New Colonist

One of the greatest benefits of the internet is the delight comes with an unexpected discovery. I've just unearthed a great website: http://www.newcolonist.com/asians.html

It's about cities and people, two of my favorite topics. The "Letters" section is fun to read. Browsing the website, I ran into some gems of writing, like this one:

California breeds high expectations and then crushes them. Through history and myth, it tells you there are no limits, and then it leaves you stranded in a cracker box tract house between a 7-Eleven and a freeway interchange." -- Steve Lopez

If you like good writing about cities, check out The New Colonist.

Speaking of good finds, I also enjoyed Aaron David Miller's article in the Spring 2008 (Vol. 32, No. 2) Wilson Quarterly, "The Long Dance: Searching for Arab-Israeli Peace." Here's one sentence from the article: "We must make a fanatical commitment to seeing the world as it is, not as we want it to be or as others want us to see it." This same vein of pragmatism is what I see in successful leaders (e.g. Lee Kuan Yew). I am beginning to realize that the American way--of getting an ideology and then defending the ideology against another (e.g. capitalism v. socialism, rich v. poor, Democrat v. Republican) in a Socratic or adversarial method--must give way to a new paradigm. For progress to continue in a world that is becoming more and more complicated in terms of culture, people, and resources, the smartest people will be the ones without hubris who realize they cannot possibly factor in all the necessary variables to arrive at the right decision or ideology on a macro-level. As a result, we should move towards a more cooperative model where we work with others to achieve solutions that can be modified as needed, rather than try to make singular, dramatic changes based on any particular overarching theme.