We will miss you.

Sasha.

"Ourania Zabuhu" > wrote in message
k.net...
> Michael Plant wrote:
>
>> Your analysis is sophisticated, to say the least. But, the discussion
>> would
>> be a lot more interesting if you would share what you know or think about
>> the specific ethical standards in question, the idea of ethical standard
>> being inherent.
>
> Not being a native of China, and having visited various areas of that vast
> country only a handful of times over the years, I'm unqualified to
> describe the range and complexities of their specific ethical standards of
> commerce (which would probably require a book-length treatise, anyway),
> but I can say that from what I've observed, and from what I know of the
> experiences of other consumers there, both foreign and native, China's
> general standards and practices in the marketplace pretty much correspond
> to the ancient bazaar system that still functions effectively in much of
> Asia, North Africa, the Near East, and Eastern and Southeastern Europe,
> i.e. (more or less): anything goes; all is fair; buyer beware; shrewdness
> prevails; keep your eyes on the moving hands; barter 'til you drop; pay
> cash; try before you buy and be sure that what you buy is what you tried;
> trust is disadvantageous; etc.
>
>>>>>But in any case, the labeling and advertising constraints in the
>>>>>U.S. are the results of legislation and most definitely not the
>>>>>result of ethics.
>>>>
>>>>Which *should* somehow correlate to or reflect the ethics of the
>>>>community
>>>>at large.
>>>
>>>I don't think we can make that assumption any more. Our
>>>legislative system is now so convoluted, so heavily influenced by
>>>purely financial considerations, so far removed from anything
>>>resembling an authentically democratic process, and our citizenry
>>>is so unsophisticated and uneducated and easily manipulated by
>>>blipverts, that I think it's more accurate to say that our laws
>>>reflect the power struggles among various global
>>>military-industrial lobbying factions rather than the ethics of a
>>>so-called community-at-large.
>>
>>
>> We could argue, but we won't. Let me just say, Thus the asterisks I
>> placed
>> around the word "should."
>
> Yes, I noticed the asterisks, but because I don't have any way of knowing
> what *should* be, it's not a concept I can easily address.
>
>> No, I was asking you once again to be more specific about the ethical
>> code
>> regarding advertising in China, since they have advertising, hence
>> ethical
>> code concerning it.
>
> You may infer their general ethical principles by studying the
> advertising.
>
>> So, what's your favorite tea?
>
> Well, as a monastic renunciate I don't have access to much of a selection,
> so I suppose my favorites are whatever I'm drinking, which tend to be only
> Chinese teas. I usually keep on hand a couple of pu-erh beengcha and a
> toucha or two for my occasional refreshment. When I travel, which is not
> often, I carry the plastic "Best Chinese THERMOS Teapot in China" that I
> mentioned in a previous thread, along with a sufficient supply of pu-erh
> to help sustain my endurance. Right now I'm visiting family, with whom on
> my last stay in 2002 I inadvertently left the now-"aged" baozhong we
> discussed earlier, so I've been enjoying that particular tea these past
> two weeks. Speaking of which, I'll be leaving here tomorrow evening and
> probably won't again have access to a terminal or computer until some time
> next year, so please excuse my abrupt departure from this exchange if I'm
> not able to reply further. And enjoy the Pevear-Volokhonsky translations!
>