My snapshot of the "Uniformity" as she passed under the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday Yesterday I was riding across “The Bridge” when a large Yang Ming container ship slid beneath me. I stopped the bike and snapped a picture of incoming fog swirling about a massive vessel steaming out for China. The name of the ship, I noticed as the stern swung into view, was the YM Uniformity. What is Yang Ming's “uniformity?” Certainly the crew must uniformly adhere to nautical rules to keep things ship shape on the long voyage. As a priest, I must submit to many rules that keep the Church on course for her long voyage through history.
I assume a Chinese shipping company's vessel also requires “uniformity” in less desirable ways, such as paying lip service to the Chinese Communist Party. That means keeping uniformity in Supreme Leader Xi Jinping’s dictates and even thinking with The Party. I’ll bet the crew, for instance, wears surgical masks most of the time, as many of my Chinese neighbors do while outdoors in San Francisco’s fresh ocean air.
The Chinese are a great people, having sustained a civilization for longer than any other cultural demographic on our planet. One of China’s strengths is a certain humble trust in authority that enables great numbers of people to work for a common purpose. This trusting submission, however, can be a weakness. A dear friend from Hong Kong still wears her surgical mask all the time. I asked her the other day: how is it possible that I have not worn a surgical mask for the last four years and have not gotten sick? She shrugged and said “I don’t know. Ask the doctors.” In other words, “ask the experts, who do the thinking for us.”
American culture has strengths and weaknesses too. I was amazed how humbly Joe Biden and Kamala Harris stood behind Donald Trump during the peaceful transition of political power last month. The United States of America has the longest surviving government on the planet. We kept the union together during a terrible civil war two centuries ago, and we somehow are keeping the union together during the current cultural civil war.
One of our weaknesses, however, is “non-conformity,” in the sense of a perverse insistence on individual rights. Our proud obsession with “free choice” is easily manipulated and monetized by clever people. In fact, we Americans have become, in my opinion, slaves to the “uniformity” dictated by the market and power politics. We think we think for ourselves, but a preponderance of Americans have the same tats, nose rings, earbuds, and lockstep answers to political questions. It seems that most of us have been letting “the experts” do the thinking for us.
The Yang Ming Uniformity slid under the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday stacked with containers full of stuff we don’t need. If there’s one thing America and China can agree on, it’s the supreme value of market share. Putting “uniformity” at the service of the human person requires all of us to put supreme value not on market share but on individual human beings. Every crew member on the Yang Ming Uniformity is a person of inalienable value, made in God’s image and ceaselessly loved by Him. Even one person on board that ship is of greater value than the entire Chinese economy.
I assume a Chinese shipping company's vessel also requires “uniformity” in less desirable ways, such as paying lip service to the Chinese Communist Party. That means keeping uniformity in Supreme Leader Xi Jinping’s dictates and even thinking with The Party. I’ll bet the crew, for instance, wears surgical masks most of the time, as many of my Chinese neighbors do while outdoors in San Francisco’s fresh ocean air.
The Chinese are a great people, having sustained a civilization for longer than any other cultural demographic on our planet. One of China’s strengths is a certain humble trust in authority that enables great numbers of people to work for a common purpose. This trusting submission, however, can be a weakness. A dear friend from Hong Kong still wears her surgical mask all the time. I asked her the other day: how is it possible that I have not worn a surgical mask for the last four years and have not gotten sick? She shrugged and said “I don’t know. Ask the doctors.” In other words, “ask the experts, who do the thinking for us.”
American culture has strengths and weaknesses too. I was amazed how humbly Joe Biden and Kamala Harris stood behind Donald Trump during the peaceful transition of political power last month. The United States of America has the longest surviving government on the planet. We kept the union together during a terrible civil war two centuries ago, and we somehow are keeping the union together during the current cultural civil war.
One of our weaknesses, however, is “non-conformity,” in the sense of a perverse insistence on individual rights. Our proud obsession with “free choice” is easily manipulated and monetized by clever people. In fact, we Americans have become, in my opinion, slaves to the “uniformity” dictated by the market and power politics. We think we think for ourselves, but a preponderance of Americans have the same tats, nose rings, earbuds, and lockstep answers to political questions. It seems that most of us have been letting “the experts” do the thinking for us.
The Yang Ming Uniformity slid under the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday stacked with containers full of stuff we don’t need. If there’s one thing America and China can agree on, it’s the supreme value of market share. Putting “uniformity” at the service of the human person requires all of us to put supreme value not on market share but on individual human beings. Every crew member on the Yang Ming Uniformity is a person of inalienable value, made in God’s image and ceaselessly loved by Him. Even one person on board that ship is of greater value than the entire Chinese economy.
Stock Photo of the "Uniformity." Photo credit: www.Sheepvaartwest.be
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