We live in a highly superficial society and
| dating is very much affected by that.
|
| 4. Learn to dance. Girls of all races love good dancers plus
| you will have a great time every time you out. I always have an
| awesome time when I go out.
|
| 5. Finally, ask the girl you are interested out. Most Asian
| guys are quite shy and they tend to wait way too long. Girls
| want to go out too. The worst a girl can say is "NO". If you
| really think about it, "NO" isn't that bad. This principle
| applies to girls of all races.
|
| 6. Finally, if you meet an AF who is a banana or a girl who
| refuses to date AMs, don't dwell on that and think all females
| are like them. One thing I have learned through years of dating
| is: there are plenty of fishes in the sea. MOVE ON.
|
| 7. Make friends with other Asians who are in the same
| situation. It is easier to deal with problems when you are
| strong in numbers. It is about time Asians support each other
| for once.
|
| 8. Remember: whining and complaining don't solve any problems,
| only actions do. Start with the person in the mirror.
|
| If you are not tall and handsome, don't sit there and feel sorry
| for yourself. I still believe personality has a lot to do with
| dating. If you don't have the physical attributes, work on the
| areas you can improve, like your personality. Again, hanging
| out with positive people helps a lot.
|
| I know an Asian guy who is 5'2" and he gets good looking girls
| all the time. He is not handsome, but he has a sense of style
| most guys just don't have.
|
| Good luck.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Appendix B) Alan Hu's Section 9

one of the bad things about my article is that it doesn't talk
about what we should be doing. I left it that way because I
thought Alan Hu's article [ajh 1994] already did a great job.

I especially like the following part.

|----------------------------------------------------------------
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
| Date: 13 Mar 94 23:15:13 GMT
| From: Alan Hu <...>
| Subject: Interracial Dating FAQ Repost
| (was Re: Meek White Male Seeks Oriental Jewel)
| [...]
|
| 9. Well, that may be a fine analysis, but don't just sit around
| and whine.
|
| Excellent point. On a societal level, look around you and
| look into yourself. Recognize media bias and attempt to
| counteract it. If you see something egregious, point it out,
| write a letter to the editor, do something. If you see
| racism and prejudice in yourself, attempt to eliminate it.
|
| On a personal level, if you're happy with your social life,
| great, more power to you. If you find yourself having
| difficulty forming relationships, here's a few suggestions I've
| found helpful over the years:
| 1. Love yourself. If you don't love yourself, how
| can you expect someone else to?
| 2. Take good care of yourself. This is a corollary
| to number 1. Be happy. Do things you enjoy.
| Be actively involved in life. A study on
| loneliness indicated that married people are
| as lonely as single people. Being with people
| doesn't cure loneliness; enjoying your own
| company does.
| 3. Improve yourself. Honestly evaluate yourself. If
| you don't like something, don't feel bad about
| it, but consider working on improving it in the
| spirit of self-improvement and self-esteem.
| 4. Don't fear rejection. People have different tastes.
| If someone is racist and rejects you, that's
| his/her problem. If someone can't appreciate
| your virtues, that's his/her problem. The right
| person for you will love you for being you.
| 5. Have a good time. Life's too short to waste time moping.
| A relationship book I particularly like is Intimate Connections
| (yeah, I know it's a hokey title) by David Burns, MD.
|----------------------------------------------------------------

I bought this paperback, "Intimate Connections" by David Burns
(Signet). it's a really good book. I recommend it too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
(references)
Most Usenet materials are stored in my archive (WWW) site.
Use Lynx (as "lynx http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~tanaka"),
Mosaic, etc.

[booklet "Asian Pacific Americans" 1988 (?)]
"Asian Pacific Americans: A handbook on how to cover and
portray our nation's fastest growing minority group."
about 80 pages. out of print.
(some excerpts available in my archive (WWW) site.)

[Buss 1994]
David Buss. "The evolution of desire". Basic Books, 1994. $13.

[Chan 1991]
Sucheng Chan.
Asian Americans: an interpretive history. Twayne Publishers.

[Cretser and Leon 1982]
Gary A. Cretser and Joseph J. Leon, ed.
"Intermarriage in the United States". (a book)
Marriage and Family Review. Vol 5, No 1. The Haworth Press (1982).

[Daniels and Kitano 1970]
Roger Daniels and Harry H.L. Kitano.
American racism: exploration of the nature of prejudice.
Prentice-Hall (out of print).

[ajh 1994]
Alan Hu <...>
a Usenet article. (about 340 lines)
Subject: Interracial Dating FAQ Repost
(was Re: Meek White Male Seeks Oriental Jewel)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Date: 13 Mar 94 23:15:13 GMT

Footnote: In the quote in Section (3), I made some minor
changes, the most significant being the addition of one
sentence, "If you doubt the tremendous influence the media has
on what we know and how we think, consider these questions."

[arthurhu 1994 (1990?)]
Arthur T. Hu
a Usenet article. (about 450 lines)
and "an old Asian Week column" from Dec 1990 (?)
Subject: Why more asian women / white men than vice versa
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american ...
Date: 20 May 1994 14:18:37 -0700

[Ienaga 1978]
IENAGA Saburo. The Pacific War. Pantheon Books, 1978.
(see also IENAGA Saburou. Sensou sekinin. Iwanami-shoten, 1985.)

[Kikumura and Kitano 1973]
Akemi Kikumura and Harry H.L. Kitano.
"Interracial marriage: a picture of the Japanese Americans".
Journal of Social Issues. Vol 29, No 2 (1973) pp 67-81.

[Kitano, et al. 1984]
Harry H.L. Kitano, Wai-Tsang Yeng, Lynn K. Chai, and Herbert
Hatanaka. "Asian-American Interracial Marriage".
Journal of Marriage and the Family.
Vol 46 (Feb 1984) pp 179-90.

[Lee and Yamanaka 1990]
Sharon M Lee and Keiko Yamanaka.
"Patterns of Asian American intermarriage and marital assimilation".
Journal of Comparative Family Studies.
Vol 21, No 2 (Summer 1990). pp 287--305.

"The data for the research reported in this paper is based on an
extract of all Asian Americans from the 5 percent Public-Use Microdata
Samples (PUMS) of the 1980 U.S. Population Census." (Page 289)

[NY Times 1994]
The New York Times (by Eric Schmitt).
"Japanese-American Proves Marine Bias".
Sunday, January 2, 1994 (Page A6).
These were the very words thrown at Hawaii-born Bruce Yamashita
by the instructors at officer training program of the U.S.
Marines. (some excerpts available in my archive (WWW) site.)

[Porterfield 1982]
Ernest Porterfield.
"Black-American intermarriage in the United States".
in [Cretser and Leon 1982], pp 17-34.

[Symons 1979]
Donald Symons, "The evolution of human sexuality"
Oxford Univ. Press, 1979. $18.95.

[Tanaka 1994 V.Chin]
TANAKA Tomoyuki. "Who killed Vincent Chin?".
Usenet article (370 lines), Aug 1994.

[Tanaka 1995 misconceptions]
TANAKA Tomoyuki. "American misconceptions about Japan FAQ".
Usenet FAQ file (v1, 1900 lines), Jan 1995.

[Tanaka 1995 JLC]
TANAKA Tomoyuki. film review of "The Joy Luck Club"
Usenet article (400 lines), Feb 1995.

[Tinker 1973]
John N. Tinker.
"Intermarriage and ethnic boundaries: the Japanese American case".
Journal of Social Issues. Vol 29, No 2 (1973) pp 49-66.

[Tinker 1982]
John N. Tinker. "Intermarriage and assimilation in a plural
society: Japanese Americans in the United States".
in [Cretser and Leon 1982], pp 61-75.

[UPI 1993]
UPI --- in a Usenet article.
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Subject: Okinawa demands return of U.S. soldier in rape case
Newsgroups: clari.news.military,clari.news.law.crime.sex
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 93 02:06:18 PDT

[Wilkinson 1990]
Endymion Wilkinson. "Japan versus the West: image and reality".
Penguin Books, 1990. ($9.95 in the USA)

[Wright 1994]
Robert Wright. "The moral animal: the new science of
evolutionary psychology". Pantheon, 1994. $27.50.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Acknowledgements)
When I wrote the first version of this article, I felt that the
ideas I presented were almost entirely mine. Since then, a lot
of people have responded with good ideas, some of which I've
incorporated to improve the article. I will try to keep track
of who contributed what, so that I can acknowledge them if/when
I have a chance to present this article in a formal setting.

(version info)
version 1 (about 370 lines) 1994 3/31
version 2 (about 450 lines) 1994 4/14
version 3 (about 800 lines) 1994 5/11
version 4 (about 900 lines) 1994 8/07
changes since version 4 was posted:
--- the Vincent Chin case
--- Arthur Hu quote, re: "Arnold and Stallone"
--- anti-miscegenation laws, War Brides Act of 1945
version 5 (about 920 lines) 1994 10/11
--- Appendixes A and B
--- Wagatsuma and Yoneyama, Rudofsky
--- header info, etc for a Usenet FAQ file
version 6 (about 1160 lines) 1994 11/15
version 7: new in this version: see the very top of this file.


;;; (Mr.) TANAKA Tomoyuki (Tanaka is my family name.)
;;;
;;; mailing address: TANAKA Tomoyuki
;;; Eigenmann Hall 393
;;; Bloomington, IN 47406, USA
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