Détente
20

Today's the big day. Today will make or break me same with Gabriel, Emilie and every other —
Asian person, at least the ones finding out their MCAT score, which is probably all the Asians in Irvine. Today is D-Day for Asians. Today is D-Day for Gabriel and me.

The MCAT scores haven't actually been mailed out yet, but I received an email announcement earlier today stating that they're available online. Of course, I'm too impatient to wait for that damn letter, so I'm going to log in to my computer and find out my score— except I'm too nervous to check. What if I do worse than bomb it? Actually, that's still bombing it. What do I have to lose? just everything.—

I hear my mobile phone ringing, the caller ID flashing Gabriel's name. Hey, I answer. “ ” “ ”Did you check your score? Gabriel asks, impatient as well.
“I'm...no I haven't. Have you?”
“No. I'm too nervous.”
“Me too.”
“Are your parents home?”
“No. Why?
“Well, my parents are home and I don't want to be here when—“
“ ”Come over then, I interrupt, without the need for an explanation.
“Okay. I'm leaving right now.”

Gabriel comes over and heads straight for the computer this time, instead of the “ ”refrigerator. I'll go first, he submits, ready to take the MCAT bullet.

“ ”22T, Gabriel mutters unintelligibly.
“ ”What? I ask, making sure I heard clearly.
“ ”22T! Gabriel yells, anger getting the better of him. I let it go because he has every

right to be upset. I will soon have that right, too.
“ ”Alright. Let me check mine. As I'm typing in my username and password, I feel a
sudden shock rush through me, like lightning through a metal rod in the middle of a wet field.
Here I go...
“ ”21J I yell in anger, louder than Gabriel.
“ ”Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Gabriel asks, clairvoyant in his inquiry. “Yes. We've already made plans ahead of time, in case of an emergency like this.— ” “Alright. Give me a couple of hours to get the stuff. I let Gabriel leave in silence. We”
both know what we must do.

True to his word, Gabriel comes back in a couple of hours. He's holding a plastic bag, full of the items for our plan.
“ ”You got the stuff? I utter gently, my voice quavering.
“ ”Yeah, it was easy, Gabriel utters gently as well, his voice not quavering. That's the“ good thing about being biology majors. We both know the most potent stuff to use.”
“Yeah. You know what's funny? I studied my ass off and you still ended up doing better than me without even studying at all. You even got a perfect T for the writing sample.”
“Actually, Johnson, I did study my ass off. I just made it look like I didn't.” There is a long silence between the two of us, a silence that we both find soothing and comforting, a silence that we both experience as mutual harmony.
“ ”I find it ironic, I tell Gabriel, after an undisturbed, peaceful minute.
“What's that?”
“That we spent our whole lives trying to be doctors, with the chance to save lives, and now we're doing the complete opposite.”
“ ”Yeah, it is ironic, Gabriel says, not laughing. You know what's also ironic?“ ”
“What's that?”
“You've always wanted to be a writer. Well, here's your chance to finally be one.”
“ ”Yeah, that is ironic, I say, also not laughing. Well, give me an hour and I'll have it all“
written out.”
I grab a pack of new, unopened multipurpose copy paper from the bottom drawer of my computer desk. I open it, take out the first sheet, and with a despondent hand, I write:

To Whom This May Concern (To Those Who Give a Damn)

 

Right at the outset, Gabriel and I, Johnson, both assent to the entire content of this letter, so I speak for him as well as myself.

Asian culture, as with all cultures, has a myriad of wonderful traditions and customs that contribute to society, traditions and customs that should be understood and appreciated. However, Asian culture also has a myriad of not so wonderful traditions and customs that impede society, which need to be understood but not appreciated. Contrary to the belief of many, Asian culture is not perfect; Asian people are not perfect. In fact, many people do not know the truth about Asian culture, the truth that it's fraught with problems, the truth that it's fraught with greed, many other truths which I shall reveal. Allow me to delineate:

Asians are known to be quiet and reserved; the reason is because Asians wish to hide their problems and insecurities. For instance, Asians possess many shortcomings (no pun intended.) In general, Asians are short, small, skinny, minorities in America even small down— you-know-where. To make up for these shortcomings, they imbue themselves with the practice of overachieving: getting straight A's, high SAT scores, excelling at playing the piano, becoming doctors and lawyers, buying luxury cars, living in expensive homes in order to— conceal all their problems and insecurities, so to maintain a good image, aka saving face. This provides the illusory perception that Asians are very successful and auspicious, but in reality, they are very dysfunctional and maladjusted. Summarily, why are Asians so quiet and

— reserved? simple: to hide their dysfunctional and maladjusted lives, just to save face. Why —do Asians overachieve? simple: to hide their dysfunctional and maladjusted lives, just to save face. Asians can't have people thinking that they aren't perfect, even though they are unequivocally far from it.

I, along with the vast majority of Asians all over the world, have been bred to only achieve success, no matter the cost. We are raised like docile robots, manipulated for the agenda of money, status and power, according to my Asian Pride Theorems, which I will explain meticulously:

1. Money
2. Status
3. Power

It's as simple as that. Asians are obsessed about money and will exercise whatever means necessary to obtain it. With money, they can achieve a high status economical, societal,—

—“ ”political Image is everything. With money and status, they have power: the power to control, the power to influence, any type of power, even the most trivial, as long as it's power —why? Because Asians have many shortcomings and know that they can't really be on top so any power will do. Why be a pauper fish in a big pond when you can be a king fish in a small pond?

Throughout the thousands of years of Asian dynasties, all the emperors, kings and presidents have ruled with an iron fist and formidable will, controlling every aspect of the lives of Asians. Because of the long duration and large-scale domination, it's only natural that Asians continue living lives of subservience and docility, indoctrinated and conditioned beyond belief. Asians, thus, can't stand up for themselves, instead, let themselves get pushed around

“ ”by those above. They only know how to serve and to follow orders, thus, stifling their creativity and mental capabilities, resulting in the lack of intuition and preventing the utilization of common sense. Therefore, Asians lack common sense, ingenuity, and intuition, so in turn, they are easily manipulated into becoming machines to overachieve and overwork. That is why Asians want power, even the most trivial power, because they've been controlled and subservient their whole lives, so these powers though little are everything to them, since— —
they have nothing else. Asian culture has been this way for too long.

The main problem with the cupidity for money, status, and power is that it's cyclical, forced down from generation to generation, which keeps going like a hamster on a wheel, never stopping and getting deleteriously worse and worse. But all this can be changed since life is about change. Life is not static; life is dynamic. It's always changing, just like us. Every day is not the same, even the meals that we eat are very different. So if life's about changing and people do change, Asian culture can also change, for the better.

Of course, many Asians feel that there's no need for change. Then why is the suicide rate for Asian Americans astronomically higher than Caucasians, Hispanics, and African Americans? Why does Asia have the highest suicide rate in the world? Why do two million women attempt suicide in China every year, with many more not counted due to saving face? Why is it considered normal to commit suicide in countries like Korea and Japan? This is not normal. This is abnormal. This needs to change.

I must point out that there is nothing wrong with being Asian. There is nothing wrong with being Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. In fact, it's okay to practice traditions and customs, so that everyone can understand and appreciate them. However, focusing onlyon your own culture is ethnocentric. Sheltering out other cultures is ethnocentric. Asians must evolve by appreciating other cultures, especially here in America or else the problems will just continue. Many Asians are indoctrinated with the ideology of ethnocentricity. Ethnocentricity is what causes prejudice. By learning to understand and appreciate other cultures, Asians can start understanding how to resolve issues and problems within their own.

Finally, some might say that things are the way they are and cannot be changed, because Asians are too ingrained in their own culture. I'd like to point out that slavery use to be the norm but that changed. Segregation use to be the norm but that changed. In fact, Barack Hussein Obama became the first black president in the history of the USA in 2008, ending the 200-plus-year reign of white and male. So anything can change, even Asian culture.

The truth is that Asians are too afraid to change, because they've been indoctrinated —and conditioned too much to know how that's why a billion people in China are willing to serve and follow, even though they know that they're living lives of enslavement. But it's okay to be afraid: Gandhi was afraid, so was Martin Luther King, Jr., so was John Lennon. But they gathered enough courage to get people to work together, which is what we must do in order for things to change, instead of being isolated in our own little Asian islands. By working together and helping each other, we can change anything, instead of taking advantage of each other or using one another. As Seymour Stein said: When things can't continue going,“

”they have a tendency to stop. If the problems of Asian culture can't continue going, they will stop.

 

In conclusion, if Asians decide to change for the better, then they need to first admit —that there are problems with Asian culture no more excuses. They will then realize that the solution is to build better relationships by communicating more effectively and showing love —and affection towards one another especially towards their own children. It's simple in concept, but Asians make it seem like it's rocket science.

To Mommy and Daddy: I know that I have always been a disappointment to the both of you, my entire life. I know that the both of you like Jordan more, her winning by virtue of comparison. But I just want you both to know that neither of us feel any love from either of you. I am very lonely. I cannot talk about my problems, share my feelings, confide in anyone, because I have to save face. That's how so many Asians truly are: lonely. They may have a lot of friends and live in a big family but deep down they are truly lonely because they have no one to share their problems with, no one to confide in, because they are too ashamed to talk to anyone about their personal issues, in order to save face. I hope the both of you can change, for Jordan's sake.

To Jordan: I know that we have our differences, but please know that I love you.

 

To Gabriel's family: There's a bag of weed under his bed. Please don't smoke it but get rid of it in case the cops come. Believe it or not, that's all he wants to say.

Summarily, I would like to state that no one person is at fault: not my parents, not me, not —society but everyone. We all must work as one in order to change for the better. Or I will
always be yellow on the outside, shame on the inside.

I hand the finished letter to Gabriel. He reads it, smiles and gives me a hug, the hug that I've always wanted from my parents, the hug that I'll never get from them. I lock the door to my room and tell Gabriel that I'm ready. He replies that he's ready too. I wonder who will be doing our eulogy...

OUTTAKES

Thank you very much for reading my book. I could not fit everything into my novel —for one reason or another—so I decided to include this section of outtakes with proposed scenes.

Scene: Chapter 2 – In Johnson's Room (first-person reflection)
Character: Johnson
Outtake:

The most popular excuse that Asian parents like to use to coerce their children into becoming doctors and lawyers is the old we've suffered and struggled through so“
many hardships when we were younger so we just want our kids to have the best life possible” justification; I like to call this justification the old bullshit routine.“ ”

First of all, every parent, not just Asian, uses the old bullshit routine for a multifarious number of reasons: to get their kids to eat their vegetables, to get their kids to go to bed, to get their kids to go to school, etc. For example, parents love to

“ say, I had to walk ten miles to school, ten miles back, in snow all the way up to my waist even in the summer, while wearing a huge backpack and carrying a hundred books in each hand.” We are all cognizant of this old bullshit routine. This is just parental propaganda to get their kids to do something, anything, like forcing their kids to become doctors and lawyers.

Second, there are many Asian doctors and lawyers today, many who are very wealthy and successful in America as well as the rest of the world. Then why are they still forcing their own kids to become doctors and lawyers, even though there's no

“ more hardship?” After all, these Asian kids didn't have to suffer or struggle with a rough life growing up, since their parents are doctors and lawyers. The fact of the matter is that it has nothing to do with struggles or hardships; it has everything to do with the power of control, per my Asian Pride Theorems, forcing their kids to become what their parents want, hence doctors and lawyers for the “bling” and the “bling.” It's always about the money.

Scene: Chapter 5 - In the Guest Room of Auntie's House (first-person reflection) Character: Johnson
Outtake:

I find it rather interesting that the most popular Asian surnames have to do with wealth and power. For instance, the most popular Chinese surname is Wang, which means king, aka power since so many Asians want to be kings. Other Chinese variations include Wong, Vong, and Ong. What's interesting is that the king last name is also very popular with other Asian cultures: the Vietnamese with Vuong, the Korean with Wang, the Malaysian with Ong, and the Singaporean with Ong as well. Notice that the king last name is pervasively similar throughout the Asian cultures; they feel that having a king last name would really give them the power that they desire.

Now let's talk about the wealth surname, starting with the Koreans with Kim, the most popular Korean surname. It's also very popular with other Asian cultures: Chinese with Jin, Chin, and Kim, the Vietnamese with Kim and the Japanese with Kin. Again, notice that they look and sound similar, some of them even the same; Asian culture really is just one pea in a pod.

Of course, not every Asian has a last name associated with money, status, or power; I just find it interesting that the most popular Asian surnames have to do with money, status, power, prosperity, luck, wealth, etc.—you get the idea. It's always about the money.
Scene: Chapter 8 – In Johnson and Emilie's Molecular Biology Class (first-person reflection)
Character: Johnson
Outtake:

What people don't realize is that college is a business, just like every other business; its primary focus is to make money, not to teach. A friend of mine goes to Caltech and he told me that they intentionally increased his tuition by 25% for the sole purpose of competing with the tuition fees of the top Ivy League schools and nothing else! He actually has to pay a lot extra just to make Caltech “look Ivy League” and not for any real purpose like books, room and board, or anything else that would further

“his education.”

Moreover, the average college student upon graduation owes almost $50,000 in student loans. Medical students like me owe on an average over twice as much. Arizona State University, for example, has a total student enrollment of close to 70,000 students. Now imagine all the college students with student loans that attend ASU— you can see how profitable college is as a business. And once these college students graduate, most won't be able to get a job right away so they'll have more debt just from daily expenses and everyday living. When they finally do get a crappy-paying entry level job, they'll have so much debt accumulated from student loans, interest on the student loans, car payments, rent, etc., that they'll have to work like slaves in order to pay the bills, forever at the mercy of debt, just like the average American. It's a sad, sad world that we live in.

People need to realize that you don't go to college to learn. You go to college in order to get a good job once you graduate—that's basically it. I guarantee that virtually no one would go to college if it wasn't a prerequisite to getting a good job. As Mark Twain once said: “Don't let schooling interfere with your education.”

Furthermore, colleges and universities use to provide bachelor degrees with two year programs. Do you know why it's four years now? Because they make double the money versus just two years. That's why the first two years are filled with basic“ courses,” courses that teach the same crap that you learned in high school andmiddle school; they have to fill up that time with something so it might as well be crap, since you don't learn anything in the first place anyway. One study showed that 73% of college graduates do not work in their field of study. In other words, the vast majority don't even end up doing what they majored in! Then why go to college in the first place?—(Hint: College is a business.)

Summarily, people must understand that learning is a life-long process which does not come from a total of four years of academic propaganda. People must also understand that college is a business, just like church is a business, just like every other business with the purpose of making money; some may wear a different face , but they allwear the same idea: it's always about the money.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Question: Why would you write a book that's not true?
My Answer: This book is a didactic novel, aka literary fiction. But I know what you mean. I wrote this book based on my cognizance and the lives of others, including my own life. There are people who wouldn't agree with what I say just like I wouldn't agree with what they say. Life goes on...

Question: Why did you write this book?
My Answer: The suicide rate for Asian Americans is astronomically higher than Caucasians, African Americans, and Latin Americans. In fact, Asian Americans have the highest suicide rate among women. Moreover, two million women attempt suicide in China every year, with many more not counted due to saving face. This needs to change, and I believe my book is conducive as a start for that change. I see too many Asian children indoctrinated and conditioned like overachieving robots, here in the United States and in Asia. This won't stop until we all work together, as I have luminously delineated in the last chapter (Détente) of my book.

Question: Not all Asians are like this so why would you write about this stuff? My Answer: Please read the introductory section of my book, A NOTE TO THE READER, as I have stated my position with luminous clarity.

Question: Why are you a racist?
My Answer: I'm an Asian American, born and raised in New York City, the largest multicultural and multi-diverse city in the world. My heroes include John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. I don't think racists would have those aforementioned heroes. I tell it like it is and if you don't like it, then write a book—that's what I did.

(continued)

Question: Do you know that many people don't agree with you?
My Answer: Attaining assent and partiality from people—particularly from the general public —is not my objective; my objective is to bequeath knowledge and information unto people so that they can thinkfor themselves. People today don't think for themselves, instead letting corporate lamestream media rape their minds with propaganda and subliminal bullshit.

I recall a political cartoon in which a man sitting on a couch and sweating profusely, yells to nine television screens in front him, collectively broadcasting ABC, CNN, FOX, NBC...MSNBC: I wish“ they would hurry up and make up my mind!”

I have the courage and audacity to write and publish my tenets; you should have the courage and audacity to make up your own mind, not let me or anyone make it up for you, especially not corporate lamestream media. If you don't agree with me, then write a book— that's what I did.

Question: You mentioned that you're a “former Asian.” How can you renounce your ethnicity?
My Answer: In my book, I stated: ...“ why can't we all just be called Americans, since all of us are, after all, Americans

“ ”

 

”? People are people, regardless of ethnic distinction; just because

“ I'm considered yellow or chink” “or gook or slant-eyes” “ ” doesn't mean that I have to be. I renounced my ethnicity (Chinese) because I do not like the egregiously selfish and deplorable culture. People have said to me, “You can't change who you are.” Why don't they tell that to those who got plastic surgery? They changed. Why don't they tell that to those who got a sex change? They certainly changed. Hell, people even undergo skin pigmentation surgery to make themselves white or black.“ ” “ ” They definitely changed. Summarily, people don't define who you are; youdefine who you are.

Question: I have a question. Can I contact you?
My Answer: Absolutely, by all means; you can email me: ronpauler@gmail.com Many thanks in advance. Have a nice day.