War is Rice

The major narratives of the Pacific War are Navy gun battles and the heroism and ultimate sacrifice of Marines on countless islands. The big story I've started to learn about is the war in China, which set the stage for the bamboo curtain in the Cold War.

China had essentially been engaged in regional civil wars since the Boxer Rebellion and the reign of the last emperor. While the Republic of China was established in 1911 as Asia's oldest democracy (that being a loose term), the government's power wasn't consolidated until 1928. Ten years later, Japan invaded south of Manchuria, leading China into war again. The Chinese people endured great numbers of casualties, including the Rape of Nanking. This would lead China's generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek to make the difficult decision to divert the Yellow River in 1938 to stop the advance of the Japanese into central China.

Had Chiang done nothing, the Japanese could've surrounded China's key military elements, forcing a surrender. The other option was to break the dykes of the Yellow River, flooding millions of acres of cropland and displacing over a million people. It was Chiang's last option, like sacrificing a queen on the chessboard. Detractors say that China's gain was minimal, and led to the rise of Communist activity  in the flooded areas. Others noted that the critical region was defended for six more years until Japan's final offensive. The peasants who died in the flooding were damned either way- death by the invader or death for a greater good. Belated appreciation for their sacrifice came at the end of the war.

The Yellow River was China's sorrow that kept giving, though: a 1942 famine in the Henan province- memorialized in a recent movie-  was partly attributed to the river's diversion. This famine was documented in Time Magazine, and the author remarked that he never had difficulty finding an open restaurant- highlighting an income inequality that Mao derided. Remembering what Joseph Needham, the "man who loved China", said about life in Nationalist versus Communist china, the photos- despite the desperation of the people- show a colorful China, where people retained their traditions and manner of dress, be it a large coat or an animal skin. The effects of a bad harvest were amplified by the war. Chiang's government was reluctant to reduce tax revenue in the form of rice; he had millions of troops to feed. Upon hearing that peasants were forced to sell tools and animals, the government ensured that they would take no more than the peasants had produced. Great relief.

China hobbled onwards to victory in 1945, assisted by Allies like an elderly man I met while attending Kings Point. During the War, he had been in the US Army Air Force in China. Japan's surrender should've held much promise for China; however, ceasefires between Mao's Communist troops and Chiang's Nationalists troops failed. Still at war, China suffered hyperinflation, squeezing the poor yet again. More troops defected to the Communists. Mao, after all, was an "agrarian reformer". The peasants didn't know that the Great Leap Forward would kill millions of their countrymen, nor the restrictions on civil liberties would inhibit social life.They just wanted to eat.

Sun Yat Sen's,  'Three Principles' carried by the Nationalist government, held little sway with the hungry masses. Over in India, Gandhi struck a chord with fellow subjects of colonial rule. He knew the poor could care less about abstract freedom, so he attacked the salt tax, an essential ingredient of life in India. 1947 and 1948 were the years that the world's two most populous countries were democracies. Had China followed Chiang Kai-Shek's course, I image that China would've resembled the diversity in wealth and culture that India offers.

 In January 1949, Mao took Peking, and by the end of the year, had conquered most of the mainland. He had to build up an amphibious force to take over the last two island provinces. Hainan fell, but, with the start of the Korean war, Taiwan's defenses were strengthened. For Chinag Kai-Shek, Taiwan was a manageable piece of China. With the help of international aid and American protection, the last holdout of Republican China became an economic miracle, where famine is a distant memory.

100 Nights...Again

    At the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, there's going to be a party to celebrate 100 nights to Graduation Day. It's going to be  a great time, and all senior midshipmen are encouraged to go. The morning afterwards, the revellers will think to themselves: "the party's over", which it is, because of this pesky but ultimately rewarding thing called "Licenses".

     Merchant Mariner Licenses, issued by the US Coast Guard and required for graduation from the USMMA, is the thing that figuratively sets up Kings Point different than the other service academies. 
  Second semester senior year at other Academies, I heard, is a relative coast towards graduation compared to the rigors of previous years. They have a ball, throw their hats in the air, and leave their well-manicured campuses with PCS (permanent change of station) orders in their hands. Still hard at work, we try to tune that out. For Kings Point seniors, things ramp up quickly in May.

     In contrast to self-regulating sectors of the economy like banking's FDIC, railroad's self-certification of train engineers, and technology's industry standards; the maritime industry lost the privilege of self-regulation over a hundred years ago, and with just cause: even Huckleberry Finn talks about the boiler explosion on an 1840's Mississippi River paddlewheel ship. What resulted is that licenses are required for lucrative commercial sailing jobs, and a big part of the licensing process is the licensing tests, as well as seagoing experience. So what's on the test? Knowledge of 1960's-era relay circuits and boiler technology? Modern stack gas analysis? It's in there for engineers. Celestial Navigation, which is returning to the Naval Academy after a 20-year hiatus? Prospective mates have never gotten a break from the topic.

     On the engineering side, licenses are designed to make sure that the ship's crew, with a minimum supply of spare parts, and no outside technical support, can keep a ship sailing. This is a total break from the modern world's just-in-time, outsourced economy; 490 questions in 7 tests in 4 days are used to determine this competency.  For mates, the goal is to not beach or reef the ship, and to avoid collisions through knowledge of "rules of the road"; and do so alone with little to no OJT (on-the-job training). While most tests require 70% to pass, some of the mate's tests require 80% or 90% proficiency.

     Why do I care about the King Point Class of 2016's celebration of 100 nights? I've "long passed" this hurdle. It's because I want everything to go right for my brother. Really, I shouldn't worry. He's doing well in class; and more importantly, performs well on the type of multiple-choice tests that make up licensing. But like a godfather, I want no May surprises; no drama. Planning my vacation around this event, I'd like my brother to have a Disney-perfect conclusion to his time at Kings Point. As a graduate, I want to confer that fabled "legacy alumni privilege" on him. Since my brother is a prospective mate, and I graduated as an engineer, I get to keep a proper distance, not becoming a long-distance tutor or micro-manager. I know my place.  

      The pieces fall into place for most graduating midshipmen, a process that requires concurrence by the Dean's office, the Navy Reserve, and the Coast Guard's verification of meeting all licensing requirements.  If these requirements are met, you get your diploma in the spotlight of the stage. If there is an outstanding item on graduation day, you'll get a photo opportunity with the administrative assistant later on. For those who've had graduation this way, it's a proud moment nonetheless, but without the pomp and circumstance. Completion of the licensing exams, just three weeks before graduation day, is typically the last piece of the graduation puzzle, so there is immense joy when successful results are posted.

      And speaking of pomp and circumstance, finishing licenses the first week- passing seven of seven tests- affords several awesome opportunities: ringing the bell, going out for what is billed as the "craziest night of their lives", and getting 10 days of pre-graduation leave. Job offers are made final upon receiving a license.
I've scheduled my vacation around the events of my brother's graduation. 

     What I'm harping here is vicarious living at its finest; nostalgia for a different time. I've been out of college for almost a year. Yes, there are times at work that I think: "it never gets easier". Nostalgia for the past? I'll move on after my brother's graduation, but for now, part of my heart is still at Kings Point. It's true, though, that as a midshipman I'd admire the young, happy graduates I'd see in Greenwich Village, New York on Saturday nights. This June, I'll be one of them as I anticipate my brother's graduation.

My last blog post was on Groundhog's day, and writing about 100 nights makes me feel as if I'm in the namesake movie. It's still winter in Korea.

Seoul

Every Third Engineer and Third Mate was able to take Christmas vacation this year, either for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s. I was still building vacation time, so I spent the holidays in Korea. I’m looking back fondly at my time on the Jersey Shore, including three weeks of “workcation” (work vacation), even though I was anxious to see the world.

In Seoul on New Year’s Day, I was able to get new boots for work. I was looking for Red Wing boots at their store in Seoul’s Rodeo District, but the boots they sell in Korea are fashion items that are impractical for working. Travelling 300 miles for boots (and entertainment as well) makes me remember how the Red Wings store in Eatontown, NJ was a five-minute walk from the MSC hotel. Timberland was closed for the holiday, but I was able to find boots at an outlet store in Itaewon, the westerner’s district in Seoul. A pair of Cabela’s met the required ASTM specifications.

It was refreshing to get off the ship for the short weekend, especially after a week of working the night shift. I enjoyed the taste of Turkish food and Irish entertainment. I also visited a bookstore called What The Book. They sell books in English. As with my past trips, the bullet train was a pleasant experience. I especially enjoyed the return trip to Pusan, when I had a seat for the entire trip!

If you see movies about the future, you’ll often notice the post-national environment where different nationalities live among each other in the same city. That future is here, in Korea. People from around the world come to Korea, and they commingle in Itaewon. I enjoyed every hour of my weekend. I knew that the ship would soon be in a new harbor, some distance from Korea’s other bullet train line. 

Travelling is quite affordable in Korea: a one-way ticket on the bullet train costs W59,000, or about $55.00 US. In my trips to Seoul, I’ve stayed at the Hostel Yacht and Hostel Izak. Both were good experiences, and I got to converse with English- and French- speaking young travelers. To clarify, I’ve stayed with travelers of all ages, from high school to retiree. You get to spend the night for less than W30,000, or $25.00 US, about one-fifth the cost of the Four Points Sheraton by Seoul Station, a good hotel if you prefer. Cost of meals and entertainment is comparable to a big American city like Washington, DC or Portland, OR.

Merry Christmas, but you can wish me a Happy Hanukkah too.

     The Christmas season is a great time to visit Manhattan, especially if you have the privilege of not having to pay for a hotel room during the “most wonderful time of year”. While I attended the US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), the Long Island Railroad, a commuter system, is the connection to the excitement, and getting from Kings Point to the train station mean hopping on the county bus or catch a ride with a senior. 

     From the waspy, Gatsby-esque village of Kings Point, one rides down Middle Neck Road, the main drag of the Great Neck peninsula, you might suspect that Great Neck is a devoutly Jewish town. Indeed, most local businesses are closed on Saturdays, the liberty day for freshmen at the USMMA. Italian and Asian restaurants, Baker Hill Tavern, gas stations, and several convenience stores are the only stores open on the Sabbath. Many nationalities of Jews are represented by the synagogues of Great Neck, including Iranian Jews, Greek Jews, Armenian Jews, among others. Catholics at St. Aloysius and parishioners at the local Episcopal and AME parishes were in the Christian minority. During December, menorahs and bunting line shops’ windowsills. So I was kind of disappointed that the town’s signs read “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings”. Even though I should’ve felt included as a gentile, something was missing. It was not the lack of “Merry Christmas”, but the absence of tradition. Modernity and secularism won over the devoutly Jewish town.

Great Neck did not launch a ‘war on Christmas’, but chose to use generic greetings as sterile as ultra-pasteurized milk. Sterile is safe, but lacks flavor and the conviction of accepted risk. Instead of the ideal of inclusive multiculturalism, we got homogeny. One other way modernity obscured intercultural understanding is in the Catholic mass: This year, I attended a Christmas Eve service in Korea, where the pastor recited an age-old Eucharistic prayer, brought back by Pope Benedict XVI, which invoked ancient Jewish leaders Melchisedech and Abraham. Ironically, the prayer had been suppressed during Vatican II, when dialogue with other faiths was encouraged.  

     Sometimes modernity eats its own. Increasing materialism of the Christmas season, since the late 19^th century, when Pepsi gave Santa a red coat, created secular symbols associated with Christmas. So why the offense when Christmas is no longer primarily focused on the Nativity scene? Secular Christmas shopping, an offspring from the religiously-motivated charitable acts of Dickensian days, is the cultural norm. To name such behavior “holiday shopping” for “holiday gifts” seems to give a line-item corporate focus, rather than an individual focus, to the shopping season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. What “happy holidays” speaks to me is the thought that, no matter your culture, “people ought to spend and benefit corporate bottom lines”. To embrace Christmas, Hanukkah, or both, is to take back the season from retailers and bring it back to the people. 

     Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Social Justice and the College Campus

I finished college in June, and since travelling overseas for work, have paid less attention to domestic news, and more attention to topics of national security and foreign policy. Something interesting has boiled up on college campuses this year, and I’m glad to have graduated; and to have also attended a ‘school of hard knocks’. Idle hands, not found on the campuses of strictly engineering, science, and technical schools, do lead to trouble. The illiberal faction of the left, afforded with time and resources to pontificate, protests and denies respect to graduation speakers, professors, and guests of honor. They demand that we “check our privilege”, and put a damper on Cinco de Mayo and Halloween festivities with aggressive accusations of cultural appropriation (St. Patrick’s Day and Octoberfest are spared). This is all done with the good intention of Social Justice. But why the guerilla tactics? I read one interview with such a proponent, who stated: “dissent cannot be tolerated because these issues are so important”. There is a more moderate faction which recognizes that the issues being discussed make the comfortable middle class- uncomfortable. But this faction is worth hearing out, since it respects the autonomy of the mind. What do they have to say?

 In traditional Catholic doctrine (dating prior to Vatican II), Social Justice wrongs are highlighted in economic terms: oppression of the poor and defrauding laborers. In a discussion of Miranda rights, one professor informed my class that there are individuals trapped in a cycle of debt caused by court fees. I was unaware of this problem, but I know that there is bipartisan appeal in criminal justice reform. There are conservative arguments for second chances, fiscally responsible sentencing reform, and for the disablement of Kafkaesque government intrusion in the lives of people trying to make good. As for wages, I believe that employers, more than the government, hold the moral responsibility to provide living wages and other collateral benefits when possible. Teens should use the good money to build a financial cushion that will protect them when they move away from home: a Benjamin Franklin kind of wisdom. Some business owners understand that their responsibility for laborers extends beyond the minimums the government allows. I am optimistic for this based on my experience in the Washington, DC area. Both DC and nearby Maryland suburbs raised the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour. The Virginia suburbs did not increase the minimum wage, yet employers voluntarily paid more to keep quality employees. In-and-Out sets their lowest wage at $10 an hour. Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A offer employees the social benefits of having Sunday off. Perhaps it’s human nature to give the less advantaged a deal. The only way I can fathom that executives at wage-scrimping companies can live with themselves is if they mentally dehumanize their ‘associates’ as mere numbers on a spreadsheet. I did a similar manpower exercise in a project management class.  Never forget who’s on the other side of the spreadsheet.

Enough about economic theories: Laffer, Keynes, and John Locke won’t pay working-class bills. People are taking to the street. Enter the New York phenomenon: “Stand for $15”. Low-wage workers in New York are justly fed up with their situation. The aggravation of middle-class commutes are reasons enough for griping, but it’s worse for the poor. Commuter rail is pricey, and low-income earners are literally priced off the road by $8 tolls on tunnels and bridges in New York. They must contend with long and slow subways and bus rides to work. The cost and time of commuting is sunk; and floating shifts as short as two hours are becoming common in retail. Employees tend to put up with this crapshoot, but this is not a tenable situation. Unlike elsewhere in the country, government is not seen as the inherent problem. With a push by the unions SEIU and AFSCME, ‘the proletariats are marching in the street’.  Squares like myself poked at their dancing and chants; and commenters wrote: “Union agitators…”, “Get back to work!”. But one thing going for the protesters was a responsive government. Cynics called this the unholy trinity of DeBlasio, Cuomo, and the President of the United States. (Hence, in 2001, Republican Mayor Giuliani, Governor Pataki and President Bush consisted the holy trinity of New York?) Ideologues like Bill DeBlasio are predictable. He would side wholeheartedly with the workers, consequences be damned. Tactful politicians like Andrew Cuomo (a New Democrat) and his father are sometimes unpredictable, but are well-versed in what to say and what to do. Statistics like the percentage of homeowners or business proprietors play an important role in defining the ‘triggers’ of the electorate. As far as a $15 minimum wage, it was a safe issue. New York has a unique relic that strikes of mid-century liberalism: the wage board. I’ve passed by this office before: it runs from a fine 1950’s sandstone building in downtown Manhattan, adorned with reliefs of working-class white men, who used to dominate the outer boroughs of New York City. Governor Cuomo and the gurus decided to give the protesters ‘everything they wanted’. (When I took Negotiation 101 in project management, I learned to always come to a compromise, never give in fully). Fast food workers would get $15 per hour. 

Neoclassical economics suggests that good compensation relies on a job being one or more of three things: dangerous, undesirable, or unique. Such is the ‘natural order’ of life. First responders and military personnel, of whom I have many friends, were perturbed that burger-flippers would earn the same as themselves. Working-class solidarity is not a simple issue: The real world is interesting and intricate, and filled with tensions concerning self-worth and one’s sense of personal dignity. Some employers engage in what amounts to unethical, if not sinful exploitation of their employees; while others do the right thing. Everyone knows it’s tough to be poor. But it’s worse when trapped in poverty by economic circumstance, with no clear way out. Social Justice, in an economic sense, is to create opportunities to lift oneself out of poverty. Allowing employers to run employees into the ground with commuting costs- just one example- is wrong, Viewing Social Justice in this light makes an individual’s situation succinct as a spreadsheet. Judging Social Justice in terms of race is soft science. It’s messy, as we’ve seen in the news this year.

In Defense of Columbus Day

     In 2013, I spent Columbus Day at my internship in Portland, Oregon. It was just another working day; no wall decorations, no pot-luck lunch of Italian, Greek, and Polish food, no reminiscing with the descendants of Ellis Island immigrants. In the Pacific Northwest was where I first read in the papers the movement towards supplanting Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. To do so would be one of the first steps to reconcile for 520 years of broken treaties and misunderstandings with the Native Americans. In the Pacific Northwest, little would be missed as Columbus Day, and the white-ethnic identity movement, had not permeated the West Coast.

      We can thank Richard Nixon for Columbus Day becoming a paid federal holiday in 1971, the reason being his own re-election fears. In 1968, his second time running for President, Nixon won by a small margin in a late-breaking election with twists-and-turns that took the life of Robert Kennedy. Identity politics was Nixon’s strategy that helped him win some southern states in 1968 he had lost in 1960; for 1972, he was expanding the strategy to traditionally Democratic-voting Catholics.

     Why would Christopher Columbus become the second person in America’s history to have the honor of a Federal holiday? Columbus was a man whose claim to fame is being the first well-groomed European to discover America: It is theorized that the Vikings arrived in Newfoundland several centuries before Columbus. Although not his intention, Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of America enabled generations of Spanish purveyors to strong-arm natives, and use and brutalize slaves, in their pursuit of Eldorado and the valley of gold. Even in 1971, this ought to have been enough ‘dirty laundry’ to name the proposed Federal holiday after another explorer. The answer is that the holiday should be named “Knights of Columbus” Day. Speaking on behalf of the largely Catholic white-ethnic population, it was this large and once-influential Catholic men’s organization that pushed for the holiday. America was no longer an Anglo-Saxon Protestant nation, and what better way to signify this than to elevate the status of local and parochial Christopher Columbus parades to federal recognition?

     Now that Christopher Columbus held the status of a Founding Father, based on historical bias that elevated his perceived importance, there was interest and opposition in creating the thirteenth Federal holiday: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in January. In some southern states, the proposed holiday ‘conflicted’ with a holiday commemorating Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson and General Robert E. Lee. Staten Island’s Congressional Representative, a strong supporter for Columbus Day, flat out rejected MLK Day as one holiday too many. Over opposition, MLK Day became a holiday.

     Since that time, there have been proposals to make our roster of Federal holidays more inclusive. Proposals include the aforementioned Indigenous People’s Day; Lunar New Year; a Latino Day; Jewish and Islamic holy days, and even a day for Harvey Milk.  Just as America becomes more pluralistic, we’ve run out of opportunities to create more three-day weekends. Hard-charging American managers would be reluctant to have more than one paid Monday or Friday off in a month. Bringing awareness of minority groups and causes into the national conscious requires another approach, and re-naming Federal holidays has limited potential. My advice? Enjoy Columbus Day, and if you see fit, give a disclaimer to friends, explaining the forgotten historical context of the holiday.

The Last Weekend

     Recently, I went on a Saturday jog through one of Monmouth County, New Jersey’s leafy neighborhoods. This is “Leave it to Beaver” America, a pleasant suburb away from the perceived crime of the city and the ticky-tacky of exurban living. This is the America that our military defends, and the birthplace of its officer corps. Of the 18 members of my Modern American History class at the Academy, where all graduates are commissioned, 17 came from suburbs or small towns- I was the outlier. It was a Saturday, and some residents were going to synagogue. There was also a yard sale. This Saturday morning experience was coupled by the realization that the weekend could be my last for several months.

     You see, a ship operates round-the-clock, seven days per week. While sailing aboard as a cadet, I needed weekends in order to complete ‘sea projects’, or correspondence courses for the Academy. Commercial ships operate on the thinnest of manning margins. As a permanent crew member, your presence is required every day: in port, you can have up to sixteen consecutive hours off the ship, and no more. On commercial ships, “you go to sea to work”. Or to say it nicely, “work prevents boredom”. If two mates were to become too ill or injured to stand a bridge watch, the remaining mate and the captain would be pulling two six-hour shifts per day, with six hours to sleep. Government ships carry a larger crew that can cover manning gaps, allowing for realistic contingencies for illness and injury, and for crewmembers to take weekend passes when the ship is in port. For mates and engineering officers, I heard that 32 hours is the length of a weekend pass; depending on their job and manpower needs, other crewmembers can clock out on Friday afternoon and come back on Monday morning.

     Fortunately, by union contract or custom, many ocean-going American shipping companies have avoided designating seafaring mates and engineers as salary employees: this clarifies the weekly work schedule, and allows for overtime. While seafarers are exempt from the 40-hour workweek law, union standards helped make “time-and-a-half” an expected custom in the merchant fleet. With time-and-a-half, a 56-hour workweek effectively doubles earnings from a 40-hour workweek. 

     Young people like myself are inexperienced, overconfident, and irresponsible with money. Yet there are certain advantages of youth: agility, freedom from familial responsibility, having little to lose financially, and- this one is from Albert Einstein- time for compounding interest. The manifestations of the opportunities of youth change over time; they include going West in the 1800’s; searching for Yukon Gold in 1900; joining the military; trekking around the globe with just a passport in hand; and working at a Silicon Valley start-up for stock options and an air mattress in the office. While I will find new seafarers with previous life experience on the same boat as myself, I couldn’t miss out on optimal timing. After graduation, I had the opportunity to “settle down” and get an 8-to-4 office job. But it was too soon…and I had the rest of my life ahead of me. So what did I do? Go to sea.