(image from here)
The NY Times had a great editorial about Bernard Madoff and the allure of money: If Looks Could Steal. In the editorial, Daphne Merkin, sister of a Madoff investor, talks about how we as a society respect money and how money seems to validate everything that a rich person says. She brings up an example of a dinner with George Soros, and she describes it thus:
I remember attending a small dinner party where George Soros was one of the guests; it made sense to me that he held the floor when he discussed matters he was expert on, but I couldn’t figure out why all of his opinions, on whatever subject — be it interior design or the value of single-sex schools — were treated as equally valid. And then it occurred to me: he was much wealthier than the other dinner guests, which meant that everything he said was ipso facto of sovereign interest.
It’s true. As Lester Thurow mentions in his prescient book Building Wealth, wealth is the new currency of social mobility, and everything else means little in society compared to it. Neither knowledge, nor goodness, nor any other criteria seems to make as big of an impact on one’s social life as money.
This love of money is as evident in the Asian American community as any other, perhaps even more so. We brought Frank Chin to Portland, and despite whatever true intellectual accomplishments he’s done for us, our attendance was dwarfed by the crowd that gathered when PGE invited Amy Tan. And why is that? Simple. She’s a bestselling author. She’s a millionaire many times over. Those ugly stereotypes packaged as cultural truth, those silly Sagwa TV cartoons, those long, meandering peons to White masculinity–they sell, and Tan profits from them. People care a lot less about substance when they see money. In our heads, we rationalize that she must be doing something right, even if in our hearts we feel the racism and damage that comes from such works.
What one says about the Madoff investors, one could just as easily say about us. We sign up for the ride. It’s up to us to step off. Fortunately for us, we can step off at any time.
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This love of money is as evident in the Asian American community as any other, perhaps even more so. We brought Frank Chin to Portland, and despite whatever true intellectual accomplishments he’s done for us, our attendance was dwarfed by the crowd that gathered when PGE invited Amy Tan. And why is that? Simple. She’s a bestselling author. She’s a millionaire many times over. Those ugly stereotypes packaged as cultural truth, those silly Sagwa TV cartoons, those long, meandering peons to White masculinity–they sell, and Tan profits from them. People care a lot less about substance when they see money. In our heads, we rationalize that she must be doing something right, even if in our hearts we feel the racism and damage that comes from such works.
That’s true. I think that many Asian Americans have a love of not only money, but more generally SOCIAL STATUS. That may be why there are so many of these damn “model minority” Asian Americans who are tripping over themselves to gain acceptance by and pimp for White America.
It’s all about power.
Since Whites in the USA are unfortunately the master … sorry, dominant race, some Asian Americans worship them like a false idol.
It’s not politically correct to say it, but many of these Orientals are desperate to achieve this Honorary White Status no matter whom they have to step on in the process.
That’s the behavior of an Asian House Negro at its most ruthless.
BTW, does PGE stand for Portland General Electric? Why would a utility company be fronting for Amy Tan?
PGE is Portland General Electric. They sponsor the arts, which is why they brought Tan. Obviously they didn’t ask for my input. I would’ve shared it with them.
Have you ever heard of the Committee of 100? You can see their site here:
http://committee100.org/
It’s composed of about 125 of the most influential Chinese Americans in the world (some CAs live overseas).
Whenever I read about their award dinners and their hobnobbing with powerful non-Asian business leaders and politicians, I always want to ask like Janet Jackson: “What have you done for me lately?”