People, not inanimate objects, hurt people

A conversation has to be started about human nature, not guns.

Disclaimer: The following post may be sensitive, due to current events. But, there is never a right time for a conversation like this. The time is now, and I only bring it up because I want a better, more peaceful society where we can all choose how to live our own lives. Finding justice for the victims of today means more than just finding a perpetrator. It also means ensuring events like today's will have less likelihood of happening tomorrow.

I still cannot wrap my head around the senseless tragedy that took place in Connecticut. My thoughts continue to be with the victims, but also with the millions of lives that will be affected as a ripple effect takes place. It is devastating - these were innocent lives, each with a different story, family and future, that were cruelly taken away and cut short, because of one, irrational man who tried using violence as a solution.

But while we mourn for those lost, we also have to emphasize the importance to have a conversation about how to prevent these tragedies in the future. And many may want to wait, but there is simply never a right time. Just several days ago, a shooting occurred in Oregon, not to mention the other devastating events that have taken place in the last year. We cannot just wait until similar events transpire all over again before calling for change again. Part of giving justice to those that have passed is by ensuring that nothing like these events happen again in the future.

However, the conversation cannot just be about guns. It has to be about us, humans. Because, after all, humans are the ones hurting each other. Not the guns. Every time there is a shooting, society talks about banning guns, or controlling weapons, as if that would completely make violence disappear overnight. Why can't we blame ourselves? Why can't we blame our society? Maybe we are at fault. Maybe it is how we educate our children that is the problem. Not the existence of guns.

Google displayed a white candle on its homepage in memory of the victims.

The gun has no capability of hurting anyone. Not even if someone is standing directly in front of it. It is an individual, who chooses independently, to pull the trigger, that ultimately creates disaster.

And herein is where our problem lies. When did violence become so glorified? When did guns become such a huge part of our popular culture? When did weapons become a "tool" that is portrayed as a solution to a problem? And most of all, when did weapons become the cause of violence, not humans? These are the questions we should be asking.

The real, long-term way to fix our broken society is by education, not by some flimsy attempt to filter out the majority of violent weapons in our society. We need to educate society that violence isn't good - it is bad. It is horrible. We need to educate society that violence, guns and weapons do NOT solve problems; they only create a bigger mess. Because when a gunman shoots even just one person, it isn't only that one person that is hurt. That victim may have a spouse, and some kids, who will be devastated of the news. Those people in turn affect the rest of society, causing thousands of lives to be affected in the end. We can ban knives, guns, needles, rocks, cars, hammers and anything and everything else that we believe have the possibility of hurting another person in life. But that will never work. Because all of the violence is caused by humans using those things.

Like everything else in our lives, guns have both a useful function and a negative side. When a crash involving a drunk driver or a driver who was texting and driving occurs, we do not think to ban cars, alcohol and cellular devices. We may have laws against drunk driving and texting while driving, but that's similar to laws that prohibit weapons in various public venues. In all three situations, it is the people that are at fault, not the tools.

Furthermore, did the driver or gunman follow the laws? Nope. The driver who drank a little too much before getting into the car or who decided to send a text message while he was driving, deliberately broke the law. The gunman who decided to carry weapons into a school also broke the law purposefully. They were determined. And motivated. And laws won't stop them, only make the victims more defenseless.

In fact, education has been utilized to combat both drunk driving and texting while driving, as seen by AT&T's campaign amongst others by various organizations.

One final example: if a person drowns someone, do we try to ban water? That would not be possible. Water is a necessary component to live. So, like guns, while it has very beneficial effects, it also has very harmful potentials. We must work around them.

While we move forward and try to decide how to handle this growing problem, we cannot just think removing the tools off the regular market will solve all problems. They will still persist. Violence is created by humans. We can have the most deadly weapons, but they wouldn't be deadly if nothing were able to operate them. These weapons simply aren't robots - they do not have a mind of their own.

Education against violence and creating a society emphasizing love and tolerance is our best chance. Let's educate our youth that there are better ways to fix things, that there are alternatives, and violence is never the answer, no matter how tough life gets. It is a difficult time to talk about these issues, but it is also the best and most appropriate time to start a conversation about it. We cannot make a decision in a day. We need to decide as a society what we want, and sometimes, it begins with bringing up a hard issue.

We keep the victims of today in our hearts. And in doing that, we hope for justice and for safety, security and freedom to continue to be able to persist, only possible if we try to stop blaming inanimate objects for one second, think about the real cause, ourselves, and find a viable solution.

America: not as flawed as she seems.

Small government is better.

American government was built on the basis that the government should interfere with its citizens' lives minimally, allowing for a broader range of freedoms. This has led America to decades of brilliant innovation and economic success. During these times of recession, we cannot solely rely on the government to make things better. Likewise, in the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration did not magically wipe out all the hardships; they only contributed to fixing them. Economies will always have cycles, but ultimately, the government can only do so much. Instead, making our government bigger will only mean a loss of freedom and a worse long-term country. 

So why is America not as flawed as she seems? Because economies naturally have their cycles, and competition from other countries only leads to a better world for everyone. Because incentive, a fundmental American ideal, drives people to work hard, allowing more people to achieve the American Dream. Because the American education system actually works, really. Here we go.

Home of the free, and the reason why America has been successful for decades on end.

Competition leads to better nations, and a better world.
The Chinese are great people. Heck, I'm Chinese. However, I still think China's growth is overhyped, overstated and unsustainable. In fact, I think it is artificial. It isn't because of the people, but because of its government. As long as America continues to focus on fixing herself, and not slowing the competition, the future still belongs to her. The only thing the American government needs to do is ensure that America is the number one place to start a business - that starts with having the most economic and personal freedoms. Remember what happened during the Cold War? America continued to be free, focused on extending democratic ideals around the world and launching its own innovative programs, like the space program. In the end, she prevailed while the Soviet Union, which lacked the diverse marketplace America had, collapsed.

Like business, competition can only make things better. If not for the Cold War (competition with the Soviet Union), humans might not even be in space today. We might not have developed so many crazy inventions. And I think the same thing will happen with this tension with China when looking back in hindsight. America will only become greater in the end, that is, if we focus on growing ourselves, and not trying to stop other countries from advancing. America may be in a recession right now. But we have gone through tons of recessions and a Great Depression. We've only gotten stronger.

Incentive drives people to work hard.
We need to stop bagging on the "1%" or promoting the "99%." When did that even become a thing? Focus on the individual. It doesn't matter if it's 1%, 99% or even 50%. America has always been about the American Dream. Those people who have worked hard, figured out a way to move around the obstacles, and achieved success shouldn't be "shunned." Neither should they be scolded when they don't "help out" the poor or don't pay "more" taxes than that set by the government. Certainly, those that do contribute to charity should be thanked and recognized! But imagine a person going to a grocery store, picking up a $5 product, and paying the store $100, just because. If people aren't required to pay that much, don't expect them to or go complaining that they don't pay extra. And, having the rich be obligated to help the poor will only make the poor, poorer. Making it an obligation takes away all incentive for people who aren't in the upper class to work hard to achieve success. Again, this does not mean society should not help out one another - we should educate people to do that, but we cannot reprimand those that do not wish to. It is equally important that we do reprimand those when they breach ethical guidelines (scams), but that is the only reason. Never has America taken the stance that one person is doing bad because the other is doing well. Strive for success, independent of another person's success, or lack thereof.

Maybe American education works.
Education is very important - that's the source of human progress. However, there's also a lot of talk about American education being ranked very low compared to other systems in the world, and that maybe our system is not competent. But maybe, that is what has made Americans so great. Maybe that is what has made Americans succeed in the world. Because it's not all about what we learn in books, but what we experience first-hand in the world, that teaches us even more than pages and words. In other words, American education has never been confined to classrooms, textbooks, pencils and desks. American education has allowed children to explore and discover. Making it more "rigorous" and strictly tied to what we learn in textbooks will remove the ability and time for students to freely look into the things that interest them the most. 

Maybe a kid does get a C in English, but at the same time, he may exceed in Chemistry, and so, focuses on that, doing personal research at home, on the Internet, so vast with information. Why should we force them to also succeed in English as well? What makes that A in English so important? That time studying for English may have been time that could have led him to a scientific breakthrough that could have changed the world forever. As long as our curriculums expose students to what's out there in this world, those with an interest in that subject will go out and educate themselves. Our teachers should focus on encouraging that, helping students to develop their passion, and teaching life morals. 

For me, I haven't even been able to learn about technology in school, but because I have had personal time, I've been able to do my own research at home. If I had to focus solely on the subjects of school, I'd never have the time to do this. This is the same for so many other areas. Many of our world's greatest innovators have been focused on one area, and many have not been produced because of schooling, but because they've been able to explore their passions.

Consider the following example to China vs. US.

Imagine two children on a playground. One has parents who are constantly hovering, making sure she doesn’t fall and scrape herself. By contrast, the other child’s parents give her more distance, letting her fend for herself. She stumbles and cries more often, but when she becomes an adult, she’s more resilient... In Guo’s view, the helicopter parents are the Chinese government, while the other parents represent Washington. In the end, he said, the U.S. economy will be stronger.

What this whole post ultimately comes down to is individuality. Stop trying to make everything equal. Life is not fair, nothing is equal. Not countries, not people, not education. Some countries will be better than others. Some people will be better than others. Some people will be smarter than others. That's life.  The rest is up to the individual. 

America is a nation where freedom flourishes, and will continue to in the future, as long as citizens simultaneously stand up to prevent the government from growing in size and participate in the democratic system by voicing their opinions. I still believe in America, do you?

This post was inspired by Washington Post's "If China is doing so well, why do so many Chinese think of moving here?"

The American panoramic picture is courtesy of David Kozlowski (+David Kozlowski)

The issue with banning drinks

Recently, New York City has announced that it may ban large, sugary drinks, specifically those over 16 ounces, from being sold, in an effort to try to keep its citizens healthy.

It's utterly disturbing. It's economically and morally wrong. It's plainly not right. America has always been the land of the free - where companies can flourish and citizens can make their own informed decisions. Implementing a ban on such products will ultimately restrict both of those freedoms.

Image Courtesy of McDonald's
http://www.mcarkansas.com/26966/20992/default-page/

The Economy
Operating a business is already hard enough, and it's getting harder and harder each day in America. Piling on more restrictions on what businesses can or cannot do restricts their mobility and, in turn, devastates the economy. When Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's or other successful American businesses have to stop selling drinks larger than a certain size, that's cutting off profits that they otherwise would have had. And, if they want to try to balance out the losses, prices on other products may rise, hurting American consumers in the long-term.

Imposing new regulations on businesses drives up the cost of doing business, and that's not something we want, especially during a economic recession that's still taking place today. 

But, more importantly, a ban of this sort is immoral, and something that is in complete contradiction with the morals this great country of freedom was founded upon.

The Morality
America was founded as a country where its citizens could make individual choices based on their own judgements, knowledge and morals. What and how much a specific citizen chooses to drink, and what he or she wants to do to the body falls under the list of individual choices and decisions, and is one that the government has no right to decide.

Furthermore, unlike alcohol, drinking too much sugary drinks only hurts the individual in the long-run, and will not cause the individual to act with poor judgement. America has always stood for tolerating other people's actions and opinions, as long as it does not hurt surrounding citizens. This is the same thing.

The government (along with scientists and the  mainstream media) has continuously warned about the dangers and risks of drinking drinks with an excess of sugar. That's the farthest the government should go and that has always been their role regarding how they protect citizens. Is the government going to start banning syrup, bacon, coffee and other "unhealthy" foods as well? Who's to decide what is unhealthy or not? Let individuals decide this for themselves based on the known facts and studies.

Finally, banning large, sugary drinks is "censorship" on a physical level. The government cannot and should not assume what those drinks are used for after being purchased. In this case, they are assuming that it will be used for consumption, individually. Maybe it will be split up between a family. Maybe between a few friends. Whatever the case, the government cannot assume anything. Even if it is for the individual, there are too many motives to just have a general ban on these products.


Beverage companies and restaurants already have an obligation to clearly display nutritional information on each and every packaging label. Calorie counts, sugar amounts and more are already made readily available for each consumer. From that point out, it's up to the consumer to judge whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, for them to purchase and consume. Just like how prohibition did not work in the 1900s, banning large and sugary drinks will not work either. But this time, there's a lot more moral issues involved that would threaten the freedom Americans have come to enjoy daily.

Justice, for all

Every single day, in America's Pledge of Allegiance, we recite the phrase "justice, for all." This simple phrase suggests that marriage, and who can marry who, should not even be a topic in our country.

Both the people who come out and say they support same-sex marriage and the people who come out and say they oppose same-sex marriage are wrong. It doesn't matter what they think... it matters what each individual believes. Their opinions shouldn't matter. People can decide what's best for themselves and how they want to lead their lives.

It's sad that we are still living in a country with "separate, but equal" characteristics. These people are still normal people, who should have the same equal, unalienable rights and their beliefs should be protected under our Constitution.

Americans should be able to lead their lives however they choose to, including decisions about who they want to spend their lives with. No one has any right to dictate or restrict who people can, or cannot, marry, nor do they have a right to justify what is right. No one can define "love." If you don't believe in or support same-sex marriage, or regular marriage, just do not do it. It's wrong to stop other people from believing in something different. It's not physically hurting anyone.

America was founded on the belief that everyone is equal, even if their opinions are worlds apart. It's sad that we still cannot see the very clear answer. Just don't even bother defining marriage and let each individual choose.