Oscar Controversy, Apology and Asian Dignity
At the 96th Academy Awards ceremony that just passed, a scene between actor Robert Downey Jr. and award guest Kevin Kwan sparked controversy. According to Oscar rules, Kwan Kai-wai, who won the last Best Supporting Actor Award, will present the award to Robert Downey Jr., but the latter ignored Kwan Kai-Wei who took the initiative to pay tribute twice throughout the process, and instead met with two white actors, Tim Robbins , Sam Rockwell Interactive. Robert Downey Jr.'s actions caused a lot of dissatisfaction. On the actor's Instagram page, many netizens left messages criticizing him for ignoring Guan Jiwei's discourteous behavior and questioning that the behavior was racist.
Local time on March 10, 2024, in Los Angeles, California, USA, at the 96th Oscars, Mahershala Ali, Christoph Waltz, Tim Robbins, who won the Best Supporting Actor Award for "Oppenheimer" Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Kwan, and Sam Rockwell pose for a photo.
Coincidentally, Michelle Yeoh also made controversial moves when she presented the award to Emma Stone. During Emma Stone's acceptance of the award, her friend, actress Jennifer Lawrence "received" the trophy from Michelle Yeoh and presented the award to Emma Stone. During this process, actress Sally Field, who was also on the stage, may have felt that this behavior was inappropriate and took the initiative to pull Jennifer Lawrence, indicating that Michelle Yeoh should be the one to present the award. Many netizens said that such behavior that violated the awarding process was undoubtedly inappropriate and inappropriate.
The subsequent development of the incident was even more uncomfortable. When all white actors remained silent, Michelle Yeoh took the lead in posting on her Instagram, saying that her behavior may have confused Emma Stone, but she hoped that Emma Stone could learn from the latter's best friend Jennifer ·Lawrence took the trophy in his hands and shared this glorious moment. As of now, several other parties have not responded to this post. Michelle Yeoh, who had no fault in the whole incident, became the first to apologize. Netizens said that such excessive "decent" and "generous" will only make people feel that Asians are very obedient. Michelle Yeoh's speech may calm the controversy, but it will make more people take discrimination against Asians for granted, and even make it worse. Unscrupulous.
On the other hand, although Guan Jiwei also did not directly respond to the controversy that he was ignored, he posted photos of himself with many Best Supporting Actor winners, including Robert Downey Jr. Guan Jiwei said: I am very proud and honored to stand among these supporting actor winners and present the Best Supporting Actor this year. Congratulations to all the winners of the evening. On the other hand, although Robert Downey Jr. posted a post after the ceremony, he remained silent on the controversial incident. Compared with Guan Jiwei's post in which he suggested that he was not affected by the incident and was very happy at the ceremony, Robert Downey Jr.'s silence indicates that he believes that he is not obligated and does not need to respond to the current controversy.
Modesty, dignity, consideration for others... These qualities seem to be closely associated with Asians, so much so that the moment Michelle Yeoh either took the initiative or humbly "allowed" others to take the trophy, She may have also realized that she had lost her right to award the award to her successor as the last Best Actress, but she internalized it all and even took the initiative to apologize. As Weibo netizen "a punk puppy" said: "Explanation and smoothing over are only skills needed by the disadvantaged groups. The real vested interests are always arrogant and rude." Western society's tolerance of white people has become their confidence The root cause is that they can use an apology in exchange for a chance to make a mistake next time, and "many children from East Asia and even Chinese can only be forced to please others. In the final analysis, such children can only self-digest the consequences of their original family, skin color, class, school violence and Sexist violence."On the other hand, Robert Downey Jr. opened his arms before taking the stage to receive the award. He looked back at the many actors who applauded him, with a look on his face that said, "I deserve this award." Looking back on his acting career, he made many mistakes but Being forgiven and given "another chance", this kind of tolerance for white men may explain why he has the confidence to ignore Guan Jiwei and refuse to respond. The superiors in the power structure refuse to reflect on their actions and take them for granted.
In this series of turmoil, another point that touched a large number of Asian netizens was Michelle Yeoh’s “apology”. Weibo netizen “Yan Yijia” wrote: Every time we are together, there are compatriots and people from all over the world. It is always easy for me to feel angry at certain moments: many compatriots like to apologize too much. Before speaking in English, they will say hello and apologize, saying that their English is not good enough; after expressing their opinions, they will say hello and apologize, saying that their experience is limited and I hope everyone will do so. Please bear with me; I was nervous and flinched when I spoke, but I also took the initiative to apologize for this... In this regard, "Yan Yijia" believes that the subtext behind his anger is - "You are good enough, stand up"; also Maybe I sense the hidden anger and aggression in my compatriots - why should I live so apologetically? On the other hand, other colleagues from all over the world rarely apologize for their accent or inaccurate wording in English. Michelle Yeoh's post took into account the feelings of several people involved. She was decent and generous, but she gave up her own opportunities and even apologized in advance so that others would not feel guilty. But what makes many people uncomfortable is that she did not need to Apologize, this should be her moment.
In both awards occasions, Michelle Yeoh and Kevin Kwan were the only Asians on the stage. It has only been a short year since they won the award. They and a large number of Asian audiences have come again. I clearly felt what it was like to be a minority - an atmosphere of being ignored and making people feel like they didn't belong here. Cathy Parker Hong, a Korean-American writer and poet, wrote in the book "Feelings of a Minority" writes: Whenever her mother spoke to a white person in rudimentary English, she always felt embarrassed and interjected into the conversation. The Asian accent was so derogatory that the author felt uncomfortable with it after she became proficient in English. Sensitive. As a writer and poet, Cathy Parker Hong realizes that the "bad English" of immigrants is dying out, under pressure and scrutiny both from the outside and within the immigrant community. Asians are learning to see them as white people do The way they see themselves turns them into their own worst enemy. For them, the only defense is to be harsh on themselves, which becomes their obsessive-compulsive disorder. This feeling of "others are more suitable than me" is A kind of self-doubt and self-hatred arising from long-term racial discipline. Cathy Parker Hong sharply pointed out that in the American cultural narrative, Asian immigrants have always maintained the stereotype of "submissive striver". Asians "are workers in the service industry, loyal employees of the company, but never get promoted" because white people feel that you lack inner strength and leadership. In other words, white people use the kindness and meekness of Asians, and in turn, they It serves as a tool to fix Asians into the existing hierarchical order.
So, how should Asians, who have long been labeled "docile and obedient", maintain their dignity, stop unnecessary self-criticism, and stop discriminatory behavior? Maybe it all starts with stopping the self-loathing, having the courage to not apologize when you are not at fault, and pointing out the mistakes of others – as Cathy Parker Hong said: “Bad English used to be a source of shame , but now I am proud to say that it is my tradition."
Lessons from the History of Economic Crisis
There are many ways for an economy to go wrong. It can decline, stagnate, slow down, or overheat. In the long nineteenth century, panics occurred one after another: at least in 1825, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, 1896 and 1907. Markets haven't stopped panicking since 1907, and people have turned to crises and meltdowns.What lessons can people draw from so many economic crises?
Trevor Jackson, an economic historian at the University of California, Berkeley,
The April issue of The New York Review of Books published a book review by Trevor Jackson, an economic historian at the University of California, Berkeley, titled "The Next Collapse: Can the History of Economic Crisis Provide Us with Useful Lessons?" ”, attempts to answer this question by comparing two new books on the history of economic crises.
These two books are "Seven crashes: the economic crises that shaped globalization, 2023" by Harold James, an economic historian at Princeton University, and Linda Yueh, an economics researcher and media personality at Oxford University. The great crashes: lessons from global meltdowns and how to prevent them (2023).
Harold James is a distinguished economic historian at Princeton University. His first book, The German Slump (1986), is one of the best books ever written on the Great Depression, and he has since published many books on individual companies and banks, the international monetary system, and globalization. book. In Seven Collapses, he argued that “new institutions—market innovations, and stronger, expanding states—often arise in response to a special kind of disturbance: a supply crisis…. When food A supply crisis occurs when basic goods such as energy or fuel become scarce, prices rise, and new channels of production and distribution are required." He therefore focused on supply crises, rather than currency, banking or stock market crises, which he wished to analyse Whether these crises promote or inhibit globalization. His seven crises spanned from the 1840s to the COVID-19 pandemic, from which he drew seven lessons.
linda yueh is an economics researcher at the University of Oxford and an advisor to a number of economic policy entities. She was an economics anchor for the BBC and Bloomberg Television for many years. Her book The Great Collapse aimed to show that crises follow a certain pattern: a period of exuberance followed by a crisis that requires resolution in the form of credible economic policy before having uncertain consequences.
Both books devote space to the Great Depression, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Jackson, the author of the
book review, believes that the focus on supply-side crises in "Seven Collapses" is fresh and welcome, because research on supply-side crises has been largely ignored. Partly because of the political consensus on Keynesian demand management and partly because “supply-side economics” became associated with staunch conservatives in the Reagan administration, this led to some negative perceptions. The supply chain disruptions that have occurred since 2020 have reinvigorated thinking on the supply side, and this book is one of the first to place this agenda within a historical and comparative framework. However, he criticizes the author of "The Seven Collapses" for preconceivedly believing that globalization is the main driving force for improving human life, because the evidence provided in the book does not support this assumption.
The first of the Seven Collapses occurred in the 1840s, when the Potato Famine and other crises of agricultural survival in Ireland triggered monetary and fiscal crises that became political crises in the Revolution of 1848. According to James, this crisis has led to more globalization in the form of free trade, transportation infrastructure such as railways, and industrialization, so it implies one of the good crises. This is also caused by globalization. As he himself noted, in the case of the Irish Famine, "the historical consensus explains that England's dogmatic laissez-faire led to the disaster". He failed to add that the potato fungus came from Mexico, passing through Pennsylvania—another contribution of globalization. If a disaster can be caused by globalization, spread from one country to another and lead to more globalization, while killing about a million people and triggering a cascade of political violence across the continent, then It is difficult to agree with the simple lesson that globalization improves people's lives. The same goes for COVID-19 in the final chapter.
Both books briefly discuss the historical curiosity that no major crisis occurred between approximately 1945 and 1971. These years were also what James calls the "era of deglobalization," which he believes was the unfortunate result of Roosevelt and Keynes learning the wrong lessons from the Great Depression.
The postwar decades, widely known as the Golden Age or the "Glorious Thirties," were the era of the Bretton Woods monetary system, established by the Allies in 1944 to prevent another Great Depression. A compromise between Keynes and U.S. Treasury Representative Harry Dexter White, the system ensured national policy autonomy by imposing restrictions on cross-border financial flows. James writes: “Globalization was constrained and isolated by war and its consequences.” The Bretton Woods system...did not—and was not intended to—restore a globalized world, as is now generally accepted. It is a relic of the nineteenth century worldview. ” He went on to write, “The logic of deglobalization has brought about real improvements for workers, who are now protected by new restrictions on international movement. "This is in sharp contrast to the return of globalization since the 1970s.
Global GDP growth between 1945 and 1971 was approximately twice that since the 1980s. Thomas Piketty believes that "go The era of globalization also corresponds to the continued growth of median wages, which is the only identifiable moment since the industrial revolution when inequality has significantly reduced. If the era of deglobalization brings GDP growth, wages growth, equality and stability, and the era of “globalization” has brought about the devaluation of workers’ activities, as well as the potato famine, the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19, it is indeed very important to accept the simple lesson that “globalization improves life” Difficult.
Era without crises will certainly also tell us something about how and why crises occur. Contrary to James and Yueh's history, we will note that when there are capital controls, strong unions, high taxes, relative equality and strict financial regulation, or in other words, when capital is weak and labor is strong, big crises seem to be effectively avoided. Unfettered capital power may well be good for globalization, but it has proven to be bad for democracy, stability , equality, and even to the detriment of economic growth itself.
Charles Kindleberger's "Manias, Panics, and Crashes" is a fundamental work on economic crises. It was published in 1978 First published in 2001 and now in its eighth edition, he proposes what he calls a "classic crisis" model based on the theories of economist Hyman Minsky. In Kindleberger's model In a crisis, the first step is some sudden positive shock, usually an innovation in technology or financial engineering. These shocks are profitable, and profits stimulate investment as more and more people see others gain. When profits are high, they also want to invest, so a kind of euphoria develops.
These euphorias are contagious across industries and countries. Because profits are easy to find, people borrow to invest, and the supply of credit expands procyclically, so more More growth means more credit, which drives more growth. But eventually prices will peak because some companies fail, some loans inevitably go bad, or some policy shifts change the distribution of relative profits. The euphoria reversed sharply, the supply of credit suddenly contracted, and prices suddenly fell. Kindleberger's influence is still evident, and other books of the same genre follow a similar pattern: Quinn and Turner's Boom and Bust A very careful and detailed description of the "bubble triangle" that forms when a new technology or institutional change is easily promoted to a wide audience, and its members have access to ample credit, many of whom also engage in speculation .
Each book makes some general policy implications, such as the need for a central bank to act as a lender of last resort, or the need for tighter regulation of speculation and credit.But they also view financial crises as, in Kininderberg's words, a "tenacious perennial phenomenon": natural, inevitable, rooted in human nature, and therefore impossible to eradicate.
In 1862, French statistician Clément Juglars wrote in "On Business Crisis and Its Periodic Occurrence in France, Britain and the United States": "Crisis is like a disease, and it occurs in every business based on industry and commerce. They all happen in dominant societies. We can foresee them, we can mitigate them, we can build limited defenses against them and promote their recovery, but so far, despite all kinds of connivance, no one can Stop them."
About 160 years have passed, and hundreds of crises have passed. Our lessons are still how to recognize and mitigate crises, not how to establish structures and systems to completely eliminate crises.
james' first two lessons are that each turning point is different from the others, and that lessons from previous crises can hinder new solutions. He then draws five general lessons from past crises.
yueh sums up its lessons as follows: “One of the lasting lessons from the financial crisis is the importance of recognizing the risks of rising debt levels fueled by euphoria. Another lesson is that decision-makers’ actions can only be taken into consideration if they are When they can be trusted, they can resolve crises. We have also seen that the consequences of crises vary widely. How a country performs depends not only on the causes of the collapse but also on how it was resolved."
The concept of "credibility" is a perennial problem. In the "covid" chapter, she claims that the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Germany, France and Portugal are able to borrow cheaply, indicating that investors view their policies as credible. Therefore, at the very least, what investors consider credible is credible policy, and low interest rates can identify credible policy. Jackson, the author of the
book review, believes that the key to the problem is still that policymakers who are interested in learning lessons from history have no idea whether their emergency policies are credible before they work or fail.
We have no way of knowing whether abandoning the gold standard in 1933 or pursuing more than $4 trillion in quantitative easing after 2008 would have been seen as credible; on the other hand, the price that Nixon imposed when he separated the dollar from gold in 1971 and wage controls were widely praised at the time but scorned today. After 2008, austerity policy was promoted as the only credible response to the public debt crisis, but it brought destruction and suffering to millions of people for more than a decade.
The reason is politics. Any policy agenda will have its own credibility claims, and debating these competing claims is at the heart of politics.
In a crisis, how do policymakers know whether the crisis is good or bad for globalization? Yueh believes that the lessons of the Great Depression have been learned, which is to provide adequate and supportive monetary policy, but James believes that the Great Depression opened a "new era of deglobalization politics." Who is right? Facing the next crisis, how do policymakers know whether to learn the lessons of the 1870s, the 1930s, or the 1990s? Even if central bankers, lawmakers and regulators are willing to learn from history, they may draw different lessons with good intentions or disagree on whether the lessons are appropriate for specific circumstances. Politics may indeed determine the course of a crisis.
Both books argue that crises are inevitable and made up of a history of failures and mistakes, but they both end on an optimistic note. In James’s view, “Learning is the main outcome of the globalization crisis, and we need to think about how to learn more effectively.” Fortunately, “we learn the most when the moment is the most frustrating.”
yueh believes that as individuals we have an important role to play in learning from history and recognizing that our continued efforts are important because progress is not linear and governments and companies may go back. Examples of “playing our part” include voting for politicians who “fight climate change and promote equality,” discussing the value of recycling in public forums, and choosing not to buy products from companies that pollute or mistreat their workers.
jackson commented on this: Voting, recycling and exercising options are certainly valuable practices, but they seem inconsistent with the global economic crisis, the structure of the international financial system, and the current political tone. Nor can they solve currency crises or stock market crashes, let alone monetary policies set by central banks divorced from democratic accountability. They focus on the limited changes imaginable, reveal complacency about the uneven distribution of wealth and power, and reflect the depletion of visions of a different, better world. But another lesson of history is that radical change seems impossible and unthinkable before it happens, and seems inevitable after it happens.
