The rainbow will last

Few weeks back, Obama announced his formal approval for gay marriage and it got me thinking how far we have come in moving to recognize the rights of every individuals in this country. From race to gender and now, we are starting to nullify the differences in sexual orientation. Truth to be told I never thought deep into this issue as marriage itself does not appeal to me as necessity - isn't "civil union" just fine? I mused. Then it occurred to me that many in the past might as well have thought voting is not a necessity and passed on female voting. Despite how I see myself as a liberal, my view on these so-called sensitive issues, was to a very large extent shaped by the mainstream media. And now, thanks to Obama, i have come to see the need to approve, and embrace gay marriage in our society if we were to call our country the land of freedom.
 
A pretty timely coincidence was that Anthony Wong from the alternative band Tat Ming Pair in Hong Kong publicly came out as gay around the same time. As if he was some rare species, the reaction of Hong Kong media and society was just outright disgusting. His sexuality immediately became his totality, and his musical talent and contribution to the entertainment industry was wiped at once. And looking around in Japan, it still amazes me that how this country, despite its emphasis on "fitting in", has had a unique take on LGBT. Just to name some examples, many probably know about the "boy love" comic book series and moreover, one could frequently see transsexuals and men dressed in women apparel appear on regular variety shows. I think they are unimaginable in the Hong Kong entertainment scene. Outside of entertainment though, the subject is still largely muted in social discourse and therefore, I would not say Japan is a more tolerant society than that of Hong Kong but in the very least, its "subculture" has opened up another channel for the less-represented groups to become full human.

人性本懶？

是最近這一兩年吧，不知是學術使然還是宏觀環境變得兩極化，思想變得愈來愈左傾，對保守式的資本主義近乎煩厭，特別是讀到有關共和黨候選人為討好保守派立場的市民的發言如：

Santorum on contraception: "It’s not OK. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."

Newt Gingrich took a voter question on how he’d reel in our “out of control” welfare state in Iowa as an opportunity to ding Attorney General Eric Holder, who has nothing to do with whether such programs are means tested or how they are funded. “I’m sure Attorney General Eric Holder would assume it’s racist to ask,” Gingrich told the voter, because “his automatic answer to everything” is that it’s “racist.”

除了失笑以外，只可慨嘆共和陣營的板斧太低了。

我想，這數年來的分化，表面上是爭拗政府規模的大小，深一點看卻是對人性看法觀點不一致再加上經濟衰退而致資源分配緊張的結果。民主黨普遍認為應從有錢人那裡立稅擴大公共開支以扶助窮人而共和黨則信奉市場教條，相信能者應多得。而這分別又可從人自身的幸褔究竟有多少是可靠個人努力而獲取這問題作起點去討論。著名哲學家John Rawls的論點道：一個人擁有的所有東西，因為上至才能下至實質財富都是遺傳得來的，就算是所謂後天努力亦是因為外在環境因素而造成，所以收入以最大的平均度分配才乎原則。當然，在現今社會這只不過是一個學術理論。人性本懶是所有經濟學家的基本設定，但有多懶卻是爭拗重點。究竟有多少人半生誠懇工作，到頭來卻沒有充夠儲蓄醫病？又究竟有多少人有工作也不願工作只靠褔利金過活？我沒有數據。但當我看到日本很多老人雖然退休褔利完善卻堅持工作，又，香港許多基層勞動者每星期7天每天10小時的工作卻三餐不繼的時候，我寧願將安全網擴大養活多個懶人也不想看見漏網之魚苦苦爭扎。

Why does football, aka soccer, never make it to the main stage in America?

Americans, in general, are dazzled by size. To name a few, just look at the quarter pound cheeseburger, the power size Jamba Juice, Hummer trucks, Walmart, and our dear California state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, their presence alone is not only overpowering but can be intimidating in a lot of ways, and their sheer volume says quite a lot about Ameircans' infatuation in bigness. In America, size is an equivalent measure of manhood and power - the more muscular you are, the higher you can hold your head up.

Compared to Europe and Japan where meterosexual with delicate facial feature and slim figure has come to become the standard of male beauty, American concept of a "true man" is one with a defined jawline and well built muscles, and one who carries a gun and hunt in the wild. This very image (think of Brad Pitt) has probably stayed the same way since the birth of the nation albeit the drastic social change in the last 100 years.

The same preference for muscularity and manhood over anything else deemed less macho naturally affects our sports selection. American Football is the most popular sports in the states and it features nothing but big, no, HUGE guys whose arm width easily outmatches my thigh width. Basketball, as well, are not meant to be played by the regular-sized human beings. The average height of NBA players is about 6'8'' as opposed to 6'1'' of the players in the English premium league.Unless you have sonic speed, there is close to no chance to be selected to NBA if you are less than 6 feet tall.

So what about baseball? You don't have to be the biggest, the tallest nor the quickest to play baseball. True. Baseball is probably the least physical sports among the popular sports in America but the myth with baseball is that it falls very well into the category of "American Dream". With hard work and strong determination, you can develop from an amateur baseball player to a pro, and in fact, lots of players in the MLB played in the development league before going to the national league. The dream of becoming a pro athlete is actually within the reach of the common people like me and you, which is precisely the charm of this sports and echoes nicely with the core value of America.

Football, on the other hand, is being discriminated against in America because its very nature discourages intense physical contacts and nothing in the game of football celebrates the toughness of the players. Not only you don't have to be the biggest nor fastest to play football, too often, we see a supposedly world class player dives to the ground, clutches to his leg and whine in agony in a pathetic attempt to have the refugee calls foul. "How in the world will you get hurt with a tab on the shoulder?" An American audience will probably yell. Put it this way, "Making a show of your physical vulnerability runs counter to every impulse in American sports.", says an American columnist. In short, America is just too barbaric a nation to appreciate the beauty and art of football and we just cannot be satisfied until some fists are thrown and players carried off the court on a stretcher.

So can America ever embrace football? Probably not. And it is for the sake of international stability anyway to keep the Americans out from the football elites. The anti-america sentiment will surge, as if we are not hated enough already by the rest of the world, if team USA wins the world cup.

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