User Comments - guolan

Posted on: 留学国外

我在中国当英文老师，教小孩儿。有一个父亲来问我我的想法，他想把他的八岁的女孩儿送到美国留学，把她交给一个朋友的朋友，让那个陌生人来照顾她。

我很不知道该说什么。我说了，我自己认为心理的健康比学校里的教育更重要，怕孩子的心可能会被伤害了，也说了我不会把那么小的小孩儿送到国外，还有说了父母给孩子教育和爱都是比学校给的教育更重要。

不过，我发现如果孩子能收到美国的教育，然后上美国的大学，她生活里面的机会可能会算很多。

同学们，老师们，如果这个父亲来问你你的意见，你会说什么？

Posted on: The Degrees of Willingness

我也认为！我学到了很多新的东西。谢谢。

Posted on: Custom-Made Shoes

谢谢！

Posted on: Custom-Made Shoes

我在中国定做了我的结婚礼服。很便宜，还有他们按照我丈夫画出来的图片把它做好了。他们做得很好，我和丈夫都很满意。

我也订做过别的衣服。有时候，我很满意，经常穿，有时候，不太满意，我付钱以后，就把它挂在柜子里，一直不穿！

虽然结果一般还可以，我宁愿在美国买，不用去get measured。

用中文，怎么说"get measured"?

Posted on: Beware of Professional Beggars

But isn't the welfare of people tied to the welfare of the economy? If the economy is strong, people as individuals are enabled to live as they please and pursue happiness. Where there is a strong economy, even the poorest people living there have more than the well-off who live in a country with a poor economy.

I do agree that individual freedom should not be sacrificed for the common good, though, if that is what you were saying.

Alexyzye, I agree with you almost completely in theory, but for those ideas to work, we must have a society where opportunities are generally "fair". In China, where older people and disabled people will not be hired, the opportunity to work is denied to them, so you can't apply the "I shouldn't give to beggars" principle.

Also, there will always be some people who slip through the cracks of even a generally "fair" society, due to undiagnosed mental illnesses, or to a single foolish decision made too quickly, or to simple misfortune, or to poor parenting, or to being mistreated, or to being lied to or tricked, etc and etc.

So, even in a society where things operate as you described, there must be generosity and charity. But our generosity should be, as you suggested, directed toward policies that enable people to get back on their feet again. In order for this to work, we must encourage individual generosity, and discourage governmental programs that hand out "no-strings-attached" money.

P.S. As regards American politics, with your economic ideas, you would have voted for Romney. As did I. :)

Posted on: Beware of Professional Beggars

I agree with your overall point. But, I think the dialogue itself is good, because it is the exact conversation you will likely have if you are with a Chinese friend and step forward to give money to a beggar. This dialogue helps us understand why our friends might be uncomfortable when we give to a beggar (they are afraid we are being taken advantage of).

But I do believe there do exist people in America who have chosen begging as a way of life, and they prefer it to getting a job. Again, they may not be the majority, but they do exist. And somebody who has a sympathetic heart must be made aware of this.

Posted on: Beware of Professional Beggars

Just be aware that in China, what is considered "working age" and "able bodied" differs greatly from what those terms mean in Western countries. It seems to me that older people in China (at least in the smaller cities, I don't know about Beijing and Shanghai) will not be given jobs. They cannot get hired. Also, even people with simple disabilities who could be quite self-sufficient in Western countries will not be hired.

Posted on: Beware of Professional Beggars

True, but this podcast didn't put down those who are poor, it was more of a "watch out for those who are just pretending" warning. They may be the minority, but they definitely exist. The teachers seemed quite sympathetic to those who are actually needy, even providing a list of those who are likely being mistreated (children and the disabled) and those who are especially needy (the elderly with no families).

Posted on: 谁把“莫言热”引向荒诞？

看今天的题目以后，我去亚马逊定了两本莫言的书，把它们下载到我的电子阅读器。我很好奇。

Posted on: 谁把“莫言热”引向荒诞？

你们把文章全部读起来了，那很好！