国学与市场经济

国学与市场经济
2008年09月01日 09:48:42 　来源：光明日报

从表面上看,国学与市场经济似乎是不搭界的两回事。国学是以治经、史、子、集为主的传统学问,而市场经济则是以市场为主导来配置资源的经济制度。因此,有人认为,在当今市场经济体制下提倡国学意义不大。但是,当人们在市场经济体制下热烈讨论国学的复兴及其功用时,国学实际上已经或隐或显地与市场经济发生一定联系了。需要思考的问题是,国学通过什么方式对市场经济产生影响并发挥一定作用。回答这个问题有一自明前提,即一定的经济制度总是与一定的思想文化传统有着广泛的联系。
国学与市场经济的关系可以从隐性和显性两大层面来分析。就隐性层面而言,国学为认识中国市场经济发展的民族文化基础提供思想维度。这种思想维度可以分为两个侧面,一是比较宏观的社会理论方面。任何一个国家的市场经济的发展都植根于该国民族文化传统之中。大量学术文化史的研究证明,中国传统儒家思想中的经济伦理对中国市场经济发展的影响是十分深远的。不论是从反面否定儒家伦理难以产生近代资本主义精神(韦伯),还是从正面肯定儒家伦理有助于近代商人精神的形成(余英时),人们都不能不承认中国市场经济的发展受到儒家思想文化传统的一定影响。国学在研究儒家思想的过程中也必须深入研究这种影响,为中国的社会理论贡献新的思想成果。

二是比较微观的学科史方面。国学中大量存在经济方面的文献,为研究中国市场经济发展提供了经济史的参照。以先秦《管子》为代表的子书,对中国人的经济活动有深刻的论述。自《史记·货殖列传》之后,中国的史书有丰富的经济史文献。《清明上河图》所反映的宋代城市商业的繁荣也可视为某些今日城市商业繁荣的历史剪影。这些方方面面的有关经济历史的文献,对于研究今天中国市场经济发展的许多具体问题都会具有积极的意义。

如果说国学与市场经济的隐性联系更多地带有间接的学理性质,那么,国学与市场经济的显性联系则更多地带有直接的商业性质或产业性质。国学直接作用于市场经济的领域是文化产业。文化产业说到底是一种“内容产业”或“创意产业”。国学可以为文化产业提供“内容”,这些内容包括大量的文化符号(如象形文字、龙、红灯笼等)及文化素材(如经典文本、历史人物、故事情节等)。它们通过适当的创意转换就构成资源可再生的文化资本。有人提出,今天已进入内容生产的后制造时代,已经形成服饰文化制造业、饮食文化制造业、医药文化制造业、礼仪文化制造业等等。国学以其博大精神的内容完全可以(实际上已经)参与这些文化产业的产品生产。国内外已经有大量成功的文化产品取得了巨大的经济效益和社会效益,国外的如美国的动漫《花木兰》、韩国的电视剧《大长今》等,国内的收视率不断上升的央视《百家讲坛》及其配套的畅销书如易中天《品三国》、《于丹〈论语〉心得》等。

国学作用于市场经济的另外一个直接领域就是企业文化与管理以及市场营销。就前者而言,国学为企业文化建设和企业管理提供了深厚的文化资源。企业是市场经济的主体,企业要做强做大,要达到可持续发展,必须建构自己的企业文化,加强对员工的精神管理。很多华人企业都充分利用国学典籍作为企业文化的主干和企业精神的支柱,如有的企业要求员工人手一册《论语》,提出“先做人后做事”的文化理念;有的企业把《老子》的“上善若水”等格言作为企业管理的座右铭;有的企业还邀请大学里的国学教授去企业作企业文化和管理方面的讲座、培训或策划。近年来,有不少企业的老板或高管不惜高额学费,纷纷到高校去参加“国学”班的学习或“充电”。笔者从一些企业界的朋友了解到,他们认为参加“国学”班的学习大有收获。就更直接的市场经济意义而言,国学还为市场营销提供可资借鉴的销售策略。如很多商家运用《孙子兵法》或《三国演义》的思想来进行商品的销售战略的制定,取得了显著的效果。

总之,国学通过隐性和显性两种方式对市场经济产生影响并发挥一定作用,应该是不争的事实。未来国学与市场经济的关系究竟有多大的发展空间,这取决国学自身的活力。马克思说:“理论在一个国家实现的程度,取决于理论满足这个国家需要的程度。”借用这一表达,我们可以说,国学与市场经济的密切程度,取决于国学满足中国市场经济需要的程度。我们对此持积极乐观的态度。(作者单位:华中师范大学文学院、武汉大学哲学学院)

98.6%认为北京奥运会圆满成功 奥运后市民最关心环保

98.6%认为北京奥运会圆满成功 奥运后市民最关心环保
2008年08月30日 15:01:40 　来源：北京晚报



昨天（29日），北京市社情民意调查中心发布的调查数据显示：北京市高达98.6%的被访者表示，北京奥运会是一届成功的奥运会。而九成以上市民奥运后最关注的仍是环保问题。

20%以上的人认为绿色奥运

调查显示，99.8%的市民认为北京奥运口号对北京产生影响。但被问及“绿色”、“科技”、“人文”的具体影响，调查发现，55.7％的被访者认为三方面影响都大。对于只选择了单项的被访者中，绿色奥运明显更深入人心，20.6％的人选择了这一项目。相比之下，人文奥运和科技奥运的选择率只有15.5％和8%。

那么，践行“绿色奥运”又体现在哪些方面？42.6％被访者认为，通过“开展环境保护的宣传教育，提高了全民环保意识”；而鸟巢、水立方为代表的奥运会绿色建筑工程为25.6%；改造了城市生态环境，比例为23.1%；奥运工程减少了对环境和生态系统的负面影响，占8.3%。

奥运带来的好处呈多元化

奥运给北京留下了什么？在所有市民的眼中，奥运带来的好处受益匪浅，但在选择回答一个最受益的变化时，观点呈现多元化，例如，空气环保可以使人们生活得更健康（27.7%）；交通基础设施建设可以使我出行更加方便（27.4%）；国家经济增长带来的个人收入提高（14.6%）；体育场馆增加了健身的机会（9.5%）；人与人之间的亲和力、友善待人（7.9%）；城市环境卫生（7.7%）；增加了就业机会，社会安全状况改善……

九成以上市民奥运后关注环保

当北京奥运已经成为往事，人们关注的焦点仍是环保问题，比例高达91.9%；其次是物价问题，为84.8%；交通问题是第三，为83.2%；其后，依次是国民经济问题、收入问题、住房问题、就业问题等。

据悉，此次调查是对全市十八区县3032名居民进行的电话调查。（记者龙露）

Links for Business English

Business English Exercises and Quizzes

http://www.better-english.com/exerciselist.html
This site presents exercises with the business grammar, vocabulary and even a business word puzzles. It also provides British humor used in a business context.



English for the workplace

http://esl.about.com/od/englishforbusinesswork/English_for_Business_Work_and_other_Special_Purposes.htm
This site gives users a guide to English for the workplace. English for the workplace includes business, computer, medical, engineering, legal and scientific English and more. There are also guides for producing business documents and job interview English.



Business letter writing basics

http://esl.about.com/cs/onthejobenglish/a/a_basbletter.htm
This site guides you in how to write business letters in English. In addition, it provides you with useful phrases for running a business meeting and participating in a business meeting, too.



Engineering work English letters

http://piper.pe.kr/letter_index.htm
This site collects various formats of business letters depending on different situation such as changing and canceling orders apologies, and dispatching an engineer. It helps users in starting their own business letters in English and Korean.



Economics the A to Z list

http://economics.about.com/library/weekly/bl-a-to-z.htm
There are currently over 400 words in the Economic Glossary. The links beside each bullet point will take you to a resource on that topic. So "Money, Value of" will take you to an article detailing where money gets its value.

Obama's From Main St., Ain't He?

Obama's From Main St., Ain't He?
There was a moment during his victorious primary campaign in South Carolina in January when Barack Obama was saying something isn’t right and a guy in the crowd shouted: “Ain’t right, Barack, ain’t right.”
I didn’t think much of this isn’t-versus-ain’t thing at the time, but it’s been on my mind here at the Democratic National Convention because the whole production, so far, has been mainly about demonstrating that Obama’s a regular guy from Main Street, U.S.A. — and that ain’t no made-up story.
Sure, there are issues. There’s a middle class mauled by $4-a-gallon-plus gas, soaring health costs, Bangalored jobs and lost homes — while the rich got tax breaks.
But if the economy now trumps Iraq, I’d say personality still trumps the economy. In the end, the election will be about trust and authenticity.
At least 80 percent of Americans think the country’s going in the wrong direction, one set by Republicans in the White House for all but 12 of the last 40 years. So the result in November should be a no-brainer: change, the word that has propelled Obama this far.
In the last few weeks, however, as Obama’s lead in the polls over the Republican candidate, John McCain, has all but vanished, that logic has frayed. Obama’s got some connection issues.
He’s been unable to push significantly beyond the yes-we-can fervor of his broad band of followers into the skeptical white, blue-collar America that favored Hillary Clinton and whose support he needs.
He’s been Denzel Washington playing the reassuring, handsome attorney on a stirring moral mission, reaching across enough barriers of race and class to get within sight of the White House. But can he now moderate that polished image to spread his appeal to the meat-and-potatoes crowd?
Is Obama more beer than Chardonnay? Is he a Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks guy? Must he talk fancy? Is he one of us despite having what his wife Michelle called “that funny name?”
That’s been the subtext of this convention, and Hillary’s people have not been discouraging it.
The funny-name reference came in Michelle’s touching speech on the convention’s opening night, a tribute devoted to answering those identity questions by evoking a basketball-playing, loving, industrious, idealistic, constant husband devoted to his daughters and driven to rise from adversity by a dream of opportunity for all.
Yes, it was touching, but it was also a little cloying.
Again I found my mind going back to South Carolina where Michelle’s heels were higher, outfit bolder, and tone more forthright. Since then, with her pride in America questioned, she’s been choreographed toward the demure in the interests of placing the family in the mainstream.
“I saw a very interesting, complex woman who had been reduced to saying what a good mom she was and how cute her meeting with Barack was,” said John McWhorter, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “It was sincere, but I found myself cringing.”
McWhorter thinks Obama must remember that “being reflective will not get him elected.” Strong, focused and memorable is the tone he needs, as in Bill Clinton’s line on affirmative action: “Mend it, don’t end it.” In recent weeks, reading Obama’s lips on everything from the Russian invasion of Georgia to the rights of fetuses has been tough.
The fact Obama is under such pressure reflects Republican success since Reagan in framing Democrats as weak, unpatriotic, indecisive Volvo-driving nerds. “Conservative populism has successfully cast the liberal elite as looking down on the values of ordinary Americans,” said George Lakoff, a political theorist.
The best response to that is reality. Ordinary Americans are debt-ridden and struggling and values won’t pay their bills. Obama has been eloquent in describing this and proposing a new inclusive politics.
Eloquence, however, isn’t for everyone. He has not made an issue his own — not even energy — or found the one-liner to frame it.
But ain’t all this dumb? Here’s Obama, just finished with paying off his student loans, having to prove that he’s more mainstream than seven-house McCain, who’s just learning “to get online myself,” as he told my colleagues Adam Nagourney and Michael Cooper, and leaves e-mail to minions.
Dumb as in John Kerry, four years ago, having to prove his patriotism when he’d fought in Vietnam while George W. Bush fooled around Texas.
But that’s where Obama is: it’s hardball now. Hillary Clinton can broaden his constituency, but will she? Her support for him on the convention’s second night seemed more of form than spirit, devoid of personal affection. Bill Clinton was far more effusive.
The difference from 2004 is that the country is deep into economic plight, deeper into two wars, and weary of Republican fear-mongering. It may even be ready for what Mark Greenwood, a lawyer from Dickinson, N.D., called “someone who knows how to speak the English language.”
Ain’t no question Obama can do that.

韩国称抓获朝鲜女间谍 "美色"引诱韩军官

韩国称抓获朝鲜女间谍 "美色"引诱韩军官(图)
2008-08-28 14:12:20　来源: 环球时报(北京)　网友评论 500 条 点击查看
　　核心提示：韩联社27日报道称，一名伪装成“脱北者”的朝鲜女间谍，以“美色”为诱饵，在试图套取韩国军事机密并向朝鲜传送机密的过程中被抓获。该女间谍名叫袁正华，曾以“脱北者”身份往返于中国、韩国、朝鲜和日本，开展间谍活动。
朝鲜日报图片 朝鲜女间谍袁正华(音，34岁)
环球时报8月28日报道　韩联社27日报道称，一名伪装成“脱北者”的朝鲜女间谍，以“美色”为诱饵，在试图套取韩国军事机密并向朝鲜传送机密的过程中被抓获。韩联社甚至将她比作一战时期著名的德国美女间谍玛塔·哈莉。
据韩联社和纽西斯通讯社27日报道，这位女间谍叫袁正华(音)，今年34岁，隶属于朝鲜国家安全保卫部。1989年—1992年间，她在朝鲜接受对韩间谍训练，因训练途中受伤而退役。之后，她因偷盗百货商店，在6年中辗转各地。1998年，袁正华在亲戚的帮助下了结了盗窃事件，并成为朝鲜保卫部的成员，然后被派往中国，在吉林等地经商。在1999年—2001年期间，袁正华先后参与了对100多名“脱北者”及韩国商人的绑架活动。报道还称，2001年10月，袁正华接到“上级”潜入韩国的指令，遂伪装成朝鲜族与韩国男子崔某结婚，之后前往韩国定居，并获得韩国国籍。
报道称，袁正华在进入韩国后又伪装成“脱北者”，并于2001年11月向韩国国家情报院自首。在这一身份的“掩护”下，袁正华往返于中国、韩国、朝鲜和日本，开展间谍活动。
纽西斯通讯社报道说，2002年10月—2006年12月，袁正华先后14次向朝鲜保卫部报告韩国国内情况并进一步接受指令。2003年，袁正华掌握了韩国对朝情报人员的活动细节，还收买了同韩国情报机关有联系的企业家。2004年，袁正华还接到暗杀对朝情报人员李某和金某等的指令，并以毒药和毒针进行事前准备工作。
韩联社称，2006年，袁正华与“脱北者”团体的干部和军队情报人员接触，搞到了前朝鲜劳动党书记黄长烨等人的居所。黄长烨原是朝鲜劳动党书记和金日成综合大学校长，1997年在北京进入韩国领事馆要求政治庇护，后来逃亡到韩国。
报道说，在此过程中，袁正华通过婚介公司接近管理军事机密和“脱北者”信息的陆军大尉黄某等三四名政训军官。韩联社报道称，袁正华以美色进行引诱，同黄某同居，从中获取军事机密。黄某于2007年9月得知袁正华是间谍后，非但没有举报，还帮她隐瞒事实，帮助袁正华销毁了向朝鲜保卫部报告的传真文件。2008年5月，黄某向袁正华提供了“脱北者”出身的军队安保讲师名单。
韩国联合调查本部27日表示， 根据《国家保安法》于2008年7月15日拘捕了袁正华。联合调查本部还逮捕并拘禁了指使袁正华从事间谍工作和转送情报至朝鲜的间谍金某(63岁)。据报道，金某是袁正华的养父，他与朝鲜保卫部间谍进行紧密接触，并向袁正华提供间谍活动所需的资金，同时操纵袁正华的间谍工作。