Allow me..

"...I want to love you with all I can and have.

Please give me strength and allow me to do so.

I know I am important to you,

but allow me to be more than that.

Allow me to be the only thing

that is stuck in your mind,

Allow me to be selfish

and be the only thing

you see..."

冷たい、冷たい

You're are so cold...

冷たい、冷たい。。。

What happened to the warmth before?

Why did you take it back without a warning?

It was so nice...

Did you find a replacement?

Why don't you just tell me?

I can't do anything as if I froze...冷たい、冷たい。。。

Just tell me, so I can find my way again...

Back to chasing the warmth,

until I am melted and vaporises.

Who Am I? Ethical Re-re-REMIX!!

Before answering this question again, I had gone back to read about the me before the course and the me throughout the course. One thing that bothered me immensely is my usage of commas in the earlier posts. I apologize for all the bad punctuation and spelling, will improve on that. (though later posts did show signs of improvement.)

After this course, I feel like a different but still the same person. I am still who I am, yet perhaps more tapped into some unconscious pasts of myself, society, and the cosmos as a whole. In fact this course has shed more light unto who I am. It has pried open more layers of me buried deep within by my unconscious self-protection efforts. I have come in contact with my shadow side, and a side of me that is struggling against some of my biggest fears, which were hard for me to explain, but is now a little clearer and has stepped into the conscious.

I have gone through a journey opening many doors in psychology, religions, philosophy, and how each is connect to my inner core. This semester has been definitely a spiritual deepening experience, as more things are opened for more understanding and exploration. It is hard to put into words the things I have learned and the experienced gone through except a joyous feeling of excitement and achievement.

Many thanks to my wonderful GSI and classmates going through the wonderful journey with me. It has been great sharing thoughts and opinions with all of you, and has made me realize many different points of view that I have never thought about. I hope to continue to be in touch as we continue on our lives to further explore and connect to the cosmos and our essence! XD

Business Ethics

"How could firms derive the full advantage of low cost labor and the benefits of flexile contractor relationships, while also respecting the rights of workers in developing countries" (pg 316).
"How can we pull together as a team to make this merger work if some of our key players have to run home every time their kid has a cold" (pg. 290)?

I think companies should rethink the definition of "taking full advantage of low cost labors" by factoring the bottom rule that respecting the rights of workers IS part of "low cost labors." I believe out sourcing jobs to developing countries is already cutting the cost down compared to hiring workers in the states. However, because of he competitive market, companiess are lured into cutting the cost even lower by fringing upon human rights. Yet, similar to Levi, from "Ethics in the Trenches," the company can be also competitive with a positive value for the right of their workers. After reading about Levi's creative response to underage workers, I felt a responsibility as a consumer to support that. Though Levi jeans are more expensive than other companies, yet it's qualities are also better than most. I also believe that companies such as Levi can also put pressure on other companies for their unjust ethics and inform the public of their choices and power in consumerism. Similar to Nike's turn around, I think it is possible to affect the overall ethical awareness if in the long run, the benefits will out weigh the sacrifices taken in the initial stages. (reminds me of the three malaises...)

As for McNeil's case, it seems to me that the problem started right at the beginning, at the interview. I thought McNeil was absolutely clear about her responsibility as a parent and what her priorities are. It was unfair that during the interview Walters and Foyd did not tell her the truth, perhaps lied, to her about the working environment and that they are practically looking for a single and young person {similar to Walter} for the job. Thus right at the begining, they are already trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

That aside,every employee will need to attend to their family members once in a while, it is inevitable. However having a fellow co-worker to help back up the work or holding a conference call from home can help ease the situation greatly. Today, many people work at home and do not even set foot in the office because technologies allow us to communicate with each other through the internet, and even monitor or exchange work loads. In McNeil's case, she could be virtually at the meeting through the internet or on the phone, though not ideal, yet perhaps will help the situation.

SGI Buddhism

After reading about Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity, I felt I was most connected with Islam outside of my own religion. That may mainly because that I am a Catholic, hence the Islamic values seem more of something I felt akin to. However, I have not yet the chance to read Judaism, which I think will also offer a more interesting variety of religion to choose, since it is also embedded in similar beliefs. Naturally, I want to visit a Islamic service, however only to find out that I missed it just by a couple hrs after a phone call to a Muslim friend. In need of a religious service to attend (originally, I thought about Jewish services, yet since I didn't read the chapter, I may not understand it enough to appreciate the service from a different perspective.) I attended a Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhism service.

One of my room mate is a member of the SGI group and invited me to go to one of their youth events. Though she was unable to go, I was accompanied by a really nice member of the group. The religion follows Buddhist Shakyamuni's teachings as if was taught by the Buddhist Reformer, Nichiren Daishonin, in Japan.

At first, I always thought Buddhism is something contrasting to Christianity. My understanding of Buddhism, through the text and personal experiences, is that the religion calls for a self-fostering and self-challenging. It calls for achieving spirituality through the individual work and meditation, not so much community orientated. While, Christianity is much more community oriented religion, where everyone is encouraged to help each other and obtain spirituality together. However this visit to the SGI changed my whole conception. Buddhism can be very community oriented too, especially at SGI.

The event was in preparation for a convention coming in the summer, where distinguish youth leaders are chosen to participate. What shock me the most in the visit, was how diverse the members are and how everyone cheered each other one, with a strong community atmosphere. The members were quick to react to the person leading the event, performing, or giving speech. Going to the service made realize that Buddhism can also foster a strong community, not necessarily only focusing on the individual.

What Would Aristotle Say?

Scenario: Teacher has to present grade for high school senior on boarder line between failing and passing.

Fist of all, Aristotle made many arguments that all people seek happiness, of which can be obtain through intelligence, pleasure, honor, and"every excellence." Though these components aren't necessarily the ingredients to obtain happiness, they will aid people greatly in their search for happiness. He stated that people needs to live well, be "self-sufficient," (for others and self) be part of a society (not in isolation) to obtain happiness. In other words, happiness is the combination of these individual parts that is then greater than merely the sum.

Hence for this scenario, I believe that Aristotle will first examine the subject in which the student is failing, and weight its importance against if the student should enter the next stage without the intelligence. If he believes that the knowledge is crucial in the next steps, and thinks that by staying behind another year, the student is much more prepared than learning the hard way, then he shall remain. Yet, if the knowledge makes no difference in the journey that awaits the student, then might as well let him go. Since all is based off of how well intelligence can function as a tool to live well and seek happiness, the subject of the failing course will also go through the same examination. Furthermore, I believe Aristotle will also take into consideration that if the student will learn faster in the painful experience outside of school than staying "sheltered" for another year, then this may be a whole other logical algorithm that is follows the importance of the subject.

March 4th!!

I have always wanted to participate in the public education strikes on campus, however, I believe I do not know enough to take a stand, hence both in light of this class and for my knowledge, I decided to go out there and talk to people who are participating. At the end of the day, it was an amazing experience, and most people I have come in contact with supports the right to free speech, no matter which side they stand. I also really appreciated when I told people that I do not know the situation enough to take a stance, they usually were happy to talk about the situation or just share their opinions, no one tried to convince me to see the "right" side.

I stared the day at 7:30 (too early for 7) at the West Gate, and talked to an old gentlemen who works in the University Botanical Garden. He said that he is a Berkeley Alum and majored in Art Practice. (which was really exciting!) He told me that he was mainly there because he is part of the worker's union, however, he also strongly believe that the university is turning into a corporation where money is put in a higher priority than the students and workers, and is no longer a non-beneficial public institution as it should be. I also talked to another old lady who worked int he gardens too. She is a Berkeley local resident, and was here in the 60's and 70's participating in the civil strikes and marches. We talked for a long time about experience in her job, where she believes that her boss doesn't see her a valuable worker who takes care of the garden. She said she said her job title was garden laborer, which changed to horticulturists, though the environment remained the same, like in a office building, not for the love of the gardens.

I then talked to some students who were getting ready to board the bus to Sacramento. The majority of the students were from an history of art class, where the professor encourage people to participate and the department office even offered articles to help students understand the situation. (Which I thought was wonderful!) As I made my way to the Sather Gate and the North Gate, I met more students participating, even students not of our campus. Most surprisingly, I met a group of Japanese students, who flew out here for 8 days, just to participate in solidarity and will promptly return after the srtike is over. (Amazing!) They were mostly from the Hosei University, where 118 students were arrested for passing out fliers. I also came across a public observer, who was from an organization of lawyers to protect the participating citizens, in case something happened, they can defend them in court.

At the end, I found it really amazing how the community came together to protect each other, and voice their opinion on how the public education should change and is the jewel for our children's future.

Being Personal on a WW Blog

The notion of an online journal has always bugged me. For me, keeping a journal is very private, hence I usually write my deepest thoughts and feelings in my journals/sketchbooks rather than on a blog that is opened to anyone on the web. Somehow, the sense of having a private journal online just seemed to be in conflict with my ego. (going off the idea that I usually let my shadow out in my journals.) However, for the premise of this class, and to further my personal ethics development, (fufu) I will try to be more private in this blog.

I used to keep a more personal blog in high school, however I realized as I become older, it becomes increasingly harder to share personal feelings with people. I don't know because I am just more busy, or society often requires us to put on an independent and strong character. I remember there was even a point in my life when lookign at the old high school posts made me feel weak and even immature because I have silly, unresolved emotional fixations. Yet, looking back at them now, I realized that was exactly who I was, not weak or immature, just me growing up and coping with life. I have also realized it is also a part of me that I love, yet somehow is lost right now. This thought scares me. It has always scared me immensely to grow up. Sort of like a Peter Pan syndrome, I don't want to grow up. Growing up means more responsibility, more reality to face, and things can seem so lackluster, easily be taken for granted, and hopeless at times. I longed to keep the care-free self, the one with my head stuck in the clouds all day, enjoying life as it is.... Now really growing up, I am trying to find a balance between the two, trying to still have the curiosity and appreciation of a child and the maturity and firmness of an adult. I think some part of me must of hated adults when I was young... :}

All in all, I will be trying to utilize these exercises to help me reflect more personally, since this is the whole premise of keeping a journal for this class...There will still be a couple layers between ego and shadow...but just less layers I suppose? haha

Emotional Hijacking?!

Okay, so, how do I deal with emotional hijacking? Well, it used to be taking it out on my younger brother....just kidding, though I did get into some pretty nasty fights with him when I was in high school. I have to say whenever I have an enormous amounts of anger and anguish, it is usually related to the situation my family is in. Since my father works in Taiwan, it has been hard for my mother to raise my brother and I in the States. Yet, this also means growing up for my brother, most of the time without a father near by, resulted in some unbalanced anguish. (which may have also unconsciously infested itself within me. ) As one role of a family is not fulfilled, each of the member must take on different responsibilities to fill in on the gap and also learn to accept the way things are, often with minimal complaint and opposition, in order to keep a family running. That was how everything has been for the last ten years of my life. I don't have particular anger or hatred for the situation, however, an overwhelming sorrow always arise when I look back at my life. It's a sorrow of seeing my family members bearing the pain and frustration for the love of each other and themselves. It's seeing my mother stressing to for her job and trying to fulfill her role as a caring other, seeing my brother growing without a male role model in the family, knowing the loneliness of my father who is thousands miles away, and seeing myself burying all these emotions to keep my chin up and striving for tomorrow.

As we are already walking on tight rope, when one of us begin to falter it often makes the others even more strained. My brother being the youngest, tends to be the one most readily exudes emotional anguish and often at my mother. At this point, all the emotion suppressed begins to rise at an alarming rate and boils within my veins. I will soon be filled with enormous amounts of rage, which was justified by telling myself why can't my brother be more considerate of my mother. Does he know how hard mom is working? We always had to take care of him, what has he contributed? What does he understand? Why is he yelling at my mom when he is the one who should be doing his homework?! (it is often simple things that arouse these family feuds) Questions as such begins to rush into my brain, even though I know things are tough for him and I, as his older sibling, should consider his situation instead of comparing him to me.

I remember such an instance happening just the past summer when I was at home. My brother, now entering puberty, has been in constant fight with my mother, almost everyday. I remember sitting in my room trying to ground myself and listening to them yelling at each other. Luckily, it's summer break, I was not under any stress and was able to avoid the emotional hijacking. I told myself, going over and yelling at my brother is not going to make the situation any better, in fact will only worsen it. I tried to pull myself out from the situation and look on as a bystander. I had to keep telling myself, right now both of them are heated and me being angry will not help anyone, I should wait till things are over then try to sort things out. Truthfully, this conflict has nothing to do with me, I should not let my emotions be involved. I may disapprove the way my brother is treating my mom, however the rage must be also composed of my own anger since my reaction is too strong. With these strategies, i was able to calm down and proceed to my own deeds as I wait for things to calm down to talk to them.

I think for many people, emotional hijacking often happens in family situations where we are so accustomed to doing extra for each other, yet also easily take each other for granted; that is until someone blows up. Using these strategies really helps me calm down, espacially when I don't want to hurt my family members due to my own emotions erupting.

The World I See, the World You See, and the World We See.

WARNING: LONG article.... :}
For this week's assignment, we are to choose a news article which reflects the world we see. We then are to choose 2-3 people to share, who are not students and we do not see often. As they tell us the world that we do not see, we are to give them three quotes:

"who we are at the core is love itself."
"We were born with one purpose: to love and be loved."
"As we change, the world will change with us."
"The world we see reflects the people we've become. If we do not like what we see in the world, we must face what we don't like within ourselves."

First off, the article I have chose is Lysacek Wins the Gold with Style from The New York Times and the people I have chosen to share with are my aunt and my mom. The reason I chose the article was that it is the only somewhat positive article I can find on the home page of NY Times. I have already looked through tons of headlines from my online news subscriber, however other than something the gov. did wrong, tragedies at Haiti, or Kennedy's love letters, I couldn't find anything close to being positive. I am not saying that I am not interested in what the gov. did wrong or tragedies in Haiti, (def. not interested in Kennedy's love letter though) they just don't reflect the world I see.

I believe amidst all the problems and pain that cover the world, heart warming and caring tales are what reflect the world I see and believe in. I believe that there is still goodness in everyone's heart, they just don't make it to the news headlines.

Secondly, I chose my relatives as candidates to discuss mainly because previous candidates have all some troubles.... This made me realize that people are definitely more and more busy. I originally wanted to take this as a chance to reconnect with some old friend who entered the job market early, however they seemed just as busy, if not busier, than college students. At first they were all eager to help, yet when it really came down to discussing, things just didn't work out as well. I was even hoping to ask my brother instead of my mother, since I figured my mother and I would have similar views. My 8th grader brother turned out to be too busy doing math hw, and was again unavailable. I think it is rather sad that it is so hard to have people (including myself) slow down and stop, just to talk about love and the world we live in.

Anyhow, moving to the good stuff...The first response from my aunt about the article was, she was wondering what would be Lysacek's reactions if he didn't win Gold. In a way, she thinks that Lysacek had less stress since he wasn't expected to win, thus overall result in him being more able to perform well. On the other hand, Plushenko, the anticipated Gold medalist had more stress and probably inversely affected his performance. I then told her my main view on the article was that sometimes people set a goal and work hard to achieve it, and the process in reaching the goal is already a success in itself. I think going through the process itself can offer so many learning experiences, that the end result seems like the icing on a cake. (a seven thinking pattern? *laugh*) such as when one is writing a research paper for a scholarship, the knowledge that one gained during the research can be more significant than actually winning the scholarship.

My aunt agreed with me on that part, however she joking said Plushenko didn't seem to feel that way, since the words coming our of his mouth is rather sour. Though, she also thinks that to achieve your goal, you much be aggressive and take the first step. Looking at a bigger picture, she also agreed on wanting to see more heartwarming news. (She then proceeded to tell me a story of an old man cooking noodles everyday for a female crippled and stray dog with three puppies. The news then reached an organization in Europe.) She thought that it would be much nicer if the news can enact more love within our hearts and carry it out in our daily lives. News should encourage love and support the love within our core, hence changing the world little by little. My aunt thought that many it is hard for people to know themselves, in fact we often see ourselves through other people's eyes. Hence if the news offered us a better view, people will be more motivated. She agreed with me that love is a learning experience. It is just like when parents can try their hardest to tell their child something, yet the child may never learn it without experiencing for him or herself. (which I thought was a great analogy)

ON the other hand... (this entry is getting long) my mother had quite an intense reaction I didn't quite expect. She didn't think either Lysacek or Plushenko were happy. She thinks the Olympic, like many different systems, urge people to compete to an extreme and cause unhappiness. My mom believes that competing for a ranking to the point where even .5 matters, while the athletes have sacrificed so much just seem rather pointless. She thought the genuine spirit of the Olympics were lost. If systems like these don't help society improve, then it is not created with the love for the world in mind. Then it is time to relook at what is wrong and tweak it back.

Love. Happiness. List.

This is love for me...This is happiness for me...
This is what I list [strive] for...
These pictures took me a whole afternoon to find/think of. I think the picture of the giving tree represent what I feel about love the best...I remember reading it with my mother when I was little @ the Golden Gate Music Concourse, with the pigeons. At that time, that book always made me feel so sad, and could never understand why the boy is so mean to the tree. Looking at the book now, it is very warm with a clinch at the heart for me, and that is how I feel about love too. :}

The penguin and the boy spells happiness for me. I am not sure how to explain it, but looking at it just puts a smile on my face. I think it's something about the intimacy, the care, the simplicity, and the notion of transcending beyond human and penguins...haha.

Lastly, I chose two pictures for what I strive for. The first one is the close relationship between love and happiness. I believe that with love, happiness will naturally come. Though, this relationship doesn't always work backwards. Sometimes one has to suffer to love, yet in the end, it will all work out. As a great quote from a classmate states, "Happiness should not be the reason to love, but the result." (if I remember this correctly.) Hence, I "list" to live a life full of happiness and love, with the people around me and myself. The second picture represents my desire to quench the curiosity I have for everything this world has to offer.

Wk 3: Video Response- "UC Berkeley Budget Protest. The Wheeler Frontlines"

"But today, perhaps for the first time, we shall struggle to achieve a morality that is self-imposed and consented to by our own reasons, though even that will not guarantee our compliance." -R. Holloway, Godless Morality, Ethical Jazz.

It has always puzzled me why protests and strikes often lead to police brutality and how a non-violent voicing of opinions can end up with such horrid blood spills. Then after discussing more about this topic this year, I realized that protests are very intense situations filled with blood curdling emotions and explosive actions waiting on a brink for a catalyst. I think during those situations it is very difficult for both sides not to act out on their anger towards each other. The protesters are ready to take on anything in defense of their rights, and often egging on or taking out anger on the police. On the other hand, the police are trying their best to keep a large crowd under control from turning into a huge mob (while being finger pointed and swore at ..) Thus violence under these circumstances is easily evoked and is a much more complicated issue than just "the police beating up innocent protesters."

Hence in response to the quote/reading, I don't think the police have anything to do with having a self-imposed moral as opposed to following one from the state. In fact, the personal morals of the police have absolutely nothing to do with their job as keeping the crowds in control. They are two different distinct subjects. Certainly the act of violence towards the crowd should definitely be avoided, yet with no knowledge of "crowd-control", I cannot say for certain which is the best action to take. It is true that if the police has a moral of not using violence on students(in this case) then they should avoid it, however when taking up the responsibility of keeping under control necessary actions must be taken. There are definitely better ways than hitting the students, yet under that particular situation would it be better to use an alternative? Is there enough time? May be the police has done what he thought best, may be it could be much more violent. If I were the police, may be I could've done worse? As for following their morals, would it help keep the crowd under control? What if certain actions were not taken because of their personal morals, then the crowd easily turned into a mob

It definitely evoked a strong mixed emotions of anger and shock towards the police force when I first watched the video, yet I don't think I am in a place to pass the judgment of people should have or should not have follow their self-imposed morals. Believing in morals and following them are two different things, and can vary under certain circumstances.("..though even that will npot guarantee our compliance.") Just like how morals should be like ethical jazz in our lives compared to past generations, it should also be improvised at each given situation. I believe we cannot just blindly believe in a set of rules and ignore what the problem at hand. We set up morals, self-imposed or given, to protect what is important to us and others, hence they must be flexible in every way so they don't end up hurting what we are trying to protect. However, with all that's been said, I definitely think it is important to keep the emotions at a minimum at protests, (though extremely tough, and a little controversial) the purpose of strikes is to show that the majority number have a bigger power over the minority privileged.

Man that was a long post....thank you and a toast to whoever take on this challenge and read it! XD

Wk 2: Goup Blogs!

For this week we are suppose to create a group blog for our people in similar personalities as ourselves. I am in a group with another seven and six. Here's our blog, I think we will be posting responses to articles and analyze how we react to them as part of our personality. (which I am really interested to see...)

Wk 1: Who Am I?

A big question..Who am I? Well, I suppose I can say that I am a student, where I go to school, my major, my hobbies, age, etc. Those may help categorize me in society and generate certain tendencies about my personality (a word with heavy meaning in this class?) or actions that are established by the people before me with similar hobbies, age, major, etc, but that probably won't really answer the question of who I really am...

This is a question that I have always pondered about and think is really hard to answer. Then again, I don't think this is a question that I can put into words either. I believe I know myself well enough to know who I am, but there is also a limit to that based off of my current growth in life. Honestly, the best answer I have for others and myself is: I am who I am. I am all the things I have experienced, all the things I have seen, all the places I have been to and lived, all the people and things I know, love, and hate, and all the things I believe, disagree, and embrace. I am influenced by all this, whether I choose to or not, they are all part of me.

In a sense, I think the list of things about me is just the beginning of who I am. As the lists gets longer, turning into stories, into reflections, then it will only slightly begin to answer who I really am.

Welcome

This is a blog for the course Personal Ethics for the 21st Century, where weekly questions of ethics will be reflected upon. Feel free to poke around and comment. :}