An address with great wisdom

Obama gave the address at Philadelphia, March 18. Tim talked of it several times and praised it as talking at a higher level. After listening to him by myself, I found that it is the best political speech I have ever heard. And we need wisdom at the same level to build a "more perfect China".

Anti-fake-news, yes; boycott Carrefour, no!

Recently, some youngsters have been very active in the name of patriotism, from anti-CNN to the boycott of Carrefour. However, it is necessary to point out the distinction between them, or more precisely, between punishment for public goods and retaliation for self-interest.

I support anti-CNN for the reason that any media who claimed to report truth, nothing but truth, should never break the rule. Those who are producing fake news are not only irresponsible for the abused victims, but also demolishing the trustworthiness of media. As de Tocqueville remarked, the newspaper is a critical part of a large-size democratic society. But now, it is so disappointing and upsetting to hear that "in such situations, no one can trust any news anymore" (A German researcher told me in email). Please note that it is not only the western media are to be blamed, but a number of Chinese media are doing nothing better. Hence, if any positive international respondence is expected, anti-CNN should go beyond the limit of patriotism, with the new name anti-fake-news rather than anti-CNN.

On the contrary, I could see nothing but retaliation in the boycott of Carrefour and what can be expected as reciprocation in the long run is probably also retaliation. That means the boycott can only get things worse and worse. Please remember: Liberty, equality and fraternity are justified values for human society, but patriotism is not.

Fortunately, the situation is not so terrible as it seems on the internet. I did some shopping in Carrefour on purpose and found nothing unusual. It is perhaps because the patriots are used to being much more active on the virtual web than in the real life. That's good news.

Winners don't punish

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

—Matthew 5:38-42, NIV

周末在礼堂看了《甘地传》，三个小时的片子，稀稀拉拉十几个人，看完了呆坐在椅子上好半天。脑子里一个问题在回响：“Winners don't punish, but why?”

Winners don't punish

这是上个月Nowak小组发表在Nature上一篇文章。我认为此文的结论有些问题，这是后话且不谈。本文的关键亮点在于首次将报复与反报复的机制放置于实验当中，结果确实很震撼。Milinski在同期发表的评论中将Gandhi作为一个典型的例子，我认为这个例子极好。

作恶之人有何惩罚不得？Gandhi有一句名言：“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."我想它就是来自于《马太福音》中的那一段话，虽然他是一个印度教信徒。这世上真正的执意作恶之人并不多，所犯错事多半属无意之举或是不得已而为之，对此类行为如缺乏宽容之心而严加处罚，往往会触发报复心理并使之蒙蔽心智。世间之绵绵战乱纷争大多起于此，如家族之世仇、民族之矛盾、国家之冲突、宗教之纠葛。

有人作恶，却惩罚不得，该当如何是好？耶稣说：转过另一边的脸给他打。这很愚蠢吗？不，至少在某些情况下，这样做很聪明。因为人类，至少是绝大多数人，并不是纯粹自私的经济动物，他们有这样一种奇怪的生理和心理反应，叫做“感动”，所以亚当斯密才要同时写两本书：《国富论》和《道德情操论》。无论是乞丐还是君王，发觉自己做了亏心事以后都不免“内疚”，这乃是人之常情。转过脸去给他打，正是为了唤起对方的愧疚，至少是尴尬。而若从耶稣那里算起，人们明白这个道理也至少有两千年了。不知道其他动物是否也有类似的感动现象，如果没有，那么人类的这种本能又是如何进化得来的呢？这是一个值得研究的问题。

当然，书本上的道理和实践中的运用是两回事情，不然的话，孔夫子当年也就不必四处流落了。感化往往需要一个渐进的过程，有时候要付出不菲的代价，所以人们本能地更倾向于简单粗暴的方法。而如果一个人能够始终如一坚持原则而控制自己的情绪，那么这个人大概就可算圣人了（比如耶稣、孔子和甘地）。如果想要暂时的太平，则尽可以倚重残酷严苛的法律，将违法乱纪者一律关押、流放甚至处死，从汉代的文景之治到现代的新加坡大概都是如此。但如果想要一个真正的和谐社会，感化就要比惩罚有效得多，动辄叫嚣武力威胁或是给人扣上一个反党叛国、阴谋破坏之类的大帽子，逞一时口舌之快，都无益于问题的解决，反而只能加深误解与敌意。

可惜，圣人太少，而我们都是无可救药的近视眼。

周末去趟家乐福

我这人向来害怕逛市场，因为不会讨价还价，也特别不喜欢砍价的感觉。也不喜欢百货商店，因为总是被一脸阶级斗争的售货员紧盯着，坐牢一样浑身不自在。幸而后来有了Supermarket名曰“超市”这新鲜事物，满货架的东西随便往篮子里扔好像不用付钱，确实爽快，也难怪这外来种迅速在神州大地上生根发芽遍地开花。唯一的缺点是，人太多了，摩肩接踵，没办法，谁让咱中国人这么多呢。也好，不去购物，正好省钱，两件衬衫穿7年，雅戈尔的质量还真是不赖。

午饭时突然听闻有人在呼吁抵制家乐福，且声势浩大。大喜过望，速取现钞若干，准备周末前去购置换季衣物。理由甚明显：众人抵制，商家估计会有降价促销，且人流疏于平日，正是购物好时机。

你有抵制的自由，我有购物的权利。家乐福犯了什么错事我不知晓，只知道店里的员工与我一样，也都是中国人，也都要养家糊口。

一条建议：有站街抗议的时间不如去乡下走走，看看到底什么才是中国。

火炬与愤青

从山区回到北京，方才听说奥运火炬传递的事情，中间自然少不了关于英法等帝国主义坏分子妄图搞破坏的大段义愤填膺的描述。俗话说“闲事莫管，吃饭三碗”，我只当一乐。后来偶然上网一瞧，好家伙，官方与非官方国内媒体上的谴责抗议之声简直是铺天盖地，其势比当年我驻前南联盟使馆被炸之后的情状也不逊色几分。仿佛倒是物价上涨和股市大跌之类都成了别人家无关痛痒之事。

无关痛痒？没错，看来对一些人来说好像确实是无关痛痒。比如在路上的时候谈起中国的就医难，就有位博士站出来反对：以她的个人经验，中国人就医一点儿不难……！怪不得有人为火炬那点儿鸡毛蒜皮成天大呼小叫，敢情确实有人是吃饱了撑的没事干，而且还以为别人也一样天天吃饱了撑得难受。

这就是接受过良好思想教育的即将成为中国脊梁的忠诚勇敢立场坚定的80后一代。举个例子，我党数十年如一日地在大小媒体上连篇累牍地抨击西方“人权高于主权”的错误价值观，于是在两个T开头的问题上，我们的政府至始至终得到了广大人民群众特别是年轻知识分子的一致拥护。不知有谁曾经真正认真地思考过：到底啥是人权，啥是主权，这俩玩意儿之间又是啥关系；更简单地说，我们要主权到底是为了啥？

等到上有老下有小的时候自然就会明白了，“可怜白发生”！

下边推荐一篇长期潜伏于我国内部的美国特务在《纽约时报》上的恶毒言论以供批驳：

China’s Loyal Youth

By MATTHEW FORNEY

MANY sympathetic Westerners view Chinese society along the lines of what they saw in the waning days of the Soviet Union: a repressive government backed by old hard-liners losing its grip to a new generation of well-educated, liberal-leaning sophisticates. As pleasant as this outlook may be, it’s naïve. Educated young Chinese, far from being embarrassed or upset by their government’s human-rights record, rank among the most patriotic, establishment-supporting people you’ll meet...

三人行，必有我师

此番出差的辛苦工作终于结束，临返程那天正赶上Tim先生的生日，我送了一盏中式的小宫灯，灯笼壁上写的是“三人行必有我师……”。这也正是我们组织的一系列研讨的核心思路之一，即个人的认识总是有限的，孔圣人也不例外，而世界是复杂而变化莫测的，所以自上而下的管理模式从长远来看是行不通的，大家需要相互学习与合作。

这是一条随时随地可以验证的道理——

从机场回宿舍的路上，不知为何，出租车司机开始和我聊起宗教，他教给我一句：“在家敬父母，不必远烧香。”令我感到茅塞顿开。正如Tim所讲，每个人的眼睛里都有精彩的故事。所以我宁愿走得慢一点儿，也好多听几个故事。