MY EXPERIENCES WITH AND WISHES FOR CHINA

我与中国的缘分以及对她的祝愿

My Experiences With, and Wishes For, China

By James M. Craven/Omahkohkiaaiipooyii (Blackfoot)

My interest in and respect for China, began long before I was finally able to come to China with the honor of an invitation from Tsinghua University in 2004, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in 2005 and by the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, CASS, Yunnan University and Tsinghua University in 2009. My interest in and respect for China began as a child.

My father, Homer Henry Craven Jr., during World War II, served as an Engineer/Top-turret Gunner on B-25s of the 490th Bomb Squadron (“Burma Bridge Busters”) of the 14th Air Force (successor to the “Flying Tigers”) who flew 94 missions against the forces of Japanese Fascism and Imperialism in Myanmar and China. My father, acquired a deep respect not only for China and Chinese culture and people, but in particular, had a high level of respect for the Communist-led forces that fought with so much courage, determination, humility, modesty, adaptability, and integrity (my father’s words) against the forces of Japanese Fascism and Imperialism. Because of my father’s influence and ideas about China, which were most certainly not popular during the 1950s and 1960s, and even now might not be popular among some segments of the U.S. population, neither I nor my brother and sister were ever raised with the typical Cold War prejudices, caricatures, hatreds and arrogance directed against China and other socialist nations. My father also believed that he was not putting his life on the line simply for narrow and shallow nationalism; rather, he was fighting against forms of fascism and imperialism that he opposed no matter by whom and against whom; I was also raised with these values.

https://www.4thmedia.org/2012/07/24/u-s-china-relations-some-secret-history-and-my-father%E2%80%99s-memories/

https://www.4thmedia.org/2012/07/24/u-s-china-relations-some-secret-history-and-my-father%E2%80%99s-memories-ii/

My father always wanted to see the new China being built; but the enforced Cold War embargos against and isolation of China from the UN, and the global community of nations, made it impossible until around 1980 or 1981, when, as a 747 Captain for Northwest Airlines, my father flew some of the earliest flights to Shanghai and Beijing when the Northwest Airlines routes were restored into China. My father was struck, even in the 1980s, with how far China had come especially with so many legacies of history to deal with and overcome. He taught me that when assessing the real nature and performance of any nation’s social system, it is important to compare that nation’s level of development not in contrast with other nations with different histories, but in terms of where that nation itself stands today relative to where it came from, what constraints it has inherited and has had to overcome.

Indeed, my parents, and life, have taught me many things. They taught me that no person or peoples of any nation have any right or legitimacy to demand for themselves, the very same rights and privileges that they seek to deny others. They taught me that all nations have an equal right to exist and derivative rights, from the fundamental right to exist, to all that is necessary to ensure their existence and security: freedom; independence; self-determination; sovereignty; and freedom from aggression and interference in their internal affairs. They taught me that only the peoples of a nation have a right to collectively and democratically determine the type of socioeconomic system they shall live under; and no nation has a right to attempt to engineer regime or system change of another. They taught me that any system that delivers wealth and prosperity for a privileged few, while leaving the many without the means of subsistence and in misery, is ultimately a backward and doomed system. They taught me that especially in an increasingly interdependent global community of nations, with global spillover effects from local conflicts, no nation has a right to assert and enforce or demand for itself, the very same international laws that it does not respect and seeks to deny for other nations; just as no citizens of a nation have a right to assert for themselves, the protections of the very same laws that they seek to deny for others. And they taught me that no individual or nation can ever achieve and sustain real freedom and prosperity through the oppression of others.

Through my some forty years of studies and over thirty years of teaching in economics, geography and other subjects, often venturing to non-traditional sources, through the influence of my father and others, along with living outside of the U.S. in some very poor areas, I studied, perhaps more than some, aspects, past and present, of the socioeconomic-politico-legal systems of various nations including China. Yet when I first came to China, I came, and remain, profoundly ignorant of many aspects of Chinese history and society; but I came to China as a friend, with no “mian zhao” (masks) and no “tang yi pao dan” (sugar-coated bullets). I came and come always as someone who wished/wishes only peace, prosperity, development and overcoming the injurious legacies of history for China and other nations that have been historically and unfairly oppressed, marginalized and demonized.

I was invited the first time to come to China to present a paper entitled “The Evolving Concept of Social Capital, Markets, Market-Based Processes and Socialist Construction”, Sept 1-2, 2004, at the International Symposium on the Reform of Property Rights and Enterprise Development in Transitional Countries at Tsinghua University in Beijing. At the conference, not only was I treated with such kindness, understanding of my being from a different culture and tolerance of my profound ignorance, by the Chinese scholars I met, but every Chinese scholar I met, and with whom I had extended discussions on a variety of subjects, demonstrated himself or herself to be very competent in his or her academic discipline as well as being very modest, humble and an inspiring representative of China.

In my presentation at this conference, I opened with a request to be allowed to make a personal comment prior to my academic presentation. I noted my father’s experiences in and views of China that had influenced me, and I also gave a sincere apology, as a citizen of both the U.S. and Canada, as well as a veteran of the U.S. Army 1963-66, for all the acts of aggression and provocations, past, and present, committed against China, in my name, by the governments of two of the nations of which I am a citizen: The U.S. and Canada; Blackfoot have never worked against or harmed China. In my presentation, I talked about Imperial Social Systems Engineering: how one nation could go about, through forms of hard and soft power, to attempt to “engineer”: provocations; encirclements; threats of nuclear annihilation; exacerbation of historical divisions; embargoes; denials of critical technologies; use of puppet proxies; etc, The intent is to put another targeted nation and its system under perpetual siege and cause necessary diversions of  critical and scarce resources into defense and away from development; thus producing and even engineering, the supposed “proofs” of asserted caricatures of the asserted  backwardness and a repressive nature of the system of the targeted nation.

This, I believe is exactly what has been done and is being done to China and other nations. I noted, in my presentations, that the present-day reforms in China I believe, in the main, are imperative as the global economy, in which China is increasingly integrated, is run on capitalist principles; and, all social formations, even socialist ones, contain historically-generated forms of capitalism and even pre-capitalism, that cannot be simply and summarily assumed away in theory or abolished with the wave of a hand. If handled carefully, under the leadership and guidance of a wise and vigilant Government and Party, measures of capitalism, like carefully controlled doses of a potentially lethal medicine, shellfish toxins or poisons from reptiles with medical uses, that can potentially kill a patient, but can also be used to save a patient if carefully monitored and controlled, may be used to build the necessary material foundations of socialism and its defense–and improve the lives of millions in need of immediate, urgent even life-and-death relief.

My first trip to China was also meaningful and the fulfillment of a life-long dream in another way. Among Blackfoot Indians (my father was white and my mother a descendant of Blackfoot American Indians) it is the custom to attempt to visit the graves of those who life work and contributions to humanity have been an inspiration in one’s own life. Prior to coming to China for the first time, I asked the sponsors of the conference if it would be possible for me to visit, and pay my deep respects, the graves of Chairman Mao Zedong and Dr. Norman Bethune or Bai Qiu En; previously, I had visited the grave of Karl Marx at Highgate cemetary in London three times. This was arranged for me and I have had memorable experiences visiting the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong four times (over three trips) and once at the gravesite of Bai Qiu En and the Memorial to the Chinese Martyrs in Shijiazhuang.

My second trip to China came as a result of an invitation to the” Third Annual Conference on Aboriginal Studies and Issues”, May 18-21, 2005, in Beijing, by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the IUAES to deliver a paper entitled “The Development of the Blackfoot Nation” which I delivered. I was also asked to deliver a lecture entitled “Socialism versus Capitalism: Which Will Win?” at Tsinghua University which I delivered. I also had extended conversations, on many subjects, with scholars of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  Again, in all cases, I found the Chinese scholars to be very well informed on global issues, expert in their respective academic disciplines and uniformly warm, hospitable, modest and principled.

In 2006, 2007 and 2009 I was nominated by Professor Cai Jiming at Tsinghua University for a Weilun Visiting Professorship in Economics to co-teach a course with him that involved examination and critique of Neoclassical Economics (the so-called “mainstream” economics taught at universities all over the world). Due to some problems in getting a release from my teaching duties at Clark College, and later due to some health issues, I was unable to come to teach with Professor Cai Jiming which was a real regret given the honor of being nominated for the Weilun Visiting Professorship and the chance to return to and learn about China as well as give something back to China for all the kindness and hospitality shown to me previously.

In 2008, I was invited to present a paper at the IUAES Congress in Kunming, one of the places my father was at during World War II, related to my work on “The Development of the Blackfoot Nation” and to invite some indigenous scholars from the U.S. and Canada to conduct a workshop on “Indigenous Epistemology and Scientific Method: Some Parallels and Contrasts With Neoclassical Theory, Complexity Theory and Dialectical-Historical Materialism”. The conference, scheduled for July of 2008, was postponed until July of 2009 at which time I returned to China where, in Kunming, where my father once served,  I delivered a paper to the 16th IUAES Congress entitled The Development and Sustainability of the Blackfoot Nation and Culture, presented a workshop on “Indigenous Epistemology and Scientific Method” and presented a lecture to the Graduate Faculty of Anthropology and Ethnology at Yunnan University on “Indigenous Concepts of Economic Development and Sustainability”. While in Beijing in August of 2009, I taught a hybrid graduate course at the Center for Political Economy Tsinghua (CPET) on “Critiques of Neoclassical Economics” and gave a presentation to the Academy of Marxism of CASS on “Neoclassical Economics and Neoliberalism as Neo-imperialism”.

“Wo mei tian zai xue xi Zhong wen”. We all wish the people of China, and indeed the peoples of the world, peace, prosperity, sovereignty, self-determination, independence, the social system of their own collective choice, and relations with other nations conducted on the basis of mutual respect and mutually beneficial exchanges on all levels.

Sincerely,

James M. Craven/Blackfoot Name: Omahkohkiaayo I’poyi

Professor of Economics and Geography; Clark College, Vancouver, WA.

Member, Blackfoot Nation, U.S. and Canadian Citizenship

James M. Craven（印第安黑鹰族名字为Omahkohkiaayo I’poyi ）

我对于中国的兴趣和敬意，早在我最终得以来到这片土地之前就已经萌生了。我有幸能于2004年应清华大学之邀，2005年应中国社会科学院之邀来华访问，2009年又得到人类学和民族学国际联合会及清华大学邀请再次访华。我对中国的兴趣与敬意开始于孩童时代。

我的父亲Homer Henry Craven Jr.，在第二次世界大战期间曾是一名B-25轰炸机上的工程师和顶炮塔机枪手，在第14航空大队（其前身为“飞虎队”）的第490轰炸机中队（“缅甸桥的主力部队”）服役，在缅甸和中国抗击日本法西斯主义、帝国主义的战斗中执行过94次飞行任务。我父亲对中国的深深敬意不只是源自中国文化和中国人民，他对共产主义者领导下的人民军队尤其怀有崇高的敬意——这支军队在抗击日本侵略者的斗争中勇敢坚定，谦虚谨慎，适应性强，精诚团结。由于我父亲的影响以及对中国的看法（这样的看法在20世纪五六十年代的美国是最受排斥的，直至今天，在美国一些阶层中也仍然不受欢迎），我和我的兄姊都没有在典型的针对中国及其他社会主义国家的冷战式偏见、嘲讽、仇恨和傲慢中成长。我父亲还认为，他没有将自己的生命付诸于仅仅是狭隘浅陋的国家主义，相反，他是同他所反对的各种形式的法西斯主义和帝国主义作战，不管具体是支持哪一方、反对哪一方。我也是伴随着这些价值观成长起来的。

我父亲一直希望亲眼看看建设中的新中国，但是强制实行的冷战对中国实施封锁禁运，并将中国逐出联合国和国际社会加以孤立，这使得他的愿望直到1980年、1981年前后才得以实现。当时，我父亲作为西北航空公司一架747客机的机长，参加了西北航空公司恢复对华航线之后的最早一批航班飞行。即使那还是20世纪80年代，我父亲也很震惊于中国能发展得那么快，尤其是在有很多历史性的遗留问题需要处理和克服的情况下。他教育我说，在衡量任何一个国家社会体系的本质和成效时，重要的不是把该国的发展水平同其他有着不同历史的国家相比较，而要考虑到，今日该国的发达程度是从过去什么样的水平发展而来的，要考虑其内在固有的有待加以克服的诸多制约因素。

我的父母及我的生活经历教给我很多东西。教益之一，任何国家的个人或任何民族都没有为自身谋取私利的权利或合法要求，却去剥夺他人同等的合法权利。教益之二，所有国家都有平等的生存权，都需要有确保生存和安全的必要条件——自由、独立、自决、自治，摆脱外国的侵略和对内政的干涉。教益之三，只有本国的各民族才有权集体地、民主地决定他们生活在其中的社会经济制度，外国无权企图去改变本国的体制或体系。教益之四，任何只为少数特权阶级谋求财富和繁荣，而将绝大多数人置于丧失生活资料和贫困的境地之下，最终是落后的和行将衰亡的制度。教益之五，特别是在一个日渐相互依存的国际社会，没有哪个国家有权独断专行地推行国际规则，自己不尊重规则而又企图将别国排斥在外，正如一国内没有哪些公民有权自行要求法律保护而将其他人拒之门外。教益之六，没有任何个人或国家能够通过压迫别人获得和维持真正的自由与繁荣。

通过我在经济学、地理学和其他学科方面大约四十年的研究和超过三十年的教学经历（经常是冒昧地通过某些非传统的渠道），通过我父亲和他人的影响，伴随着在美国以外的一些极度贫困地区的生活，我研究了包括中国在内的不同国家的社会经济－政治－法律体系的过去与现状。尽管如此，当我首次来到中国，我仍对中国的历史和社会的很多方面都不甚了解；但是，我是作为中国的朋友来到中国的，没有戴着“面罩”和“糖衣炮弹”。一直以来我都真诚地希望中国及其他曾被不公正地压迫、边缘化和妖魔化的国家，能够和平、繁荣、发展、克服历史遗留问题。

我首次受邀访华，是在2004年9月1－2日，在清华大学举办的一次关于转轨国家所有权改革与企业发展的国际学术会议上发言，题目是“不断发展的社会资本概念、市场、市场为基础的机制与社会主义建设”。在会议上，我遇到的中国学者不仅对我给予了热情的款待，对彼此文化差异给予了理解，对我各方面的孤陋寡闻给予了宽容，而且，每一位我遇到的和与之就不同主题广泛展开讨论的中国学者，都在其专业领域内表现得很出色，而且很谦虚谨慎，成为鼓舞人心的中国形象代表。

在这次会上的发言中，我开门见山地请求大家，允许自己在做学术演讲之前，先做一段个人评论。我提到了我父亲的经历及其对我的影响。我还真诚地为自己拥有美国和加拿大双重国籍、为自己曾于1963－1966年当过美国士兵；以我个人名义，向这两国政府过去和现在对中国进行的侵略与侵犯表示深深的歉意。

在发言中，我谈到了帝国主义社会系统构建：一国如何通过硬实力和软实力的形式试图去“构建”体系，包括挑衅，包围，核打击威慑，加剧历史分歧，禁运，关键技术的排挤，扶植傀儡代理人，等等。这样做的目的是为了将目标国及其社会体系置于持续的围困中，进而导致该国的关键和稀缺资源不断地转移到国防领域，而非运用于发展。于是，就可以炮制出、甚至构建出他们所谓的证据，以此夸张地说明目标国的所谓落后性及其社会体系的镇压性。

上述伎俩，我相信恰恰是已经并且正在运用于对付中国及其他国家。我提到，当前中国的改革是势在必行的，中国正日益融合于全球经济之中，但是全球经济是按照资本主义规则运行的，而且，所有的社会模式，即使是社会主义的，也包含着历史内生的资本主义甚至是前资本主义性质的形式；这是不能简单草率地用理论假设和宽泛地一挥手就能加以废除的。如果小心应对，在一个英明、警醒的党和政府的领导与带领下，对待资本主义就像对待贝类和爬行类动物的毒素用于医疗用途一样，毒素剂量太多可以致命，只有在小心监督控制之下才可以治病救人。资本主义的措施也许能用于建造社会主义所必要的物质基础及其防御力量，并能改善亟待紧急救济的千百万人的生活条件。

我在中国的首次之旅在另一方面来看也是十分有意义的，即实现了我的夙愿。黑鹰族印第安人（我父亲是位白人，我母亲是美洲黑鹰族印第安人后裔）的传统是，到那些曾经激励过自己为人类工作终生并作出贡献的人们墓前缅怀。在首次到中国来之前，我就曾问过会议组织方，能否让我到毛泽东主席和白求恩医生的纪念场所去参观并致以深切敬意。以前，我访问过马克思在伦敦海格特的公墓三次。会议方为我组织了参观活动，于是我得以有了一次终生难忘的经历，参观了毛主席纪念堂（后来又去过三次）和白求恩纪念馆，还有人民英雄纪念碑。

我第二次能成行来到中国，是2005年5月18-21日来北京参加由中国社科院和国际人类学与民族学联合会（IUAES）举办的“土著问题研究第三次年会”，应邀提交了一篇题为“黑鹰族的发展”的论文。我还在清华大学做了一场题为“社会主义对资本主义：谁将获胜？”的讲演；而且我还在许多主题方面与中国社科院马克思主义研究院的学者们进行了深入交谈。我又一次感受到，中国学者在全球论题上信息充分，在各自的学术领域各有所长，而且一律十分热情好客，谦虚自律。

在2006、2007和2009年，我通过清华大学蔡继明教授提名而获得“伟伦经济学访问教授”资格，共教一门有关新古典经济学研究和批判的课程（这门课在全世界大学都作为所谓“主流”经济学）。前两次是由于我难以脱离我所在的美国克拉克大学的教学任务，第三次是一些健康问题；我无法作为“伟伦访问教授”来到清华讲学，我感到非常遗憾，又一次错过一个机会回到并更多地了解中国，当然也没有机会报答和回馈此前对我那么友好热情的中国友人们。

2008年，我接受邀请向国际人类学与民族学联合会在昆明（那里是我父亲在二战期间曾待过的地方之一）的会议提交一篇论文，同我所做“黑鹰族的发展”项目研究有关；同时，我还受邀从美国和加拿大请来一些当地原住民学者，设立一个工作小组，从事研究“土著认识论与科学方法论：新古典理论、复杂度理论和辩证的历史唯物主义之异同”。这个会议由原定的2008年7月推迟到了2009年7月举行，当时我回到中国，在昆明（我父亲曾在此服务过）向国际人类学与民族学联合会第16届会议提交了一篇题为“黑鹰族及其文化的发展和延续”的论文，带来了“土著认识论与科学方法论”工作小组，并面向昆明大学人类学与民族学研究生院师生作了一次讲座，题目是“土著对于经济发展和可持续性的理念”。2009年8月，我又到清华大学政治经济学研究中心（CPET）教授一门中外合作的研究生课程“新古典经济学批判”，并到中国社科院马克思主义研究院作了一次发言，主题为“新古典经济学和作为新帝国主义的新自由主义”。

我的妻子来自四川，以中国及其所有成就而自豪；我的儿子，Naato’si Mao Craven（中文名廖晨希），正在将中文作为他的第一语言和母语学习；而且，“Wo mei tian zai xue xi Zhong wen”（我每天在学习中文）。我们都希望中国人民，实际上是全世界的人民，能够安享和平、繁荣、自治、自决、自立，生活在他们自己共同选择的社会制度下，在多层次互敬互惠交流的前提下与其他国家共处。

（作者为美国克拉克大学经济学和地理学教授）