I’ve been working in a genetics laboratory at Vanderbilt University for about nine months now, and I’ve learned quite a bit. Most of the things I’ve picked up have been science related, like ‘don’t pass your bare arm over an open petri dish, unless you want to contaminate it’ or ‘black mice are inherently more aggressive than white mice’ (actually true, despite how racist it may sound). There are some things, though, that are completely removed from science that I have gleaned in my time at the lab.
For instance, did you know that Mandarin Chinese, despite being the official language of Chinese print and television broadcast, is really only spoken in Beijing and the surrounding towns? Apparently there are regions all over China where television shows are either subtitled or are complete gibberish to the people watching, even though they are in the same country, sometimes only a few hundred miles away from the source! A few people in my lab are from Beijing and were explaining to me how different the dialects are. People from Beijing cannot understand people from Taiwan or Hong Kong, and vice-versa. This just strikes me as odd, considering all of these people live under a government which enforces conformity above all else. Why would language, the most important aspect of a culture, not be altered so that everyone in the People’s Republic can understand each other?
Another neat little fact I’ve picked up is that most Asian cultures absolutely abhor cheese. They think it is most disgusting thing in the world, since it is basically spoiled milk pressed into a cube. All the Chinese and Japanese members of my lab pick the cheese off of their pizza, leaving just bread, sauce, and the occasional pepperoni. At first I thought this was incredibly odd; later, I remembered how gross the ideas of eating raw squid and fried honey bees were to me and I understood.
On a completely different note, I’ve picked up one of my favorite old books and am rereading it for probably the fifth time in as many years. This book, George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, represents a lot of different things to me. On one hand, I obviously don’t like the idea of an oppressive regime, one that dictates whom you marry, where you may shop, and when you can sleep. This dictatorship in the oh-so-futuristic 1984 (I’ll give Orwell a pass, as he wrote the novel in 1949) constantly manipulates the past through editing of newspapers and records in an attempt to control the present and future of the people. The concept of being so controlled that you don’t even have your own memories is grotesque.
The other side of the coin, however, is where my own social and political ideas come into play. I absolutely think that there need to be firmer boundaries on certain aspects of our society, such as controlling which corporations may do business in our nation and at what prices they may sell their goods (pharmaceuticals, as a prime example). I obviously don’t think the government should ever dictate the details of a persons life, but I do believe that a responsible government should be firm and secure. Look at England, for example. They have CCTV cameras on almost every corner, recording every second of every day in an attempt to prevent crime or, at the very least, catch the criminals after the fact. Some people cry foul and claim their ‘privacy’ is being invaded. Do you have ‘privacy’ on a public street? Is it not legal for a business to record you in their store? Then why can the government not record you in their ‘store’, that is, their property. If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. It’s exactly how I feel about internet traffic. People complain about the government or other groups sniffing the packets going to and from your computer, mostly because they are doing things that are either illegal or embarrassing.
Obviously, I really like politics. I love discussing it, I love arguing about it, I even love watching or listening to conservative political pundits just to get angry about how ridiculous their ideas are. The frustrating aspect of it, though, is knowing I will never be able to contribute to the political landscape of my country in any sizable way. I used to think that after medical school, I would go into a long, fruitful career as a physician working in international relief efforts (a career I still wholeheartedly plan to pursue), and would retire to a life of politics. I would begin at the local level, slowly work my way up to the state level, and then on to senator or representative. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized this dream is impossible. I have no ‘legacy’ like the Bushs, Kennedys, or Clintons. I don’t have (and will likely never have) millions of dollars to spend on lavish rallies and dinners. And most importantly, my views aren’t popular in the circles that matter. Most people in the country would probably love to strangle the pharmaceutical industry and beat it like a pinata until generics and subsidized name-brand pills fall out like so much candy. The reason this doesn’t happen, however, is that “Big Pharma” contributes more than any other industry in the country to political campaigns. If they know someone is running for senator on a platform of healthcare reform, Big Pharma will pour all the resources they can into the candidate who wants to maintain the status quo. How do you compete with that? Without the money, you can’t get the endorsement of your party. Without that endorsement, you might as well not even exist to the voters, just ask Ralph Nader, Mike Gravel, and Dennis Kucinich.
Anyways, you should never end a post on a negative note, so here is a joke I heard recently…
Question: How many Republicans does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: Why do you want to change the light bulb? The current light bulb is fine, in fact it gets brighter every day! Why do you hate America? Do you hate freedom, too?!
