星座八卦:金牛座和摩羯座的星座配对

金牛座和摩羯座的星座配对

金牛座:摩羯座

两情相悦指数:5

天长地久指数:4

配对指数

友情:★★★★

爱情:★★★★

婚姻:★★★★

亲情:★★★★

谈情必读:

非常默契的一对,两个土象星座的人,一个沉稳,一个谨慎,又知道对方想什么,感情不是惊天动地,高潮起伏而是细水长流,可以组成一个小康之家。

开始前,你们会有一段互相摸索的时间,当大家认定对方时,就会开始一起为将来的共同生活而实务计划,有了信心和安全感就会先组织家庭,还会很快生儿育女。

在性方面,摩羯座会受情绪压力影响,有时频频需要,有时好节制,金牛座要利用自己的能力,去舒缓他们的心理同生理问题。

他沉稳的个性的确抓得住你情绪的波动。在床上,你们亦非常契合,他不在意为你煮饭打扫,只要偶尔你也爬爬梯子换灯泡即可。

金牛座–摩羯座

坚定,可靠这些闪光的优点环绕着带有土地色彩的安全气息的金牛座牛和摩羯座山羊。生活对于金牛和摩羯来讲并不都是灰褐色的,也不都是黑色的。但在他们私人的光晕中你将很难找到乐观的黄色或红色等色彩。当这两种动物在动物园相遇时,大地会回荡起命运的震颤。谁知道当金牛和山羊共同戴起笼头时,将会取得什么样的成功呢?他们知道。

他们二者谁都很明确他(或她)要去哪里。金牛和山羊都是既谦虚又含蓄,他们都以节制作为内部的报警或保险系统,用来警告自己去除那会引起他们实现抱负的稳定机构短路的任性情感。噢,这并不是说他们是平淡,乏味、没有幽默感和想象力的苦干者。至于摩羯座人,几乎所有的山羊都有某种创造性或艺术天才。他们中的许多人像专业人员那样在工作时心不在焉地涂抹些什么,而且有些人确实成为成功的画家或作家(摩羯座的小说家就身兼二职)。至于金牛,尽管他们头脑中有全部生活常识,但他们灵魂里充满了音乐。许多金牛是著名的歌唱家、音乐家或作曲家。其他人只是随便弹弹钢琴,哼哼和声,或拨拨家里的琴。他们中几乎每个人,在确知没人能听到情况下,都会在小雨中唱歌。在幽默的场所,金牛是有独创性的滑稽家,他们总是被笑声所包围,在起居室或在工作单位,用不着别人怂恿,一般的金牛座男士或女士就会不知不觉扮演起喜剧独白的角色。

摩羯座山羊也有明显的、古怪离奇的幽默感。他们对生活喜剧的敏锐观察力机智而有趣,尽管他们通常说话时总是拉长了脸,但那只能使他们更可笑。当有些事真正使他们感兴趣时,他们就能编造出滑稽怪诞的幽默故事,那些故事会使职业喜剧作家也自叹不如,所以你看,金牛与山羊的联合能够既温暖、愉快,又稳固、长久和牢不可破。

他们生于消极的土地宫,它没有为他们提供滋生轻浮的沃土。山羊与金牛是有趣的,但他们并不胡闹,当他们开玩笑时他们丝毫也不丧失尊严。在下乖的迪斯科酒吧里,你找不到几个疯狂跳舞者是这两个星座的。他们更多的是坐在家里看别人国家园度假的电影,以此度过优美恬静的夜晚。

因为山羊与金牛属5—9日宫型,所以在有风流韵事、孩子、宗教、旅行、教育和娱乐性行业地方,就应该是他们能找到共同兴趣的草场。从那里出发,他们可以一致努力,最后取得辉煌的成就(如果他们的太阳、月亮是和谐的);或是一无所获(如果他们星占图上的太阳、月亮是相互抵触的)。然而,甚至在后一种情况下,他们也总能5—9日自然共振来克服他们的困难。对于任何两个受该日宫型影响的人来说,长时间的生气或对立都是困难的,和解的道路永远是宽敞的,而且只要他们愿意,总是不难找到的。

这两个日宫型的人特别不愿意接触毒品。大多数金牛并不真正需要这种额外的快感,因为他们的感官已与环境非常和谐一致了。金牛能一连几个小时入神地嗅一颗香豌豆或一株百日草的气息,想象着它们的形状、颜色和芬芳——直到愤怒的野峰蜇他们为止。至于典型的摩羯人,他们也不愿沉溺违法的活动之中,而且也不是那种拖延或妨碍自己在土星指导之下的雄心勃勃的攀登山峰——或是闹丑闻的人。

山羊们毕竟要被他们的朋友、亲戚、邻居以及社会充分接受和尊敬。当科学家不仅仅对试管进行研究,而且认真地研究占星术时,他们就会发现,金牛和山羊与其他日宫的人相比,在毒品和酒精恢复治疗中心里,人数所占的百分比惊人的小,当然也有偶然的例外,但非常之少。

山羊和金牛与狮子座一样喜爱宝石和贵重的金属。火焰型的狮子喜欢戴着它们,越耀眼越好。金牛喜欢从地里把它挖出来,当他们为获得绿松石、黄金、白银和钻石而挖洞时,他们会体味到发现宝物时欣喜。摩羯人喜欢沉浸于实用艺术品之中,他们那些秘密的艺术性追求常常擦亮黄铜器皿时得到满足。然而,金牛与山羊共同的最终目标都是让自负的雄狮或雌狮来买他们的东西,那时他们就能赚钱。

摩羯人约在两三岁时成为成年人,金牛决定自己未来的经营领域也在这个年龄。因此当他们在一起合作时,年龄问题就并不重要了。他们的目标是一致的。金牛和山羊都了解外面世界的道路情况,给他们带来麻烦的是他们内部的世界。他们内心都充溢着不愿外露的丰富情感,他们也都深深地需要爱慕与赞赏,但他(或她)不会去要求别人给予。因此他们像两座山一般矗立在那里,肩并着肩,渴望人间的关怀或友爱,但都顽固地抵御其他人建立友谊的提议或公开的爱慕表白。

儿童看见,并且直率地表现他们的长辈在成人后已忘却的游戏。既然金牛和山羊的童年都是那么短促(两三岁时就已成熟),他们在人生之旅中可能已错过了不少游戏,他们怎样才能弥补失去的童年时光呢?很容易。金牛可以对山羊说:“咱们光着身子游过那条小河,谁落后谁就是孬种!”山羊也可以对金牛说:“咱们到垃圾场去放鞭炮吧!”他们到那儿后,可以爬到苹果树上去做游戏,闻着香豌豆和百日草的清香,用旧轮胎打秋千。那时,他们都无牵无挂了。

金牛座(男)——摩羯座(女)

金牛座男士实际的一面将带着激情(金牛所有唤起的全部激情),来与摩羯座女士实际的一面相呼应。他欣赏她的自信,仰慕她有教养的风度和有尊严的矜持,更不必说她是那么漂亮了。金牛不喜欢很容易就能得到的东西,其中也包括爱情。这位姑娘的爱绝不可能轻易得到。既然金牛认为不用费力就能得到和保持的东西一文不值,那摩羯人恰好可以引发他的兴趣。她会爱慕之心难于捕捉,因为她绝不会轻易或迅速地屈服于内在自我。因此很显然,她就是金牛认为值得追求的尤物。

不过他大概不会用自己热烈的激情来与她明显的缺乏热情相呼应。尽管金牛装作对多愁善感的爱情表白不感兴趣,但实际上他是所有日宫星座里最多情的一个。他不会开诚布公地掏出自己的心,而是把心放在合适的位置,让别人看不见。当他弹奏他们俩最喜爱的歌曲,或在某处意外地闻到她香水的气息,或听到使他想起她的笑声时,他的心跳就加快了。

山羊女士在风流韵事过后,不会因回忆或日常生活中的纪念物品而如此激动。这不是说她不能深深地投入。事实上,一旦她发现了她认为值得去深爱的男士,她的忠诚在占星术轮盘上是任何其他女性的优点。毕竟,摩羯宫本身就是阴性的,但它也是否定的土地宫——又是支配型——这意味着她不需要一个完全控制她的男人,也不会使自己沉溺于可能影响自己判断力或引发自己犯错误(乃至必须改过自新)的情感之中。

摩羯座人从不浪费时间在后悔上,她认为后悔是一种无用而伤感的情绪。但她认为改过自新的感觉很好,这是土星在她把事情搞糟时放在她肩上的惩罚,是让她不再犯错的严厉纪念物。对她来说“改过自新”意味着痛痛快快地吃药,不发牢骚。

这位漂亮、娇柔的女士像金矿矿工的旧靴子一样粗糙,尽管她对最亲近、最可爱的人有细腻的温柔,而且如果她的配偶是她用感情和理智一齐挑选的,那她是非常忠诚的。当她偶尔犯错或允许自己按感情办事时,她的理智不会很快原谅她,她必须按照土星的严格戒律进行自责。但她并没有那种使人用感情作借口来掩饰不愉快事实的理想主义。她改正自己的错误,然后沿着崎岖小径继续向前冲,很少向后看。这位姑娘是非常实际的,而且脑子里充满了常规。例如,很少有摩羯座女士成了引人上钩的妓女或可以用电话召唤的姑娘,但她们的选择几乎与道德无关。一位山羊姑娘谈到妓女,她对在市场上出卖肉体的女人充满了轻蔑,这并非出于道德或感情上理由,而是由于——用她尖刻的话来说——“这职业包括那么多中间人,妓女到头来的经济上吃了大亏,而且成了被社会抛弃的人——况且她只能干很少几年,然后去干什么呢?这确实太不实际了。”

金牛座男士欣赏她的实际和充满常规的做法,因为这些恰和他自己的特点一致,但可能因她的缺乏感情而感到震惊(或受到是那么一致,所以他最好耐心(这是他们二人都大量拥有的另一种品质)而明智地咽下他震惊和伤害,一直等到她用理智和感情共同作出对爱情的决定并嫁给他。在此之后,她可能会像他的所希望的那样对他和他们的家庭(包括她的父母和兄弟姐妹)充满柔情。摩羯座姑娘一旦嫁给了意中人,她就是最好的妻子和母亲。对这世界上的其他人来说,她似乎是势利的、冷漠的,有点像社会野心家,但她丈夫、孩子和亲戚只会感受到她的温暖和爱。

嫉妒对这两个人多半不会成为严重问题。无论是金牛还是山羊都不会像火宫或水宫人那样,因为一个偶尔的不忠行为而在感情上受到致命的伤害。对他们俩来说,这种事倒更像是有人偷了他们一件很值钱的东西。金牛座男士对偷走他妻子感情的人侵者的愤怒,正像是他对偷走他汽车或支票的小偷一样。山羊姑娘对与她的金牛丈夫调情的女人发火,也正介对企图偷走她母亲家祖传下来的床单或她父亲的古钟的母狐狸一样。

如果你了解对于金牛和山羊来说,丢失现金或实物是多么痛苦,你就会知道,不忠行为引起他们的不愉快,绝不少于更多情的日宫人的愤懑。但他或她都不愿意仅一次不忠行为就抛弃两人的牢固关系或离婚。金牛和山羊都不希望损害或摧毁现有的局势。如果他们摧毁了,那一定是少有有偶发事件,而且你可以断定三件事:1、他们永远不会谅解;2、他们永远不会忘记;3、他们永远不会回头重新开始,不会怀着新的希望站在新的起点。丢失的就是丢失的,离开的就是离开的。发现者可能持有者,但丢失者绝不是哭泣者,只要他们是金牛或山羊。

虽然他们不会打开泪水的闸门或歇斯底里,但被抛弃和失败仍会深深地伤害他们。不过金牛和山羊都不会在爱管闲事的邻居面前抽泣。他们的心会沉浸在阴郁的忧愁之中,直到几周、或几个月或几年的悲哀之后,他们想明白为溢出的牛奶继续悲哀下去太不实际。那时他们就会稍稍振作起来。既然这是5—9日宫型,那么破坏他们用真诚连在一起的纽带将是一场真正的大灾难。

在性方面,他们的配合既惬意又牢固,因为他们身体的关系通常比女士是金牛座人、男士是摩羯座人时更令人满意。他内心是性欲很旺盛的恋人,充满了能唤起她激情的能力,然而也能用真挚的爱和她所要求的对异性的尊重来表达自己的情感。她不是希望在性生活有长时间的准备和多情的悄悄话的姑娘。她也不要求在爱的激情已得到满足之后,她的情人或丈夫咕哝几个小时令人发困的情话。自然而无声的爱抚以及随后的结合使她感到满意,给她以完美感。无怪乎这位女士能比燃烧的火宫女性(她也许会把他吓跑)或多变的空气宫夫人更成功地吸引金牛了。

然而,多情的金牛可能会要求比五分钟更长的时间来表达对她的爱。既然摩羯人对她的婚姻或爱情责任看得并不比其他责任更轻,因此她总能努力配合金牛更为从容的爱的步调,这样他们就成为爱和性俱会的幸福恋人了——所以,当他们到金婚纪念日时,他们就有一种性与爱一致的相依为命的关系,相亲相爱,密不可分。偶尔会有一位摩羯座女士,由于年轻时曾受到过分伤害而试图将性与爱分离。金牛也可能出于同样的原因而产生相同的想法(山羊和金牛的记忆力都好得惊人)。但当他们在一起时,他们就能互相教会两人的需要融合在一起是多么好,那时她将因他的温柔体贴而觉醒,恢复因早熟而丧失的童年梦幻和天真——他在她温存地展示温暖和充满爱的前景时,也会逐渐忘记过去的痛苦回忆。

典型的金牛对家庭格外忠诚,这是件好事,因为这样他就能容忍山羊姑娘的烦扰。而摩羯座人对家庭关系也一样忠诚。她小小年纪时,就会很好照料家了。除非他们在年轻时有过极其痛苦单,永远是宾客满堂。金牛将温和地赞许他的山羊姑娘对双方亲戚的接待,除非他母亲是巨蟹座人(或者他的月亮和运星在巨蟹座),那情况可能就有点儿尴尬了,一切事都可能发生,小到轻微的感情冲突,大到全面的地震。

巨蟹座母亲完全地占有她的儿子,而摩羯座妻子也完全地占有她丈夫(嫉妒和占有还不大一样)。这种局面会使山羊姑娘觉得左右为难,直到她决定(比喻的说法)将自己的尖羊角刺向这一边或那一边。不过金牛也有角,因此应该警告山羊不能把角刺向了他的母亲。不论是对摩羯座女士,还是对月亮或运星在巨蟹座的金牛来说,被迫在爱情在双亲之间选择,都像是被判关入折磨人的小暗室里一样令人恐怖。

金牛与山羊在许许多多方面都极为和谐。一段时间后,他们甚至能知道对方正在想什么——在他们共同度过的漫长岁月里,他们亲密无间。

2016 Nobel Banquet Menu诺奖晚宴菜谱

北欧绿色邮报网报道(记者陈雪霏)--2016诺贝尔晚宴菜谱如下:Translation (English):

584c66c7272b0e0d009901d6_small_nobel-entree-161210-2584c65d3272b0e0d009901d4_small_nobel-entree-161210-1

Charcoal baked langoustine and scallop,
served with nettles, ramson and pickled winter apples

584c6739b45b5d0d00f6266a_small_nobel-main-course-161210-1584c67a6b45b5d0d00f6266b_small_nobel-main-course-161210-2Quail from Södermanland in black garlic and leek ash
with Jerusalem artichoke, preserved wild mushrooms
and jus of roasted chicken skin and mustard seed

584c6879272b0e0d009901d8_small_nobel-dessert-161210-2584c6819272b0e0d009901d7_small_nobel-dessert-161210-1Cloud of sudachi fruit, cloudberry sorbet, miso crumbs
and deep-fried rice paper

 

Wine

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs 2006

Piccini Poggio Teo Chianti Classico 2010

Moncaro Tordiruta Passito 2007

 

Coffee & Nobel Museum Tea Blend

Grönstedts Extra Cognac

Facile Punsch

Stenkulla Brunn Mineral Water

Stadshusrestauranger in collaboration with Chef Sayan Isaksson
as well as Pastry Chef Daniel Roos

 

Translation (Swedish):

Kolbakad havskräfta och kammussla med nässlor,
ramslök och syltade vinteräpplen

Vaktel från Södermanland i svart vitlök och purjolöksaska med jordärtskocka,
bevarad skogssvamp och jus på rostat kycklingskinn och senapsfrö

Sudachimoln med hjortronsorbet, misosmulor och friterat rispapper

 

Professor Strömberg’s speech on Economic laureates

Presentation Speech by Professor Per Strömberg, Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 10 december 2016.

Professor Per Strömberg delivering the Presentation Speech for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Esteemed Laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the edge of the Mediterranean − outside today’s Izmir, Turkey − the Greek city of Teos was located in ancient times. During recent excavations of that city, archaeologists discovered a 1.5 meter high white marble stele, with a fifty line long chiselled inscription. The stele turned out to be a 2,200 year old lease agreement for a property including buildings, farmland and associated slaves.

A wealthy man in Teos had donated the property to a nearby gymnasium, but the students – who were busy with their studies and sports – leased it out to the highest bidder. One clause in the detailed agreement gave the owners the right to inspect yearly whether the tenant was keeping the buildings in good repair and taking good care of the farmland. More than half of the lines of the inscription listed the extra fees and penalties that could be charged to the tenant in case of a breach of contract. The agreement also gave the owners the right to hold religious ceremonies on the property three days per year; this not only provided the students with spiritual sustenance, but also made their rental income tax-free.

In other words, even the ancient Greeks had written contracts with each another. In today’s society, contracts are even more important. We enter into job contracts with employers and loan contracts with banks, and we buy insurance to protect ourselves against theft and accidents. The most successful of us can write wills including provisions that are maintained for more than a hundred years … Contracts may be long and full of fine print. But they can also be simple or implied, such as the weekly allowance we promise to give our children if they clean their rooms. Contracts also regulate non-economic relationships at all levels of society: from marriage to constitutional laws to international treaties.

Contracts can make us think of unpleasantness and arguments. The tenant in Teos had to accept stringent clauses and threatening sanctions. Yet the fundamental aim of contracts is cooperation. A well written agreement creates a golden compromise between parties with partly divergent interests.

Entering into agreements is a difficult art. Poorly designed agreements can lead to deception and unnecessary conflicts. Well-drafted contracts, however, encourage each party to act in a way that benefits everyone. This year’s Prize in Economic Sciences is being awarded for theories about writing good contracts.

Contracts usually specify payments for certain behaviours or outcomes. Bengt Holmström’s work examines both the benefits and drawbacks of such economic rewards. A variable salary can cause us to become more goal-oriented and to work harder. But it can also make us assume excessive risks, focus on the wrong things and become less enthusiastic about our work. Holmström has also shown how contracts should be adjusted when the parties will be working together over a long period of time, and how good agreements can encourage an individual even though only team performance can be observed. One common denominator is that contracts must be balanced and adapted to the specific situation.

The future is often too complex and unpredictable for a contract to be able to describe all conceivable circumstances. In that case the contract can regulate who has the right to make decisions in what situations. Oliver Hart’s research on incomplete contracts deals with how decision making rights should be allocated. Among other things, his works provide us with a rich theory of property rights. Perhaps it would have been better for the students in Teos if they had sold their property to the tenant and saved themselves the trouble to carving out fifty lines of ancient Greek text in marble. Hart’s toolkit can be used to understand whether two companies should merge, how to design an effective bankruptcy law and whether to operate a particular welfare service in the private or public sector.

Dear Professors Hart and Holmström:
The blossoming field of contract theory stands firmly on the shoulders of your contributions. With the tools of this theory, we can better understand many real-world contracts and contractual institutions. More importantly, your work helps us write better contracts to enhance cooperation and welfare.

Your research is an outstanding example of practically useful theory, in the best sense of the term. It is an honour and a privilege to convey to you, on behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, our warmest congratulations. I now ask you to receive your Prizes from His Majesty the King.

Source: Nobelprize.org

恩达尔教授宣布迪伦获颁奖

恩达尔教授总结迪伦的说唱文学,为什么是迪伦?

Award Ceremony Speech

Presentation Speech by Professor Horace Engdahl, Member of the Swedish Academy, Member of the Nobel Committee for Literature, 10 December 2016.

Professor Horace Engdahl delivering the Presentation Speech for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

What brings about the great shifts in the world of literature? Often it is when someone seizes upon a simple, overlooked form, discounted as art in the higher sense, and makes it mutate. Thus, at one point, emerged the modern novel from anecdote and letter, thus arose drama in a new age from high jinx on planks placed on barrels in a marketplace, thus songs in the vernacular dethroned learned Latin poetry, thus too did La Fontaine take animal fables and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales from the nursery to Parnassian heights. Each time this occurs, our idea of literature changes.

In itself, it ought not to be a sensation that a singer/songwriter now stands recipient of the literary Nobel Prize. In a distant past, all poetry was sung or tunefully recited, poets were rhapsodes, bards, troubadours; ‘lyrics’ comes from ‘lyre’. But what Bob Dylan did was not to return to the Greeks or the Provençals. Instead, he dedicated himself body and soul to 20th century American popular music, the kind played on radio stations and gramophone records for ordinary people, white and black: protest songs, country, blues, early rock, gospel, mainstream music. He listened day and night, testing the stuff on his instruments, trying to learn. But when he started to write similar songs, they came out differently. In his hands, the material changed. From what he discovered in heirloom and scrap, in banal rhyme and quick wit, in curses and pious prayers, sweet nothings and crude jokes, he panned poetry gold, whether on purpose or by accident is irrelevant; all creativity begins in imitation.

Even after fifty years of uninterrupted exposure, we are yet to absorb music’s equivalent of the fable’s Flying Dutchman. He makes good rhymes, said a critic, explaining greatness. And it is true. His rhyming is an alchemical substance that dissolves contexts to create new ones, scarcely containable by the human brain. It was a shock. With the public expecting poppy folk songs, there stood a young man with a guitar, fusing the languages of the street and the bible into a compound that would have made the end of the world seem a superfluous replay. At the same time, he sang of love with a power of conviction everyone wants to own. All of a sudden, much of the bookish poetry in our world felt anaemic, and the routine song lyrics his colleagues continued to write were like old-fashioned gunpowder following the invention of dynamite. Soon, people stopped comparing him to Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams and turned instead to Blake, Rimbaud, Whitman, Shakespeare.

In the most unlikely setting of all – the commercial gramophone record – he gave back to the language of poetry its elevated style, lost since the Romantics. Not to sing of eternities, but to speak of what was happening around us. As if the oracle of Delphi were reading the evening news.

Recognising that revolution by awarding Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize was a decision that seemed daring only beforehand and already seems obvious. But does he get the prize for upsetting the system of literature? Not really. There is a simpler explanation, one that we share with all those who stand with beating hearts in front of the stage at one of the venues on his never-ending tour, waiting for that magical voice. Chamfort made the observation that when a master such as La Fontaine appears, the hierarchy of genres – the estimation of what is great and small, high and low in literature – is nullified. “What matter the rank of a work when its beauty is of the highest rank?” he wrote. That is the straight answer to the question of how Bob Dylan belongs in literature: as the beauty of his songs is of the highest rank.

By means of his oeuvre, Bob Dylan has changed our idea of what poetry can be and how it can work. He is a singer worthy of a place beside the Greeks’ ἀοιδόι, beside Ovid, beside the Romantic visionaries, beside the kings and queens of the Blues, beside the forgotten masters of brilliant standards. If people in the literary world groan, one must remind them that the gods don’t write, they dance and they sing. The good wishes of the Swedish Academy follow Mr. Dylan on his way to coming bandstands.

Source: Nobelprize.org

Opinion: Where should Sino-US relations go?

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Dec. 14(Greenpost)– When Donald Trump announced that he won the general election on November 8, 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent congratulations immediately to show China’s friendly attitude. The  Chinese leader was prepared to deal with America no matter who is in power.

This was based on a good intention that America has two parties and no matter who is in power, the relationship between China and the US are still one of the most important relations because that decides the world situation.

I felt very relieved at the beginning of 2014 when the third world war didn’t happen. I was observing the situation because I thought 100 years ago in 1914, the first world war took place and many people died of gun power. I wondered if mankind as we in the 21st century have drawn any lessons from those barbarian wars.  We, mankind as so-called high class animals, have we become more civilized than 100 years ago?  I thought we do become more civilized because the third world war didn’t happen.

Of course, some people said the war without smoke indeed happened and it was won by the west because the financial and economic situation in Russia under Putin’s rule was in very difficult situation.

However, I don’t think Russia failed because the country has been stable under Putin and people didn’t experience the volatile situation like in the 1990s.  The west has been celebrating those days because of the collapse of the Soviet Union. But for Soviet Union, it was like Qing Shihuang in China, it was a failure.

Anything when it doesn’t have resilience, it will break.  So tention is not a good word. When a body has tention, it will be sick. When relations between two countries become tense, they will have problems.

Due to its 150 years war and conflict inflicting history and its cultural revolution chaos, China has drawn its lesson and been trying its best to have a good peaceful environment for economic development.

Although it was a mistake to reinvest too much after 2008 financial crisis in the west as a remedy to cure the problem,  people’s mind is still in the right track.

Why do I say it is not a right remedy? Because under that situation, due to the financial crisis in Wall Street, it spilled over to Europe and caused Iceland and Ireland to collapse, China was affected because the order from the west shrank.  In normal thinking, when the demand decreased, production should relatively decrease. That is right logic. But Chinese government worried that the production decreased, workers would be laid off and when workers  were laid off, the society might not be stable.

Therefore, the government allocated 4 trillion yuan to further invest.  With the crazy trend of real estate development, investment was reinforced in the manufacturing and material production.  So the demand was low, we invested more for production.  That was on the one hand, rescue some jobs, but on the other hand, the huge side effect was to cause the over capacity of production.  For example, so many iron and steel factories were established and so much coal was produced and used.

So from 2008 to 2013, overcapacity of coal and iron and steel and manufacturing of cars caused huge amount of emissions and air pollution.

On the one hand it is a remarkable achievement that Chinese household car ownership more than doubled than previous five years from 7 per 100 household to 21 per 100 household. That was a huge progress.

On the other hand, the city capacity of Beijing was certain. When it held12 million people in 1980s, Beijing was full of blue sky and white cloud, it was very beautiful.

Then in  2013, Beijing held at least 20 million people and 6 million cars.  Plus large transportation vehicles to transport goods every night to Beijing and those who were passing by, Beijing’s sky couldn’t cope with so much emissions and it flipped over.

The black smog could be seen and even felt if one was  aware of this problem.  I felt it was wrong because on Jan. 28-29,  I was attending my brother’s wedding near Beijing Radio Station, the sky was cloudy and it was like having a screen in the sky.

Still I praise China because it made a mistake with good intention. It was too eager to earn more money and not to lose jobs. But it was indeed a mistake.

Compared with some countries which were easy to use the gun and shell to attack other countries, China was far better.

During the water week in Stockholm, I heard water expert said China’s way of dealing with all countries with peaceful means was very good.

In other words, the US’ attack in Iraq, in Afghanistan were not welcomed. It was not welcomed by the local civilians.  It was not welcomed by the international society either.

I dare say it was due to that Iraq war from 2003,  American economy and many other aspect was dragged down because you gave people an impression that as long as you have the gun, you will be the NO. 1.  But except people are afraid of you, what else can you gain?

When I interviewed Bates Gill, former SIPRI director,  he said only military power means not much because we are in peaceful environment.  Therefore, many people suggest that the US should invest more money in other areas like infrastructure than in weapons production.

Back to Sino-US relations,  I like to say that China has been trying to learn from America a lot. In private sector, it was really like primitive accumulation of capital in any industrialised country at the early period.

That means everything was under the market rule.  The exploitation was based on so-called contract system.  But in state-own sector, the welfare was very good.

But since 2000, state-owned sector shrugged off many surplus workers and compete together with private sectors in real estate, in oil and petroleum and many other important sectors.  Thus it caused the increasing gap between rich and poor.

Real estate makes many people become rich immediately.  The late comer of course couldn’t gain much. So a lot of social problems arose again. But in general, still great progress made in many ways.  People’s awareness in rights has been greatly improved.  Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China has experienced fighting with corruption and shown to us and to the world that China is getting better and better. And he seemed to be serious in managing the gap, in improving the environment.

His experiment of limiting cars on the road proved to be very successful.  Xi also tried an expansion strategy that is to develop further both along the silk road on the land and silk route along the sea.  On land China can export fast train technology and equipment. On the sea, China can manufacture ships.  They like to help build a better world through these expertise which has proved to be very successful inside China.

Now when Trump ran president, he said he wanted to increase the tariff.  He wants to realize the great revitalization of the great American dream.

Xi told Chinese that he wants to realize Chinese dream.  Trump told Americans to realize American dream.  How to realize those dreams?  By working together, not fighting each other.

What Trump did was to contact Japan, Taiwan leader, the Philippines and so on, which let Chinese really feel not very good.

But what China can do? China can only be even better in dealing with these relations.

I think if mankind is really stupid and wanted to commit suicide on earth, then they will choose war and conflict.  Otherwise,  they should always draw lessons from the past and avoid the so-called third world war.

Some people said the Syrian civil war was almost a world war because all the big  powers were involved.  I will give some more analysis later in a separate article.

———————————————————————————Xuefei Chen Axelsson is founder of Green Post aiming at promoting peace and development, communication between east and west and becoming a good link between the east and west, namely China and Sweden, China and US and China and EU.

Chen Axelsson has studied international relations from Renmin University of China and Leadership for Sustainable Development in Middlesex University in London and has been a visiting scholar at Canterbury University in New Zealand’s Christchurch.

She has widely travelled around the world such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany.

She cares about our mother earth and promotes peace and sustainable development.  If you like to have an feedback about the article, you can write to chenxuefei@greenpost.se

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