Platt asks: Does China have a national health scheme?
Andre: Yes it has Platt but you may imagine there are huge discrepancies between the city/urban areas and the rural areas (where I am and in the main extremely poor) with regards to the provision and availability of general health services. It is not free, those that do not have insurance will have to pay the full bill (so to speak) those that have a Govt. job and are members of the Party, have a basic insurance cover deducted from their salary. When they need treatment of some sort, most of this falls under the cover, if not they'll have to supplement costs out of their own pocket. Must also add that Chinese people in general are extremely health conscious and in this sense look after themselves very well with regards to what they eat and what they drink. Platt: I see that all your examples cite individuals. Do you see any evidence of compassion, caring. love, etc. towards humanity in general, i.e., the social level? (To say it's necessary is not the same as saying you love it. In fact, intellect fights for freedom from social conformity and control. Recall the protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989.) Andre: I finally found the quote I was looking for (when I wasn't looking for it). I think this sums up Pirsig's attitude pretty well: "He (Phaedrus) had no choice but to try to help her (Lila), nuisance or not. Otherwise he would just injure himself. You can't just run off from other people without injuring yourself too". ( Lila, p325) I do recall Tiananmen Square Platt. I was there last year, 2 days before the events took place (then) 19 years ago. I wanted to fill in the spaces which we all saw on TV from where the tanks came, the lone young man 'challenging' the tank's driver. This particular evening all preparations were already underway to stop any form of protest, cordonning off areas, increased military presence etc etc. What struck me was the ages of these soldiers...they were not older than 20/ 21. They were still babies when that massacre took place. I wonder how much they knew/know. I wondered how much they really understand what they are protecting. Platt: Did you accidentally omit the word NOT after "should" in the last sentence? Andre: Am afraid I did Platt, thank you for pointing this out. It should read: "Or the reverse that Int. PoV's should not be dominated by Soc. PoV's . Platt: As above, intellect has to constantly battle the push for control by the forces of collectivist Soc. PoV's that you have so eloquently described in China. Andre: Thank you for the compliment. But, Platt are you suggesting with this that (American) Int.PoV's are to be implemented in any and every country of the globe that has not already done so? I really thought that Pirsig was talking about American society first. In other words, that he wanted to clean up his own backyard first before anything else. Sure , if a society is threatened from without one should take action but this is not the case! America's national security has never been under direct threat. Iraq a threat to America's national security??? Ha. ha. ha. Ask yourself why this dictator Sadam had to hang so quickly.He was only convicted for the murder of 9 people if I remember correctly! The use of this argument has been abused by Bush too often (as an excuse for continued war mongering) and would suggest that for many American citizens this is an insult to, not only their own intellect but to America's Int. PoV's in general and all that it has achieved. It is so easy to judge and condemn the workings of one culture from the values and perspective of another culture. I am confident you have a different interpretation and position on this Platt. Anyway, must go now. Students knocking on my door. Must help them organise the Halloween party for tomorrow night. Zai tian! Andre Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
