Монголчуудын Vнэт Зvйлс

Ungursun havar bolj ungursun Mongoliin Ediin Zasgiin Forum-iin hureend bolson "21-р зууны монголчуудын үнэт/эрхэм зүйлс" gesen heleltsuulegt bi savaaguytej yavaad suusan yum. D. Enkhbat, N. Jantsannorov geh met manaidaa l hamgiin mundag seheetnuud gegdeh humuus Mongolchuudiin unet zuils gej yu boloh, yur ni herhen uurchlugduj baigaa talaar sanal bodloo huvaaltsah yostoy baisan yum uu daa. Haramsaltay ni edgeer humuusiin dund unet zuilsiin talaar system-teygeer bodoj baigaa hun neg ch alga bailaa (hervee baisan bol ter humuus ni lav chihend naaldahaar yum heleeguy). Neg heseg ni "hil, hel, mal gurav" gesen Zunduin Dorjiin ugiig budaa idej medemhiirsen bol nuguu heseg ni Mongolchuudad unet zuils baihguy, bugd moraliin elegdeld orson gesen aihtar gargalgaa gargav. Unendee hund heregtey yamar ch gargalgaa gargaaguy ug heleltsuulegt buhimdsan minii neg jirgee neleed hunii egduug bish yum aa sonirholiig turuulsen tul ene talaar gants hoyor zuil helye gej bodloo.

Niigmiin unet zuils gedgiig buduun baargaar bol yu zuv, yu chuhal boloh talaarh niiteeree huleen zuvshuurdug oilgoltuudiig helne. Uhaandaa Amerikt hunii yu helj boloh, yu helj bolohguyg zaasan tudii shiidver garahad Amerikchuud uursdiinh ni ug heleh erh chuluund ni haldaj baina gej uzen niiteeree shahuu bosotsgoodog. Harin Mongold website-iig neg erh medelten haasniig gants MongolTV l changaar shuumjleh shiv. Esregeeree etseg ehee enerch hairlah gedeg Mongol hunii huvid yalt ch uguy chuhal, yalt ch uguy baih yostoy gej uzdeg oilgolt ni. Ter ch hereeree ene ni bidnii unet zuil bolno. Harin Baruuniihan etseg ehee zaaval nasan undur boltol ni hajuud ni baij, enerch, toildoh yostoy gej boddogguy. Uuruur helbel bidnii huvid ug heleh erh chuluu gedeg Amerikchuudtay haritsuulahad tudii l chuhal unet zuild tootsogdohguy baigaa bol Amerikchuudiin huvid etseg ehiin achiig nasan turshdaa hariulj, asarch toildono gedeg bidniih shig mash chuhal zuil bish. Medeej hereg ene bol Mongolchuud ug heleh erh chuluund durguy, Amerikchuud etseg ehdee hairguy gesen ug bish. Zugeer l ard tumen bur iluuteygeer unelej, erhemlej, chuhalchildag uur uursdiin unet zuilsteyg haruulj bui hereg.

Yutay ch unet zuilsiin talaar yarihiin umnu hoyor zuiliig oilgoj avah ni chuhal: Negt, uneheer niigemd jinhene unet zuils gej baigaad tuuniig ni tuuhiin yamar neg uyed udur tutam yagshtal barimtalj amidarch baisan altan uye gej baihguy. Heleltsuulgiin uyer aihtar medemhiireed baisan Turiin soyorholt N. Natsagnyam geh zaluugiin bain bain jishee bolgoj avsan Britain-iig end avch uzye. 1983 ond tuhain uyed Yurunhii said Margaret Thatcher televizeer "Victorian values" buyu Victoria hatan haanii zahirch asan 19-r zuunii uyeiin unet zuilsiig niigemdee butsaan nutagshuulahiig urialj baiv. Enehuu Victoria hatan haanii uyeiin unet zuilsiig Britain-chuud goltsuu yos zuitey baih, burhan shashnaa deedleh, eh oronch baih, husel tachaalaa hyanah, ajilch hudulmurch hicheenguy baih zergeer oilgodog yum. Haramsaltay ni 19-r zuunii uyeiin Britain oron yamarshuuhan yaduu, zavaan, gemt hergeer duursen gazar baisniig Charles Dickens-iin zohioliig unshsan engiin 10 jiliin suragch ch helj chadna. Harin Mongolchuudiin unet zuilsiin altan uye baisan eseh tuhai margaval tarhia hagaluulaad duusah biz. Gants naad zahiin jisheeg ter deerh etseg ehee enereh deer avahad 16-r zuunaas umnu "өвөг эцэг нь үхэхгүй болохоор ач нь хонины сүүлээр шахаж шаант чөмгөөр гудруулж алдаг" baisan yum gene lee shuu.

Hoyort, niigem deh unet zuils bainga uurchlugduj, hudulguund baidag bolovch nuguuteyguur ter chigtee orvongooroo uurchlugduh ni bas hovor (Baruunii tuuhend jishee ni unet zuils yurduu 2-3 udaa l ter chigtee uurchlugduj bailaa). Iimd ehleed Mongolchuudiin unet zuils hil, hel, mal gurav yumaa geed suugaad baigaa huniig nudee neegeed ergen toirnoo neg sain haraadhaaray gej helye. Hun amiin talaas iluu huvi ni orshin suudag niislel hot udruus udurt ulam bur cosmopolitan bolj, duriin dund surguuliin suragch juulchdad helmerchilj, niisleld mal aj ahui erhlehiig horiglood lav l arav garui jil bolj baina. Iim nuhtsuld Mongoliin hun amiin tal orchim huvi ni (za baig gehed yadahnaa Angli, Mongol hel deer 1-r angiasaa ehelj suraltsaj bui bagachuul, usvur uyeiinhen) Mongol unet zuilsguy Mongol hun bish gej helj bolohguy biz dee?

Harin nuguuteyguur heden myangan jiliin turshid hadgalagdaj irsen Mongol ahuigaas urgaj garsan unet zuils hotod amidraad, galuu shuvuunii mah ideheer ter chigtee alga bolchihdog yum bish. Us murun shirgej, belcheer talhlagdaj baina geheer hot huduuguy, hugshin zaluuguy bugd l Mongol hunii baigalia hairladag zangaar zurh ni shimshirdeg. Mongolchuudiin ene ch unet zuiliig uls turchid uursudduu ashigtaygaar erguulseer udguu gadnii hurungu oruulaltiig shaldaa buuhad hurgesen gedgiig bugd medej baigaa baih. Tegeheer neg talaasaa Mongolchuudiin unet zuilsiig zuvhun hil, hel, mal gurav gedgeer tomyolood baih yum bol niigemd bolj bui asar ih uurchlult shinechleltiig uguysgesen hereg bolno. Nuguu talaasaa hotod turj usun, gadnii soyoliig uuriimshuulj bui shine uyeiinhen Mongolchuudiin ulamjlalt unet zuilsiig uguy hiij baina geheesee harin ch bayajuulj, orchin uyed ami buhtey bailgah arga zamiig ni haij erelhiilj baina gej oilgovol zohiltoy.

Gehdee end gants haramsmaar zuil ni ene bol jamaaraa yavaa uil yavts. Uneheer ter shinechlegdej bui unet zuils ni Mongolchuud bidnii hussen unet zuils mun uu? Tedgeer ni bidnii tsogtslooh gej zorij bui "humuunleg, irgenii ardchilsan niigem"-tey her zohitsoh ve gedeg asuultuudad harin hariulah tun hetsuu. Lav l minii medehiin ene talaar buh niitiin heleltsuuleg yavagdah ni bitgii hel system-teygeer ch bodoj baigaa tsuun bololtoy. Harin suuliin uyed ene talaar tsuun ch gesen chas hiisen ug helsen gants hun ni L. Sumati baih (haramsaltay ni tereer deerh heleltsuulegt ireeguy). Tuuniiheer bol:

I think the most important thing that Mongolians should develop in the next 20 years is their values. They should then project these values in their social and political lives. This is starting, actually, but rather chaotically. This is where Mongolian intellectuals should play an important role, but because of the transition to a market economy, we really lost a lot of people who could have contributed.

Minii huvid end Sumatigiin helj bui hoyor chuhal sanaatay ni sanal niilj baina: (1) Mongolchuudiin unet zuils gedeg bidnii huvid tsaashid husch bui niigmee tsogtsloohiin tuld zaaval hariulah yostoy asuult yum. Neg talaaraa ene ni yag odoo bidnii unet zuils yu ve gedgiig yamar neg heneerhelguygeer system-teygeer oilgoj avah yostoy haruulj baina. Harin nuguu talaaraa odoogiin bureldej bii bolson unet zuilsee tsaashid ali zugt herhen chigluuleh ve gedeg deer sanal negdej, Sumatigiin helsenchlen chuhal unet zuilsee "hugjuulsneer" jinhene utgaaraa hariulagdana gedeg ni haragdaj baina. (2) Ene dialogue-iig avch yavahad Mongoliin terguunii seheetnuud hamgiin chuhal uureg guitsetgene. Haramsaltay ni odoogoor ene sedveer gants eruul saruul zuil helj baigaa ni Sumati l baih shig baina. Busad ni tuunii helsneer zah zeeliin shuurgand ter chigtee orood yavchihsan bololtoy.

The Best Sentences I Read Today

Centuries ago in the North African desert tribal dancers would perform into the late hours of the night. On a rare night a performer would seemingly transcend what was humanly possible and the crowd would chant “Ala Ala Ala” in response meaning “by God by God by God”, because they could see God in the performer’s dance. As the custom eventually took root in Spain the pronunciation changed from Ala to the more modernly known Ole; chanted in bull fighting and flamingo dancing to this day. I’m sure you all can think of times when someone performed outside themselves. Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics, and the list goes on and on. I love to watch transcendent performances because like those in the North African desert; it gives me a glimpse of God. I’ve concluded that the only thing I love more about running than those moments when maybe I have given others, or hopefully will one day give others, a glimpse of God are those moments I feel God running in me. It’s hard to articulate, but when you experience it, you know it. Those moments that are typically effortful become effortless. The thoughts in your head melt away and all that’s left is joy, delight, and the satisfying sensation of performing outside of yourself.

from Olé by kourt + video of Ryan Hall training

Ian Bostridge's Rendition of Nacht und Träume

+ Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt's version

Our Best Chance of Taking Their Place

Tyler Cowen, the author of “An Economist Gets Lunch,” argued recently that, out of the dozens of restaurants in Washington, D.C., that aspire to be first class, only five to ten really are at any given time. A restaurant can be great for its first three to six months—as the chefs and the owners strive to make the best possible impression on diners and reviewers. But, “once these places become popular, their obsession with quality slacks off,” Cowen writes. “They become socializing scenes. . . . Their audiences become automatic.” [...] Social and economic mobility, in any system, is essentially slack arbitrage: hard work is a successful strategy for those at the bottom because those at the top no longer work so hard. By custom, we disparage the idleness of the idle rich. We should encourage it. It is our best chance of taking their place.

"Slackers: Alberto Salazar and the art of exhaustion" by Malcolm Gladwell

An Escape from Fundamental Human Limitation

Ioanna Kohler: During a lecture you delivered at New York Law School, a student asked you what major you would recommend he select in order to become a lawyer. Your answer was quite surprising: you suggested that he choose “whatever major you want, as long as it has nothing to do with the law.” You, in fact, studied philosophy at Stanford and Oxford before studying the law at Harvard. How can the humanities or foreign languages be an asset for a jurist?

Stephen Breyer: It’s true, I’ve always thought that it was not particularly useful to study law as an undergrad. We are only allowed to live one life: it’s the human condition, there’s no escaping it. In my view, only by studying the humanities can we hope to escape this fundamental limitation and understand how other people live. Because literature, history, or philosophy all provide extraordinary windows on the world. Foreign languages, too, are fundamental.

"On Reading Proust" - Stephen Breyer, interviewed by Ioanna Kohler

A Cross Either of Thought or Action

After all, a man's life must be nailed to a cross either of Thought or Action. Without work there is no play. When I am in the Socratic mood and planning my Republic, I make drastic changes in the education of the sons of well-to-do citizens. When they are sixteen or seventeen they begin to learn a craft and to do healthy manual labour, with plenty of poetry, songs, dancing, drill and gymnastics in their spare time. They can thus let off their steam on some thing useful. It is only when they are really thirsty for knowledge, longing to hear about things, that I would let them go to the university. It would be a favour, a coveted privilege, only to be given to those who had either proved their worth in factory or field or whose qualities and zeal were pre-eminent. However, this would upset a lot of things it would cause commotion and bring me perhaps in the end a hemlock draught.

from Winston Churchill, My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), "Chapter IX, Education at Bangalore"

Gobbets of the Day

One of the best dedicatory essays I read in a while (albeit almost half of the essay is a direct quote): "The Career of Leon Kass" by Harvey Flaumenhaft

[Leon Kass] is by rearing a moralist, by education a generalist, by training a physician and biochemist, by vocation a teacher-and student-of philosophical texts, and by choice a lover of serious conversation, who thinks best when sharing thoughts and speeches with another.

Also some of the passages in the essay are especially interesting in light of the two excellent films—Transcendence and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes—that came out recently:

In summer 1966, my closest friend had me read Rousseau's explosive Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, for which my Mississippi and Harvard experiences had prepared me. Rousseau argues that, pace the Enlightenment, progress in the arts and sciences necessarily produces luxury, corruption of morals, debasement of tastes, and eventually, loss of freedom. Soon after, I read Brave New World and C.S. Lewis's Abolition of Man. I acquired a new set of questions, more challenging than how genes are regulated: What is the relation between scientific or technological progress and the moral health of a community? How can we reap the benefits of technology without eroding our freedom and our dignity? Does the scientific account of nature and human nature tell the whole, or even the best, story about us? These questions have never left me.

Addendum: A theory of the allocation of a Nobelist’s time

Person’s Very Being

There is, in London, a painting that moves me as much every time I go and see it. It is a self-portrait painted by the late Rembrandt. His later paintings are usually characterized by an extreme coarseness of stroke, rendering everything subordinate to the expression of the moment, at once shining and sacred, and still unsurpassed in art, with the possible exception of Hölderlin’s later poems, however dissimilar and incomparable they may be—for where Hölderlin’s light, evoked through language, is ethereal and celestial, Rembrandt’s light, evoked through color, is earthy, metallic, and material—but this one painting which hangs in the National Gallery was painted in a slightly more classically realistic, lifelike style, more in the manner of the younger Rembrandt. Old age. All the facial detail is visible; all the traces life has left there are to be seen. The face is furrowed, wrinkled, sagging, ravaged by time. But the eyes are bright and, if not young, then somehow transcend the time that otherwise marks the face. It is as though someone else is looking at us, from somewhere inside the face, where everything is different. One can hardly be closer to another human soul. For as far as Rembrandt’s person is concerned, his good habits and bad, his bodily sounds and smells, his voice and his language, his thoughts and his opinions, his behavior, his physical flaws and defects, all the things that constitute a person to others, are no longer there, the painting is more than four hundred years old, and Rembrandt died the same year it was painted, so what is depicted here, what Rembrandt painted, is this person’s very being, that which he woke to every morning, that which immersed itself in thought, but which itself was not thought, that which immediately immersed itself in feelings, but which itself was not feeling, and that which he went to sleep to, in the end for good. That which, in a human, time does not touch and whence the light in the eyes springs. The difference between this painting and the others the late Rembrandt painted is the difference between seeing and being seen. That is, in this picture he sees himself seeing whilst also being seen, and no doubt it was only the Baroque period with its penchant for mirrors within mirrors, the play within the play, staged scenes and a belief in the interdependence of all things, when moreover craftsmanship attained heights witnessed neither before nor since, that such a painting was possible. But it exists in our age, it sees for us.

From Karl Ove Knausgård's Min kamp. Første bok

Weekend Music

Rolling Stones of the rap game, not braggin
Lips bigger than Jagger, not saggin
Spell it backwards, Ima leave it at that
That aint got nothin to do with rap

"Ухааны тэнхээг шавхан улс Монголоо хөгжүүлэх түүхэн цаг үе"

Ene helsen yarisniig ni humuus sonsoj, unshdag l bailguy dee...

Өнийн түүхээ өнөөгийн ололтоор бататгаж, өрнөх ирээдүйд улам ихийг бүтээх золбоо, зорилго, зориг бидэнд бий. Эх орныхоо тусгаар тогтнол, эрх чөлөөг нандигнаж, эвийн хүч, Шударга ёсыг эрхэмлэж, үүрэг хариуцлагыг ухамсарлан ухааны тэнхээг шавхан улс Монголоо хөгжүүлэх түүхэн цаг үед амьдарч байгаагаа ямагт санаж дор бүрнээ хичээн зүтгэцгээе.

Монгол Улсын Ерөнхийлөгч Цахиагийн Элбэгдоржийн Үндэсний Их Баяр Наадмыг Хааж Хэлсэн Үг

"And nobody loves poetry like a Russian"

Жизнь прожить — не поле перейти.

из "Гамлета" Бориса Пастернака ("Стихотворения Юрия Живаго")

Sunday Night Music

The lyrics alone could tell so much about us. If I were a foreigner, I would have studied this music so closely. Nothing captures our essence better than this.
(Please don't forget to check the last part of the rendition. Also Altayn Magtaal might be the only Mongolian music that found its way to a Palestinian film)

Gobbet of the Day

Do not let me hear
Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly,
Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession,
Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God.
The only wisdom we can hope to acquire
Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.

T.S. Eliot - Four Quartets: East Coker

Passage of the Day

Sometimes I go to sleep thinking of the next morning’s hot coffee in my customary white paper cup. The anticipation makes the sheets seem softer. In my life, I am between landmarks: after childhood, before a book, before marriage and children, all potential. I’ve heard the gambler’s rush isn’t in losing or winning, but the interval between playing and knowing. Coffee is my ritual, my interval, the luminous place between now and what’s next, more arc than landing. It is ubiquitous and legal, solitary and communal. In the morning, when I take a sip, space opens between the molecules; voices and clatter in the café separate into bright, tonal bands. My mind fans open. Fireflies blink in my torso. I take it to go, so I can drink and walk alone in the cool air under the trees on 12th street on my way to work. I savor each sip after the scorch has dissipated, before the cup is loose and lukewarm like a hand in mine.

Lisa Brennan-Jobs on her favorite moment of the day

A Lesson to Learn from the Ukraine Crisis

The Ukraine crisis reminds us that small countries must defend themselves, and cannot rely solely on international treaties or the promises of others. That is why we must always maintain a strong [Singapore Armed Forces] and Home Team. We must also have a capable MFA to strengthen our ties with friends and allies. Only then can Singapore be safe and secure

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's statement on the crisis in Ukraine, which reminds me of my most favorite part in Thucydides' Peloponnesian War:

For ourselves, we shall not trouble you with specious pretenses—either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us—and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Spartans, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

Addendum: If you're too busy to read this passage (wink wink), I guess you could watch this video.

Line of the Day

But waste was of the essence of the scheme.

from Pod of the Milkweed by Robert Frost

Nostalgia Shop

Once upon a time I was a student of art history...

Levels of Excellence

Sometimes, in your mathematics career, you find that your slow progress, and careful accumulation of tools and ideas, has suddenly allowed you to do a bunch of new things that you couldn’t possibly do before. Even though you were learning things that were useless by themselves, when they’ve all become second nature, a whole new world of possibility appears. You have “leveled up”, if you will. Something clicks, but now there are new challenges, and now, things you were barely able to think about before suddenly become critically important.

It’s usually obvious when you’re talking to somebody a level above you, because they see lots of things instantly when those things take considerable work for you to figure out. These are good people to learn from, because they remember what it’s like to struggle in the place where you’re struggling, but the things they do still make sense from your perspective (you just couldn’t do them yourself).

Levels of Excellence

What kind of tree is that?

"Vladimir Nabokov, American novelist and literature professor, who once had something like the following conversation with a student at Cornell University: "Mr. Nabokov, I want to be a writer." Nabokov looks up from his reading he points to a tree outside his office window. "What kind of tree is that?" he asks the student. "What?" "What is the name of that tree?" asks Nabokov. "The one outside my window." "I don't know," says the student. "You'll never be a writer." says Nabokov.

VN COLLATION #1 by Suellen Stringer-Hye

Рэндом Нөvт

Аль ч хэл бусад гадаад хэлний нөлөөгөөр баяжин шууд ба дам утгаар гадаад үгийг зээлдэн өөриймшүүлдэг. Энэ нь хэл мөхөж буй хэрэг биш, баяжиж багаа нь тэр. [...] Хэл болгон тухайн үндэстний сэтгэлгээний өвөрмөцийг илэрхийлдэг. Европ зүгийн хэлэнд зүрх нь хайр энэрлийг илэрхийлдэг бол монголчууд элгээрээ хайралдаг. “Элэг бүтэн”, ”элэгтэй”. “Чулуун зүрхтэй” гэвэл оросоор энэрэх сэтгэлгүй гэсэн санаа агуулдаг бол монголоор энэ нь эр зоригтой, айхыг мэддэггүй гэсэн утгатай. Фин, баск, унгар, эстони хэлэнд энэтхэг европ хэлний нөлөө асар их учир үй түмэн үгийг нь зээлдэн хэрэглэдэг. Огтоос европ бус эдгээр хэл мянга мянган жил өөрийн хэлний логик, этнолингвистик чанараа хадгалж чадсан учраас л европ хэлтний дунд амьд хэлээ хадгалсаар өдий хүрчээ. Чухам үүнд л хэлний дархлаа, хэлний логик оршмой.

Баабар - Киноны хэл

Өөрөөр хэлбэл энд хоёр өөр хүчин зүйлийн харилцан үйлчлэл явагдаж байна. Энд нэг талаасаа Монгол хэлээ орчин үетэй хөл нийлүүлэн мөхөхөөс хамгаалахын тулд зайлшгүй гадны үгс заавал оруулж ирэх шаардлагатай болж байгаа юм. Харин нөгөө талаасаа Монголчуудын сэтгэлгээг нь чингэх явцдаа эвдэхгүй байх ёстой. Уг хоёр хүчин зүйл бие биеэ үгүйсгэх шаардлагагүй. Гэхдээ аль нэг тал руугаа хэлбийхэд маш амархан. Хэрвээ тэнцвэрийг нь олж чадахгүй бол нэг бол ариун дагшнаар нь хадгалж байна гээд орчин үеийн хүн хэрэглэх аргагүй хэл болгож орхино, аль эсвэл мань мэт шиг Монголоор бодсон санаснаа чөлөөтэй илэрхийлж чадахаа байна.

 

Addendum: Don't forget to check out the wonderful videos from Buryatia where the danger of losing the language is becoming much more imminent: Buuza, Говорим на буриатском - Уважение, - Образование, - Молодость, - Невестка ("А бабушка то нацистка" lol)

Intellectuals vs. Statesmen

Intellectuals analyze the operations of international systems; statesmen build them. And there is a vast difference between the perspective of an analyst and that of a statesman. The analyst can choose which problem he wishes to study, whereas the statesman’s problems are imposed on him. The analyst can allot whatever time is necessary to come to a clear conclusion; the overwhelming challenge to the statesman is the pressure of time. The analyst runs no risk. If his conclusions prove wrong, he can write another treatise. The statesman is permitted only one guess; his mistakes are irretrievable. The analyst has available to him all the facts; he will be judged on his intellectual power. The statesman must act on assessments that cannot be proved at the time he is making them; he will be judged by history on the basis of how wisely he managed the inevitable change [...].

Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, p. 27

It was easy for human rights crusaders and peace activists to insist on perfection in this world. But the policymaker who has to deal with reality learns to seek the best than can be achieved rather than the best that can be imagined. It would be wonderful to banish the role of military power from world affairs, but the world is not a perfect place, as he had learned as a child. Those with true responsibility for peace, unlike those on the sidelines, cannot afford pure idealism. They must have the courage to deal with ambiguities and accommodations, to realize that great goals can be achieved only in imperfect steps. No side has a monopoly on morality.

Walter Isaacson, Kissinger, p. 767

Random Notes

Өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт Д. Бямбасүрэн гуайн шинэ ярилцлага гарч. Зарим нэг хэлсэн зүйлс нь шууд утгаараа популист (популизмын уг санаа нь бол элитүүдийн эсрэг ард түмний талд орох - үүний сайн мууг харин бид мэдэхээрээ нэг болсон) боловч 20-р зууны сүүлээс өнөө үе хүртэлх Монгол төрийн ноён нуруу байсаар ирсэн Бямбасүрэн гуайн үгс дунд сайтар эргэцүүлмээр хэд хэдэн санаа оржээ.

Эдгээр санаануудын нэг нь "төрийн зүтгэлтэн" болох хүн хэрхэн өөрийгөө өндөр түвшинд боловсруулж, бэлтгэх шаардлагатай байдаг тухай юм. Үүнийг төрд ажиллаж буй хүмүүсийг хуугаар нь коммунистууд, динозавр гэж дуудах дуртай мөртөө өөрсдөө хар залуугаараа албан тушаалд очоод холион бантанг нь хутгадаг бидний үеийнхэн эргэцүүлэх хэрэгтэй байх.

Түүнийхээр бол "төрийн зүтгэлтэн" хүнд юун түрүүн "суурь философи" шаардлагатай:

Гадны улс төрийн зүтгэлтэн хэн нэгэн хүн ингэж амьдарч байж гэдгийг харуулсан сайхан сайхан номууд байдаг. Түүнийг унших хэрэгтэй. Хүнд амьдралын туршлага өгнө. Гэхдээ цаад талд нь суурь философи байгааг бас судлах ёстой. Өнөө цагийн манай удирдагчид тэрхүү суурь философи талдаа сул анхаардаг юм уу даа гэж би хувьдаа боддог.

Бямбасүрэн гуайн энд тайлбарлаж буйг ухаж ойлгох юм бол төрийн шийдвэр гэдэг системтэй бас залгамж чанартай байх ёстой. Өөрөөр хэлбэл шийдвэр гаргаж буй төрийн зүтгэлтэн аливаа шийдвэрийг гаргахдаа сэтгэл хөдлөл, нийтийн ахар мөчид дуудлагаас илүүтэйгээр "суурь философи" дээрээ үндэслэх ёстой. Харин энэхүү "суурь философи" нь өнгөрсөн үеийнхээ суурь философийг мэдэж, судалж, дэнсэлсний (!) дараа залгамж нь болон гарч ирнэ.

Тэгвэл яагаад суурь философи шаардлагатай юм бэ? Кино зохиол бичдэг Орос авгайн хэдэн ном уншаад Монголын төрийн бодлогыг амжилттайгаар залуурдалцаж байгаа хүний жишээ бэлээхэн байж л байна. Бүр ном унших нь байтугай хөх тэнгэр надад ингэж хэлэх шиг боллоо гэж байгаад хөгжлийн бодлогыг тодорхойлчихдог нэгэн нь ч байна. Ийм нөхцөлд тэр философи энэ тэрийг нь бодоод сууж байх хэрэг байдаг ч юм уу, үгүй ч юм уу.

Бямбасүрэн гуайнхаар бол харин энэхүү философи нь төрийн хүнд нэг ёсны дархлаа болох ёстой аж. Суурь философи байхгүй бол үнэ мөнгөд амархан дурлана:

Тийм хүмүүсийн гол хөдөлгөгч хүчин зүйл нь юу байдаг гэхээр мөнгө. Тэд би юмыг мэддэг чаддаг боллоо гээд дайрсаар төрд гардаг. Төрд гарахаараа юу хийдэг вэ гэхээр төсвийн мөнгийг хувааж иддэг.

Хэрвээ тийм юм бол бид хэрхэн суурь философийг өөрсөддөө бий болгох вэ? Үүнийг "биеэ засах" буюу Бямбасүрэн баавайн хэлснээр "тухайн үеийнхээ эрдэм номын чинад хүртэл боловсорсон" төдийгүй "дорнынхоо ном сургаалийг үзэж гэгээрсэн" байх ёстой аж. Чингэсэн тохиолдолд сая төрийн хүний шинжийг олж "төрөө засах"-д бэлэн болсон гэж үзнэ:

“Биеэ засна” гэдгийг ямар нэгэн дээд сургууль төгсөөд, магадгүй эрдмийн зэрэг цол хамгаалаад, бизнес хийгээд жаахан төлөвшил олохыг хэлнэ гэж тайлбарладаг. Гэтэл “биеэ засна” гэдгийг монголчуудын филосифиор “их суртахуй“ гэдгээр тайлбарладаг. Биеэ засна гэдэг чинь орчлон хорвоогийн явдлыг таньж сэтгэлийн төвийг олохыг хэлж байгаа юм.

Үүнийг хэдийгээр хоцрогдоогүй юм аа гэхэд барууны рациональ сэтгэлгээнээс ангид гэж бид үзэж болох боловч эцсийн дүндээ Бямбасүрэн гуай төрд зүтгэхэд дан ганц мэдлэг төдийгүй, сэтгэл зүй, зан ааш, хүний мөсийн хувьд өндөр түвшинд хүрсэн байх ёстой гэдгийг бидэнд сануулж байгаа хэрэг. Учир нь эрх мэдэл хүнийг юунаас ч илүүтэйгээр ил гаргадаг. Тухайн хүн чухам хэн бэ, биеэ хэр сайн зассан бэ гэдгийг шалгадаг ганц зүйл нь эрх мэдэл. Хэрвээ эрх мэдлийг олох цагт суурь философитой болж, өөрийгөө бэлтгэж чадаагүй бол тэр нь ард түмэнд шууд ил гарна гэсэн үг:

But although the cliché says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said, but what is equally true, is that power always reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary: to hide traits that might make others reluctant to give him power, to hide also what he wants to do with that power; if men recognized the traits or realized the aims, they might refuse to give him what he wants. But as a man obtains more power, camouflage is less necessary. The curtain begins to rise. The revealing begins. (Robert A. Caro - Passage of Power, p. xiv)

An Underrated Classic

Анхны харц аадар бороо
Алаг цэцэгс анхилуун дэлбээ
Алдарсайхан чамтай минь нийлээд
Ая дууны минь айзам буюу

Gobbet of the Day

When I wrote the first words of A. F. I had been already for years and years thinking in English. I began to think in English long before I mastered, I won't say the style, (I haven't done that yet) but the mere uttered speech. Is it thinkable that anybody possessed of some effective inspiration should contemplate for a moment such a frantic thing as translating it into another tongue? And there are also other considerations: such as the sheer appeal of the language, my quickly awakened love for its prose cadences, a subtle and unforeseen accord of my emotional nature with its genius [...] You may take it from me that if I had not known English I wouldn't have written a line for print in my life. C. and I were discussing the nature of the two languages and what I said was: that if I had been offered the alternative I would have been afraid to grapple with French which is crystallised in the form of its sentences and therefore more exacting and less appealing...

from Joseph Conrad's letter to Hugh Walpole, June 7th, 1918

Thought of the day

Lofty goals have often produced research and teaching that is further and further removed from the day-to-day operations of government. While the field is so disparate that “it’s hard to talk about public policy schools as a whole,” Slaughter cautions, she and other school leaders identify certain trends, including a renewed zeal for quantitative analysis. [...] The new emphasis on big data is reminiscent of the Progressive idea that if we just gather enough information, the policy conclusions will be obvious to all.

The problem with public policy schools

we are up to our ears in public policy analysis but have not paid enough attention to old-fashioned public administration. While the US government many decades ago invested in schools of public administration to train professionals for government service, this function has atrophied in recent years. Virtually all public administration programs have evolved into public policy programs, where all the money and prestige is. Public policy analysis is dominated by economists who use sophisticated econometric techniques to design optimal policies. And yet, as most people who have actually served in government understand all too well, the real problem is less often knowing what to do, but rather the difficulty of getting the machinery of government to produce desired outcomes. The world of actual policy practice is a world of constraints that they don’t teach you about in many public policy programs. Many of these constraints are political in nature, so it you don’t understand the politics, you won’t get to execute your policies.

Frank Fukuyama - “It’s Not the Business Plan but the Execution”

Quote of the Day

Монголчуудын сэтгэлгээ нээлттэй хэвээр ажээ.

Хэдий тийм боловч монголчууд өрнийн соёлоос тасарсан, жүүд-христийн соёл иргэншлийн нөлөөнөөс дэндүү хол, өрнийн агуу ном зохиолын талаар ойлголт нимгэнтэй. Хэрвээ тэд Орос, Хятадын завсарт хавчуулагдсан хэвээрээ удваас үзэл суртлын хүүхэлдэй болон хувирч болзошгүй.

Тэгэх аваас халуун сэтгэлтэй, эрэлхэг энэ ард түмний хувьд төдийгүй чөлөөт ертөнцийн хувьд эмгэнэлтэй.

Гадаад Монголд зорчсон нь - УИЛЬЯМ О. ДУГЛАС

Quote of the Day

after all, a human being is a constantly evolving open question rather than a definitive answer, a fluid self only trapped by the labels applied from without [...] It’s also, however, hopelessly human to try to interpret others and assign them into categories based on the “scraps of evidence” they bequeath. I was certainly not immune to this tendency [...] The beauty and magnetism of Vivian Maier: Self-Portraits is that it leaves you with your own interpretations, not with definitive answers but with crystalline awareness of Maier’s elusive selfhood.

Mysterious Street Photographer Vivian Maier’s Self-Portraits

Quote of the Day

"Монгол орон үеэ өнгөрөөсөн нийгмийн байгууллын музей болж хоцрохгүй!"

- Д. Бямбасүрэн, "Үүрийн Жавар," Улаанбаатар 1996, 130-р тал

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Хаяадаа Монголчуудыг ойлгохгүй толгой сэгсрэх гадаадуудтай уулзахаар тэдэнд UB Post, World Bank Report уншихаасаа илүү Монгол уран бүтээлчдийн бүтээлүүдийг хар гэж хэлмээр санагддаг юм. Хэдийгээр Монголоос мундаг урлагын бүтээлүүд төдий л төрөн гардаггүй боловч илэрхийлэх гэсэн санаа, арга барил нь яах аргагүй биднийг харах хамгийн сайн толь болдог. Жишээлбэл надад Алтан Ураг, Арга Билэг хамтлагууд таалагддаггүй. Хоёр өөр соёлыг хүчээр дэндүү бүдүүн бааргаар авцалдуулах гээд байгаа мэт санагддаг юм. Гэхдээ тэдний уран бүтээлүүдээс бид нэг талаасаа Монгол өв уламжлалаа хадгалж үлдэх, нөгөө талаасаа барууны соёлыг өөриймшүүлэх оролдлогыг тод томруунаар харж болно. Сайн бодох юм бол энэ оролдлого хэр амжилттай болохоос бидний ирээдүй шалтгаална. Лав л бид баруун шиг болж чадахгүй, гэхдээ бас нүүдэлчин өв уламжлалаараа амьдрах боломжгүй. Аль аль талынх нь охийг шингээж чадсан соёл, ертөнцийг үзэх үзэл бий болгож чадах эсэхээс хамаарч бид цаашид хэрхэн тэсч үлдэх вэ гэдэг асуултын хариулт гарах юм.

Энэ утгаараа Монголчуудын сэтгэлгээг өөр нэг тольдож болох газар нь уран зургийн үзэсгэлэнгүүд. Чанар, агуулгын хувьд бараг бүгдээрээ дэндүү гүехэн боловч зураачдын хөндөж буй сэдэв, хэрэглэж буй арга барилаас нь Монголын нийгмийн тусгалыг олж харж болно. Жишээ нь нэлээд дээхнэ зураач Ш. Ядамсүрэнгийн үзэсгэлэнг үзсэн юм. Өөртэй нь ярьж үзтэл жаахан явцуу үзэл бодолтой, тэгээд тэр нь ч даацтай уран бүтээл хийхэд нь тушаа болдог юм шиг санагдсан. Гэхдээ энд маш сонирхолтой зүйл нь түүний санаагаа илэрхийлж байгаа арга барил. Хэрвээ түүний бүтээлүүдийг ажиглах юм бол нэгт, асар их хурд мэдрэгдэнэ. Хурдтайгаар урсан өнгөрч буй дүрснүүдийг нь яг таг тэр энэ гэж тодорхойлоход хэцүү. Улаанбаатарт хэсэг хугацаагаар байхгүй байж байгаад гэнэт ирэхэд яг ийм мэдрэмж төрдгийг бид бүгдээрээ мэднэ. Хоёрт, түүний зургууд дээрээ ашигладаг шулуун зураасууд дүрсүүдийг тал бүрээс нь нэвт хөндлөн огтлоод гардаг. Тэдгээр зураасууд хаанаас гарч ирж биднийг хэрхэн огтлохыг таахад бэрх. Гэхдээ хүссэн хүсээгүй амьдрал үргэлжилж Ордны зүүн талын зам хөл хөдөлгөөнтэй хэвээр л байна.

Сонирхолтой нь үзэсгэлэнг үзэж байтал яг иймэрхүү зургууд өмнө үзэж байсан юм шиг санагдаад болдоггүй. Сайтар хартал Ядамсүрэнгийн бүтээлүүд яах аргагүй Weimer Republic-ийн үеийн уран бүтээлүүдийг санагдуулам. Жишээ нь George Grosz-ийн Бэрлинийг дүрсэлсэн энэхүү бүтээл дэх дүрсүүдийн хөл толгойг олоход тун бэрх, тэгсэн мөртөө энэ замбараагүй байдал өөрсдийнх нь гэхээсээ илүү тэднийг нэвт дайран өнгөрч буй хурц ирмэгтэй давалгааны үр дагавар гэмээр. Хоёр өөр цагт, хоёр өөр газар, хоёр өөр уран бүтээлч нэг санааг хөндөж, нэг арга барилыг ашигласан хэрэг. Энд Монгол Улс Ваймарын замаар орж байна гэвэл гэнэн дүгнэлт болно. Гэхдээ Ваймарт ардчиллыг хэрхэн завхруулж тэр нь нийгэмд хэрхэн тусч байсан нь бидэнд их сургамжтай байх. Гадаадууд ч Монголын өнөөгийн байдлын учир шалтгааныг ойлгохын тулд Хиндэнбүргын талаарх номондоо салхи оруулах хэрэгтэй байж мэдэх юм.

Монголчуудыг нямбайгаар буулгаж чадсан өөр нэгэн мундаг бүтээл бол зурагчин Ц. Батзориг агсны “Зуднаар. Баянхонгор аймаг, Гурван булаг сум. 1993 он” гэсэн зураг. Зургийг "Монгол хүний resilience" (яг Монгол дээр буулгах үг олж чадсангүй) гээд нэрлэчихэж болмоор. Зуднаар цасанд юм харахаа больсон нүдээ трикогоор ороосон нь Монголчуудын ямар ч нөхцөл байдалтай дасан зохицоод аргалаад гарч чаддаг чадварын илэрхийлэл. Магадгүй гадны хөрөнгө оруулалттай оруулалтгүй амьдраад байж болно гэж боддог нь үүнээс улбаатай байх. Мөн уранхай ноорхой хувцастай ч, зуд турхантай байсан ч цайныхаа дээжийг өргөж байгаа эмээ бидний амьдралын хэв маяг, соёл амьдралын маань салшгүй нэг хэсэг гэдгийг илтгэнэ. Ихэнх хүмүүс одоогийн өөрчлөлтийн их давалгаанд үүнийгээ алдана гэж айх нь ойлгомжтой боловч, бас ч гэж амархан арилчихгүй нь эндээс харагдана байх аа.

Завсрын Хvмvvс

Өнгөрсөн хавар найз охинтойгоо номын дэлгүүрээс Ц. Батзориг агсан, Д. Давааням хоёрын "Хүмүүс" гэрэл зургийн үзэсгэлэнгийн каталогийг олж авсан юм. Энэ амралтын өдрөөр тухтай үзэх цаг гаргав. Өмнө Ц. Батзориг агсны цаатангуудын тухай бүтээлээс бусдыг нь үзэж байгаагүй юм. Энэ каталог дээрх бүтээлүүдээс нь үзвэл үнэхээр гайхалтай зурагчин байжээ. Ялангуяа 90-ээд оны Монголыг амьдаар нь буулгаж чадсан маш цөөн хэдхэн уран бүтээлчийн нэг яах аргагүй мөн. Лав л цаашдаа Монголын хамгийн эгзэгтэй, одоогийн бидний амьдралыг тэр чигт нь тодорхойлж буй энэхүү үеийн судалгаа, хэлэлцүүлэг Ц. Батзориг агсны эдгээр зураггүйгээр явагдах ёсгүй байх.

Энд жишээ болгоод би өөрт хамгийн чухал санагдсан нэг зургийг орууллаа:

Зургийн нэр нь: "Улаанбаатар. 1995." Ялангуяа 90-ээд оны дунд үед өссөн завсрын буюу миний үеийнхнийг энэ зураг шиг мундагаар буулгаж (capture, encapsulate) чадсан нь үгүй. Хэдийгээр яг коммунизмын үед ухаан ороогүй боловч бид лав л коммунизмын сүүдэр дунд өсч өндийсөн. Албан ёсоор коммунизм үгүй болсон энэ үед коммунист үзэл суртлын хамгийн амь бөхтэй хэсэг нь хүмүүсийн дунд оршсоор байсан (яг л энэ Цэдэнбалын эшлэл шиг). Иймд бусад үеийнхэнтэй харьцуулахад бид бараг коммунизмын жинхэнэ охь дунд ч өссөн байж мэдэх.

Мөн энэ зургийг подъезд дотор олж харж, авч чадсан нь Ц. Батзориг агсны мундаг мэдрэмжийн илэрхийлэл. Бага байхад орой 10-ын алдад сургуульд ч ороогүй жаахан хүүхдүүд хоол гуйгаад хаалга тогшдог байсан. Өглөө хичээлдээ гарахад подъезд дотор даарсандаа хоносон байх нь олонтаа. Өдгөөгийн олон хүний амьдралын зорилго чухам тэр дүр зургаас үүссэн сэтгэл өвдөлтөөс урган гарсан байх. Нийгмийг тэр чигт нь хамарсан энэ зовлон шаналал 90-ээд онд өссөн биднийг хүн болгосон.

Нэг талаасаа хуучин нийгмээс амь бөх үлдсэн үзэл санаа, нөгөө талаасаа шинээр өлгийдөж авсан нийгмийн бүтээгүй амлалтууд дунд бий болсон завсрын үеийнхнийг хамгийн нягт нямбайгаар илэрхийлж чадсан нь яах аргагүй энэ зураг. Энэ зургыг ч бид харах тоолондоо хаанаас ирж хаа хүрч яваагаа санаж явах учиртай.

Addendum: Ц. Батзориг сан + хамтран үзэсгэлэн гаргасан Д. Даваанямын бүтээлүүдийн шүүмж (энэ шүүмж дээр бичсэнчлэн түүний бүтээлүүд үнэхээр муу байсан)

A View From the Window

Tsim Sha Tsui in the background

Postscript: Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Шүлэг унших тэвчээргүй намайг Seamus Heaney-гийн бүтээлүүд харин үргэлж татдаг авай. Түүний талаар цаасан дээр бэх дусааж үзсэн бүхэн бичиж буй энэ үед би нэмэрлэх нь илүүц гэж бодмоор. Гэхдээ бид түүний хувь нэмрийг цор ганц Англи хэлтнүүдэд, тэр тусмаа Ирландуудад хамаатай мэтээр ойлгох нь учир дутагдалтай. Сайн яруу найраг хил хязгаар, цаг хугацаагаар хязгаарлагддаггүй; магадгүй бид өөрсдийгөө ойлгоход алс холын Хийнийгийн шүлгүүд Монгол шүлгүүдээс илүү тус болж мэдэх юм.

Миний хувьд түүний Punishment шүлэг хэзээ ч үл мартагдам. Балар эртний үед хөнгөмсөг явдлаасаа болж цаазлагдсан нэгэн залуухан бүсгүйн шарилыг Британичуудтай явалдан Ирландын үндсэрхэг үзэлтнүүдэд шийтгэгдэж буй охидтой харьцуулсан энэ шүлгийг хэдэн жилийн өмнө уншаад удаан хайж явсан зүйлээ олсон мэт болж билээ.

Прүстийн "Алдагдсан Цагийн Эрэлд" дээр гардагчлан хамгийн их сэтгэл хөдөлгөсөн бүтээл гэдэг өөрт тань цоо шинэ зүйл таниулсан нь бус харин өмнө хаа нэгтээ бодож байсан зүйлийг тань яг тэр хэвээр нь цаасан дээр буулгаж чадсан нь байдаг. Миний хувьд анх хятадуудтай явалдсан гэх Монгол охидын үсийг хусч буй тухай сонсоод асар их эгдүүцсэн ч тэрхүү үндсэрхэг үзэлтнүүд яагаад тэгж балмад авирлах болсоныг бас ойлгож байв. Хийний шүлэгтээ яг тэр буруушааж байгаа мөртөө ойлгож буй дундын орон зайг харуулсан байсан юм:

I who have stood dumb
when your betraying sisters,
cauled in tar,
wept by the railings,

who would connive
in civilized outrage
yet understand the exact
and tribal, intimate revenge.

Нэг талаас магадгүй хэзээ ч арилгаж чадахгүй балар эртнээс угшилтай балмад авир, нөгөө талаас соёлжиж иргэншсэн хүний жигшил зэвүүцэл хоёрын зөрчил. Миний харж байгаагаар энэ бол яруу найрагч хүн өөрийн үүргээ гүйцэтгэж буй хамгийн тод томруун жишээ. Мань мэтийг бодвол Хийний үүнийгээ дан ганц уран яруугаар томъёолоод зогсохгүй өөрт буй тэрхүү зөрчлөө хэнээс ч эмээлгүй зоригтойгоор хэлж чадаж буй нь бишрэм. Тэгээд ч King Lear дээр “Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say” гэж гардаг байх аа?

Малчин Цэвээн - Гандий Мод

Addendum: Малчин Сумъяа гуайн уртын дуу

Role of the Beatles in the Mongolian Democracy

Хотын төв дэх Beatles-ийн хөөрхий энэ муу хөшөөг хүмүүс их ад үзэх юм. Үзэмж муутай л гэнэ. Болж бүтэхгүй нөхдүүд цуглуулдаг л гэнэ. Нөгөө талаасаа хөшөөнд дуртай хүмүүс нь дан ганц Beatles-ийн хөгжимд хайртайгаасаа болоод байх шиг. Харин миний хувьд энэ хөшөөг улс төрийн ач холбогдлын талаас нь нэлээд өөрөөр хардаг юм.

Дээрхэн NYU-ийн профессор Jeffrey Goldfarb манай сургууль дээр ирж номоо танилцуулах үеэр энэ талаар богино илтгэл тавьсанаа доор орууллаа. Тэр үеэд нас залуу ч байж, бурамтай чихэрт дуртай ч байж.

After reading a few chapters of Prof. Goldfarb’s book Reinventing Political Culture, I remember thinking “spot on, I’m really glad that someone finally noticed the elephant in the room.” Indeed, this book addresses one of the most obvious questions that constantly hover over us: How should we understand the political culture? What Prof. Goldfarb gives us in his book is a very neat framework of looking at political culture. Through understanding how politics on the one hand and culture on the other hand affects each other and together they form political culture, we can come up with a more realistic picture of how our society functions. But what the book lacks is more examples to support this framework. I feel the three examples, revelatory and fascinating they are, are still not enough to forcefully make case for political culture. I think more cases need to be tested against this framework to fully appreciate its importance. So in this spirit, in the next few minutes, I’ll attempt to see the significance of political culture on our lives.

A few years ago, my father told me a story. I was going through the photos of his youth, and I spotted a picture of him, presumably in the late 70s, wearing weird hair. I made fun of it and said how silly his hair looks—shaggy, with huge sideburns. He said, “guess what, I was actually once got arrested by the police because of that hair.” When I asked how come, he said, “One day I was walking down the street, wearing my bell-bottom jeans that my friend just smuggled from Greece and of course sporting my cool haircut. And two policemen showed up and took me to the station. There they questioned me and almost cut my hair along with the part of jeans that was below my knees.“ And I foolishly asked, why did he dress that way if it was constant object of harassment from the authorities. He said, “Oh that’s simple, because I was a Beatles fan.”

And I just thought that perhaps there is a certain political implication of it on the 1989 Mongolian democratic movement. The more I thought about it, the more interesting it got. I’ll give you one fact: more or less all the leaders of the Mongolian democratic revolution are self-proclaimed Beatles fans. But I was never quite sure how to link the four Liverpudlians to the democratic movement of Mongolia. After reading Prof. Goldfarb’s book, things started to make sense. What Beatles did to the Mongolian society was, if we use Prof. Goldfarb’s own words, “to detach truth and various sorts of social commitments from the powers.” The Beatles represented to the Mongolian youths a much more attractive way of living, it represented a possibility of different way of looking at things. Truth does not necessarily mean what the Communist Party says. Truth can be diverse, or sometimes even a completely different thing. And among the youths who were sitting in some dark corner trying to imitate the sounds of Beatles, a space for conversation has emerged. While sitting together and singing, they would address their common problems in their daily lives. And this space is crucial because this is a kind of place where people together form their political culture.

Photo courtesy of Wide Eyed Skittle Juice

Here is a photo of a statue in the center of Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. I’ve been told that this is one of the few Beatles statues in the world (I still can’t understand who else in the world is crazy enough to come up with something like this). It was erected a few years ago by a group of Mongolian political and business elites—some of whom led the democratic movement in 1990. Poor aesthetics notwithstanding, I find it quite remarkable. In a sense, Mongolians who are incredibly pragmatic people, openly acknowledges the impact of music on our everyday lives. If you look at the other side of the statue, you’ll find a lonely Mongolian boy who is sitting and trying to imitate them with the background of a window blocked by bricks—perhaps a subtle reference to Pink Floyd. There is nothing political about this boy. He is just sitting there and singing. But if you think about it, the ideals he is trying to imitate who are depicted on the other side of the wall presents everything that the communists oppose. So that simple act of singing automatically makes him political. It presents him a different sort of truth regime and a different structure of everyday practice that is different than the Communist truth. This of course represents to me the end of the legitimacy of the Communist rule. This is also I believe what Prof. Goldfarb says by the potentiality of seemingly small things to produce a big event.


However, although incredibly attractive, there are two issues that I would like to raise here concerning political culture. First, how should we understand political culture in the context of institutions? Of course, we can say that this is a perfect demonstration of the Arendtian conception of power. Communism both in Poland and Mongolia crumbled because the power was collaboratively created. Through coming together and talking, people developed a capacity to act in concert. But still it seems to me the existing ruling institutions hold the crucial power—namely the Weberian power of coercion. In China, for example, despite the widespread wave of support for democracy by millions of people, the rulers said no they still hold the society in firm grips. On the other hand, the Mongolian Politburo gave up all their power overnight to a movement initiated by a dozen 20-somethings. I feel the idea of political culture still needs to account the decisions made by the ruling institutions. Why in some cases they feel overwhelmed by Arendtian power, and why in other cases decides to confront it?

The second question I have is, how should we understand the erosion of political culture? So far all of the three examples are presented in a way that reinvention of political culture always leads to a better outcome. However, the erosion, if not perversion, of political culture should also be addressed. For example, Mongolia has always been portrayed as a democratic anomaly. In the words of Mongolian president, “From the Sea of Japan to the eastern border of Europe, Mongolia is the only functioning democracy.” However, with the recent discovery of enormous amount of natural resources in the Gobi desert, politics has become a boxing ring where economic interest groups settle their scores. Along the way, money corrupts Mongolian politics, and the freedom of press is undermined because the economic interest groups trying to influence public opinion buys out media. This, at least in the Mongolian case, is eroding our political culture. And I am just wondering how should we address also the fragility of political culture.

So perhaps I’ll go now and change my hairstyle. Who knows in a few years I can tell my child that I contributed to a revolution.

Addendum: A few years ago, Russian historian Mikhail Safonov wrote that Beatles did more for the break up of totalitarianism in the USSR than Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov. He wrote , “The apolitical Beatles, though, slipped into every Soviet flat, packaged as tapes, just as easily as they assumed their place on the stages of the largest stadia and concert halls in the world. They did something that was not within the power of Solzhenitsyn nor Sakharov: they helped a generation of free people to grow up in the Soviet Union. This was a non-Soviet generation.”

Народный Артист оф зэ Дэй

The Best Sentences I Read Today

Х.Чойбалсан нэгэнтээ ТХ гишүүдийн хурал дээр хэлсэн үг мартагддагүй юм. "Төрийн бодлого гэж та нар миний санаа байдаг гэж бодож байна уу? үгүй ээ тийм биш төрийн бодлого гэдэг бол чавганцын санаа байдаг юм. Би түүн дээр нь төрийн тамгийг дараад Төрийн бодлого болдог юм" гэж билээ.

Ц. Лоохууз

Bayartsogt Yagaad Buruutay ve?

Manaihand neg zan bii: urgun uudam tal nutag shigee uujuu taivan. Uug ni bol saihan l daa. Bargiin yumand neg ih setgel hudluud baihguy, hudulsun ch ter ni dorhnoo zamharchihdag. Uurtuu ch amar, busdad ch aldaagaa zasah bolomj olgono. Ungursun doloo honogt bolson S. Bayartsogttoy holbootoy heregt manaihan aanai l uujuu taivan setgeleeree handatsgaaj zamhruulah tiish ni oruulav. Gehdee medeej MAH-iin medeenii website-uud bolon tuuniig ni ajilluuldag Tsogoo guay metiin heden sain duriin uran saihanchdiig es tootsvol l doo :)

Neg and maani bur tsaana chini nuhduud ulsiin 14 terbumaar casino-dood baihad chini gants neg saya dollaraa nuugaa l biz, surtey shd geed ulaan tsaim tuuj baih yum haha. Bayartsogt ch uuruu gantshan companiihaa l neriig bichihee martchihaj, ternees bish idej zavshsan yum baihguy ee, ee l dee agaa egee, ta nar yaasan muuhaiin gesen baina. Tegsen harin uujuu taivan setgelguy bolhooroo yum bailguy nadad Bayartsogt neg l buruu yum hiichihsen yum shig sanagdaad boldogguy.

Yunii umnu Bayartsogtiin hamgiin tom gem ni ashig sonirhliin zurchil gedgiig olj harah ni chuhal. Medeej Bayartsogtod hun buriinh shig huviin ashig sonirhol bii. Uuriinhuu orlogoo nemegduuleh, gangan mashinii tsugluulgaa arvijuulah geh met. Uund buruu yum yu ch baihguy. Gehdee niitiin alban tushaaltnii huvid tereer mun niigmiin ashig sonirhliig hargalzaj uzeh yostoy. Niigmiin ashig sonirhliig yamagt terguund tavij baih ni alban tushaaliig ni dagaldaj irdeg ard tumniihee, songogchdiinhoo umnu huleesen uureg hariutslaga. Hervee Bayartsogt huviin ashig sonirhliinhoo deer niitiin ashig sonirhliig tavij chadahguy gevel medeej ajlaa huleelgej uguh erh ni urgeljid neelttey.

Bayartsogt uneheer tsor gants companiihaa neriig ashig orlogiin meduulegtee bichiheeguygees uur gemguy, buruuguy baij bolno. Gehdee ene ni niitiin alban tushaaltan atlaa ashig sonirhliin zurchiltey baidald orsniig ni zuvtguj chadahguy. Ashig sonirhliin zurchil gedeg zaaval hen negen hahuuli ugultsuj avaltsaj baina gesen ug bish; harin tiim zuil garch bolzoshguy nuhtsul bii bolsoniig l helj baigaa baigaa hereg. Sangiin said baij unet tsaas ariljij l baidag... Hedii ene hoyor hoorondoo ogt hamaaralguy baisan ch gesen saidiin ner nuluuguu ashiglan unet tsaasnii uned nuluulj ashig olohiig aliig ter geh ve. Uuruur helbel end Bayartsogtiin niitiin albandaa hoyorguy setgeleer zutgej, uneheer niigmiin erh ashgiig tsaashid terguund tavij chadah uu uguy gedeg asuudal yarigdaj baigaa yum.

Sain mergejilten undur tsalintay baidag neg shaltgaan ni ashig sonirhliin zurchliig saitar oilgoj, tiim nuhtsuld uuriiguu oruulahaas sergiilj chaddagt baidag. Harin mani er daan ch ene talaar bodsonguy dee. Haihramjguydee ch bish mani metiig ni yuruusuu l ter dansiig ni olj medej chadahguy yum chini yaasan ch yadag yum geed eleg barij baihguy yu. Yur ni ene yanzaaraa uujuu taivan setgel gargaj baina geed nuhduudiin tolgoig ni ileed yavuulaad baival suuld ni hugjil devshil ch uguy, hund itgeh itgel ch uguy hotsroh ni baina shuu. Tsaashdaa hen hunguy iimerhuu hereg garsan daruid harin ch davchuu bachim setgeleer handaj saitar hariutslaga tootsoj baih heregtey.

"I Deliver Myself Entirely to Them"

When evening has come, I return to my house and go into my study. At the door I take off my clothes of the day, covered with mud and mire, and I put on my regal and courtly garments; and decently reclothed, I enter the an­cient courts of ancient men, where, received by them lovingly, I feed on the food that alone is mine and that I was born for. There I am not ashamed to speak with them and to ask them the reason for their actions; and they in their humanity reply to me. And for the space of four hours I feel no boredom, I forget every pain, I do not fear poverty, death does not frighten me. I deliver myself entirely to them.

Niccolo Machiavelli's letter to Francesco Vettori, December 10, 1513

Tvvхийн Mөрөөр

Хожим Лхамсүрэн өөрийн дурсамжид ""Цэдэнбалыг [Нью-Йорк руу] хэн явуулах гээд байгаа юм. Зөвлөлтийн элчин сайд тэгээд байгаа юм уу?" гэсэн асуултыг Маршал надад тавьж байсан юм" гэснээс нь үзэхэд бүрэлдэхүүний талаар, ялангуяа тэргүүний талаар манай удирдлага санал нэгтэй байгаагүй бололтой гэсэн сэтгэгдэл надад төрдөг юм.

Урианхан Б. Жаргалсайхан, "Алаг Жарны Бодрол," 160-р тал

[Нью Йорк орох замаараа] Парист түр саатах зуураа тэнд олон улсын хуралд оролцож байсан ЗХУ-ын ГЯЯ-ны сайд В. Молотовтой уулзаж, ажлынхаа чиг хандлагын талаар зөвлөлджээ. Энэхүү уулзалтын талаар яамны архивт үлдсэн нэгэн ярианы тэмдэглэлд дурдсаныг иш татвал:

"Цэдэнбал: Олон төлөөлөгч хүмүүстэй уулзах шаардлагагүй гэж бодож байна.

Молотов: Яалаа гэж. Харин аль болохуйц олон хүмүүс төлөөлөгчидтэй уулзаж улс орноо таниулахыг хичээх хэрэгтэй.

Цэдэнбал: Хөрөнгөтний сурвалжлагчдаас аль болохоор зайлсхийх нь зүйтэй юу?

Молотов: Үгүй дээ. Тэд нартай уулзаж, улс орныхоо талаар болон бодлого байр сууриа тайлбарлаж байх нь чухал.

Цэдэнбал: Би оросоор ярина гэж бодож байна.

Молотов: Та аль болохооор үндэснийхээ хэлээр ярих нь зүйтэй санагдаж байна..." гэх зэргээр зөвлөж байжээ.

Миний үзээгүй архивын өөр нэг тэмдэглэлд юу гэж байсан тухай ахмад дипломатч Ц. Дэмиддагва гуай дуртгалдаа иш татсаныг энд сийрүүлбэл: "Цэдэнбал дарга Молотовоос "НҮБ-ын Аюулгүйн Зөвлөл, Ерөнхий Ассамблей гэж хоёр өөр юу байдаг юм уу?" гэж асууж байснаас үзэхэд тэрээр НҮБ-ын Дүрмийг ч уншаагүй, энэ талаар хайхрамжгүй хандаж байсан нь илт байдаг. Энэ тухай Н. Лхамсүрэнгийн оросоор бичсэн ярианы тэмдэглэл ГЯЯ-ны архивт байсан бөгөөд түүнийг Л. Хашбат, Д. Пүрэвдорж, Б. Ванчиндорж бид жараад оны үед уншиж, Ю. Цэдэнбалын арчаагүй ажлын талаар шивэгнэн ярьж байсан билээ. Гэтэл тэр тэмдэглэл одоо байхгүй болсон нь "даргын нэр хүндэд харш" гэж үзсэн Ю. Цэдэнбалын тагнуулууд авч устгасан болов уу" гэжээ.

И. Очирбал, "Дипломат Өвөөгийн Дурсамж," 104-р тал

1940-өөд оны эцсээр Монгол улс НҮБ-ийн гишүүн болох асуудал их яригддаг болсон юм. Ерөнхий сайд, маршал Х.Чойбалсан энэ асуудалд онцгой ач холбогдол өгч байсан юм. Хар залуугаасаа Монголын төлөө өөрөөсөө хамаарах болон хамаарахгүй бүхнийг хийж, үхэхээс бусдыг үзсэн түүнд Монгол улс НҮБ-ийн гишүүн болох нь нэг насны мөрөөдлийн биелэл нь ч байсан байж магадгүй. Ингээд Х.Чойбалсан 1947 онд энэ асуудлыг шийдүүлэхээр Ю.Цэдэнбалыг Нью-Йорк руу илгээсэн юм. Ю.Цэдэнбал тэнд очоод НҮБ-ын чуулганд нэг удаа үг хэлснийг эс тооцвол юу ч хийгээгүй буцаж ирсэн юм билээ. Бусад орны төлөөлөгчидтэй уулзаж, өөрийн орныг сурталчлах, тэдний дэмжлэгийг авах талаар ямар ч ажил зохиогоогүй байдаг юм. Үүнээс үүдээд Ю.Цэдэнбалд Монгол улсыг НҮБ-ийн гишүүнд элсүүлэх сонирхол ер нь байсан болов уу? гэсэн асуулт төрдөг юм. Нью-Йорк хотод очоод, юу ч хийлгүй, өрөөнөөсөө ч гаралгүй хэдэн өдөр зүгээр суусан түүний хачин үйлдлийг юугаар ч тайлбарлах боломж олддоггүй учир яах ч аргагүй ийм асуулт төрдөг юм.

Гэхдээ түүнээс хойших Ю.Цэдэнбалын үйлдлийг ажиглахад тийм сонирхол түүнд байсан байж магадгүй гэсэн бодол төрүүлдэг ч гэсэн Монгол улс НҮБ-ийн гишүүнээр элсэх асуудал 1962 оныг хүртэл сунжирсан юм. 1962 онд Монгол улс НҮБ-ийн гишүүн болж, Байнгын төлөөлөгчийн газраа ажиллуулж эхэлсэн юм. НҮБ Монгол улсыг гишүүнээрээ элсүүлэн авах шийдвэрээ гаргаж байх тэр үед Ю.Цэдэнбал хөлөө хугалаад, Москва хотод эмнэлэгт хэвтэж байжээ. "Дургүй бол хүчгүй!" гэсэн нэг үг Монголд байдаг юм.

Ц. Лоохуузын дурсамж XX зууны Монголчууд /2/: Социалист　Монголын улс төрийн амьдрал, 94-р тал

Элитэрцэнгvvд

Neg marzan niitlel dotor chas hiisen heden paragraph tsohij yavna:

Нөгөө талд нь харин бас өөр нэг элитүүдийг яръя. Энэ бол гадаадад сургууль төгсөөд, эсвэл амьдарч байгаад ирсэн манайхан. (мэдээж бүгдийг нь хэлээгүй нь ойлгомжтой, нийтлэг төрх яриад байна)

Эд нараас харин тийм манарсан байдал үнэртэнэ. (deep confusion) Яах гээд ч буцаад ирчихсэн юм. Нүднээс нь шууд л ойд төөрсөн хүний харц анзаарагдана. Ам ажил хоёр нь зөрнө. Амаараа бол нэг л их мундаг баатар алс холын харь орноос нутгаа санаж ирээд улсаа хөгжүүлэх гээд байгаа юмаа даа. Ажил дээрээ бол таг. Тэгэж хэлчихээд л шууд цалин агнаад нэг уул уурхайн компанид орж өлөнтөнө.

Ер нь бол эд нар хойшоо сайхан алхаад гэр хороолол дундуураа яваад үзчих хэрэгтэй л дээ. Дэлгүүр хоршоогоор нь ороод, хүн ардтай уулзаад яг ямар улсад ирчихээд байгаагаа ойлгох, бүүр болж өгвөл ухамсарлах хэрэгтэй. Тэгэхгүй сэтгэл нь Америктаа, (даан ч тэнд нь хямрал болчихсон юм шүү дээ, юун ажил олдох) санаа нь энд, яриа нь шоктой - тэгээд нэг хотын төвийн хэдэн баараа хэсч нөгөө л нэг уулздаг өрөөсөн дугуй элитэнцэрүүдтэйгээ цаг өнгөрөөвөл амьдрал ямар харуусалтай вэ. Тэр хойно чинь дэлгүүрт талхыг хэрчмээр нь есийн тосыг (юу гээд байгааг нь мэдэх билүү, наранцэцэгийн тос) нь пенцилины шилээр (бас юу вэ?) зардаг юм ш дээ.

Triangle - U. Ganzorig

Persecution and Art

Leo Strauss-iin philosophy-d oruulsan hamgiin tom huvi nemer ni esoteric writing buyu augaa philosopher-uud shashnii bolon uls turiin daramtaas emeej uursdiinhuu jinhene heleh gesen sanaagaa il busaar uguuldeg gesen uzel yum. Udguu zarim neg liberal arts surguuliudad close reading hiihiig golchildog ni neg talaaraa ene uzliin ilrel gej helj bolno.

Gehdee esoteric writing-iin jisheeg zaaval Plato, Rousseau-gaas haih shaardlagaguy, uursdiinhuu ergen toirnoos ch ajiglaj bolno. Sayhan garsan "Ууган" nom deer B. Dolgionii dursamjaas negen sonirholtoy hesgiig end taviya:

Ууган маань шүлэг зохиогоод би аяыг нь хийж "Хослон дуулъя" гэдэг дуу төрж, Ууган Оюундэлгэртэй дуулсан түүхтэй. Үзэл суртлын шалтгаанаар Жон Лэнноны нэрийг нэрлэж болдоггүй цаг байлаа. Тийм учир

"Одтой тэнгэрт мишээхээр
Орчлон дэлхийг гэрэлтүүлэхээр
Онгон талдаа саран гийв үү"

гэж зохиосны Саран гэдэг үгний далд утга нь Жон Лэннон болой. Мөн ая дан дотор нь Жон Лэнноны "Jealous Guy" дууны нэгэн фразыг шургуулсныг минь тэр болгон хүн анзаарахгүй. Үүнийг бол Ууган бид хоёр л мэддэг байв.

Addendum: Badruugan agsnii duunii san

Vлгэр Дууриал

Khovdod 2 jil ajillasan Amerik nuhur sayhan huduunii huuhduudiin bolovsrold dutagddag neg chuhal zuiliin talaar helsen yum: ter ni huduud ulger duurial bolohuits, role model-uud tudiilun baidagguy yavdal. Gehdee ene bol huduud uhaantay, manlailagch hun baidagguy gesen ug bish. Harin tedgeer ulger duurial boloh humuus ni ihenhidee dotooddoo surguuli tugssun, hedii nutag ornoo henees ch iluu medeh bolovch Ulaanbaataraas tsaadahiig hardagguy, harah ch tudiilun shardlagaguy humuus baidag. Iim nuhtsuld Mongold tuiliin ih dutagddag gants Mongoloo tudiiguy gadaaduudiin setgelgeeg saitar oilgodog, tednii davuu taluudiig Mongoldoo avchirch, uursdiinhuu ontslogiig tedend taniulj chaddag humuus turj garah incentive bii boloh bolomjguy bolj baigaa yum. Medeej ene bol huduud husel ermelzeltey, uuriinhuu chadlaar gadaad hel ezemshsen huuhed baihguy gesen ug bish, harin uuniig huduu deh asar ih medlegiin bololtsoog bid aldaj baigaagiin neg ilerhiilel, dohio gej oilgovol zohiltoy.

Tegvel yur ni niit Mongoliin nuhtsuld bidend, uguy yadahnaa 15 nastay duud mini role model bolj chadah hun hen baina? End bi hoyor zuiliig shalguur bolgoj avch uzlee: 1. Mongoldoo ner hundtey, hiij buteedeg, olnii tanil baih. Uuruur helbel Mongoliinhoo nuhtsul baidliig sain oilgodog; mani met shig Mongol hunii tarhind naalddagguy tengeriin zuil yaridagguy gesen ug. 2. Delhiid nuur ulailgahaarguy medleg, bolovsroltoy baih. Mongoldoo baihdaa hedii hamgiin uhaantay hun met bolovch hiliin dees alhahaaraa neg bol yum medehguygee medeed pag boldog, ali esvel arvan jiliin huuhed shig yavtsuu medlegee duviilgudug humuus Mongoloor bishguidee neg bii (ter utgaaraa jishee ni Amerikiin usvur uyeiihnii shuteen Ayn Rand-iin ulaan fan Temuujin shuud hasagdaj baigaa yum).

Minii huvid yag odoo tiim hoyor role model tolgoid orj irj baina: ehniih ni Sanjaasurengiin Oyun, udaah ni Damdinii Tsogtbaatar (i.e. Baigal Orchnii Yamnii suuliin hoyor said :)). Ene hoyor hunii Mongol dahi ner hundiin talaar yariad yahav. Namiin yalgaanaas garch irdeg shuumjleluudiig es tootsvol huvi huniih ni huvid uneheer ulger jishee avahuits. Nuguu talaasaa asuudliig mash tsegtsteygeer harj, systemteygeer avch uzdeg chadvaraas ni haduurah durtay manai Mongolchuud, yalanguya zaluuchuud bid mash sain suraltsah heregtey. Edgeeriin deer gadaadiinhniig setgelgeeg oilgodog, tedend uursdiiguu buren duuren oilguuldag chadvaraas ni bid yah argaguy ulger duurial avuushtay.

Oyunii talaar ihenh humuus hangalttay meddeg bolhoor end jishee bolgood Tsogtbaatariin sayhan unshsan lektsiig tavilaa. Ene lektsen deer yalanguya asuudliig herhen uur untsguus tailbarlaj, yaj zadalj, bagtsalj baigaag ni anzaarahguy baihiin argaguy. Lektsen deer suuj baisan gadniihan ch gesen uund ni tatagdaj, Mongoliin baigal orchnii talaar negeehen oilgolttoy bolson gedegt ni ergelzehguy baina.



Tanii huvid bidend uur ulger jishee avahuits humuus baigaa bol door comment heseg deer bichne uu (to avoid cliches, please don't say Chingis Khaan or your mom and pa).

Monday Morning Readings

Manaid ihenh humuus unshsan nomon deer ni iim chuhal sanaa gardag gej yarihiin orond nadad iim medremj turuuldeg gej ontsoldog ni barag odoo sonin sanagdahaa ch baichihaj. Neg talaasaa ene ni tuhain hun unshsan (?!) nomoo uneheer uuriinhuuruu huleej avch bui met bolovch nuguu talaasaa buren guitsed oilgooguyn halhavch boldog gedgiig huleen zuvshuuruh tsag bolson baimaar. Yur ni bol "open-mindedness," "empty-headedness" hoyoriin hoorond tenger gazar shig yalgaa bii l dee.

Sonirholtoy ni bi manaihan shig iimerhuu medremj yarisan, esoteric yumand nugasguy humuus yagaad Leo Strauss-iin talaar sonsooguy baidag yum boloo gej zarimdaa ih gaihdag yum. Medeej Strauss-iin rigor-iig manai zarim neg "esoteric" garuud unshaad aih ni buu hel oilgodog ch uguy baih l daa. Gehdee yadaj neriig ni barij uursdiinhuu muhar susgiig reklamdaj ch chaddagguy ni yostoy nuguu bilgiin nud ni neegdeeguyn shinj ni yum bolov uu daa hehe. Yalanguya ertnii nom zohiol, helts yariagaar turii barij "bidnii uvug deedes ingedeg baisan yum" gej yarih durtay nuhduud yadaj Strauss-iin arga barilaas budaa idvel neleed yum garch irne (dalimaar ni ter nuhduud her undeslelguy bulterch zuvhun uursdiinhuu helehiig hussen zuilsee uvug deedsiin ner barij heldgee oilgoh ch yum biluu hen medlee).

Yutay ch manaihan shig guilgee uhaantay, gants hoyor sonsson zuiliinhee talaar uursduu zohioson yum shig medemhiireh durtay nuhduud neg l udur Amerikiin augaa gun uhaanch Lev Shtraus geed avch uguhuus ni umnu Strauss-iin talaar gun gunzgii bish yumaa gehed davguy sain oilgoltiig avchihsan ni zugeer baih. Strauss-iin yag uuriinh ni nomuud, uguulluud ni oilgohod neleed yarvigtay; political philosophy, ertnii Grekiin gun uhaan tuhailan sonirhdogguy bol barag noirnii ch em bolj medne (bi uuruu ch heden udaa nam untaj baisnaa nuugaad yahav). Harin Strauss-iin uuriinh ni lektsuud mash sonirholtoy. Husvel shavi nariinh ni ajilluulj baigaa website deerh audio and transcripts gesen hesgees bichleguudiig ni sonsoj uzehiig zuvluyu. Yalanguya heleltsej bui text-iig ni unshchihaad sonsvol bur iluu ur duntey :)

Sedevtee butsaad orohod, Leo Strauss-iin talaar bid yamar neg oilgolttoy baih yostoy hoyor chuhal shaltgaan bii: Negd, bidnii ergen toiron dahi Strauss-iin nuluug hezee ch chamlaj bolohguy. Jishee ni Bush-iin uyed yalanguya Amerikiin gadaad bodlogiin ideology-g todorhoilj asan neoconservative-chuud barag bugdeeree Strauss-iin shavi nar (uguy yumaa gehed shavi nariinh ni shavi nar) baisan. Ene talaar Amerik, Europe-iin hevleluud, sain duriin uran saihanchid ch bishguydee neg shuursan. Magadguy ene sedveer bichigdsen hamgiin surjin nom ni Shadia Drury-giin Leo Strauss and the American Right baih. Minii huvid harin Anne Norton-ii Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire-iig sanal bolgoyo. Endees gol ni gants hunii sanaa bodol (opinion bish idea) yamar huchtey ve gedgiig oilgoh ni chuhal. University of Chicago-giin neg seminar-iin uruunuus odoogiin Iraq-iin dain hiih sanaa turun garna gej hen medeh bilee? Nuguu talaasaa Strauss-iin arga baril Amerikiin turiin salbar burt herhen nuluulsun ni neleed sonirholtoy. Jishee ni tuunii shavi asan Abram Shulsky-giin Leo Strauss and the World of Intelligence uguulliig unshaad uzeerey. Tuuniiheer bol Strauss-iin arga bariliig tagnuuliin medeellig bolovsruulahad hurtel ashiglaj boloh ni:

With Tocqueville, Strauss would have argued that the regime shapes human political action in so fundamental a way that the very souls appear different. For this reason, among others, social science could never hope to be "scientific" in the sense of the natural sciences, which can be confident that the phenomena it studies do not vary from place to place [...] Strauss's view certainly alerts one to the possibility that political life may be closely linked to deception. Indeed, it suggests that deception is the norm in political life, and the hope, to say nothing of the expectation, of establishing a politics that can dispense with it is the exception.

Hoyort, Strauss-iin asuudliig bur ugaas ni olj hardag, yamar ch zuiliig buren utgaar ni oilgohiig charmaidag arga baril ni tevcheerguy, yumand system-teygeer handdagguy bidnii huvid asar tom ulger jishee boloh uchirtay. Yalanguya Strauss-iin arga barilaar ertnii zohiol buteeluudee close reading hiij uursdiin gesen interpretation, oilgoltoo olj avah ni sayhan Sh. Bira guayn helsen "it is critical towards the understanding of our past and the preservation of the future" gedegtey agaar neg yum. Hervee husvel Strauss-iin arga baril, nuluunii talaar shavi Werner Dannhauser-iin bichsen Becoming Naïve Again gesen uguulliig unshihiig sanal bolgoyo:

Leo Strauss taught us how to read a book. We learned that books were wholes, and that it was safest to assume that they were perfect wholes [...] So we would read books carefully, line by line if possible, and we found that a great book is indeed a magic structure. It is wonderful- literally full of wonders, a house of many mansions, secret rooms, labyrinthine passages [...] He trained us to see things as they come to sight, to let them appear without the distortions modern opinion imposes upon them, and, yes, to let them speak to us. That meant we had to divest ourselves of many habits, including the habit of viewing things as budding social scientists. We learned what is, perhaps, hardest of all to learn: to become a bit more naive again.

P.S: Hervee political philosophy sonirhdog bol Strauss-iin emhetgesen History of Political Philosophy nomiig zaaval olj avaaray.

The Best Paragraph I Read Today

Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay. In the modern state there are very few sites where this is possible. The only others that come readily to my mind require belief in an omnipotent creator as a condition for membership. It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’s definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on. Nor can the experience of library life be recreated online. It’s not just a matter of free books. A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal.

from The North West London Blues - Zadie Smith

Who Needs A Road?

A video that I should watch every morning

Addendum: and let's not forget the great Husky Power video!

A Shared Sense of Humanity

I've been reading Ryszard Kapuściński lately. Apart from his magnificent style, I was deeply touched by his humaneness. From every single sentence he wrote, you could feel his determined effort to understand the lives of ordinary strangers and describe them as best as he could. What a style, what a soul!

Here's one passage that really touched me. Even though it's about a slum district in Nairobi, I feel like these words could easily apply to our ger districts as well. Perhaps this is an indication of the scope of his perspective that allowed him to distill the universal from a particular observation.

They go, either tempted by the mirage of employment, or frightened by an epidemic that has suddenly broken out nearby, or evicted by the owners of the clay huts and verandas, whom they were unable to pay for the space they occupied. Everything in their life is temporary, fluid, and frail. It exists and it doesn't exist. Even if it does exist—then for how long? This eternal uncertainty causes my neighbors to live in a perpetual state of alert, of unabating fear. They fled the poverty of the countryside and made their way to the city in the hope tha,t life would be better for them here. Those who succeeded in tracking down a cousin could count on some support, some help getting started. But many of these former peasants did not find any of their relations, or any fellow tribesmen. Often, they didn't even understand the language being spoken in the streets, didn't know how to ask about anything. Still, the force of the city absorbed them, its life became their only world, and by the next day already they were unable to extricate themselves from it.

"My Alleyway, 1967" from Ryszard Kapuściński's The Shadow of the Sun

The passage also reminded me of this another brilliant point by Edward Glaeser. Especially when discussing the issues of ger districts, it is essential to understand that those people are here because they find relatively better conditions in the cities. I wish the public discourse in Mongolia would explicitly acknowledge this fact.

The basic point here is that cities don’t make people poor. They attract poor people with economic opportunity, with a better social safety net, the ability to get around without a car for every adult. People are moving for a reason. It’s a terrible thing that there are so many poor people in the world, but it’s not a terrible thing that they have come to cities to try and make their lives better.

Edward Glaeser - Triumph of the PPP: A Leading Urban Economist on Risks and Rewards

Or perhaps those people who discriminate recent migrants should read more carefully what the great David Simon recently said,

So what am I saying? Do you all need to move to Baltimore, or Mogadishu, or Karachi and flagellate yourselves because you happened to be born and raised and educated in better circumstance? Of course not. That’s not what this is about. No one’s asking for cheap, useless guilt here. No, this is about empathy, about a shared sense of humanity, about – and here it comes again – responsibility.

Library of the Day

"Agnon's Library" by Yuval Yairi (via James Wood - "Shelf Life")

And in this way, I began to think, our libraries perhaps say nothing very particular about us at all. Each brick in the wall of a library is a borrowed brick: several thousand people, perhaps several hundred thousand, own books by F. E. Peters. If I were led into Edmund Wilson's library in Talcotville, would I know what it was Edmund Wilson's library, and not Alfred Kazin's or F. W. Dupee's? We tend to venerate libraries once we know whose they are, like admiring a famous philosopher's eyes or a ballet dancer's foot.

Erging in UB

After gulping down a cup of tepid cocoa in the dining room downstairs, I would dash, with my fur coat half on, through the green drawing room, toward the library, from which came a medley of stamping and scraping sounds. There I would find my father, a big, robust man, looking still bigger in his white training suit, thrusting and parrying while his agile instructor added brisk exclamations ("Battez!," "Rompez!") to the click-clink of the foils.

Panting a little, my father would remove the convex fencing mask from his perspiring pink face to kiss me good morning. The place combined pleasantly the scholarly and the athletic, the leather of books and the leather of boxing gloves. Fat armchairs stood along the book-lined walls. An elaborate punching-bag affair purchased in England - four steel posts supporting the board from which the pear-shaped bag hung - gleamed at the end of the spacious room.

Working out in my library always reminds me of this passage from Nabokov's "My Russian Education." I guess he was right when he said, "the scholarly and the athletic" go together really well.

Photo of the Day: Le Tour

David Millar of Britain collapses after crossing the finish line to win the 140-mile 12th stage in Annonay on July 13, 2012. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press) #

David Millar-iin Racing Through the Dark-iig ene jiliin eheer unshsan. Hedii mundag nom bish bolovch mergejliin duguich boldog zamnaliig ih todoor haruulsan baisan. Mun sonirhvol Millar-iin FT-d ugsun yariltslagiig unshaaray.

Hervee Tour de France-iin talaar sonirhoj ehelj baigaa bol "Chasing Legends"-iig zaaval uzeerey. Tegeed bolj ugvul Phil Liggett-iin commentary-tay buh video-g :)

Ene bas cycling-iig social context-d ni avch uzsen Philip Gourevitch-iin suuld unshsan neleed sonirholtoy niitlel:

Cycling is an excruciating sport—a rider’s power is only as great as his capacity to endure pain—and it is often remarked that the best cyclists experience their physical agonies as a relief from private torments. The bike gives suffering a purpose. Jock, who was one of America’s foremost cycling champions in the nineteen-eighties, told me that he got into racing to get out of the house after his parents divorced. “I relate to pain,” he said. Gasore’s home-town teammate, Sibo, told me much the same thing. When he bought his first bike (like Gasore, with earnings from growing potatoes), Sibo had gone joyriding. With the bike, he felt rich and tried to act accordingly, like a man of leisure and ease: “Every time I’d come to a beautiful place, I’d pedal around, checking it out.” Then he took up racing, and he found the hardship addictive. “The bike is good. I forgot all the pain I had before I joined the team,” Sibo told me. “Cycling is like a fatal drug. When you get into it, you don’t want to do anything else. You don’t look to one side or another.”

Addendum: Mongolia Bike Challenge - it's on my bucket list :)

Perfect Library

from Bookshelf Porn

Addendum: Antilibrary + A House to Look Smart In

Red Blue Chair

Uuriinhuu hamgiin durtay Gerrit Rietveld-iin Red Blue Chair-iin jijig zagvariig hiij uzev. Ungursun jil München-ii Pinakothek der Moderne dotor barag 300 EUR gej baisan bolhoor sharandaa gants hoyor mod niiluulj horhoigoo darav. Naddaa l хаваасаг bolloo.

Daraagiin udaad harin New England Fan Back Chair (yur ni bol Adirondack Chair) hiij uzdeg yum biluu gej bodood baigaa. New England yavah hoirhoigoo tegj l darahaas :)

Best Sentences I Read Today

[T]he critical skills of the best surgeons I saw involved the ability to handle complexity and uncertainty. They had developed judgment, mastery of teamwork, and willingness to accept responsibility for the consequences of their choices. In this respect, I realized, surgery turns out to be no different than a life in teaching, public service, business, or almost anything you may decide to pursue. We all face complexity and uncertainty no matter where our path takes us. That means we all face the risk of failure. So along the way, we all are forced to develop these critical capacities—of judgment, teamwork, and acceptance of responsibility.

In commencement addresses like this, people admonish us: take risks; be willing to fail. But this has always puzzled me. Do you want a surgeon whose motto is “I like taking risks”? We do in fact want people to take risks, to strive for difficult goals even when the possibility of failure looms. Progress cannot happen otherwise. But how they do it is what seems to matter.

from Atul Gawande's commencement address at Williams College

The United Nations estimates that poverty has been reduced more in the past 50 years than in the previous 500 years. And much of that reduction has taken place in the last 20 years. The average Chinese person is 10 times richer than he or she was 50 years ago — and lives for 25 years longer. Life expectancy across the world has risen dramatically. We gain five hours of life expectancy every day — without even exercising! A third of all the babies born in the developed world this year will live to be 100.

All this is because of rising standards of living, hygiene, and, of course, medicine. Atul Gawande, a Harvard professor who is also a practicing surgeon, and who also writes about medicine for The New Yorker, writes about a 19th century operation in which the surgeon was trying to amputate his patient’s leg. He succeeded — at that — but accidentally amputated his assistant’s finger as well. Both died of sepsis, and an onlooker died of shock. It is the only known medical procedure to have a 300 percent fatality rate. We’ve come a long way.

from Fareed Zakaria’s commencement address at Harvard

Addendum:

Some of your worst days lie ahead. Graduation is a happy day. But my job is to tell you that if you are going to do anything worthwhile, you will face periods of grinding self-doubt and failure. Be prepared to work through them. I'll spare you my personal details, other than to say that one year after college graduation I had no job, less than $500 in assets, and I was living with an elderly retired couple. The only difference between when I graduated and today is that now no one can afford to retire.

from 10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You

Poem of the Day

The More Loving One
by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total darkness sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

1957

Misremembering Chingis Khan

Suuliin uyed Mongoliin talaarh gadnii sudalgaanuud unshdag ajiltay bolood baigaa. Yur ni Mongol hel hetsuugiin deer medeelliin eh survalj homs tul zarim neg gadnii sudlaachid haa hamaaguy zuils yarih ni elbeg yum. Gehdee bas tednii dund mash chanartay sudalgaa hiideg nuhduud ch baina. Yalanguya Caroline Humhprey, David Sneath, Chris Kaplonski, Uradyn Bulag, Alicia Campi, Manduhai Buyandelger zereg sudlaachid Mongoliin talaar chanartay buteeluud togtmol tuurvij baina.

Yutay ch unshsan sudalgaanuud dotroos hamgiin ih setgel hudulgusun ni Kaplonski-giin "The Case of the Disappearing Chingis Khaan" bailaa. Uuniig unshsanii daraa Mongoliin talaarh neleed olon bodluud maani emh tsegtstey boloh shig bolloo. Bolvol zavaaraa unshaad setgegdelee uldeegeerey. Bas Mongoliin talaar bichigdsen uursdiin durtay uur busad sudalgaanii buteeluud baival huvaaltsana uu.

This remembered past, even if different from the documented past, serves not only to tell people who they are, but it also tells them who they were [...] The elision of Chinggis Khaan from the socialist world serves to heighten the contrast between then and now. Forgetting, or misremembering, that Chinggis Khaan was indeed remembered, is an integral part of Mongolian identity formation. There is a necessity for a certain amount of amnesia to create a past that all can look to. As Ernest Renan taught us, part of being a nation (or any other group) is getting our history wrong. And in many contexts, this is just not a matter of forgetting in a negative sense, but misremembering in a more active, positive sense. What I have shown here is how and why this happened in Mongolia, but the theoretical lesson is more broadly applicable. The reinvention of Chinggis Khaan in the present is ultimately the key to understanding the misremembering of how he was portrayed in the socialist period. Chinggis Khaan, when all is said and done, was not “banished to oblivion” because the socialists needed him to be. Rather, he was and is banished from the recalled past because post-socialist Mongolia needs him to be now.

'The case of the disappearing Chinggis Khaan: dismembering the remembering' Ab Imperio, 4/2005: 147-173.

Addendum: Also don't forget to check the works of two talented young social anthropologists, Grégory Delaplace of U-Paris X and Franck Billé of University of Cambridge, who are currently researching the post-socialist identity of Mongolians.

Nostalgie

Ulaanbaatar, circa 1998. Als die Dinge einfach waren.

Нэг мэдэхэд миний мэдэх Улаанбаатараас юу ч үлдэхгүй бололтой. Социализмын жилүүдэд зугуухан боссон нийслэл хот хүссэн хүсээгүй шинэчлэгдэх жамтай ч XX зууны Монгол улсын түүх, дүр төрхийг гэрчилсэн хэдэн сайхан байшин, ганц нэг гудамж талбайг үлдээхсэн.

Сүйтгэн байгуулалт - Цэрэнжав