Cultue: Customs and civilization for appreciative understanding

To understand a culture, one must first understand the people apropos of the values i.e. family,work ethics,education such as creativity,spontaneity and knowledge) et al) and traditions they live by, as well as customs and etiquette re the snippets of information in a nutshell. Chineseness is an ethnicity and Americanism would mean custom, belief, trait, phrase, etc. originating in the United States. As Chinese and American,bi-lingual scholars can contribute to the homeland as teachers of English and Chinese with built-in economics in English for China's role in globalization. Moreover,Chinese language, as a part and parcel of culture, would be useful for American role with macro-view of the world. Economics is for the marketplaces of ideas for both nations. There are hedonistic barbopping Chinese and Americans,fashion-conscious Chinese and Americans,techno-nerds and ball fans for games in China and in the USA. I have my dream and hope to appreciate beauty even the poorest can enjoy the sun and the moon as free goods in very nook and corner on both sides of the Pacific. The educated would be falling in love and seek self-esteem and the respect of others. Respect for teachers remains strong in China as reflected by the Chinese culture of traditional reverence for learning. According to a study by the World Bank,China's literacy rates are the highest in the developing world. The busy Americans are seeking for money as the be-all and end-all in life. Such may or may not be incomprehensible to folks in terms of Confucianism with the touch of Western influence in China. The Chinese would stress the family with the ideal of calm and self-restraint but the Westerners would hesitate to share savings with family as individuals. Teddy Roosevelt had the vision of "rugged individualism" decades ago. From the Chinese perspective, the Westerners treat strangers like friends and that Westerners would treat family like strangers to a certain degree. There is Sino-American Economics for readers to absorb,digest and ponder for such repercussions in the 21st century. Francis Shieh aka Xie Shihao on Thursday,Nov.8, 2007 at 8.45 p.m.