The Erosion of Neoliberal Ideas in the West “By some it is said that only the strong arm of government can protect men against the brutal oppression of their machines; by others that only the power of government can realize the beneficent promise of the machines. But all agree that Read more…
Yangon, Myanmar. “Never turn down a cigarette unless you know what you’re doing.” – a friend that has spent more than 20 years in China. Some years ago I joined a photography club at my office – at lunch time, we would review each other’s photographs and those with a Read more…
Hong Kong At the moment, I’m sitting on a curb in Hong Kong eating a McDonalds “signature” crispy chicken jalepeño burger. See, last night I stayed up late in my apartment all alone drinking cheap scotch and arguing with people on Facebook. This morning, I woke up hung over Read more…
An early morning in Tokyo, a peaceful forest outside of Portland, a sunny day on El Tunco beach, a quiet village in the Dominican Republic, a bustling market in, Mexico City, a bike ride outside Hanoi. The impetus for these thoughts came on a rather haphazardly-arranged day-tour I took with a friend in northern Read more…
Taipei, Taiwan On a work trip to Amsterdam I found a book, Amsterdam, A History of the World’s Most Liberal City, by Russell Shorto, laying on the kitchen table for us in the AirBnB houseboat that a coworker and I were staying in. I have a tendency to get overwhelmed Read more…
Havana, Cuba Americans get a special treat in Cuba that the rest of the world doesn’t get to enjoy: for us – at least, at the time of this writing – it is a forbidden land. It is a constructed limbo for us. Can we go in? In the gray Read more…
That isn’t your identity. Stop letting people label you based on what you believe. Earlier today I listened to a discussion between two guys about a certain cultural/political movement that is seeing a rise of late. One person identified himself with the movement, but his friend did not, claiming something Read more…
Mexico City, Mexico I write this at an interesting time. I like to use this blog to reflect on cultural experiences – small things here and there that I don’t understand about the world, but really enjoy trying to. Living in a foriegn place is a great opportunity to self-analyze a Read more…
Guadalajara, Mexico; Mexico City, Mexico; San Salvador, El Salvador; I grew up on the east side of a north-Texas suburb called Plano. When my parents moved there in the mid 80’s, the Dallas area was booming as oil money started turning into tech industry growth. This growth brought immigrants from all over Read more…
Austin, Texas Texans are known the world over for a troupe-y spaghetti western version of what it meant to be a cowboy. Horses. Hats. Boots. Guns. Today Texans have shed most of these – at least in the cities and suburbs of north Texas where I’m from. All save one: the Read more…