Victor Lebow sums it up

Here is a quote from a paper by Victor Lebow, an American economist in the 50's:

"Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. The greater the pressures upon the individual to conform to safe and accepted social standards, the more does he tend to express his aspirations and his individuality in terms of what he wears, drives, eats- his home, his car, his pattern of food serving, his hobbies.

These commodities and services must be offered to the consumer with a special urgency. We require not only “forced draft” consumption, but “expensive” consumption as well. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption. The home power tools and the whole “do-it-yourself” movement are excellent examples of “expensive” consumption."

I found the link looking at the Story of Stuff, which I recommend for viewing.

Capitalism, the fall of the Berlin wall and the future of humanity

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall was celebrated recently, giving rise to many reflections on how important this event was for the world. It was the moment that signaled the end of the cold war and the de facto fall of the Soviet Union, or at least of its influence as a superpower. The reflections are timely: twenty years seems to be the perfect time frame for a lot of things to change in the world, without people completely forgetting about what it was like before (and most of them alive to talk about it).

The prevailing opinion (i.e. held everywhere except in Russia and some of the countries that were directly dependent on the Soviet Union) is that the fall of the Berlin wall was a good thing. It liberated millions of people from the oppression of their regimes and ushered in an era of economic development. It is difficult to argue otherwise: the days of waiting in line for basic food elements provided by the government are long gone, as is looking over your shoulder in fear of secret police. Surely having a choice between ten different kinds of laundry detergent is better than just using occasionally the one developed by central planning (actually, it seems that this last bit may be over-rated: many East-Germans are going back to the DDR brands). 

I am not going to claim that the fall of the Berlin wall was a bad thing. In any case, something like that is mostly meaningless from the practical point of view: you cannot change what happened. I would, however, like to offer a few thoughts about the post-cold war world that we are living in, in particular about its inherent dangers and imperfections. And we live in a world in which the winning system of government is free-market capitalism. This may seem strange since capitalism is an economic system, and not a government one, but the point is that the leading world powers all have in common a free market economy. The fall of the Berlin wall may have meant "freedom from oppression" for millions, but you can have a non-democratic system in a country and still do quite fine. What happened 20 years ago, in other words, was not a victory of democracy, but a victory of capitalism. This is even true for China, which -- despite its one-party system which is often bashed for lack of human rights -- learned its lesson from the failures of the Soviet system, and is now getting itself out of incredible poverty it was facing just several decades ago (and in the process dramatically improving the lives of many of its citizens). The concern about what is happening in China is seen through western goggles and is often more critical than it should be. Most people in China feel that the system is working better than ever, and anyway the high moral ground that the West feels to be on is an illusion.  For all the talk about human rights, the world's most powerful economy does not have a problem supporting Israel (guilty of numerous human rights violations), since this is in its direct military and economic interest (as well as pushed for powerful lobbies at home). In other words, personal interests still trumps human rights even in the west, so why should it be different elsewhere? In particular the criticism of China is mostly an expression of insecurity about the longitude permanence of the world power pecking order. But I digress. 

Back to the main subject. What can be wrong with capitalism? After all, thanks to it, billions of people are living much better today than their ancestors. People may refute this claim, but the fact is that in previous centuries only a small number of people lived well, and they did this on the backs of many people who worked day and night with few things to say about their own life, including what they were going to do in their life and who they are going to spend it with (I am talking about the feudal systems and those before it). Some things changed with the start of the industrial revolutions, but little on the scale that it is reaching today. People live ever longer, and they have a superior quality of life across all social classes today than ever before. The main feature of capitalism is that the actions of many individuals guided by their own interests will end up doing the best thing for the society as a whole. The classic economic theory models an individual as a utility maximizer, which people tend to be, for the most part (the human history offers very few counter-arguments against) so it seems that we have found a system which is perfectly suited for human nature. 

But here is the twist. For the first time in history, the goal of most people is guided by pure utility maximization. It is not driven by someone else's interest, by ideology (religious or national) or social norms (although this aspect still remains). This seems like a good thing: after all some of the worst things in humanity happened because of the things I just mentioned. But the common to all of these is that they are "higher" goals. They transcend our own being, which means that people's motivation is of different quality. Some exceptions include scores of highly talented people (the likes of which you can find watching TED, who have found a motivation that transcends their own being). But most people cannot cope with this newfound freedom of motivation. They  were not been properly trained for guiding their own life. 

In the absence of a higher goal (a "life of purpose" as one TEDster calls is), most people's search of utility maximization defaults to increasing their individual hedonistic experience. This is bad news for the new generations, who are actually brought up by parents having these values, while at the same time being exposed to the "instant satisfaction" culture brought by video games and internet. This breads gratification culture on steroids. People are used to having results fast. They have trouble forming relationships (and staying in them) because as soon as things get tough they think "this other person is not for me", and leave. They may not be happy having one car because someone else has a bigger and better. But any car is already great! It already does everything you may need. However our twisted motivation does not see this, because it is still trying to maximize the wrong utility function. I realize that my trail of thought has led me seemingly astray from the main subject. But in fact the utility maximizing mindset means that people are no longer happy with just anything: they want "the best". And finding "the best" is impossible as every decision involves tradeoffs and certain imperfections. And there always seems to  be a "better" choice, while in reality the other choice may have many flaws that we are not aware of because we are only comparing with the aspect of the current choice we are not perfectly happy with. This holds as much for our partners, as well as for products we buy.

This text is getting too long, so here is my main thesis: people may be less happy now than before, and they may get even more miserable in the future, despite their objective increase in the quality of life. I hope I am mistaking. I hope that the educational system and the parenting styles will adapt to the new realities and take them into account when bringing up new generations of consumers... I mean people. But currently there is little evidence of too many people understanding the problem. My own thoughts are confused on the subject and this is only my first attempt at gathering them in a coherent manner. But they are coming from a malaise that I am feeling every time I remind myself that we are now living under a system which is "the worst system, except for all the other ones out there". These are not the only thoughts I have on the subject; I feel that there are also some fundamental human values and habits we are losing on our never-ending quest to maximize, but I will try to develop them carefully some other time (and try not to get sidetracked as much as I did today).

Dr Henry Jones Jr

Last night I (finally) watched "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull". The movie was shown in theaters so long ago that I could not even remember what other people said about it. I vaguely remembered that it got less than positive reviews. So I started the movie not expecting anything in an attempt not to be too disappointed. And, sure enough, the movie did not disappoint, but it failed to impress, either. It was almost like the fourth part of "Die Hard": an attempt to collect some cream off of the old glory, while using the age of the main actor as an excuse to make parody of many scenes from the prequels.

The plot itself also made very little attempt to be original. In fact, it lost its archaic note that is the signature of IJ movies by including conspiracy theory elements that were brought to us by modern times and X-Files (this also was similar to the fourth "Die Hard" movie where the plot tries to be modern with cyber-criminals).  I am not going to say that I felt cheated watching this movie, but I did feel as if the aging me was saying good bye to the young kid who loved the adventures of the whip-wielding professor. If I was grumpy enough, I would say that the "kids of today have little to look forward to when they grow up watching explosions of Michael Bay and the like". But that would simply be false. There are still many good movies that will be considered legendary when the new generations grow up, the trick is just to keep them separated from the bad lot. It is just a shame that they won't be about Star Wars, Henry Jones Jr nor John McClane.

Engagement (Veridba - Les fiançailles)

I recently got engaged to an amazing french woman. Thank you, thank you, you are too kind... But in the spirit of this blog (which I am slowly inventing [the spirit, not the blog]) I am going to talk not about my feelings about this engagement, but about the welcome that my family received from my future in-laws.

I must say I was very worried about the first ever encounter between the two families, and for various reasons. Most of all, I was worried about the language barrier and about the little peculiarities of respective cultures getting in the way. I was also slightly worried that my Serbian parents, unaccustomed to the western hospitality style (see my previous post) feel unwelcome. But the latter did not happen and my first two worries ended up not mattering much (this also will become a light-motive of this blog: me needlessly worrying all the time).

The main reason why none of this happened, is because the welcome offered to my parents was truly amazing. It was warm, forthcoming, well prepared. It is no exaggeration to say that everyone in my future belle-famille did their best to make my family feel welcome. And the opposite was true: my family was very understanding of the peculiarities of the french culture (where, for example, wine and water are abundant but you can forget about any other drink during meal times). All of this made for an amazingly friendly atmosphere and a very relaxing three days with beautiful weather that everyone will think of fondly.

So, what becomes of my previous post? Have I needlessly criticized western hospitality? In my opinion not entirely. The fantastic welcome was, of course, due to the fact that I am now a known person in the family (also becoming a piece-apportée). Had I been a relatively unknown friend, things would have been different (of course, comparing this to an engagement lunch is unfair). In any case, there is a much better example of me being wrong in the previous post, and that is of my host-parents in America. I was a total stranger to them, and they offered me their home. And this is not a fluke, since I lived with not one, but two host families. So yes, I will eat my own words. But some of it still remains true, in the sense that "most people" in the Balkans behave a certain way, and "most people" in the wets behave otherwise.

If I had any followers, I would be looking forward to the ensuing flame war :-)

Weekend across Switzerland

This weekend I set out to drive across Switzerland with my parents. The goal was not so much to visit the country, but to visit our countrymen (friends and family) that my parents have not seen in a long time (or in some cases never). But since I don't intend this blog to be a simple journal of my activities, I will write less about the itinerary and more about my thoughts.

We visited four different households in three different cities. Personally, I had never met before any of the people that I was going to meet this weekend. I felt slightly worried because I did not know what to expect, did not know how we would be greeted, and what the people we were going to meet were like. In addition, my parents and I have a different idea of how to spend time (surprise, surprise) and doing speed friend and family hopping was not high on my preference list. I thought that there were better ways to budget time, especially since the weather was beautiful, there are so many nice places to see in Switzerland and my parents are here for only a short time.

But then my worries were unfounded, it turned out that the weekend was absolutely amazing. Each visit was different, and wonderful in its own way. I cannot describe how well we were greeted and how each person did their best to try to make us feel welcome. Any Serbian (and perhaps some others) reader will probably say that this is normal but they would only be half correct, which I will explain later. The readers from the west (especially big cities) would not be accustomed to (and perhaps not even comfortable with) this kind of welcome.

In Serbia, there is a tradition of hospitality (yes, I know, there are other places like that in the world. However, most people that read blogs in english don't come from those places. And yes, I said 'most', not 'all'). In Serbia, traditionally, guests are very important. If someone wants to visit you, even a stranger, you are supposed to offer him all the hospitality that you can. In a way, a guest is sacred. In more understandable psychology, Serbian people draw pride out of being good hosts. If you visit someone and you are so impressed about it that you talk about it to others, it raises the status of your host. But I think that this part is subconscious. The reason why I say that our visits were surprisingly good even by Serbian standards is because I have experienced many visits where I was well greeted, but there was a lack of sincerity. People were greeting me well because they were supposed to, not because they enjoyed my company. On our Swiss trip, I really had the impression that people liked having us there and that not only we were not a burden, but that our visit truly meant something to them. In other words, the form of hospitality learned from centuries old Balkan customs was given the colors that were genuinely painted on the spot. And together they gave something truly beautiful. They gave me the felling of knowing the people who were hosting me all my life, even though I never met them before. They made me want to stay with them and talk with them and laugh with them for much longer than I possibly could have. Who knows, perhaps the fact we could not stay long in one place made sure that we left before the magic expired. (Now that I said all of this, I need to remark that the most colorful welcome came from a Macedonian, not Serbian person.)

To put this into perspective, I don't think that this type of hospitality exists in the West (or at least in the big cities). People can welcome you sincerely, and you feel good to be there, and you have a great time, but the form is not the same. It's difficult to explain (the best would be to experience this). Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. The Balkan form seems to be sometimes perceived as too aggressive by those that are used to more cordial receptions. But perhaps the level of warmth that I experienced this weekend is a good thing to be learn by some foreigners (most critique goes to the fellow Swiss who put human relations at 18th place on their list of priorities, somewhere between renewing their Yodle magazine subscription, and going to the seaside for holidays*). On the other hand, there are many things we Serbs could learn from the westerners, but that is going to be a subject for some later posts (unfortunately there may be many on this subject).

*Swiss go hiking for holidays.

Visa Interview

I just returned from a visa interview (country unspecified). In general I go to these fairly often and find them extremely annoying. What is annoying is the process: I am supposed to gather various documents, write to which countries I traveled in the past (!) and when (!!), write out my CV, prove that I can stay in a given country, prove that I will return to the current country etc. Luckily (from the point of view of filling out the visa) I am not married yet, so there are chunks that I can leave out blank, but even this will change soon. Also, my professional history is empty so far and this saves me some time.

But worst of all is the anxiety. I am not in control. Whatever I do can be undone by the person behind the glass who has only a few sheets of paper to form an opinion of me and decide whether I am worthy of entry to the promised (or less so) land. And this person may be having a bad day or decide that he/she doesn't particularly like me.

"What if my application gets refused?" - "Well, you won't go there then, is that so bad" - "No, life goes on, but still, why can't I be treated like a normal person" - "Well, they have to keep their jobs for their citizens" - "Yes, I get it, but it's been 9 years that I do this over and over again, I was never refused a visa anywhere, and I still have to treat every time like the first time" - "Well, it's your choice, in the end you are the one that wants to go there - you can always choose not to go" - "But that's not the point" - "So what is the point" - "..." .

There is really no use arguing with myself over this, I always lose.

Anyway, today my visa interview was a good experience, nay a great one. Everything went well, the personnel was friendly and respectful and treated me like a human being (except for the gigantic security guard who screened me again on the way out). And I got my visa. And it is going to be valid for much longer than I applied for. And it will be delivered promptly. Alleluia

Does this mean my faith in the "system" is restored. Not at all. It's still inhuman. There should be a global database that keeps track of all the visa attempts and eases the process as you go for more and more visa interviews. I will be very happy the day I can just pick up my passport and travel wherever I want without planning and gathering documents months in advance. See you in fantasy land...

Typhoons, Food, and one British monarch's property

Another week passed by in Hong Kong. I am getting involved more and more with my research project, but I still try to use my spare time to discover the city, the region, and the people around me.

Take last Sunday, for example. My friend Christy invited to me to have dim sum, a traditional family lunch, with her. Her family has dim sum every Sunday in the same restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, the vibrant neighborhood of Kowloon. As a tourist, I would have never found that restaurant except by accident: the entrance is in a passageway, and one has to climb to the first floor of the building to find it. When Christy brought me there, the place was already full (seats on the order of 100 people). Most of her family was already there: her parents, brother, cousins, grandmother; her aunt and uncle, as well as one of their friends, joined us later.

There was no beginning to the meal: the waiters just started bringing plates with different dishes and put them on the turntable in the middle. I cannot describe, nor name the food that I had (I will do that for the dinner later that night). There must have been around 20 different dishes. I wanted to try all of them, but at some point I gave up and contented with tasting those that looked most delicious to me. It was a difficult choice. I remember that my favorite dish was the pineapple dough bbq pork buns, which just melted in my mouth. The food was accompanied with generous amounts of tea (another name for dim sum is "yum cha", meaning "tea drinking"). One surprising thing about the dim sum is that people read newspapers, and then discuss the news. Initially I thought that the purpose was for the family to "catch up", but in fact there is no need for that. Chinese families go through their daily lives toegther, so the Sunday meal can be just time to relax.

After the Dim Sum, Christy took me to Hong Kong Island and started acting as my tour guide. She is very good at it. We went straight to Central district, and I was told the names of all the major skyscrapers. Some of them I managed to remember. What was amazing was the number of Philippine people hanging out in the plaza's in between the buildings. I learned that most of them are domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and Sunday is their free day of the week. And, since they live with the families they work for, they spend their free time meeting their compatriots in the city.


We then took the tram to Victoria Peak, the famous lookout place on Hong Kong Island. The weather was great, and so were the views. I will let the photos speak for themselves (of course, I have more - but those you might have to suffer through once I get back).



To put a cherry (and some other fruit) on the top of the cake that was this Sunday, Christy invited me to a family dinner at her place. This time I did take a photo. Again, the sheer number of different dishes was amazing. There was mango sushi, two different kinds of fish, crab, japanese beef with japanese mushrooms, bbq pork, scallops, chicken, ribs, jelly fish, pomelo-peanut salad, and some vegetables whose names I had forgotten. Most of the dishes were accompanied by an appropriate sauce. And everything was amazing. I then had to learn the Cantonese word for "delicious", it will serve me well for weeks to come. Blinded by this feast, I almost did not realize how well I was received by the family. I really enjoyed their company, and I hope that they at least didn't mind mine. So far at least I have not made any wrong moves, since I was reinvited to their home. But more on that maybe some other time. Ah, and the cherry reference: following the meal we had fruit. Cherries, grapes, lychee, longan, mellon, grapefruit, and most importantly, the king of fruit: durian. Apparently durian you either love or hate. I lucked out.

So I have covered two out of the three items in the title. The first item has to do with the tropical storm that... well... stormed through the area on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a type 8 storm, meaning that all the restaurants on campus were closed as people were supposed to stay at home. There was a small moment of panic when I realized that I would have to live off of milk and cereal for the whole day. Luckily, the storm status was downgraded to 3 before noon, and few hours later, the canteens opened. Oh, and the storm? It was loud, windy, some branches fell off the trees. But, other than the fact that "I survived a type 8 typhoon", it was nothing to write about.