One day when I was procrastinating on writing my thesis I came across across a wikipedia article on Social Networking Sites. A list of 80 odd web-sites popped up onto my screen. As you can guess, a good number of them dating services, a number of them based upon nationality, two for fans of 'goth' culture and only one labelled 'social consciousness'. Diamond in the ruff? you might say. I guess the majority of activist in rings are affraid of being infiltrated, fair enough.

Social networking sites hm. Mind you, I have registered in a few that I never use. One particular site, which I do visit from time to time is a Japanese social networking site called Mixi. It has this system where people can trace and view the profiles of those who visit them.

I don't mind this function per se, but imagine your co-worker or a boss scanning the communities you are in. Sampling my communities:

"Anarchism" (literally a red flag), "Feminism" (spells non-conformist), "Queer studies" (scares some people), "Culture-Jamming" (potentially black listed by the police?), "Edward Said", "Judith Butler," "Noam Chomsky," "bell hooks," "Howard Zinn" (safe, the majority of people in Japan wouldn't know).

There are many other communities too, many benign, and some, albeit a rare lot, that would make you wish the government practiced somecensorship. The communities vary along the lines of something like "ADD's anonymous" to "[Z]eneral Construction and Planning" (g was pronounced as z is Japan). For the most part, ordinary folk in conversation with one another about their lives, dreams and fantasies.

Social Consciousness. 

In Japan, the idea of social responsibility is a duty of each citizenry. It is "当たり前/ atarimae " or "natural" as it is in most countries to behave with the interests of your fellow person in mind. This means no eating or drinking on public transit, separating five different kinds of plastic including saran-wrap into the correct recycling bag, lining up for just about everything, and speaking in the proper language to others in accordance to your position in the pecking order.

Being Japanese is a piece of cake!

The inability of Japanese citizens to own up to its imperialist history is a glaring short coming as far as Social consciousness. I guess you can't have everything... But wait, what's also strange is how a country so populated and purportedly democratic doesn't have any social networking sites for individuals interested in 'social consciousness' either.

'z'aadz with an unassuming lower case 'z' is truly a diamond in a ruff



First impression:
  wHolesome; there are no sexist ads with barely clad ladies.
     Open-minded; people are sharing thoughts without dropping the 'f'-bomb. 
     Maternalistic; what on earth is a "nursery?" 
     Erudite; there is a list for people to collate quotes and books!

Indeed, I have found my H'O'M'E.

Tis the exploration of the individual amidst humanity. An ambiguous convergence of the journey and the destination. It is the longing for resolution, the cultivation of potential, and the promise of permanence, in our transient moments of our unforgiving present.

It should come with a warning label. "Warning this is a potent social adhesive, which applied in the wrong manner can tear humanity apart; glue is not an opiate."

Its been a month and a bit since I purchased this "Super-chilli" from the neighborhood green-grocer for a bargain price of 50 cents.  If you look closely you'll notice that it has flowers that resemble jasmine, but without the fragrance. An East facing window-sill and long summer days means that pretty soon this Chilli will ready for the picking. : )

The very notion of "progress" still reeks of the Enlightenment project and the idea that science and its facilitation of technological will bring forth a society radically improved, ordered, engineered, and mastered. Although I recognize the many benefits of this historical endeavor-- free inquiry and rational empiricism of the sciences that have brought an unprecedented proliferation of ideas and technology-- and yet, the history of the last two centuries casts a shadow of doubt to my mind.

We live in perilous times; in an increasingly populated world with dwindling resources, our systems are sustained by limitless want, and maintained by the principle that private vices will yield public benefit.

If we dare to wave the flag of 'progress' again, its best that we learn from the past and develop an enlightened self interest characterized by a concern and respect for communal rationality and mutual understanding.

Ultimately, it will be our descendents with the benefit of hindsight who will pass judgement upon us.

I think the way others interact with you is a reflection of who you are and how you appear in the eyes of others. You have to put up with yourself reflected in the behavior of others everyday!
... hm, so if I did meet myself, perhaps we would just negate one another... and cease to be... no... that makes no sense either.

Concerns over a "greying society" is just one of the many issues that developed nations will have to meet in the coming years, but for the world's most prosperous economy this shift in demographics has taken an interesting twist as recent headlines such as "Wifeless future for Chinese men" and "China to act on gender imbalance" reveal. Communism in China has failed to stamp out an entrenched Confucian mentality that places a social premium on male heirs. If its manifestation in female infanticide and the abortion of female foetuses continues unchecked, in fifteen years China will have 30 million more men than women-- accounting for the largest gender imbalance of any country in history.

Although the social implications of this massive demographic phenomena are only beginning to show in things like the abduction and trafficking of marriagiable women in rural areas, an even frightening future can be gleaned from works of historical literature where similar phenomena led to banditry and ultimately rebellion against the government.

反了把！(fanleba) Let's rebel!

This heartful incitation of rebellion was spoken by the bandit Li Kui from the popular early vernacular Chinese novel Shuihuzhuan 水浒传, Outlaws of Liangshan Marsh. The novels follows the rise and fall of a historical band of rebels that rally against corrupt local officials of the 11th century Northern Song court. The rebels who gather at the marsh of Liangshan are composed of men who have been wronged by officialdom; with no spouses, no heirs, and no ability to fulfil their filial task of providing heirs for their family-- these "frustrated bachelors" turn to the brotherhood of bandits for emotional solace from a society in which they would otherwise be marginalized. 

The comparison between contemporary China and this literary portrayal of Song China is not entirely without warrant, as the censored Survey of Chinese Peasants/Zhonguo Nongmin Diaocha (2003) reveals a sharp increase in rural unrest against corrupt and inept local governments. Now imagine 30 million men with no wives, no children, only parents to whom they are unable to fulfill their primary filial obligation of producing a family heir. Marginalized by their society-- these men will have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by militating against the system.

Swept underneath the celebrations of Beijing 2008 is a demographic time bomb just waiting to explode.


Addendum:
Here is an alternative scenario of 'cooption' posited by Poston and Morrison of the International Herald Tribune in their 2005 article "China Bachelor Bomb":

"Past societies with large numbers of unattached men have on occasion turned to a more authoritarian political system, perceiving threats of violence. Such societies have also sought to harness their surplus of men by recruiting excess males into military occupations, pursuing expansionist policies aimed at developing unexplored territories or colonizing neighboring ones.

The tensions associated with so many bachelors in China's big cities might tempt its future leaders to mobilize this excess manpower and go pick a fight, or invade another country. China is already co-opting poor unmarried young men into the People's Liberation Army and the paramilitary People's Armed Police."

Have you ever heard of Cultural Patrimony claims?
 These are attempts by polities to reclaim art and artifacts that are claimed to be the sovereign possession of that nation and the culture(s) and ethnicitiy or ethnicities it represents.

Many artifacts in museums and private collections were plundered from their point of origin in times of financial and political insecurity and eventually hoisted into the art market for the highest bidder. At times national institutions would intervene and patron such displays as grand manifestations of imperial or cultural might-- the right to catalogue, display, and interpret the Other.
The most famous examples are the Rosetta Stone from Egypt, and "Lord Elgin's marbles" from the Parthenon, which are both held in the British Museum. A less savoury example would be the sacred body of theTzeachten First Nation Medicine man that was displayed in the Burke Museum Seattle...

Ok, so I won't be helping in the upkeep and sale of such controversial art and artifacts (should the Medicine Man even be treated as one!?), and chances are the works I will be dealing with won't be the target of patrimony claims. It is more likely that no one knows they have been unearthed. But Han dynasty terracotta and wooden Buddhas makes me a little nervous. How were these objects obtained and who is really benefiting from them? Not to go all Indy-Jones and say "It belongs in a Museum!" but they do really belong in Museum in China if anything. and imagine the even greater discoveries that could have been made if excavated under archaeological processes?
--- no wonder archaeologists and art collectors don't get along.

Frankly, I don't care for much of the fetishistic purchase and displays of conspicuous consumption that characterizes the antiquities market.

What I do care about is how these works came into being and who produced them for what reasons. I feel uncomfortable about taking works out of context, plundering tombs and subjugating very personal objects to our scrutiny. and to top that off-- selling them.

... Seems like I will be doing a little bit of soul searching in the next few weeks.

Today I went to my first interview for a job at an antiquities market. I arrived ten minutes early and slinked by some customers to get a feel for the art and artifacts in the room. The quality of these works were quite astounding, some of them were of a higher aesthetic standard than the one's I've seen displayed in Art museums.

Then the collector, a tall, but rather frail looking woman took notice of me. As I introduced myself to her, she blankly stated that she assumed I was a girl. Oops. Well, not quite. Apparently, women are usually better in handling the wealthy clientele... Then she stated a few key ideas about what she does; plainly put, this is not a research job, this is about sales and pandering the ego of wealthy clientele. She broke from her explanatory note, and drank some tea to soothe her dry cough. She warned me about the unruly customers who will come in and complain about how and where she acquired her works.

I whispered to myself in my mind, "well, of course! these works... are fantastic works that should be displayed and seen by all in national institutions..." Then, I responded, "well, I can understand why...", "You can?, well I can't..." she responded  curtly...

She explained to me that she was a "runner" a dying breed of collector who would scour the field and rural villages for the best works of art to sell to the highest bidder. Runner, treasure hunter, pirate, tomb-raider, whatever you choose to call them, they have no reserves about cultural patrimony... to them an artifact acquired is as good as a piece of gold in their hand.

She coughed into her hand and clutched her stomach, explaining to me how she was planning to go on her run again in the winter to search for new objects in Southeast Asia, but that the doctors had advised her against it until she became well. I could not help but feel sympathetic watching the glaze of sorrow drown her eyes, as she seemed to reminisce about her past adventures. Suddenly it occurred to me, that I was cast under the spell as well-- the romantic life of a cultural pirate--travelling the world and scouring for treasure.

On the other hand,

the thought of selling such works made the art historian in me cringe and my subaltern soul cry.

This is the art market

From Sothebies to the small town art markets--the global market takes no pity on cultural patrimony... everything is commoditized.
And the sad reality is, without it Art historians would not have an audience to write for.
We cater to the aesthetics and understandings of the rich, while speaking of making art accessible to all. The relentless forces of the market drives everything and influences the livelihood of collectors and scholars in the West, and tomb theives and tribesmen in the developing world. 

For my partner and I to survive,

I have no choice but to be complicit.

or do I?

The art objects and I will become good friends...
for the next few months this veritable pirates cove will be my refuge from school life.