Studying humanities in America? Whew, that's a bad choice, because America has no culture. Europe is better, definitely better. (Yeah right. He talked like I was holding a visa to the world. Had we forgotten that the world has slammed its doors in our collective face long ago?)

Now, years have passed, and here I don't want to accuse my friend of being jealous of my going abroad. But I should have let him know that having an opportunity to do something of one's own choice was this going-abroad business was all about.

The reason I brought this episode back to life is that I think that particular conversation begs the question of what culture really is. Most of the Chinese, myself included sometimes, would like to take any opportunity to mock America for its lacking of a history as long as China's. In other words, when we say America has no culture, we usually mean it has no history in comparison with China. Maybe I should have assured my friend that I was not going to major in history. Really, nobody says that you have to go time-traveling in order to "study or live history."

I don't remember how many times I have been told not to jump to conclusions. But here I am, wanting to point out a couple of things about American culture. To show the world that I have learned some of my lessons, I promise that my observation of American culture does not stop here.

One of the major contributions America has made to the world, besides Cocoa Cola, that is, is its rampant pop culture, i.e., Hollywood movies, rock'n roll music or MTV in short, junk food, et al. But pop culture, no matter how spectacularly dominant in the eyes of a teenager, is not the culture, whatever it is, that we are talking about here or there. And with all consideration, the flourishing of pop culture only accelerates the deterioration of culture in its traditional form and format.

American culture, well, if you ask me now, is a culture of sales. Yessiree, we remember Arthur Miller and "The Death of a Salesman." But since the passing of poor Willie, his beloved Beef and Happy went corporate. Sales people became the life-blood of corporations. Corporations became America. Now, everyone sells, in academics, in politics, on top of skyscrapers (where they hang expensive suits), or on the street or in the back alley, flea market (where funky T-shirts will do). Foreign relations are determined by the potential of sales. Wars are waged to beat a path for sales. Human relations are definitely taking a drastic and decisive turn in that direction too. My children are my clients. I respect them because they are my customers. You see.

Is the culture of sales a legitimate form of culture? Well, that is a tough one because we have not defined what culture is. I dearly want to say that this culture of sales, or the culture of hard-core capitalism, has a blatant tendency of anti-intellectualism; but I am afraid that you would ask me what intellectualism is. So I just want to let you know that I am contemplating the idea of replacing my eyeglasses with contact lens. Let us rest the case here. OK?

O good. Most of us are here getting Ph.D.'s in a variety of fields. Now how would we survive in this culture of sales? I'd say: Let us get drunk, I mean really drunk; write down that poem we always want to write; drink some more till we pass out; wake up tomorrow if we can, God willing, and burn that piece of crap we called poetry yesterday; dress up and make some money and turn around and spend all we make on things we many or may not need. What the heck!

If you can, join them, I mean the sales force, or the corporate world. Sell to them the idea that you are so indispensable to the existence of the entire universe that the whole thing erects and collapses as you do!

July, 1995