My lost lotto ticket

I bought a lotto ticket few weeks ago. It was for a 20 million draw. I was confident (as usual) that i was going to win the big money. And mind you, I am no everyday lotto player, I only buy those games when I am in a winning mood (at least when I am feeling i am in a winning mood). So i bought that ticket with computer generated random numbers, with a heart full of confident and hopes. Life was good, tomorrow, i was gonna be rich, a new millionaire for sure. Beach front house, flashy cars, all latest gadgets ... are all suddenly within my reach (or my wallet's reach). At last, I could help the world like a real (rich) man. Life was indeed very good.


Then life turned a very unexpected turn (as it usually does), I lost my ticket! My little piece of paper, 20 set of random numbers, my ticket to a better life (money may not be able to buy you happiness, but money can indeed buy better stuffs) ... suddenly vanished from my sight ... just like that. Nowhere to be found.

I was very upset to say the least, I blamed my wife for letting my kid playing with my wallet (where i put my lotto ticket in), I blamed myself for putting this precious piece of paper in my wallet (which also happens to be one of my kid's favorite toys), I blamed the bloody toy makers, why on earth can't you make better toys than my wallet. I blamed and cursed, cursed and blamed. It was then i realized that i am after all not a person who cares less about material well beings. I am after all not as spiritual as I'd like to picture myself is. I was a bit disappointed about myself ... at the same time, maybe also a bit relieved.

Few weeks past without much drama, now life is as usual as it used to be. And I have totally returned to the "pre-lotto" mood. Then I thought, while I am not winning this lotto (I knew my chance of winning that lotto was lean, i suppose when you are in any "winning" mood, your vision would be in a blind mood), this could have changed other people's life. Just imagine someone who found this lotto and kept it. It could bring him/her a day (even a week) full of expectations. He/she could be more motivated in doing stuffs, which will lead to better results in what he/she was doing. Which, in turn could make him/her even more motivated, this could eventually bring he/she a promotion at his/her work place. Which could eventually change his/her life forever. And this is just when he/she was not winning. If he/she indeed won the prize. Well then good on him/her. He/she would become a new millionaire, Beach front house, flashy cars, all latest gadgets ... are all suddenly within his/her reach . And at last, he/she could help the world like a real (rich) person. ... Maybe open a toy company that can eventually make better toys than my bloody wallet ... :-)

I am about to finish writing this article ... I am a very confused man right now. I was going to write about Butterfly effect, and using this article as kind of prelude. Now I am not sure ... well, you are patient enough to finish reading it, then consider this be one of my writing exercises :-). Practices will make better writing right? so stay tuned.

政治正确性２

写了几天博客，发现自己写东西是有头没尾。开始写的时候雄心勃勃，写了三四段就灵感和墨水都没有了，于是匆匆收尾。好像上次说起“政治正确性”，最后一段已经有些胡说八道的嫌疑了。把印度人叫做“阿三”不是“政治正确性”的问题，是歧视和偏见的问题。

上次没说完，这次接着说。

“政治正确性”这个东西，我们这个千年古国是没有的，是个“舶来品”。望文生义的看，好像是和我们党教导的一致，要“和党中央保持高度一致”嘛。其实两者差了不致十万八千里。“保持一致”是拒绝不同的观点，不同的思想。而“政治正确性”是只有在一个多元的社会才会出现的，就是至少要对不同的观点、群体讲礼貌。

在一个思想开明的社会，这种礼貌可以说是多此一举的，反而会有负面的影响。好像在一个“礼仪之邦”，如果有人在给大家规定怎么说“你好！”，“再见！”。只会让大家不能自由地表达自己的“礼仪”。同样的，在一个思想开明的社会，对不同的观点，大家应该有畅所欲言的自由，对不同的群体，大家应该会去尊重和关怀，对不同的观点和群体，正面地“交流”比礼貌的“沉默”更有效。在这样的社会里，“政治正确性”只会让人三缄其口，过分地强调“政治正确性”，只会把人变得“彬彬有礼”而毫无主见。

在中国情况有所不同。我们一向是不喜欢不同的观点的，对不同的群体我们要么不承认（所以不存在），要么鄙视之，所谓“弱势群体”也是近年来的新名词。这种情况下，挥舞一下“政治正确性”的大棒，可能还是会有一些正面的效果的。比如“政治正确性”地使用“性工作者”而不是“鸡”，大概可以让人们去关注一下这个不受任何保护，但却受到无穷伤害的群体（说起这个，我是主张卖淫合法化的）。比如“政治正确性”的板子可以然大家不要动不动就是“你象个农民！”（陕西骂人的话），“那个人是个残废”。等到大家知道了什么是不对的，在来说什么是对的，在中国这个也不失为一个有效的方法吧？