Tuesday, October 05, 2021
Number One Yang
Lately I've been watching the late-30s Charlie Chan movies before bedtime. There were two distinct series with different actors and styles. The series with Warner Oland as Chan is definitely superior because it pivots on the culture clash between Papa Chan and Number One Son.
Chan wasn't accurately Chinese but he did embody the solid certainty and restraint of an old and deep culture, which would have been familiar to recent immigrants at that time. In a real culture there is an unspoken place for every human type and an unspoken rule for every situation. Theories are not needed.
Number One Son was hyperamericanized, full of Theories and Innovative Disruptions and mistuned Enthusiasms.
Papa wasn't afraid to bop Number One Son upside the ear when Son went overboard into an overactive Theory. Papa knew the specifically Chinese art of delegation. Let things happen, nudge them here and there. Swing WITH the universe instead of trying to force the whole universe to swing your way.
This long interview with Andrew Yang reminded me of Number One Son. Yang is hyperamerican, full of Theories and Innovative Disruptions and mistuned Enthusiasms. He never delegates. He thinks "democracy" can be rescued by new Voting Systems. He believes in the Libertarian Principles that have given us Soros and Bezos and Fauci. He needs to be bopped upside the ear.
For clarity: I don't mean that Yang needs to be canceled or censored. He is super-smart, well-intentioned, and RICH. The latter quality is crucial for an independent candidate. I only mean that Yang would be more effective if he was more Chinese and less American, more old-culture and less Bezos.
THEORY KILLS. EXPERIENCE SURVIVES.
¶ 5:28 AM 
