Arn Chorn Pond's Story

Last week, the Poly community had the honor of hearing from Cambodian Genocide survivor, master musician, and founder of Cambodian Living Arts Arn Chorn Pond, who came to Poly to present his book Never Fall Down (which I am planning on reading) to sophomores studying it in English class and to tell his story at a GIP Night. Arn was born into a family of Cambodian musicians in 1966, and he was just nine years old when the Khmer Rouge, a Communist/nationalist military bent on turning Cambodia into the agrarian Republic of Campuchea, violently seized power. Pond speaks fondly of the days before Khmer Rouge, when he would eat ice cream with his younger siblings and listen to the rock and roll that was a central part of Cambodia's thriving music scene.

All of this changed with the coming of the Khmer Rouge, who, led by the despotic Pol Pot, forced all of Cambodia's citizens out of the cities and into the countryside, where they proceeded to massacre anyone who countered their vision of a perfect agrarian Campuchea—whether because they displayed intelligence, had lighter skin, or even wore eyeglasses. Pond was able to survive by playing the flute in a band whose purpose was to distract prisoners from the sounds of killing, but after being transferred into combat as a child soldier, Arn defected and fled halfway across his country on foot to a refugee camp in Thailand.

At the camp, Arn was adopted by American missionary Peter Pond, who brought Arn back to his home in New Hampshire. Though Arn was grateful to have escaped the genocide in his country, he was driven into a deep depression by social isolation, racism, and loneliness in the United States. It was only through the process of beginning to open up to others about his past that he found purpose—and peace.

Arn currently works promoting and supporting traditional musical artists in his home country, and he travels the world sharing his music and his story. I was blown away by the incredibly optimistic and empathetic way that Arn sees the world and the people around him. I believe it is through survival of the horrors of genocide—and not in spite of them—that Arn projects such a radiant joy and remarkable strength of character.

Robert English on the Role of Russia in International Affairs

On February 25th, my fellow Global Scholars and I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Ian Kim interview Professor Robert English who offered an unique perspective on Russia’s extensive engagement in global affairs. Professor English received a PhD in politics from Princeton University and worked for the Department of Defense during the Reagan Administration, and he currently teaches international relations, Slavic languages and literature, and environmental studies at USC. In his discussion with Ian Kim and those in attendance, Professor English answered questions ranging from the future of Russian President  Vladimir Putin’s cult of personality to Russian intervention in the Middle East and interference in European and American elections.

Throughout the event, English attempted to expand the discourse surrounding Russian geopolitics beyond what can be easily ascertained in the news media by presenting something closer to the Russian perspective on many of the most pressing issues. The discussion began with a closer look at Vladimir Putin, which English deemed appropriate due to Russia’s historic tendency toward powerful autocracies headed by strong, charismatic leaders. English was quick to point out that one of Putin’s greatest influences—even beyond his experiences in the KGB—was the horrific the decade-long depression Russia experienced in the 1990s. According to English, Putin and many of his supporters blamed the policies of Western bodies like the International Monetary Fund and the Clinton Administration for Russia’s economic collapse and the rise of the oligarchy that controls much of Russian industry today. This balanced perspective, supported by a rare willingness to empathize with Russia and hold America and Europe accountable for their mistakes, made for an eye-opening discussion as Professor English took questions about Russia’s role in the Syrian Civil War, its support of radical right-wing populists around the world, and its worrisome nuclear proliferation.

Professor English ended the night with a story from the time he spent in Russia writing his master’s thesis during the Perestroika era. Over the course of his nine-month stay at a hotel in Moscow, he became increasingly friendly with the doorman, a grizzled Stalinist and WWII veteran who wore his combat medals from the Eastern Front every day as a symbol of pride. One day, the doorman approached Professor English to tell him to tell him a story about his time in WWII. English was expecting a diatribe on Russia’s military dominance or pivotal role in winning in the war; what he got was a full-throated appreciation of America for creating SPAM (yes, the canned meat), as the battle-hardened vet remembered it being one of the greatest things he had ever tasted while he sat stranded on the battlefield. Throughout his presentation, English emphasized the human lens through which geopolitics must be seen, and in the end, he suggested that interacting with Russia as a country full of people, rather than an offshoot of Vladimir Putin’s hostile posturing, might be the way toward achieving effective diplomacy.

Thoughts on the Role of the Individual in Affecting Change

Listening to filmmaker and humanitarian Sama Wareh tell her story at last week's GIP event, it was abundantly clear that she is an extraordinary individual. Her talk was nothing short of remarkable, and her work has clearly changed the lives of countless Syrian refugees. Yet listening to her speak, I couldn't help but consider the dilemma I've struggled with for the past few as I've watched countless extraordinary individuals give advice on mass media platforms telling me how I can be extraordinary, too. In Anand Giridharadas' book Winners Take All, which examines how private sector organizations have been able to maintain a favorable status quo over the last half-century by co-opting the role of "changing the world," he draws a stark difference between critics and "thought leaders:" critics—the Gore Vidals and William F. Buckleys of old—point out what is wrong with the system as a whole and call for collective action to achieve reform, while "thought leaders"—the Noah Yuval Hararis and Amy Cuddys of today—put the burden on the individual to make change. If you're a business leader or a profiter from today's society, the thought leader is a far more favorable type of intellectual. Rather than implicating you in the massive inequalities of our current global order and calling for a profound paradigm shift, thought leaders merely posit that if only there were more empowered individuals, they could use their innovation to make the world a better place (without taking anything away from the super-rich).

So this brings me back to Sama Wareh. While she is herself an undeniably inspirational force for change and empowerment in the world, her emphasis on the individual as the agent of change fits perfectly into the thought leader paradigm. Rather than focusing on the powerful global entities and persistent geopolitical factors perpetrating the Syrian Civil War, one of which is American private sector commitments in the Middle East, she focuses on what we as individuals can do to contribute. In this context, her TED Talk at UC Irvine can be read through a different lens. TED is sponsored by the global elites who profit from thought leaders and thought leadership culture, and their funding gives thought leaders a broad and powerful platform.

None of this is meant as a critique of Ms. Wareh. Her work is incredible and I have the utmost respect for her because of it. However, as we listen to the voices of the thought leader generation, it's important to consider who is promoting them and what system their ideas might unwittingly be promoting.

Sama Wareh on the Power of Art in Helping Syrian Refugees

Last Tuesday, my fellow Global Scholars and I had the great pleasure of hearing documentary filmmaker, educator, and activist Sama Wareh speak to us about her work with Syrian refugees and the power of the individual to make change. Her story was truly inspirational. Though she grew up in Orange County, Wareh always felt extremely connected to her Syrian family, whom she would visit whenever she could, and she gained an appreciation for nature from her uncle, a skillful practitioner of homeopathic medicine. Though she initially traveled to Syria to film her master's thesis (a documentary on the Syrian water crisis), her engagement with the country changed after the bloody Syrian Civil War began displacing thousands of Syrian citizens to nearby nations like Turkey and Lebanon. Outside of any governmental organization or nonprofit, Wareh took it upon herself to sell her art and raise enough money to Turkey and share medicine with refugees in need. As she became more and more connected to Syrian communities, she saw a need among young refugee children with PTSD and began to help them treat their trauma through art therapy. She was amazed to watch their art turn from graphic crayon drawings of beheadings and mindless depictions of the Syrian revolutionary flag to colorful flowers and pictures of their dreams of being doctors and mechanics. As of now, she has opened multiple schools in Lebanon and a community center for refugees in Greece, and she has presented her message of the power of individual action in affecting change on lectures around the country and even a TED Talk at UC Irvine.

Climate Change and Sustainable Solutions: A Night with Entrepreneur Aaron Fyke

With coal lobbyists heading the Environmental Protection Agency and global emissions continuing to rise despite dire reports of the climate passing one dire benchmark after another, speaking with hyper-competent and extremely driven professionals like Aaron Fyke is always reassuring. An engineer by training, co-founder of six alternative energy companies, and outspoken climate activist, Fyke is truly the kind of motivated entrepreneur we need as it becomes clear just how much we must cut emissions in order to avoid runaway global warming.

Though Fyke began his presentation with a sobering account of the potential destruction resulting from climate change, unlike your typical tree-hugging, fist-shaking environmental activist, he did not warn us that the only way to save the planet was for everyone to turn off the lights when they leave a room or take shorter showers. In fact, he rejected this kind of small-scale activism as unnecessary shaming and focused on larger-scale solutions, illustrating with fascinating graphs and figures how many types of alternative energy had already achieved "grid parity," or become cheaper than fossil fuel sources. In the face of his bleak vision of Earth's future, this optimism was comforting and he pared with a plea for those of us who want to affect real change to pursue a career path (not just in STEM) that could tie in to addressing climate change.

I walked out of Fyke's presentation wondering whether it was all enough. The gloom-and-doom warnings and business-friendly optimism seemed irreconcilable and left me wondering whether the powers of the market would be strong enough to solve global warming or governments and international bodies would need to take drastic action that could cut into the profit margins of major corporations. I hope the market forces are as potent as Fyke made them sound because global governments seem to be in denial or else taking far too little action to address what Fyke called the greatest crisis of the 21st century.

Why is British Parliament So Rowdy?

Last week in the British Parliament, Prime Minister Theresa May barely finished introducing her wildly unpopular Brexit proposal before she was drowned out by a chorus of boos and jeers from the opposite side of the room. Chief among her antagonists was Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who quieted the room in order to  brutally berate May for the ineffectiveness of her Conservative government and the unpalatability of her Brexit deal. Corbyn's side erupted in cheers, and the Speaker of Parliament, a cantankerous gray-haired Brit in a colorful tie banged his gavel shouting "Order!"

I found myself thinking that if only America's Congress was this way, C-SPAN would have as many viewers as the Super Bowl. Last week, Iowa Representative Steve King, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, couldn't get a fraction of the jeers and taunts that PM May's good faith efforts to follow through on a promise made to her people receive on a daily basis.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn mutters to himself that PM Theresa May is a "stupid woman."

Wondering how our legislative branch ended up so radically different from our mother country, I did a little research into the history and layout of the British Parliament. I discovered that the House of Commons, where British policy is debated, is only 70 feet long, and the front benches were built exactly two swords lengths apart to keep duels from breaking out. In addition, the rowdy, brutal, and frankly awesome insult-laden debates I was witnessing were a part of Britain's Question Time, a weekly occurrence in which the Prime Minister goes in front of Parliament to have her policy decisions lauded by her own party or excoriated by the opposition. By contrast, America's separation of powers means our president rarely speaks to our Congress outside of the annual State of the Union address, a polished and orderly opportunity to reassure America that the state of our country is strong.

Beyond the fact that the British approach to government is significantly more fun to watch than our lackadaisical Congressional meetings and debates, I also believe it holds serious benefits in the legislative process. In America, impeachment and the 25th amendment are the only ways to remove a president from office; in the UK, the opposition party can trigger a vote of no confidence to replace the ruling government. In the midst of the longest government shutdown in American history, with the president hopelessly out of touch with the Speaker of the House and Congress divided starkly along party lines, I think the original accountability mechanisms—some good old yelling—could go a long way.

Paolo Soleri and the "Arcology"

Arcosanti interior.

In 1946, Italian architect Paolo Soleri came to study in the US under a fellowship at Frank Lloyd Wright's summer home, Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, AZ. It was in this year and a half and the decades that followed that Soleri would develop the idea of the "arcology." This new type of urban plan was to draw from the disciplines of architecture and ecology in order to create a city that was energy and waste efficient, aesthetically striking, in touch with nature, and built to human scale. Soleri watched with dismay as American cities expanded rapidly outward into suburbs comprised of single-unit homes and connected by highways only traversable using gas-guzzling, human-isolating automobiles. As Soleri continued to develop his vision, it increasingly stood in stark contrast to the wanton sprawl of nearby Phoenix, AZ, built seemingly without purpose during the Sun Belt migration of the early Cold War.

Bell Tree at Cosanti gallery.

In 1970, Paolo Soleri moved his family from his home in Scottsdale to the Arizona desert between Phoenix and Flagstaff to found the community of Arcosanti, a sustainable "arcology" built from Soleri's own vision and intended to support 5,000 residents. Since 1970, Arcosanti has expanded significantly to include many single and family residential units, public spaces including a gallery and amphitheater where numerous musical events are held, and sustainable energy infrastructure. The signature arcs that make up Arcosanti's architecture were designed using cement-pouring techniques picked up by Soleri from Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West. Much of the revenue for Arcosanti comes from the making of unique bells that are crafted in a foundry at Arcosanti, as well as Soleri's home and gallery of Cosanti in Scottsdale. Though Soleri passed away in 2013, around 70 people currently live at Arcosanti at any given time, and it has ambitious plans for expansion.

Taliesin West exterior.

Over winter break, I had the privilege of visiting Arcosanti and Cosanti, as well as Taliesin West, on a family road through Arizona. Soleri's vision seems to me to fit squarely under UN Sustainable Development Goal #11: "Make cities inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient." As my Global Scholars grant proposal with Ian McLeod is currently working on tackling this same goal by expanding affordable housing, I feel truly inspired by Soleri's work and want to keep his philosophy in mind as I move forward with my project.

Mixed-use amphitheater and apartment spaces at Arcosanti.