A review of the novel “China Dream” by Ma Jian
August 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Ma Jian was born in the Chinese city of Qingdao in 1953, the same year as Xi Jinping who is now President of China without term limits. Both men were caught up in the horrific events of Mao’s Cultural Revolution which killed anything up to three miliion and ruined the lives of many millions more. Since 2012, Xi Jinping has used the phrase “the Chinese Dream” to describe “the great rejuvenation” of the nation. However, following the publication of his first book in 1987, Ma Jian has had all his work banned in China, where consequently he is unknown, and he now lives in exile in London.
The protagonist of this short and disturbing novel is Ma Daode, the director of the newly created China Dream Bureau, dedicated to ensuring that the Chinese Dream enters the brain of every resident of Ziyang City. Like so many Chinese officials, he is corrupt and a philanderer but working hard to reconcile his personal memories with the contemporary dominant political ideology. He would dearly like to forget the Cultural Revolution which caused the suicide of his parents but is hardly discussed in China today.
His brainwave is to develop the China Dream Device, a microchip to be implanted into the brain of every citizen so that painful memories can be replaced by the thoughts of the political leadership. Since this is clearly going to take some time to design and his personality is already falling apart with ever-more frequent memories of the Cultural Revolution, he attempts to concoct something called Old Lady’s Dream Broth, a substance with revolting ingredients and dubious efficacy.
This Chinese version of “Brave New World” or “1984” is not going to end well for Ma Jian. But what about for Xi Jinping’s China? I’ve visited the country four times and travelled extensively within it and the simultaneous growth of both the economy and the repressive regime makes one wonder whether the dream might one day become something of a nightmare.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
My Thought For The Week reaches 1,000
August 4th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For the last 20 years, week in and week out, I have send out electronically a motivational thought to what is now a list of around 1,500 friends, colleagues and contacts.
It goes out each Sunday and this week’s thought is the 1,000th:
“Do we settle for the world as it is or do we work for the world as it should be?”
Barack Obama as quoted by Michelle Obama in her memoirs “Becoming”
If you would like to see previous Thoughts For The Week, you’ll find them all here.
If you would like to receive my Thought For The Week each Sunday, please e-mail me at: rogerdarlington@dsl.pipex.com
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Ilhan Omar: so patient, so eloquent, so right
July 31st, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
What would really be involved in a no-deal Brexit and why we should be really worried
July 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
In the last few days, a whole bunch of new Cabinet ministers will have been briefed by civil servants on the consequences of a no-deal Brexit and the planning that will be required to mitigate these consequences. These Ministers will now know what a cabal of ex Cabinet Ministers have known for a long time – that a no-deal Brexit would be a enormous risk with consequences that will be terribly hard to manage.
The immediate threat would be to supply chains. A deadline of 31 October is about as bad as it could be: companies are already building up supplies ready for the Christmas market on top of earlier no-Brexit stockpiling and there just won’t be the transport and storage capacity for much more.
Cabinet has been briefed to have five priorities – in order:
- Life-saving medicines
- Key medical equipment
- Fresh food
- Nuclear power parts
- Purification chemicals for water companies
After that, fuel and cash are critical components of the planning processes and these are interlinked. The banks need fuel to stock their cash machines and customers need cash to pay for fuel. Once petrol stations run out of supplies or people can’t pay for their fuel, we’re in trouble.
The new technology both helps and hinders the situation. On the one hand, many customers will be able to pay for fuel with credit or debit cards. On the other hand, any shortages – or, more likely, fear of shortages – will instantly be communicated and exaggerated through social media. That could lead to panic buying of fuel – or key foods – and in no time we could have queues and even riots which in turn will be spread all over social media.
At what point do hard-pressed and under-resourced police forces need the help of the military? These decisions cannot be left until panic hits the streets. It takes time to deploy troops and equipment and the timing and circumstances will be highly political considerations. So war-gaming is going on in Whitehall now and Ministers are being pressed for decisions now. Some 8,500 troops are on stand-by to intervene if there are transport blockages or civil unrest.
If the Cabinet gets this wrong and panic grips the nation, the Conservative Party will not be forgiven and will suffer an existential threat whenever the next round of elections comes round.
So what’s going to happen?
If Boris Johnson cannot negotiate a materially better exit deal with the other 27 Members States of the European Union (as seems very likely) and if Parliament makes good on its intention to block a no-deal Brexit (which also seems likely), Boris may well go for a General Election and, from a timing point of view, his options are distinctly limited because of the 31 October deadline and the turning back of the clocks on 27 October. A favoured date could well be 24 October.
Alternatively, Boris could bow to the inevitable and seek a further extension of EU membership under Article 50 in spite of his “do or die” promise.
In any event, it’s going to be a rough ride. Fasten your safety belts!
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)
There are still some Americans who think that President Trump is not racist …
July 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
They should watch this short clip from Victor Blackwell of CNN – until the end …
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
A review of the new version of “The Lion King”
July 28th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I’ve never seen the original 1994 animated movie musical – my son was too old and I didn’t have grandchildren then. But I decided to catch this 2019 remake even though the granddaughters were away on holiday.
Clearly the main reason for a new version is the advance in technology and it has to be said that this is a spectacular blurring of real life and animated representation in which computers have created African landscapes and animals that look just like a nature documentary but with zooming shots that no human cameraman would be able to record and an outstanding castlist of actors providing the voices.
Of course, animals – whether real or animated – can’t actually act, so sometimes it all feels a little weird, but the reprise is going to make Disney plenty of money. I saw it in IMAX, but deliberately went for 2D, and it was a wonderfully immersive experience.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the memoir “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
July 26th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Barack and Michelle Obama occupied the White House for the eight yeara 2009-2017. He has already written a memoir – but only of the first three decades of his life – in the form of the 1995 work “Dreams From My Father” but he has yet to write about his time as President. She has now written a memoir of the first five or so decades of her life which includes, but does not major on, her time as First Lady. When “Becoming” was published in mid November 2018, it sold more copies than any other book published in the United States in 2018, breaking the record in just 15 days. It has since achieved outstanding sales all around the world and become a genuine literary phenomenon.
It is very well-written, having been researched and structured by a team of excellent writers led by journalist Sara Corbett. Above, though, its tells a remarkable story in a revealing and insightful manner, making this a joy to read.
A working class black woman raised on the South Side of Chicago improbably manages to become a graduate of both Princeton University and Harvard Law School before starting her career as an attorney and then taking on a series of roles with a strong social justice agenda. And she meets and marries the man who will just as improbably become the first black President of the United States. By the time she leaves the White House, she has raised two wonderful daughters, supported her husband with utter professionalism, created a White House vegetable garden, launched four major initiatives supporting childen and veterans – and meanwhile “we’d managed two terms in office without a major scandal”.
How was this possible?
It started with her own talent and determination. She studied and worked incredibly hard and describes herself as “a control freak”and “a box checker – marching to the resolute beat of effort/result” before she fell in love with Barack which she calls my swerve”. It was buttressed by wonderfully supportive parents and then great friends and mentors. She records how in turn she has always tried to encourage others – especially girls and women of colour – to aim high. And it was enabled by the transformative power of education at both her schools and colleges. But she has always suffered from an kind of imposter syndrome, never quite believing that she was good enough. Her life has not been trouble-free and she candidly refers to smoking pot, having a miscarriage, and needing IVF as well as fighting with and yelling at Barack and she and her husband using counselling to work through a rough patch in their marriage.
This memoir is very much about how Michelle Obama became the immensely impressive woman that she is and not so much about her famous husband. Barack does not appear in the text until a quarter of the way through the book; only three-quarters in do we reach her time in the White House; and the second presidential term is covered in merely a couple of dozen pages. While Barack Obama may be the consummate politician, Michelle Obama makes it very clear in this memoir that, at every stage of her husband’s political career, she was reluctant for him to run for election. The price was so high – for her own aspirations as a talented professional woman and for their daughters who would see so much less of their father and, once he was President, have to live their lives in a kind of security bubble.
Yet, in the end, she always backed his decision to run and gave him her total support. For herself, she makes it clear that “I’ve never been a fan of politics” and that at times she found it “demoralizing, infuriating, sometimes crushing” and she is adamant that “I have no intention of running for office, ever”.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
So how does the British political system actually work?
July 25th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Britain has a new Prime Minister and a new Government. The media today are full of information about the new personalties and speculation about what this all means for Brexit.
But how does the British political system work? It’s very different from other systems around the world and even the British are often confused about how it operates. You can find my guide to the British system here.
The British political system is very different from the American political system and I’ve spend some time comparing and contrasting the two. You can read my comparison here.
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs | Comments (0)
The dude who is now Britain’s Prime Minister
July 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
“We know the mantra of the campaign – in case you have forgotten it – it is deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn and that is what we are going to do. Some wag has already pointed out that deliver, unite, defeat was not the perfect acronym for an election campaign since unfortunately it spells dud. But they forgot the final e, my friends, e for energise. And I say to all the doubters: dude, we are going to energise the country.”
Extract from speech by Boris Johnson on winning the Conservative Party leadership election which now makes him Prime Minister or First Dude or Mini Trump.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
What is the most successful film of all time?
July 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
There are so many ways to judge this.
Usually, because movies are essentially a business, the key criterion is money – but even here we have a choice between tickets sales in cash to tickets sales adjusted for inflation.
This week, it was announced that in cash terms “Avengers: Endgame” has just overtaken “Avatar”. You can see more on this story here.
But, if you adjust for inflation, then the top money-making film of all time is “Gone With The Wind” from 1939.
Another valid measure is number of ticket sales. On that basis, again the top movie is “Gone With The Wind”.
Still another measure is the number of Academy Awards won and, on that criterion, three movies share the record for the most Oscars. “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Titanic” (1997) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) each nabbed 11 Academy Awards in the years in which they were nominated.
Personally I think the best film ever made was “Lawrence Of Arabia” (1963).
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)