HARMONY RENAISSANCE AND THE NECESSITY OF REINVENTION
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
By Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.
Necessity is the mother of invention. This well known axiom is as applicable in all human activities and the scientific and technological world as well as in our ideologies or common values development. The three great cultural inventions of mankind : religion, harmony and democracy are leading examples. From their early inception at the beginning of human civil societies they have played dominant roles as cultural pillars of human civilization. From historical perspective, their eternal evolvement and interactions will be never ending. Extremism resulting from religion and democracy confrontations was largely due to consequences of claims to supremacy by different schools and the determined drive of human corruption and promotion.
Truism in important discoveries is bound to be rediscovered or reinvented at times of need also. Not to speak of the countless religious rebirths even to the modern day, the rebirth of democracy is one of the most meritorious human reinvention. Heralded by events of the European Age of Enlightenment, following the dire need for order after the European Dark Ages, democracy led to America’s own declaration of independence. In conjuncture with European Renaissance the ideal of democracy released the human creative energy that led to today’s modern scientific world.
The need of harmony as universal human value for order and stability came to being in China approximately 3000 years ago through the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. It climaxed in Laotze’s Dao De Jing approximately 2500 years ago. The continuity of the 5000 years of Chinese history in part was due to Laotze and his follower’s harmony teaching. In his Dao De Jing, Laotze believed that the universe was created from the dark energy of the infinite firmament. He attributed harmony as the underlying operating principle of the universe. The order of the universe is harmony that is why it existed eternally. The order of nature is also the order of the universe thus nature’s order is also to seek harmony.
Laotze’s teaching can be summed up in one of Daoism’s famous sayings, “Tien Ren He Yi”. This means the universe and human are harmonious as one. This deep philosophical thought has provided the Chinese and Eastern civilization the spiritual fruit and peace of mind for centuries. This explains in part why China did not feel the strong drive to develop its own major religion; instead she accepted most major religions of the world. When one is at peace with the infinite power of the universe where all the creative dark energy came from one is at peace with oneself and the creator of the universe. There is no need to be overly dependent on humanized all mighty creator in most institutional religions. It is well known that major religious wars were notably absent despite many civil struggles in Chinese history. This relatively tolerant attitude of the Chinese was well demonstrated by Confucius. When asked by his students on the importance of religion, his reply was “Respect the Gods but stay detached”.
In times of difficulties China had at times resorted to civil and ideological struggles. Fortunately the ancient teachings of harmony, embracing the truth of forgiveness, tolerance and humility, eventually returned and triumphed over extremism. In the last 200 years of upheaval, China was at a loss facing the onslaught of an aggressive Western materialistic culture. For generations Confucius teaching had placed the merchant class at the lowest ladder of Chinese civil society. During the last 30 years of reform and opening up the break neck speed of development in China was unprecedented in human history. With its positive economic benefits it also brought conflicts between the rich and poor, the old and new and the powerful and the powerless. In short, rapid progress brings major societal disharmony, especially in the most populous nation of the world of 1.3 billion.
Harmony belief has been in the background in China and the world for too long. For the last two Western dominated centuries religion and democracy were in center stage. It is a good sign that China beginning in 2004, rediscovered harmony when the strong need was felt by her leaders. At the same time the need for world harmony through its renaissance is acute in today’s conflicting world, burdened with undue extremism and unilateralism. Harmony is a universal common value and renaissance is action. Together harmony comes to life. At the end of this essay is a draft world harmony preamble and declaration to call for world support and consensus. This call for harmony renaissance is the inevitable tide of reinvention by necessity. In rediscovering harmony, China also rediscovers its own roots. No nation can stand up unless it can grow on its own roots.
There have been numerous essays by the present author and others written on the need for harmony renaissance. The author’s experience in West to East technology transfer highlights the importance of East and West exchange, with particular significance in harmony renaissance. To illustrate the importance of a multilateral world and the future tide, we now venture to disclose the benefits of multilateral cultural exchange. America is very proud of its creativity and American know how. It is true that America, as a new nation has been very successful in technology commercialization. The rapid growth of commercial airliners, space ships, computers and the worldwide web, all great modern technologies, owe a great deal to America’s entrepreneur spirit and creativity. Actually in the thousands of years of accumulated human wisdom and experience there is little new useful discovery today but more of applications of ancient trial and proven technologies to the modern setting.
The great success of computer technology relies heavily on the world common heritage of Boolean algebra, logic programming, transistor technologies, and integrated circuits as well as mundane repeated photographic applications. Some of these technologies go back thousands of years and were discovered by ancient cultures. They are reinvented or rediscovered to apply to the great achievement of modern computer. Without the collective efforts of common human experience it may be safe to say that our computerized world may never have been realized. There lies the beauty of a multilateral world. Since the beginning of human interactions, diverse human wisdoms and inventions are continuously propagated by harmony through the spread of commerce.
With the advent of the most modern nano construction materials, time has come to build appropriate power turbine towers for rural and isolated regional electricity generation by utilizing solar energy, waste heat, biogas and geothermal energy. This low cost power generation technology using locally available fuel and energy is economically feasible because of the new MPC cement with high fly ash content. It is light weight, high strength, high temperature resistant at the same time easy to form and process. Its short setting time and strong bounding properties allows onsite construction with ease. The present vertical power turbine design can also easily team up with available VAT wind turbine technology for electricity generation. When applied in large scale this type of design, can be widely used to rapidly electrify the developing world for modern conveniences such as lights, radios, computers, microwave ovens and other small appliances. This reinvention of the power turbine for green electricity generation has a long human heritage that further illustrates the essential spirit of East and West cultural exchange.
The vertical simple power turbine in the form of a rotating lantern was first observed as early as two thousand years ago at the period of Three Kingdoms in China. Legend has it that it was invented by the famous military strategist and prime minister of Han Kingdom. Hence it was called Kung Ming lantern in honor of him. The idea of the Kung Ming lantern has a lit candle at the bottom and a turbine on top. The convection current driven by the buoyancy of the heated air turns the inner lantern that casts rotating human shadows on the wall. The military value of the lantern was said to deceive the enemy. The idea of the air driven power turbine resurfaced immediately after Second World War when Rolls Royce perfected the gas turbine engine for jet aircrafts. The design was made possible by the high strength and heat resistant properties of the titanium alloy power turbine. This heralded the jet airplane and the subsequent continental jet air travel. U.S. manufacturers Pratt and Whitney and General Electric again were quick to follow Rolls Royce in commercialization. Just as after the first Russian Sputnik, America was quick to commercialize the space and satellite communication age.
During the 1980’s the author was instrumental in assisting Cooper Rolls (a joint venture of U.S. Cooper Industries and British Rolls Royce) to convert China’s moth balled Spey aircraft gas turbine engines for oil field and off shore platform electricity generation, by using power turbine technology. The current low cost power turbine design patent for appropriate electricity comes in full circle by reinventing the power turbine technology first observed in China as Kung Ming lantern 2000 years ago. The present patent embodies the Bernoulli principle, buoyancy, atmospheric pressure difference and ideal gas law for power generation. If China commercializes this application because of strong need to provide low cost electricity to its rural and vast remote areas it could be a wind fall for most of the developing world. This is the beauty of a multilateral world cultural and technology exchange. Of more significance, the eventual world harmony renaissance initiated by China, can be the most meritorious cultural reinvention of human kind.
Harmony is a great human discovery that begs to be rediscovered. It embraces our common values of tolerance, acceptance, forgiveness, equity and humility. In the developed world today some of these virtues are in short supply. There lies in the importance of East and West cultural exchange. The world is not sustainable by thriving only on Western transfer of technology and ideology to the East. Harmony is an ancient Eastern philosophy that will prove to be the greatest Eastern cultural contribution to world civilization. It is the new wave of civil society that will release the world from the current burden of extremism and unilateralism. It will release the new innovative energy that the world has been waiting for to bring us to the next level of human accomplishment beyond European Renaissance.
HARMONY PREAMBLE
In the East harmony as a social science theory was evolved from natural science observation by Laotze. Human in harmony with the universe is called Tien Ren He Yi. Einstein was also quoted as saying the order of nature is not accidental. Harmony is the order of nature. Harmony belongs to the World and to the Universe.
WORLD HARMONY ORGANIZATION "HARMONY DECLARATION"
Harmony is the highest common value. Renaissance is action. Together they have life.
Harmony is the order of natural science and the fundamental law of the universe.
Harmony is dynamic energy balance and is also the principle of universe creation.
From the very beginning, the Universe is created by the infinite invisible energy in the firmament.
The invisible energy that created the universe can also be called DAO.
Laotze said "Dao created one, one created two, two created three, three created all things. All things carry Ying and embrace Yang. Dynamic balance creates harmony."
Laotze's harmony theory of universe is in unison with modern quantum physics.
Harmony renaissance is the guiding principle to be applied to natural and social sciences. It is the break through that will take us to the next level of human creativity and accomplishment beyond European Renaissance.
World Harmony Organization Signers
Francis C. W. Fung PH.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
HARMONY RENAISSANCE DECLARATION
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
HARMONY PREAMBLE
In the East harmony as a social science theory was evolved from natural science observation by Laotze. Human in harmony with the universe is called Tien Ren He Yi. Einstein was also quoted as saying the order of nature is not accidental. Harmony is the order of nature. Harmony belongs to the World and to the Universe.
WORLD HARMONY ORGANIZATION "HARMONY DECLARATION"
Harmony is the highest common value. Renaissance is action. Together they have life.
Harmony is the order of natural science and the fundamental law of the universe.
Harmony is dynamic energy balance and is also the principle of universe creation.
From the very beginning, the Universe is created by the infinite invisible energy in the firmament.
The invisible energy that created the universe can also be called DAO.
Laotze said "Dao created one, one created two, two created three, three created all things. All things carry Ying and embrace Yang. Dynamic balance creates harmony."
Laotze's harmony theory of universe is in unison with modern quantum physics.
Harmony renaissance is the guiding principle to be applied to natural and social sciences. It is the break through that will take us to the next level of human creativity and accomplishment beyond European Renaissance.
World Harmony Organization Signers
和谐序言
作为社会科学理论，东方和谐源于老子对自然科学的观察。人类与自然和谐，为天人合一。爱因斯坦说过，自然有其规律，而非偶然。和谐是自然的规律。和谐属于世界，属于自然。
世界和谐组织
【和谐宣言】
和谐是人类最高的共同价值。复兴是行动。彼此和睦共处。
和谐是自然科学的法则，是宇宙的基本定律。
和谐是动态能量的平衡，是创造自然的法则。
混沌于始，广袤无边的无形能量创造了宇宙。
这种创造宇宙的无形能量，为道。
老子曰：“道生一、一生二、二生三、三生万物。万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。”
老子的自然和谐理论与现代的量子力学异曲同工。
和谐复兴是自然科学和社会科学的指导纲领。必将突破现状，使人类的创造力提高到一个新的水平，超越欧洲文艺复兴的成就。
HARMONY PREAMBLE
In the East harmony as a social science theory was evolved from natural science observation by Laotze. Human in harmony with the universe is called Tien Ren He Yi. Einstein was also quoted as saying the order of nature is not accidental. Harmony is the order of nature. Harmony belongs to the World and to the Universe.
WORLD HARMONY ORGANIZATION "HARMONY DECLARATION"
Harmony is the highest common value. Renaissance is action. Together they have life.
Harmony is the order of natural science and the fundamental law of the universe.
Harmony is dynamic energy balance and is also the principle of universe creation.
From the very beginning, the Universe is created by the infinite invisible energy in the firmament.
The invisible energy that created the universe can also be called DAO.
Laotze said "Dao created one, one created two, two created three, three created all things. All things carry Ying and embrace Yang. Dynamic balance creates harmony."
Laotze's harmony theory of universe is in unison with modern quantum physics.
Harmony renaissance is the guiding principle to be applied to natural and social sciences. It is the break through that will take us to the next level of human creativity and accomplishment beyond European Renaissance.
World Harmony Organization Signers
和谐序言
作为社会科学理论，东方和谐源于老子对自然科学的观察。人类与自然和谐，为天人合一。爱因斯坦说过，自然有其规律，而非偶然。和谐是自然的规律。和谐属于世界，属于自然。
世界和谐组织
【和谐宣言】
和谐是人类最高的共同价值。复兴是行动。彼此和睦共处。
和谐是自然科学的法则，是宇宙的基本定律。
和谐是动态能量的平衡，是创造自然的法则。
混沌于始，广袤无边的无形能量创造了宇宙。
这种创造宇宙的无形能量，为道。
老子曰：“道生一、一生二、二生三、三生万物。万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。”
老子的自然和谐理论与现代的量子力学异曲同工。
和谐复兴是自然科学和社会科学的指导纲领。必将突破现状，使人类的创造力提高到一个新的水平，超越欧洲文艺复兴的成就。
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
XINHUA ARTICLE ON WORLD HARMONY ORGANIZATION AND DIRECTOR GENERAL
世界和谐组织总干事高度评价中国和谐文化
2007年03月08日 15:59:05 来源：新华网
【字号 大 中 小】 【我要打印】
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
中国弘扬和谐文化有助世界和平——访世界和谐组织总干事、美籍华人冯忠华
新华网洛杉矶３月７日电（记者高原）由中国倡导的创建“和谐社会”、实施“和谐外交”的理念在世界范围内引起强烈反响。美籍华人冯忠华博士于今年初成立了世界和谐组织，以推动世界持久和平与共同繁荣。
冯忠华日前接受新华社记者专访时，介绍了成立世界和谐组织的初衷。他说，中国的传统文化里就充满了和谐理念。单看“和谐”两字的构成，即禾、口、言、皆４部分，代表丰衣足食、人人皆言。
他指出，追求和谐、崇尚和美是中华文化的核心和要义。孔子强调“君子和而不同，小人同而不和”，所主张的“和”是多样性的统一。这句话充分表明了求同存异的重要性，即“海纳百川有容乃大”的胸怀。
冯忠华认为，和谐思想体现在诸多方面，小到人与自然、人与家庭、人与社会的关系，大至政府与民众、民族与民族、国家与国家的关系，都应提倡和谐共处，所谓“四海之内，皆兄弟也”。中华文化的这些和谐理念，是当今构建和谐社会、推动世界和平的重要思想文化资源。
冯忠华虽已旅居美国５０多年，但始终怀抱拳拳赤子之心。从大学时代开始，他从未间断对中国古典文化的学习与研究，并密切关注当代中国的政治经济发展。作为海外华人科学创新学会创始人，他曾于２０世纪８０年代访华，在中国科学工程院热物理所及上海交通大学等地讲学。
今年初，冯忠华在旧金山创办了世界和谐组织，并在成立大会上发表题为“世界必须知道中国的和谐复兴”的演讲。在他积极不懈的努力和宣传下，该组织得到美国社会各界人士的关注，以及旧金山州立大学等学术机构的支持。目前，该组织正积极筹备讨论会及一系列文化活动，并计划于今年秋天发起首个“世界和谐日”。
冯忠华的英文版著作《中国的和谐复兴》现已出版发行，美国主流媒体《外交事务》对此进行了介绍。冯忠华在书中写道：世界不和谐因素是多方面的，例如政治上的单边主义、经济发展不平衡、不同时期的发展及新与旧的矛盾等等，和谐理念将有助于人类解决这些问题。
2007年03月08日 15:59:05 来源：新华网
【字号 大 中 小】 【我要打印】
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
中国弘扬和谐文化有助世界和平——访世界和谐组织总干事、美籍华人冯忠华
新华网洛杉矶３月７日电（记者高原）由中国倡导的创建“和谐社会”、实施“和谐外交”的理念在世界范围内引起强烈反响。美籍华人冯忠华博士于今年初成立了世界和谐组织，以推动世界持久和平与共同繁荣。
冯忠华日前接受新华社记者专访时，介绍了成立世界和谐组织的初衷。他说，中国的传统文化里就充满了和谐理念。单看“和谐”两字的构成，即禾、口、言、皆４部分，代表丰衣足食、人人皆言。
他指出，追求和谐、崇尚和美是中华文化的核心和要义。孔子强调“君子和而不同，小人同而不和”，所主张的“和”是多样性的统一。这句话充分表明了求同存异的重要性，即“海纳百川有容乃大”的胸怀。
冯忠华认为，和谐思想体现在诸多方面，小到人与自然、人与家庭、人与社会的关系，大至政府与民众、民族与民族、国家与国家的关系，都应提倡和谐共处，所谓“四海之内，皆兄弟也”。中华文化的这些和谐理念，是当今构建和谐社会、推动世界和平的重要思想文化资源。
冯忠华虽已旅居美国５０多年，但始终怀抱拳拳赤子之心。从大学时代开始，他从未间断对中国古典文化的学习与研究，并密切关注当代中国的政治经济发展。作为海外华人科学创新学会创始人，他曾于２０世纪８０年代访华，在中国科学工程院热物理所及上海交通大学等地讲学。
今年初，冯忠华在旧金山创办了世界和谐组织，并在成立大会上发表题为“世界必须知道中国的和谐复兴”的演讲。在他积极不懈的努力和宣传下，该组织得到美国社会各界人士的关注，以及旧金山州立大学等学术机构的支持。目前，该组织正积极筹备讨论会及一系列文化活动，并计划于今年秋天发起首个“世界和谐日”。
冯忠华的英文版著作《中国的和谐复兴》现已出版发行，美国主流媒体《外交事务》对此进行了介绍。冯忠华在书中写道：世界不和谐因素是多方面的，例如政治上的单边主义、经济发展不平衡、不同时期的发展及新与旧的矛盾等等，和谐理念将有助于人类解决这些问题。
Saturday, September 15, 2007
PRAISE FOR "WORLD HARMONY DIPLOMACY: GOLDEN RULE FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE"
PRAISE FOR
WORLD HARMONY DIPLOMACY
WORLD HARMONY DIPLOMACY
“Calling for world harmony diplomacy is wise and sensible. Your efforts are certainly most welcome in that regard.”
Noam Chomsky
“I am very pleased to learn about the progress with the World Harmony Day Cultural Festival. I hope it goes well, and has resonance elsewhere.”
Noam Chomsky
“The idea of your World Harmony Diplomacy is very positive and idealistic. I respect what you are doing and am happy to hear more. Francis, I am glad this is proceeding so well; congratulations”
James Fallows
“Fung maintains that China’s Harmony Socialism will provide an alternative model, as the leading system of governance in the 21st Century”
Hon. John Prescott, British Deputy Prime Minister
“Francis, you have a dream. A World Harmony Renaissance Dream.”
Dean Jacob Perea, College of Education, San Francisco State University.
“World Harmony Organization launched in San Francisco.”
Xinhua News, Los Angeles, Jan. 20, 2007
“World Harmony Organization Announced World Harmony Day Festival”
International Daily News, San Francisco, Feb. 20, 2007
“Thank you for your interest in our Stirling technology and for your efforts to bring more order and peace to the world. Best wishes in your endeavors.”
Stirling Energy Systems Team
“Congratulations! How productive you are! You are working wonders.
Looking forward to reading your third book.”
Xinhua News, U.S., March 16, 2007
Looking forward to reading your third book.”
Xinhua News, U.S., March 16, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
WILL U.S. DEMOCRACY AND CHINESE HARMONY BE HARMONIOUS IN 21ST CENTURY
WILL U.S. DEMOCRACY AND CHINESE HARMONY BE HARMONIOUS IN 21ST CENTURY?
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
BY FRANCIS C. W. FUNG, PH.D.
Can the promotion of democracy, as advocated by President Bush and current presidential front runners, succeed again in the 21st Century? Must all developing nations emulate the American democracy model along the path to modernity? United calls for the return of the U.S.A. to Cold War glory are sounded regularly with seemingly no thought given to the negative implications associated with this type of policy shift. The politics of one era rarely suit the next with any accuracy, so why would the 21st and 20th century be any different? The major trading countries of the 21st Century will be more in tune with win-win mutual developments as opposed to the old concept of zero sum games. In very convincing terms, recent foreign policy essays appearing in Foreign Affairs, by Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards all repeated democracy diplomacy as the center piece of renewed U.S. leadership for the 21st Century.
Senator Obama in “Renewing American Leadership”, first proposed power diplomacy backed by a strong military with repeated use of pressure to achieve U.S. leadership, stating: “I will build a 21st Century military and a 21st Century partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar”. In reality the higher goal of the modern world today is development and not unilateral confrontations. It is a world consensus that may have escaped our politicians because we are still basking in the glory of the Cold War victory. The lesson we must learn from the Cold War is forgiveness, not that our power to win in that period signifies our greatness. After half a century of senseless name-calling we must have the magnanimity to forgive our old adversaries and move on to the 21st Century of Harmony and win-win mutual development.
In Governor Romney’s article, we are presented with the powerful thesis of “Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges” when we in reality have no powerful opponents beyond our own fear. Again, he invokes the glory of winning the Cold War through democracy diplomacy. According to Romney “In the aftermath of World War II and with coming of the Cold War, members of “the Greatest Generation” united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history." Romney believes that “our current generation can match the courage, dedication, and vision of the greatest generation.” In conclusion he states unequivocally that “We are a unique nation, and there is no substitute for our leadership.”
It is a natural tendency among great nations, in times of trouble, to search the annals of their own history to influence current policies. If the U.S.A. is to reestablish hostile relations with powerful nations, this will serve only to bolster anti-American forces around the world and galvanize regimes whose fundamental premise relies on America pursuing this course of action. It is time for America to see that it is Harmony that lies at the foundation of all new world leadership today. It is Harmony that will bring America back in line with major forces around the world.
Mayor Giuliani in “Toward a Realistic Peace” outlined a policy of defending civilization and defeating terrorists by making the international system work. According to the article “the next U.S. president will face three key foreign policy challenges. First and foremost, will be to set a course for victory in the terrorists’ war on global order. The second will be to strengthen the international system that the terrorists seek to destroy. The third will be to extend the benefits of the international system in an ever widening arc of security and stability across the globe. The most effective means for achieving these goals are building a stronger defense, developing a determined diplomacy, and expanding our economic and cultural influence... To this end, the Voice of America program must be significantly strengthened and broadened. Its surrogate stations, such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which were so effective at inspiring grass-roots dissidents during the Cold War, must be expanded as well.”
In “Reengaging with the World-A Return to Moral Leadership” Senator Edwards asserted that “the United States today needs to reclaim the moral high ground that defined our foreign policy for much of the last Century.” Little are most Americans aware, because of our own closed mindedness, the world is not waiting for us to return to our past moral high ground. The world of the 21st Century is moving towards a higher common value of harmony renaissance. World harmony will propagate through resonance with just commerce and win-win mutual development. There will be no need for sponsorship from the great power of democracy as in the Cold War era. While, according to Senator Edwards “we must lead the world by demonstrating the power of our ideals, not by stoking fear about those who do not share them.” Senator Edwards is dead right to point out the failure of the Bush democracy diplomacy in Iraq but he fails to acknowledge the necessity of perceiving new ideals prevalent throughout the world as the standard to which our policies and bias must adapt.
President Bush has promoted Democracy as the cornerstone of his foreign policy. This is amply addressed in his second inaugural speech and the 2006 National Security Strategy. Failing to prove the presence of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction he went on to justify the occupation as a victory for democracy. In doing so Bush commited a double jeopardy that further discredited him in front of the world. In reality, democracy is nowhere near being established, let alone secured in Iraq or the Middle East.
But the failure of Bush’s Middle East democracy diplomacy does not obscure the successful propagation of democracy in the last century. In fact, 20th century democracy has seen great success as the preferred means of popular sovereignty governance, but not as a monolithic structure without variation. It is the variety with which democracy is developed and carried out that has infinitely deepened the appeal to developing nations. The fact that varied forms of democracy can co-exist peacefully draws nations and people in without stirring thoughts of Imperialism. This generic definition of democracy allows the majority of newly independent countries of the world can claim their own brand of democracy, which is different from the U.S. system.
In a recent Foreign Affairs article titled “Democracy without America: The Spontaneous Spread of Freedom” Michael Mandelbaum, of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, elucidated clearly that the “time for creating the social conditions conducive to liberty is, at a minimum, a generation. Not only the apparatus of liberty take time to develop, it must be developed independently and domestically; it cannot be sent from elsewhere and implanted, ready made.” ----“The age of empire has ended. Nowhere are people eager, or even willing, to be ruled by foreigners, a point the U.S. encounter with Iraq has illustrated all too vividly.” This line of contemporary thinking advocating the spread of common ideals as well as democracy is well documented in foreign affairs studies and is also routinely presented by the present author.
Twenty years ago the present author organized world peace painting exhibitions in Hong Kong and Taiwan out of personal interest. In the process, we discovered two common truisms about values that are very much applicable to the 21st Century. Trustworthiness and win-win commerce are essential for world peace. Encouraged by this simple discovery, our banner calligraphy for our exhibition exclaimed “The Grand Era of Peace and Harmony will Surely Come.” According to Mandelbaum, “The institutions, skills, and values needed to operate a free market economy are those that, in the political sphere, constitute democracy.” ---- “Perhaps most important, the free market generates the organizations and groups independent of the government—businesses, trade unions, professional associations, clubs, and the like—that are known collectively as civil society, which is itself indispensable to a democratic political system.”
History has also shown that the ideal of freedom and popular sovereignty is best spread by commerce when the necessary rise in each nation’s education and living standards make conditions ready. It must take hold internally in the fertile ground of the gradually maturing civil society.
Recent transformations to popular sovereignty governance systems in the Far East include the gradual self-awakening of the socialist system of China. The political reform that followed the economic success in China may result in a socialist-democracy with Chinese characteristics, which is very promising. This developing trend in China can also be called a socialist system with Chinese harmony, which integrates state economy and market economy.
The system of government that will inevitably be most suited to a country is that which is harmonious with its own specific cultural, historical and other varied idiosyncrasies that no imported system can possibly incorporate. The Chinese term for harmony is composed of “Freedom of Speech and Contentment to All” demonstrating the wisdom inherent in the Chinese language handed down from generation to generation.
The current use of military force and “power diplomacy” to promote U.S. values is backfiring. The Iraq occupation debacle makes the developing world suspicious of American motives, a fact nobody can deny. Senior statesmen purport to be blind to this growing sentiment in order to entrench a standard of complacency already well established throughout the population. American diplomatic relations with the majority of the world today are at their lowest in the last 50 years. The revival of bygone Cold War propaganda is bound to fail as it is out of touch with the needs of most of the developing world for growth.
The ideology of democracy is well understood and considered necessary to the modern world, but the concept is insufficient if it is not imbued with the notion of harmony. Harmony Renaissance is the next phase of a human breakthrough that will unleash creativity beyond that which even the European Renaissance bore out. Religious strife, unilateral confrontation and egocentric philosophies will dissipate as the trend towards harmony becomes more influential and the innumerable possibilities of this potentiality are brought to bare.
In my book ‘China’s Harmony Renaissance: What the World Must Know” I detailed the thesis that the three main pillars of human civilization since ancient times are Middle Eastern religions, European democracy and Chinese harmony. Their spread has the most profound influence on human culture and will continue until time immemorial. In previous essays entitled “Harmony Propagates by Resonance”, “Universal Wave Theory and Harmony Consensus”, and “Harmony Universal World Common Heritage” I proposed that harmony propagates by resonance without the need of states unduly brandishing their soft power.
Because resonance is nature’s preferred way of propagation, to independently seek resonance in harmony will become simple human nature in the modern era. Our own lack of awareness has allowed past tradition, religion, and democracy to be corrupted by human institutions and state sponsorship. The seed of the harmony renaissance sits within each individual waiting to spring to life with inner peace and a peace with nature. With today’s universal awareness, harmony can escape human corruption because unity in diversity is accepted as an essential aspect of this global community in which we live. The beauty of harmony is its simplicity. Its universality. That is why it does not need state sponsorship, although like any facet of human culture, education helps its resonance.
History has shown religion and democracy were regularly promoted by institutions and state sponsorships. Therein lies the dilemma of past religion and democracy extremism. Both religion and democracy will need harmony to soften their harshness and extremism that have been wrought by institutions and state sponsorship. Countless wars have been fought over religion and democracy in the past and continue today. As demonstrated by history, harmony can propagate in its most effective manner with little interference eventually becoming a common universal value.
Inherent in harmony is its renunciation of violence. History has no record of wars over harmony. The development of mutually beneficial trade has evinced the unlikelihood of war as an outcome from harmony propagation. Espousing tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect, equity, humility and forgiveness as values for universal conflict resolution, harmony will be the ultimate solution bringing lasting peace and unity to the unyielding diversity of human cultures.
In the 21st Century, harmony will propagate through resonance with the spread of commerce and mutual development like waves on the surface of the water. Democracy will be further carried by the wave of harmony like fish in water. For democracy to take hold in any nation a civil society with integrated market economy is a prerequisite. Without the necessary societal order and harmony consensus, democracy will wither. A return to global cultural values of tolerance, mutual acceptance, respect, equity, humility and forgiveness through Harmony Renaissance will fertilize all national soil for democracy to grow even in the most obstinate ground.
Unilateralism and arrogance, as practiced primarily by the U.S. today, creates great obstacles for international democracy. Thus harmony renaissance must pave the ground for the advancement of international democracy. Brining harmony together with democracy under one banner striving to attain the common goal of prosperity and peace for all nations, whether developed or developing is the road to success in the future. May harmony prevail in the world!
Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
WWW.WORLDHARMONYORG.NET
BY FRANCIS C. W. FUNG, PH.D.
Can the promotion of democracy, as advocated by President Bush and current presidential front runners, succeed again in the 21st Century? Must all developing nations emulate the American democracy model along the path to modernity? United calls for the return of the U.S.A. to Cold War glory are sounded regularly with seemingly no thought given to the negative implications associated with this type of policy shift. The politics of one era rarely suit the next with any accuracy, so why would the 21st and 20th century be any different? The major trading countries of the 21st Century will be more in tune with win-win mutual developments as opposed to the old concept of zero sum games. In very convincing terms, recent foreign policy essays appearing in Foreign Affairs, by Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards all repeated democracy diplomacy as the center piece of renewed U.S. leadership for the 21st Century.
Senator Obama in “Renewing American Leadership”, first proposed power diplomacy backed by a strong military with repeated use of pressure to achieve U.S. leadership, stating: “I will build a 21st Century military and a 21st Century partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar”. In reality the higher goal of the modern world today is development and not unilateral confrontations. It is a world consensus that may have escaped our politicians because we are still basking in the glory of the Cold War victory. The lesson we must learn from the Cold War is forgiveness, not that our power to win in that period signifies our greatness. After half a century of senseless name-calling we must have the magnanimity to forgive our old adversaries and move on to the 21st Century of Harmony and win-win mutual development.
In Governor Romney’s article, we are presented with the powerful thesis of “Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges” when we in reality have no powerful opponents beyond our own fear. Again, he invokes the glory of winning the Cold War through democracy diplomacy. According to Romney “In the aftermath of World War II and with coming of the Cold War, members of “the Greatest Generation” united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history." Romney believes that “our current generation can match the courage, dedication, and vision of the greatest generation.” In conclusion he states unequivocally that “We are a unique nation, and there is no substitute for our leadership.”
It is a natural tendency among great nations, in times of trouble, to search the annals of their own history to influence current policies. If the U.S.A. is to reestablish hostile relations with powerful nations, this will serve only to bolster anti-American forces around the world and galvanize regimes whose fundamental premise relies on America pursuing this course of action. It is time for America to see that it is Harmony that lies at the foundation of all new world leadership today. It is Harmony that will bring America back in line with major forces around the world.
Mayor Giuliani in “Toward a Realistic Peace” outlined a policy of defending civilization and defeating terrorists by making the international system work. According to the article “the next U.S. president will face three key foreign policy challenges. First and foremost, will be to set a course for victory in the terrorists’ war on global order. The second will be to strengthen the international system that the terrorists seek to destroy. The third will be to extend the benefits of the international system in an ever widening arc of security and stability across the globe. The most effective means for achieving these goals are building a stronger defense, developing a determined diplomacy, and expanding our economic and cultural influence... To this end, the Voice of America program must be significantly strengthened and broadened. Its surrogate stations, such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which were so effective at inspiring grass-roots dissidents during the Cold War, must be expanded as well.”
In “Reengaging with the World-A Return to Moral Leadership” Senator Edwards asserted that “the United States today needs to reclaim the moral high ground that defined our foreign policy for much of the last Century.” Little are most Americans aware, because of our own closed mindedness, the world is not waiting for us to return to our past moral high ground. The world of the 21st Century is moving towards a higher common value of harmony renaissance. World harmony will propagate through resonance with just commerce and win-win mutual development. There will be no need for sponsorship from the great power of democracy as in the Cold War era. While, according to Senator Edwards “we must lead the world by demonstrating the power of our ideals, not by stoking fear about those who do not share them.” Senator Edwards is dead right to point out the failure of the Bush democracy diplomacy in Iraq but he fails to acknowledge the necessity of perceiving new ideals prevalent throughout the world as the standard to which our policies and bias must adapt.
President Bush has promoted Democracy as the cornerstone of his foreign policy. This is amply addressed in his second inaugural speech and the 2006 National Security Strategy. Failing to prove the presence of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction he went on to justify the occupation as a victory for democracy. In doing so Bush commited a double jeopardy that further discredited him in front of the world. In reality, democracy is nowhere near being established, let alone secured in Iraq or the Middle East.
But the failure of Bush’s Middle East democracy diplomacy does not obscure the successful propagation of democracy in the last century. In fact, 20th century democracy has seen great success as the preferred means of popular sovereignty governance, but not as a monolithic structure without variation. It is the variety with which democracy is developed and carried out that has infinitely deepened the appeal to developing nations. The fact that varied forms of democracy can co-exist peacefully draws nations and people in without stirring thoughts of Imperialism. This generic definition of democracy allows the majority of newly independent countries of the world can claim their own brand of democracy, which is different from the U.S. system.
In a recent Foreign Affairs article titled “Democracy without America: The Spontaneous Spread of Freedom” Michael Mandelbaum, of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, elucidated clearly that the “time for creating the social conditions conducive to liberty is, at a minimum, a generation. Not only the apparatus of liberty take time to develop, it must be developed independently and domestically; it cannot be sent from elsewhere and implanted, ready made.” ----“The age of empire has ended. Nowhere are people eager, or even willing, to be ruled by foreigners, a point the U.S. encounter with Iraq has illustrated all too vividly.” This line of contemporary thinking advocating the spread of common ideals as well as democracy is well documented in foreign affairs studies and is also routinely presented by the present author.
Twenty years ago the present author organized world peace painting exhibitions in Hong Kong and Taiwan out of personal interest. In the process, we discovered two common truisms about values that are very much applicable to the 21st Century. Trustworthiness and win-win commerce are essential for world peace. Encouraged by this simple discovery, our banner calligraphy for our exhibition exclaimed “The Grand Era of Peace and Harmony will Surely Come.” According to Mandelbaum, “The institutions, skills, and values needed to operate a free market economy are those that, in the political sphere, constitute democracy.” ---- “Perhaps most important, the free market generates the organizations and groups independent of the government—businesses, trade unions, professional associations, clubs, and the like—that are known collectively as civil society, which is itself indispensable to a democratic political system.”
History has also shown that the ideal of freedom and popular sovereignty is best spread by commerce when the necessary rise in each nation’s education and living standards make conditions ready. It must take hold internally in the fertile ground of the gradually maturing civil society.
Recent transformations to popular sovereignty governance systems in the Far East include the gradual self-awakening of the socialist system of China. The political reform that followed the economic success in China may result in a socialist-democracy with Chinese characteristics, which is very promising. This developing trend in China can also be called a socialist system with Chinese harmony, which integrates state economy and market economy.
The system of government that will inevitably be most suited to a country is that which is harmonious with its own specific cultural, historical and other varied idiosyncrasies that no imported system can possibly incorporate. The Chinese term for harmony is composed of “Freedom of Speech and Contentment to All” demonstrating the wisdom inherent in the Chinese language handed down from generation to generation.
The current use of military force and “power diplomacy” to promote U.S. values is backfiring. The Iraq occupation debacle makes the developing world suspicious of American motives, a fact nobody can deny. Senior statesmen purport to be blind to this growing sentiment in order to entrench a standard of complacency already well established throughout the population. American diplomatic relations with the majority of the world today are at their lowest in the last 50 years. The revival of bygone Cold War propaganda is bound to fail as it is out of touch with the needs of most of the developing world for growth.
The ideology of democracy is well understood and considered necessary to the modern world, but the concept is insufficient if it is not imbued with the notion of harmony. Harmony Renaissance is the next phase of a human breakthrough that will unleash creativity beyond that which even the European Renaissance bore out. Religious strife, unilateral confrontation and egocentric philosophies will dissipate as the trend towards harmony becomes more influential and the innumerable possibilities of this potentiality are brought to bare.
In my book ‘China’s Harmony Renaissance: What the World Must Know” I detailed the thesis that the three main pillars of human civilization since ancient times are Middle Eastern religions, European democracy and Chinese harmony. Their spread has the most profound influence on human culture and will continue until time immemorial. In previous essays entitled “Harmony Propagates by Resonance”, “Universal Wave Theory and Harmony Consensus”, and “Harmony Universal World Common Heritage” I proposed that harmony propagates by resonance without the need of states unduly brandishing their soft power.
Because resonance is nature’s preferred way of propagation, to independently seek resonance in harmony will become simple human nature in the modern era. Our own lack of awareness has allowed past tradition, religion, and democracy to be corrupted by human institutions and state sponsorship. The seed of the harmony renaissance sits within each individual waiting to spring to life with inner peace and a peace with nature. With today’s universal awareness, harmony can escape human corruption because unity in diversity is accepted as an essential aspect of this global community in which we live. The beauty of harmony is its simplicity. Its universality. That is why it does not need state sponsorship, although like any facet of human culture, education helps its resonance.
History has shown religion and democracy were regularly promoted by institutions and state sponsorships. Therein lies the dilemma of past religion and democracy extremism. Both religion and democracy will need harmony to soften their harshness and extremism that have been wrought by institutions and state sponsorship. Countless wars have been fought over religion and democracy in the past and continue today. As demonstrated by history, harmony can propagate in its most effective manner with little interference eventually becoming a common universal value.
Inherent in harmony is its renunciation of violence. History has no record of wars over harmony. The development of mutually beneficial trade has evinced the unlikelihood of war as an outcome from harmony propagation. Espousing tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect, equity, humility and forgiveness as values for universal conflict resolution, harmony will be the ultimate solution bringing lasting peace and unity to the unyielding diversity of human cultures.
In the 21st Century, harmony will propagate through resonance with the spread of commerce and mutual development like waves on the surface of the water. Democracy will be further carried by the wave of harmony like fish in water. For democracy to take hold in any nation a civil society with integrated market economy is a prerequisite. Without the necessary societal order and harmony consensus, democracy will wither. A return to global cultural values of tolerance, mutual acceptance, respect, equity, humility and forgiveness through Harmony Renaissance will fertilize all national soil for democracy to grow even in the most obstinate ground.
Unilateralism and arrogance, as practiced primarily by the U.S. today, creates great obstacles for international democracy. Thus harmony renaissance must pave the ground for the advancement of international democracy. Brining harmony together with democracy under one banner striving to attain the common goal of prosperity and peace for all nations, whether developed or developing is the road to success in the future. May harmony prevail in the world!
Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
Sunday, September 9, 2007
READER'S RESPONSE TO "WILL U.S. DEMOCRACY AND CHINESE HARMONY BE HARMONIOUS IN 21ST CENTURY"
BY MORGAN STEACY, YORK UNIVERSITY, ASIAN STUDIES.
Weapons are nothing but instruments of evil.
They are used only when there is no other choice.
Therefore, he who wins a battle is not praiseworthy.
If he thinks himself worthy,
He delights in the victory.
He who delights in the victory,
Delights in the slaughter of men.[1]
Francis Fung has recently turned his sights to the trend in American thought that is decidedly unaware that people today may think as Lao Zi did 2500 years ago that any and all death for whatever purpose is bad. There is a simple equation that has faded into distant reminiscence that we need to get reacquainted with immediately. It goes as follows: if A kills B, B is going to want to kill A. This also works in the other direction. So, what winds up happening is that A kills B and then B kills A, and then A kills B and B kills A again and finally both B and A are so tired of fighting that they have forgotten exactly what it was that began the whole mess in the first place. Their economies have been destroyed and the people are miserable on both sides. But, not to worry about all of that because, at least, no one in the world thinks that they are a weak country. No one will dare say that they did not stand their ground. No one will claim that they do not stand by their principles even if it costs them thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of human lives.
If history holds any answers to future existence then I think it is high time that we start to examine what those keys may be. It is certain that up until this point there has never been an extended period of time of global peace and harmony. At no time did the peoples of the world unite to abandon all time-tested arguments and start fresh. The world, because it has never had the chance to wipe the slate clean, and because my equation from earlier holds true, is full of people who are constantly wandering the streets yearning for revenge. Much of that vengeful spirit has been focused directly at the U.S.A. because of their position of supreme power in the world today. This is the country that decides for the rest of the world and because of that they have more than the rest of the world and because of that they are envied by the rest of the world and because of that, there is strife.
The only way that the people of the world are going to begin to let go of some of that feeling of righteous hatred for the U.S.A. is if Americans stop flaunting their supremacy in the faces of those who desire it. This means two things to start with. First of all the spirit of harmony in business must be nurtured so that other countries feel that they have the respect of the U.S.A. Secondly, and more importantly, American foreign policy experts must embrace other countries’ rights to develop their own system of governance as they see fit. No country has the same history, culture, demographics, geography or political climate as the U.S.A. No country can make a carbon copy print of American democracy and set it in motion on their own terrain.
When China was the great superpower of Asia in ancient times, they were called the Middle Kingdom because their influence made them the centre of the world as people knew and understood it. New ideas erupted from China. Artistic endeavour flourished in the fertile grounds of Chinese thought. China simply had the most advanced thinking in various arenas and furthermore urged that thought forward. Despite the fact that they, like America today, had this stronghold, they did not venture out to impose their views on their neighbouring countries. They were thrilled to provide instruction to envoys that would come from far off with the desire for new light in thought. But it was up to those who returned to their home countries to do with that perspective what they would. It was for them to decide how this could help their country. The Chinese were not so arrogant to think that because something had worked for them that it would also work for another country in the same way.
Since the Cold War ended it has seemed that Might was Right. History has continually tried to persuade us that, while this option seems infallible, it is not going to have the lasting effects that those employing it had originally hoped. It will lead to more and more people trying to prove that Might is Right and then we have to look back to A and B again. The level of hostility that we wade through on a day to day basis must be damaging to our health. This constant fear that someone is going to explode something somewhere and the next World War will rear its ugly head with explosive force, destroying all we had worked for, can only be self-fulfilling unless we act now. The tide of harmony has begun to gain currency. People around the world are starting to see the value in trying to empathise with those, who, we are told are the enemy, because they realise that the problems are not generally the problems of the people that they affect, but the problems of those in power. Those with everything enter these frays for their own personal gain, while the people affected have nothing. Harmony brings positive qualities to everyone without having to sacrifice human life. This is not to say that there is no sacrifice in harmony, there is. The sacrifice of not maintaining rigid standards about exactly how one’s life is carried out on a day-to-day basis, without thinking about how those actions will impact on each and every person on the planet. That is the main sacrifice that needs to be made in order for there to be true harmony. Harmony begins with an all-encompassing global human awareness. It is in that awareness that there is potential for people of the world to advance to a new stage of living in the Harmony Renaissance.
[1] p 234 Lao Zi, trans. Wang Keping. The Classic of the Dao. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1998.
BY MORGAN STEACY, YORK UNIVERSITY, ASIAN STUDIES.
Weapons are nothing but instruments of evil.
They are used only when there is no other choice.
Therefore, he who wins a battle is not praiseworthy.
If he thinks himself worthy,
He delights in the victory.
He who delights in the victory,
Delights in the slaughter of men.[1]
Francis Fung has recently turned his sights to the trend in American thought that is decidedly unaware that people today may think as Lao Zi did 2500 years ago that any and all death for whatever purpose is bad. There is a simple equation that has faded into distant reminiscence that we need to get reacquainted with immediately. It goes as follows: if A kills B, B is going to want to kill A. This also works in the other direction. So, what winds up happening is that A kills B and then B kills A, and then A kills B and B kills A again and finally both B and A are so tired of fighting that they have forgotten exactly what it was that began the whole mess in the first place. Their economies have been destroyed and the people are miserable on both sides. But, not to worry about all of that because, at least, no one in the world thinks that they are a weak country. No one will dare say that they did not stand their ground. No one will claim that they do not stand by their principles even if it costs them thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of human lives.
If history holds any answers to future existence then I think it is high time that we start to examine what those keys may be. It is certain that up until this point there has never been an extended period of time of global peace and harmony. At no time did the peoples of the world unite to abandon all time-tested arguments and start fresh. The world, because it has never had the chance to wipe the slate clean, and because my equation from earlier holds true, is full of people who are constantly wandering the streets yearning for revenge. Much of that vengeful spirit has been focused directly at the U.S.A. because of their position of supreme power in the world today. This is the country that decides for the rest of the world and because of that they have more than the rest of the world and because of that they are envied by the rest of the world and because of that, there is strife.
The only way that the people of the world are going to begin to let go of some of that feeling of righteous hatred for the U.S.A. is if Americans stop flaunting their supremacy in the faces of those who desire it. This means two things to start with. First of all the spirit of harmony in business must be nurtured so that other countries feel that they have the respect of the U.S.A. Secondly, and more importantly, American foreign policy experts must embrace other countries’ rights to develop their own system of governance as they see fit. No country has the same history, culture, demographics, geography or political climate as the U.S.A. No country can make a carbon copy print of American democracy and set it in motion on their own terrain.
When China was the great superpower of Asia in ancient times, they were called the Middle Kingdom because their influence made them the centre of the world as people knew and understood it. New ideas erupted from China. Artistic endeavour flourished in the fertile grounds of Chinese thought. China simply had the most advanced thinking in various arenas and furthermore urged that thought forward. Despite the fact that they, like America today, had this stronghold, they did not venture out to impose their views on their neighbouring countries. They were thrilled to provide instruction to envoys that would come from far off with the desire for new light in thought. But it was up to those who returned to their home countries to do with that perspective what they would. It was for them to decide how this could help their country. The Chinese were not so arrogant to think that because something had worked for them that it would also work for another country in the same way.
Since the Cold War ended it has seemed that Might was Right. History has continually tried to persuade us that, while this option seems infallible, it is not going to have the lasting effects that those employing it had originally hoped. It will lead to more and more people trying to prove that Might is Right and then we have to look back to A and B again. The level of hostility that we wade through on a day to day basis must be damaging to our health. This constant fear that someone is going to explode something somewhere and the next World War will rear its ugly head with explosive force, destroying all we had worked for, can only be self-fulfilling unless we act now. The tide of harmony has begun to gain currency. People around the world are starting to see the value in trying to empathise with those, who, we are told are the enemy, because they realise that the problems are not generally the problems of the people that they affect, but the problems of those in power. Those with everything enter these frays for their own personal gain, while the people affected have nothing. Harmony brings positive qualities to everyone without having to sacrifice human life. This is not to say that there is no sacrifice in harmony, there is. The sacrifice of not maintaining rigid standards about exactly how one’s life is carried out on a day-to-day basis, without thinking about how those actions will impact on each and every person on the planet. That is the main sacrifice that needs to be made in order for there to be true harmony. Harmony begins with an all-encompassing global human awareness. It is in that awareness that there is potential for people of the world to advance to a new stage of living in the Harmony Renaissance.
[1] p 234 Lao Zi, trans. Wang Keping. The Classic of the Dao. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1998.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
WILL U.S. DEMOCRACY AND CHINESE HARMONY BE HARMONIOUS IN 21ST CENTURY
WILL U.S. DEMOCRACY AND CHINESE HARMONY BE HARMONIOUS IN 21ST CENTURY?
BY FRANCIS C. W. FUNG, PH.D.
http://www.worldhrmonyorg.net/
Can the promotion of U.S. democracy as advocated by President Bush and current presidential front runners win again in the 21st Century? Must all developing nations progress towards modernity emulating U.S. democracy? There are calls by American statesmen in unison for the return of the Cold War glory, as if the world needs a repeat of the old Cold War. Never mind that the old tactics of the 20th Century may not work in the 21st Century. And the major trading countries of the 21st Century will be more in tune with win-win mutual developments as opposed to the old concept of zero sum games. In very convincing terms, recent foreign policy essays by Obama, Romney, Giuliani and Edwards appearing in Foreign Affairs, all repeated democracy diplomacy and call for victory as the center piece of renewed U.S. leadership for the 21st Century.
Senator Obama in “Renewing American Leadership”, first proposed power diplomacy backed by a strong military with repeated use of pressure to achieve U.S. leadership. To quote the article by Obama, “I will build a 21st Century military and a 21st Century partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar”. In reality the higher goal of modern world today is development and not unilateral confrontations. It is a world consensus that may have escaped our politicians because we are still basking in the glory of Cold War victory. The lesson we must learn from the Cold War is forgiveness, not a return of the Cold War mentality. After half a century of senseless name calling we must have the magnanimity to forgive our old adversaries and move on to 21st Century Harmony and win-win mutual development.
In Governor Romney’s article, we are presented with the powerful thesis of “Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges” when we in reality have no powerful opponents except our own fear. Again the glory of winning the Cold War through democracy diplomacy is invoked. “In the aftermath of World War II and with coming of the Cold War, members of “the Greatest Generation” united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history." Romney believes that “our current generation can match the courage, dedication, and vision of the greatest generation.” In conclusion he states unequivocally that “We are a unique nation, and there is no substitute for our leadership.” It is not enough for the U.S. to crave for leadership by returning to the tactics of by gone days. The tide of history has reached much higher ground to Harmony. We as a nation must progress with the tide of history.
Mayor Giuliani in “Toward a Realistic Peace” outlined a policy of defending civilization and defeating terrorists by making the international system work. According to the article “the next U.S. president will face three key foreign policy challenges. First and foremost, will be to set a course for victory in the terrorists’ war on global order. The second will be to strengthen the international system that the terrorists seek to destroy. The third will be to extend the benefits of the international system in an ever widening arc of security and stability across the globe. The most effective means for achieving these goals are building a stronger defense, developing a determined diplomacy, and expanding our economic and cultural influence.” “To this end, the Voice of America program must be significantly strengthened and broadened. Its surrogate stations, such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which were so effective at inspiring grass-roots dissidents during the Cold War, must be expanded as well.”
In “Reengaging with the World-A Return to Moral Leadership” Senator Edwards asserted that “the United States today needs to reclaim the moral high ground that defined our foreign policy for much of the last Century.” Little are most Americans aware, because of our own closed mindedness, the world is not waiting for us to return to our past moral high ground. The world of the 21st Century is moving towards a higher common value of harmony renaissance. World harmony will propagate by resonating with just commerce and win-win mutual development without the need for great power sponsorship of democracy as in the Cold War era. While according to Senator Edwards “we must lead the world by demonstrating the power of our ideals, not by stoking fear about those who do not share them.” Senator Edwards is dead right to point out the failure of the Bush democracy diplomacy in Iraq but he failed to acknowledge that our ideals must change with the tide of history to higher levels.
President Bush has promoted Democracy as the cornerstone of his foreign policy. This is amply addressed in his second inaugural speech and the 2006 National Security Strategy. Failing to prove Weapons of Mass Destruction he went on to justify the Iraq occupation as a victory for democracy. In reality, democracy is no where near being secured in Iraq or the Middle East. But the failure of Bush’s Middle East democracy diplomacy does not obscure the successful propagation of democracy in the last century. In fact during the 20th Century democracy in various forms has become accepted as the preferred popular sovereignty governance system. In this latter generic definition, the majority of newly independent countries of the world can claim their own brand of democracy which is different from the U.S. system.
In a recent Foreign Affairs article titled “Democracy without America: The Spontaneous Spread of Freedom” Michael Mandelbaum, of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, elucidated clearly that “time for creating the social conditions conducive to liberty is, at a minimum, a generation. Not only the apparatus of liberty take time to develop, it must be developed independently and domestically; it cannot be sent from elsewhere and implanted, ready made.” ----“The age of empire has ended. Nowhere are people eager, or even willing, to be ruled by foreigners, a point the U.S. encounter with Iraq has illustrated all too vividly.” This line of contemporary thinking for the spread of common ideal and democracy is well documented in foreign affairs studies and also routinely presented by the present author.
Twenty years ago the present author organized world peace painting exhibitions in Hong Kong and Taiwan as personal interest. In the process, we discovered two common value truisms that are very much applicable to the 21st Century. Trustworthiness and win-win commerce are essential for world peace. Encouraged by this simple discovery, our banner calligraphy for our exhibition to this day remained “The Grand Era of Peace and Harmony will Surely Come.” According to Mandelbaum, “The institutions, skills, and values needed to operate a free market economy are those that, in the political sphere, constitute democracy.” ---- “Perhaps most important, the free market generates the organizations and groups independent of the government—businesses, trade unions, professional associations, clubs, and the like—that are known collectively as civil society, which is itself indispensable to a democratic political system.”
History has also shown that the ideal of freedom and popular sovereignty is best spread by commerce when the necessary rise in each nation’s education and living standards make conditions ready. It must take hold internally in the fertile ground of the gradually maturing civil society. Recent transformations to popular sovereignty governance systems in the Far East include the gradual self awakening socialistic system of China. The political reform following the economic success in China resulting in a socialistic democracy system with Chinese characteristics is very promising. This developing trend in China can also be called the socialistic system with Chinese harmony which integrates state economy and market economy. The best governance system of any nation shall be its own harmony system. The term harmony in Chinese specifically proclaims “Freedom of Speech and Contentment to All” to form the term harmony. This is the wisdom of Chinese language handed down from ancient times.
The current use of military and power diplomacy to promote U.S. values is backfiring. The Iraq occupation debacle makes the developing world very suspicious of U.S. motives. It is a fact nobody can deny. Senior U.S. statesmen are blind to this fact because of the need to play up to the public complacency. The U.S. diplomatic relations with the majority of the world today is at its lowest in the last 50 years. The revival of bygone Cold War propaganda is bound to fail because it is out of touch with the development need of most of the developing world. For the modern world, the ideology of democracy is well understood and necessary but it is not sufficient without harmony. Harmony Renaissance is the next phase of human breakthrough that will release human creativity beyond European Renaissance. Our innovative spirit will be unshackled from religious strife and unilateral confrontation by the common value of harmony.
In my book ‘China’s Harmony Renaissance: What the World Must Know” I detailed the thesis that the three main pillars of human civilization since ancient times are Middle Eastern religions, European democracy and Chinese harmony. Their spread has the most profound influence on human culture and will continue until time immemorial. In previous essays entitled “Harmony Propagates by Resonance”, “Universal Wave Theory and Harmony Consensus”, and “Harmony Universal World Common Heritage” the present author proposed that harmony propagates by resonance without the need of states unduly brandishing their soft power.
Because resonance is nature’s preferred way of propagation, to seek harmony resonance independently will be human nature in modern era. By our own lack of awareness, past tradition has already corrupted religion and democracy by human institutions and state sponsorships. Harmony renaissance can now start with each individual’s own inner peace and peace with nature. With today’s universal awareness, harmony can escape human corruption because unity in diversity is the modern accepted concept and tide. The beauty of harmony is its simplicity and universality. That is why it does not need state sponsorship, although like any human culture, education can help its resonance.
History has shown that past religion and democracy often were promoted by human institutions and state sponsorships. There lies the dilemma of past religion and democracy extremism. Both religion and democracy will need harmony to soften their harshness and extremism that have been wrought by human institutions and state sponsorship. Countless wars have been fought over religion and democracy in the past and are still continuing. As demonstrated by past history harmony can best propagate on its own without much unnecessary interference as a universal common value. Inherent in harmony is its renounce of violence. History has no record of harmony wars. War is not likely to be the instrument of harmony propagation as shown by the current tide of harmony renaissance through win-win mutual development. With its common value of tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect, equity, humility and forgiveness as values for universal conflict resolution, harmony will be the ultimate solution to bring lasting peace and unity in diversity to human cultures.
In the 21st Century, harmony will propagate through resonance with the spread of commerce and mutual development like waves through water surfaces. Democracy will be further carried by the wave of harmony like fishes in water. For democracy to take hold in any nation a civil society with integrated market economy is a prerequisite. Without the necessary society order and harmony consensus, democracy will wither. The essence of harmony is common value of tolerance, mutual acceptance, respect, equity, humility and forgiveness. A return to these common world cultural values through Harmony Renaissance will fertilize all national soil for democracy to grow even in the most obstinate ground. Unilateralism and arrogance, as practiced primary by U.S. today, creates great obstacles for international democracy. Thus harmony renaissance must pave the ground for the advancement of international democracy. This harmonious merging of harmony with democracy will bring the ultimate new world order of higher prosperity for all nations developed or developing. May harmony prevail in the world!
Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
BY FRANCIS C. W. FUNG, PH.D.
http://www.worldhrmonyorg.net/
Can the promotion of U.S. democracy as advocated by President Bush and current presidential front runners win again in the 21st Century? Must all developing nations progress towards modernity emulating U.S. democracy? There are calls by American statesmen in unison for the return of the Cold War glory, as if the world needs a repeat of the old Cold War. Never mind that the old tactics of the 20th Century may not work in the 21st Century. And the major trading countries of the 21st Century will be more in tune with win-win mutual developments as opposed to the old concept of zero sum games. In very convincing terms, recent foreign policy essays by Obama, Romney, Giuliani and Edwards appearing in Foreign Affairs, all repeated democracy diplomacy and call for victory as the center piece of renewed U.S. leadership for the 21st Century.
Senator Obama in “Renewing American Leadership”, first proposed power diplomacy backed by a strong military with repeated use of pressure to achieve U.S. leadership. To quote the article by Obama, “I will build a 21st Century military and a 21st Century partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar”. In reality the higher goal of modern world today is development and not unilateral confrontations. It is a world consensus that may have escaped our politicians because we are still basking in the glory of Cold War victory. The lesson we must learn from the Cold War is forgiveness, not a return of the Cold War mentality. After half a century of senseless name calling we must have the magnanimity to forgive our old adversaries and move on to 21st Century Harmony and win-win mutual development.
In Governor Romney’s article, we are presented with the powerful thesis of “Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges” when we in reality have no powerful opponents except our own fear. Again the glory of winning the Cold War through democracy diplomacy is invoked. “In the aftermath of World War II and with coming of the Cold War, members of “the Greatest Generation” united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history." Romney believes that “our current generation can match the courage, dedication, and vision of the greatest generation.” In conclusion he states unequivocally that “We are a unique nation, and there is no substitute for our leadership.” It is not enough for the U.S. to crave for leadership by returning to the tactics of by gone days. The tide of history has reached much higher ground to Harmony. We as a nation must progress with the tide of history.
Mayor Giuliani in “Toward a Realistic Peace” outlined a policy of defending civilization and defeating terrorists by making the international system work. According to the article “the next U.S. president will face three key foreign policy challenges. First and foremost, will be to set a course for victory in the terrorists’ war on global order. The second will be to strengthen the international system that the terrorists seek to destroy. The third will be to extend the benefits of the international system in an ever widening arc of security and stability across the globe. The most effective means for achieving these goals are building a stronger defense, developing a determined diplomacy, and expanding our economic and cultural influence.” “To this end, the Voice of America program must be significantly strengthened and broadened. Its surrogate stations, such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which were so effective at inspiring grass-roots dissidents during the Cold War, must be expanded as well.”
In “Reengaging with the World-A Return to Moral Leadership” Senator Edwards asserted that “the United States today needs to reclaim the moral high ground that defined our foreign policy for much of the last Century.” Little are most Americans aware, because of our own closed mindedness, the world is not waiting for us to return to our past moral high ground. The world of the 21st Century is moving towards a higher common value of harmony renaissance. World harmony will propagate by resonating with just commerce and win-win mutual development without the need for great power sponsorship of democracy as in the Cold War era. While according to Senator Edwards “we must lead the world by demonstrating the power of our ideals, not by stoking fear about those who do not share them.” Senator Edwards is dead right to point out the failure of the Bush democracy diplomacy in Iraq but he failed to acknowledge that our ideals must change with the tide of history to higher levels.
President Bush has promoted Democracy as the cornerstone of his foreign policy. This is amply addressed in his second inaugural speech and the 2006 National Security Strategy. Failing to prove Weapons of Mass Destruction he went on to justify the Iraq occupation as a victory for democracy. In reality, democracy is no where near being secured in Iraq or the Middle East. But the failure of Bush’s Middle East democracy diplomacy does not obscure the successful propagation of democracy in the last century. In fact during the 20th Century democracy in various forms has become accepted as the preferred popular sovereignty governance system. In this latter generic definition, the majority of newly independent countries of the world can claim their own brand of democracy which is different from the U.S. system.
In a recent Foreign Affairs article titled “Democracy without America: The Spontaneous Spread of Freedom” Michael Mandelbaum, of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, elucidated clearly that “time for creating the social conditions conducive to liberty is, at a minimum, a generation. Not only the apparatus of liberty take time to develop, it must be developed independently and domestically; it cannot be sent from elsewhere and implanted, ready made.” ----“The age of empire has ended. Nowhere are people eager, or even willing, to be ruled by foreigners, a point the U.S. encounter with Iraq has illustrated all too vividly.” This line of contemporary thinking for the spread of common ideal and democracy is well documented in foreign affairs studies and also routinely presented by the present author.
Twenty years ago the present author organized world peace painting exhibitions in Hong Kong and Taiwan as personal interest. In the process, we discovered two common value truisms that are very much applicable to the 21st Century. Trustworthiness and win-win commerce are essential for world peace. Encouraged by this simple discovery, our banner calligraphy for our exhibition to this day remained “The Grand Era of Peace and Harmony will Surely Come.” According to Mandelbaum, “The institutions, skills, and values needed to operate a free market economy are those that, in the political sphere, constitute democracy.” ---- “Perhaps most important, the free market generates the organizations and groups independent of the government—businesses, trade unions, professional associations, clubs, and the like—that are known collectively as civil society, which is itself indispensable to a democratic political system.”
History has also shown that the ideal of freedom and popular sovereignty is best spread by commerce when the necessary rise in each nation’s education and living standards make conditions ready. It must take hold internally in the fertile ground of the gradually maturing civil society. Recent transformations to popular sovereignty governance systems in the Far East include the gradual self awakening socialistic system of China. The political reform following the economic success in China resulting in a socialistic democracy system with Chinese characteristics is very promising. This developing trend in China can also be called the socialistic system with Chinese harmony which integrates state economy and market economy. The best governance system of any nation shall be its own harmony system. The term harmony in Chinese specifically proclaims “Freedom of Speech and Contentment to All” to form the term harmony. This is the wisdom of Chinese language handed down from ancient times.
The current use of military and power diplomacy to promote U.S. values is backfiring. The Iraq occupation debacle makes the developing world very suspicious of U.S. motives. It is a fact nobody can deny. Senior U.S. statesmen are blind to this fact because of the need to play up to the public complacency. The U.S. diplomatic relations with the majority of the world today is at its lowest in the last 50 years. The revival of bygone Cold War propaganda is bound to fail because it is out of touch with the development need of most of the developing world. For the modern world, the ideology of democracy is well understood and necessary but it is not sufficient without harmony. Harmony Renaissance is the next phase of human breakthrough that will release human creativity beyond European Renaissance. Our innovative spirit will be unshackled from religious strife and unilateral confrontation by the common value of harmony.
In my book ‘China’s Harmony Renaissance: What the World Must Know” I detailed the thesis that the three main pillars of human civilization since ancient times are Middle Eastern religions, European democracy and Chinese harmony. Their spread has the most profound influence on human culture and will continue until time immemorial. In previous essays entitled “Harmony Propagates by Resonance”, “Universal Wave Theory and Harmony Consensus”, and “Harmony Universal World Common Heritage” the present author proposed that harmony propagates by resonance without the need of states unduly brandishing their soft power.
Because resonance is nature’s preferred way of propagation, to seek harmony resonance independently will be human nature in modern era. By our own lack of awareness, past tradition has already corrupted religion and democracy by human institutions and state sponsorships. Harmony renaissance can now start with each individual’s own inner peace and peace with nature. With today’s universal awareness, harmony can escape human corruption because unity in diversity is the modern accepted concept and tide. The beauty of harmony is its simplicity and universality. That is why it does not need state sponsorship, although like any human culture, education can help its resonance.
History has shown that past religion and democracy often were promoted by human institutions and state sponsorships. There lies the dilemma of past religion and democracy extremism. Both religion and democracy will need harmony to soften their harshness and extremism that have been wrought by human institutions and state sponsorship. Countless wars have been fought over religion and democracy in the past and are still continuing. As demonstrated by past history harmony can best propagate on its own without much unnecessary interference as a universal common value. Inherent in harmony is its renounce of violence. History has no record of harmony wars. War is not likely to be the instrument of harmony propagation as shown by the current tide of harmony renaissance through win-win mutual development. With its common value of tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect, equity, humility and forgiveness as values for universal conflict resolution, harmony will be the ultimate solution to bring lasting peace and unity in diversity to human cultures.
In the 21st Century, harmony will propagate through resonance with the spread of commerce and mutual development like waves through water surfaces. Democracy will be further carried by the wave of harmony like fishes in water. For democracy to take hold in any nation a civil society with integrated market economy is a prerequisite. Without the necessary society order and harmony consensus, democracy will wither. The essence of harmony is common value of tolerance, mutual acceptance, respect, equity, humility and forgiveness. A return to these common world cultural values through Harmony Renaissance will fertilize all national soil for democracy to grow even in the most obstinate ground. Unilateralism and arrogance, as practiced primary by U.S. today, creates great obstacles for international democracy. Thus harmony renaissance must pave the ground for the advancement of international democracy. This harmonious merging of harmony with democracy will bring the ultimate new world order of higher prosperity for all nations developed or developing. May harmony prevail in the world!
Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
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