(an excursion into the issue of diversity)
Whoever reads this, please, do not get offended.
No malice here, just a problem to solve.
I attended an International Scientific Conference and it was packed by Hindus, Latinos and Chinese. All the session Chairs were Hindus and 99% of the participants of the students' section were the bushy-tailed and bright-eyed Latino and Chinese students. Obviously, most of them were from the US universities. I sat there, in the lobby of the posh hotel and remembered that jackass- Russian immigrant who wrote an article in the Russian-language US newspaper 'Forward' (currently 'Forum') several years ago. In that article he professed that the US would be overridden by the minorities and 'lower-level' immigrants which would result in the general lower standards and also in the 'communism coming to America'. One the gems of his was, 'I recently attended a conference on physics and there were no Mexicans or Blacks there'. That was supposed to prove to the reader that 'Mexicans and Blacks' were not inclined to the exact sciences. I really would love to see his face now! On the other hand, as far as I know, such people are incurable.
Witnessing that visible triumph of diversity I couldn't get rid of the feeling of discontent. I have been in science for a long time. It is my bread and butter. I also had been a professional chess player in my youth and nothing disciplines the mind better than chess. I would argue that studying the art of chess should be a prerequisite for a person who wants to go into science. Through that experience of mine I know that scientific research follows the same logic as the logic of art postulated by the Russian arts historian Sherba, 'Art is a premeditated bending of the rules.' That is our formal education, the one we acquire so painfully is there only to be constantly challenged. Without that challenge all you can do is decent engineering. Science means risk to confront the Albert Einstein's ingenious but not malicious God. That's what bothered me. No risk at that conference. The presentations I happened to attend were all about the skills of the presenters. Those folks know their craft; their Navier- Stokes equations, their numerical methods, their Fortran, their Java, their Calculus, etc. 'Buy me, I can do all that!'- was the message to the public. It was a grandiose country fair. An imitation of the real science, a compendium of games played by a group of rather smart children but still an imitation nonetheless. Science is a battlefield though and what I saw seemed very much like a premeditated defeat long before the battle started. Kind off what we witness frequently from the Demparty, pardon for the comparison.
Ok, here I said it. But what does it have to do with the diversity? Do I imply here that if all those folks were white as snow there would be a triumph of science and innovation? Certainly not. It is my feeling though that minorities and immigrants being the most dynamic and reflective part of the society can reveal through their behavior its vices and advantages more clearly than the native-born people.
In their struggle, in their strive to succeed they use their natural qualities within the new environment and depending on the criteria they see promoted, it can result either in harm or in contribution.
The power of the criteria had been perfectly presented to us as in the cases of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales. In both case we have the people of humble upbringings to reach the top levels of power and authority. In both cases they abused that power, corrupted their souls and put a blemish on the professions they represented. In both cases, though they remain rather wealthy, publicly known and even revered (by some) individuals with the solid 'base'- they are listened to, their books are published, their names are mentioned, they are not ostracized, expelled or prosecuted in any way. They are successful people, take it or leave it. Role models, huh?
Those folks sold themselves to the Devil and got a good deal. Apparently The Horny One presented his offer to them when they didn't see other options. Smart people as they were they considered (and still consider) their behavior as a fully commensurate with the 'winner takes all' philosophy of the US life. And they are right, aren't they? Imagine Gonzo suddenly refusing to do the Bush's dirty job? Off he goes and no place for him anywhere,; he suddenly becomes one of the poor Latino smart- asses defending petty criminals for $40K a year. No book deals, no speeches, no power and "no gratitude. As for Mr. Yoo, if he had resigned from his position in the White House at that time I sincerely doubt he would be invited to teach law anywhere but community college, part- time. No, they did the right thing, they figured out the good service and the good servants they were. Got rewarded for that, right?
Here I want to introduce a stereotype, God help me. Immigrants from Asia and South America bring with them the burden of history and experience of the people in the regions whether they realize it or not. Those are tragic, full of violence, oppression and unbelievable suffering. Survival was a primary goal of generations. And the culture of survival has its own complex features, embedded in the 'genetic memory'. One of those features is the sense belonging, the necessity to be a part of the group. As a perspective member how do you prove your worthiness to the group? You serve it better, more efficiently than its permanent members. Some can call it a gang mentality. But isn't that the one we here so vigorously promote? People come here with their available tools of survival and the opportunity presents itself-join the powerful, play the game properly, network, sell your skills to the highest bidder, be smart- and you will be lavishly rewarded, have access to money and power, will be able to attend numerous conferences (all paid off), mingle with the others like you, get the book contracts and called a "diversity achiever'. Do nothing like that- and your fate is in oblivion to say the least. Our criteria of success is not the survival of the fittest- it is the survival of the most ruthless and survival is the word; have you ever noticed that?
I am trying to put myself in John Yoo's shoes with my legacy and my set of values. Let's imagine I was there, in the White House and I was told to draft a memorandum helping my President to the pleasure of whom I serve to torture people. What would I do?
Survival was also maybe the most powerful force of the legacy of my people. But there was something more; there was a triumph of the Victory. My parents and grandparents, the people of the Communist nation, despite all the horrors of the dictatorship were free enough to destroy the Nazi Germany thus showing to the whole world the free spirit of theirs. Now, that free spirit has unequivocally been transferred from generation to generation whatever the shenanigans were. And it dictated among other things a very simple postulate, 'Unless you die from hunger you do not engage yourself in evil and evil you will recognize because you had seen it here.' Yes, we had seen it in abundance and if I had been put to test I would not be able to play naivete and pretend I did not understand what Pandora Box of Hell would that memo represent. I thus here unequivocally state that in my case (that is if I had not been filtered out beforehand) confronted by such decision I would have gone to the press on my own telling them openly about that abomination and willing to participate in any open debate on the subject. I would have resigned from the position and openly proclaim my disgust. Mr. Yoo was not dying from hunger. But there was no Victory over Evil in his legacy and there was nothing to stop him on the path to self- destruction.
Returning to my field of engineering I happen to witness many Yooisms, so to speak. It is not a secret that the US K-12 system does everything to direct the students away from science as an occupation. The total nonexistence of the systemic thinking cannot be compensated by the hysterical science projects, fairs and Bill Nye, the science guy. They do not realize that only education as a whole, including arts, history, language, literature and exact sciences can promote that quality. And of course, I am sorry but religious upbringing and atmosphere are extremely harmful to real science.
But not to the imitation. If you strip science of its soul the skin remains and that skin is pure skill. We thus promote it. We say it is good to be skillful, it sells. But then it becomes a horrible boredom; native-born Americans fall apart and, lo-and-behold - Chinese and Hindus fill the void. They aren't bored; for them the skill is the goal.
And then they graduate and they fill the positions of the 'middle management' in the companies, institutions and labs. They become professors and instructors. They eagerly embrace the rules of the game and blossom everywhere. The only thing though- the progress is not what they seek. They seek the good life. Don't we all? But what's a good life- a goal or a means? That's a tough question to answer and that's the one I struggle with every day I go to work and see my colleagues from Asia and South America eagerly playing the game according to the rules. In my upbringing such behavior is called 'An Italian Strike'- a term from the class warfare when in Italy the railway workers would start working strictly by the book. That would result is halting the traffic in an instant. We all know- your life is not ruled by the book- the book is ruled by your life. Until we show to our Hindu, Chinese, Mexican and other friends that there is another criterion for success they will imitate our bad rules much better and with much more harm than anyone who was born here. That's the Law of Nature and it has nothing to do with diversity, justice, equal rights. It has everything to do with what we are and what people see when they look at us. If they see Bush they will act like him. If they see Josiah Willard Gibbs, the most humble of the US geniuses, they will act like him. But honestly, who ever had heard of Gibbs as a cornerstone figure of the US culture? Hey, for Bush I did not even have to refer to the initials- everyone knows Dubya. That's the problem.
In the movie Fahrenheit 911 there is that elderly Chinese woman protesting in front of the White House, alone. She was the heroine of that time, but who knows her name now. That woman put her legacy to the good use. She penetrated through all the smoke in the mirrors. She absorbed the best feature of the US culture- the relentless pursuit of honesty and integrity. And she went out there for a permanent demonstration, alone, to fight for the best for her children because she understood. That was the moment of truth. No one noticed it. But millions of the Chinese in the US told to their kids, 'See what happens to those who do not play by the rules here. Be a good imitator and you will succeed.'
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