Simple living

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_living

Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn in 1942. Gandhi believed in a life of simplicity and self-sufficiency.

Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. In addition to such external changes, simple living also reflects a person's mindset and values. Simple living practices can be seen in history, religion, art, and economics.

Adherents may choose simple living for a variety of personal reasons, such as spirituality, health, increase in quality time for family and friends, work–life balance, personal taste, financial sustainability, increase in philanthropy, frugality, environmental sustainability, or reducing stress. Simple living can also be a reaction to economic materialism and consumer culture. Some cite sociopolitical goals aligned with environmentalist, anti-consumerist, or anti-war movements, including conservation, degrowth, deep ecology, and tax resistance.

History

Religious and spiritual

A number of religious and spiritual traditions encourage simple living. Early examples include the Śramaṇa traditions of Iron Age India and biblical Nazirites. These traditions were heavily influenced by both national cultures and religious ethics. Simplicity was one of the primary concepts espoused by Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. This is most embodied in the principles of Pu and Ziran. Confucius has been quoted numerous times as promoting simple living.

Gautama Buddha espoused simple living as a central virtue of Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths advocate detachment from desire as the path to ending suffering and attaining Nirvana.

Jesus is said to have lived a simple life. He is said to have encouraged his disciples "to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics". He also told his disciples that they cannot serve God and money at the same time, and explained that God is capable of providing them with the essentials for life (food and clothing), so long as they "seek his kingdom first". The Apostle Paul taught that people should be content with food and clothing, and that the desire to be rich is the cause of many kinds of evils.

Many other notable religious individuals, such as Benedict of Nursia, Francis of Assisi, Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Schweitzer, and Mahatma Gandhi, have claimed that spiritual inspiration led them to a simple living lifestyle.

Ottoman Dervish portrayed by Amedeo Preziosi, 1860s circa, Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României

Sufism in the Muslim world emerged and grew as a mystical, somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream Sunni and Shia denominations of Islam. Sufism grew particularly in the frontier areas of Islamic states, where the asceticism of its fakirs and dervishes appealed to populations already used to the monastic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Sufis were influential and successful in spreading Islam between the 10th and 19th centuries. Some scholars have argued that Sufi Muslim ascetics and mystics played a decisive role in converting the Turkic peoples to Islam, mainly because of the similarities between the extreme, ascetic Sufis (fakirs and dervishes) and the Shamans of the traditional Turco-Mongol religion.

Plain people typically belonged to Christian groups that practised lifestyles that excluded forms of wealth or technology for religious or philosophical reasons. Such Christian groups include the Shakers, Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Amana Colonies, Bruderhof, Old German Baptist Brethren, Harmony Society, and some Quakers. A Quaker belief called Testimony of simplicity states that a person ought to live her or his life simply. Some tropes about complete exclusion of technology in these groups may not be accurate though. The Amish and other groups do use some modern technology, after assessing its impact on the community.

The 18th-century French Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau strongly praised the simple way of life in many of his writings, especially in two books: Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750) and Discourse on Inequality (1754).

Secular and political

Epicureanism, based on the teachings of the Athens-based philosopher Epicurus, flourished from about the fourth century BCE to the third century CE. Epicureanism held that the paradigm of happiness was the untroubled life, which was made possible by carefully considered choices. Epicurus pointed out that troubles entailed by maintaining an extravagant lifestyle tend to outweigh the pleasures of partaking in it. He therefore concluded that what is necessary for happiness, bodily comfort, and life itself should be maintained at minimal cost, while all things beyond what is necessary for these should either be tempered by moderation or completely avoided.

Reconstruction of Henry David Thoreau's cabin on the shores of Walden Pond

Henry David Thoreau, an American naturalist and author, made the classic secular advocacy of a life of simple and sustainable living in his book Walden (1854). Thoreau conducted a two-year experiment living a plain and simple life on the shores of Walden Pond. He concluded: "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail."

In Victorian Britain, Henry Stephens Salt, an admirer of Thoreau, popularised the idea of "Simplification, the saner method of living". Other British advocates of the simple life included Edward Carpenter, William Morris, and the members of the "Fellowship of the New Life". Carpenter popularised the phrase the "Simple Life" in his essay Simplification of Life in his England's Ideal (1887).

C.R. Ashbee and his followers also practised some of these ideas, thus linking simplicity with the Arts and Crafts movement. British novelist John Cowper Powys advocated the simple life in his 1933 book A Philosophy of Solitude. John Middleton Murry and Max Plowman practised a simple lifestyle at their Adelphi Centre in Essex in the 1930s. Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh championed a "right simplicity" philosophy based on ruralism in some of his work.

George Lorenzo Noyes, a naturalist, mineralogist, development critic, writer, and artist, is known as the Thoreau of Maine. He lived a wilderness lifestyle, advocating through his creative work a simple life and reverence for nature. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Vanderbilt Agrarians of the Southern United States advocated a lifestyle and culture centered upon traditional and sustainable agrarian values as opposed to the progressive urban industrialism which dominated the Western world at that time.

The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1924

The Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen warned against the conspicuous consumption of the materialistic society in his The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899); Richard Gregg coined the term "voluntary simplicity" in The Value of Voluntary Simplicity (1936). From the 1920s, a number of modern authors articulated both the theory and practice of living simply, among them Gandhian Richard Gregg, economists Ralph Borsodi and Scott Nearing, anthropologist-poet Gary Snyder, and utopian fiction writer Ernest Callenbach. Economist E. F. Schumacher argued against the notion that "bigger is better" in Small Is Beautiful (1973); and Duane Elgin continued the promotion of the simple life in Voluntary Simplicity (1981).

The Australian academic Ted Trainer practices and writes about simplicity, and established The Simplicity Institute at Pigface Point, some 20 km (12 mi) from the University of New South Wales to which it is attached. A secular set of nine values was developed with the Ethify Yourself project in Austria, having a simplified life style in mind. In the United States voluntary simplicity started to garner more public exposure through a movement in the late 1990s around a popular "simplicity" book, The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs.

Practices

Reducing consumption, work time, and possessions

Living simply in a small dwelling

Some people practice simple living by reducing their consumption. Lowering consumption can reduce individual debt, which allows for greater flexibility and simplicity in one's life. If one spends less on goods or services, one can spend less time earning money. The time saved may be used to pursue other interests, to help others through volunteering, or to improve their quality of life, for example, by pursuing creative activities. Developing a detachment from the pursuit of money has led some individuals, such as Suelo and Mark Boyle, to live with no money. People who reduce their expenses can also increase their savings, leading to financial independence and the possibility of early retirement.

The "100 Thing Challenge" is a grassroots movement to whittle personal possessions to one hundred items, aiming of de-cluttering and simplify life. People in the tiny house movement chose to live in small, mortgage-free, low-impact dwellings, such as log cabins or beach huts.

Joshua Becker suggests that people who desire to simplify their lives begin by simplifying their homes.

Increasing self-sufficiency

Robert Hart's forest garden in Shropshire, England, UK

Increased self-sufficiency reduces dependency on money and the broader economy. Tom Hodgkinson believes the key to a free and simple life is to stop consuming and start producing. Writer and eco-blogger Jennifer Nini left the city to live off-grid, grow food, and "be a part of the solution; not part of the problem."

Forest gardening, developed by simple living adherent Robert Hart, is a low-maintenance, plant-based food production system based on woodland ecosystems. It incorporates fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines, and perennial vegetables. Hart created a model forest garden from a 0.12-acre (490 m²) orchard on his farm at Wenlock Edge in Shropshire.

"Food miles" is a description of the number of miles a given item of food or its ingredients has travelled between the farm and the table. Simple living advocates use this metric to argue for locally grown food, for example in books like The 100-Mile Diet and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. In each of those cases, the authors devoted a year to reducing their carbon footprint by eating locally.

City dwellers can produce home-grown fruit and vegetables in pot gardens or miniature indoor greenhouses. Tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, peas, strawberries, and several types of herbs can all thrive in pots. Jim Merkel says "A person could sprout seeds. They are tasty, incredibly nutritious, and easy to grow... We grow them in wide-mouthed mason jars with a square of nylon window screen screwed under a metal ring".

Reconsidering technology

People who practice simple living have diverse views on the role of technology. The American political activist Scott Nearing was skeptical about how humanity would use new technology, citing destructive inventions such as nuclear weapons. Those who eschew modern technology are often referred to as Luddites or neo-Luddites. Although simple living is often a secular pursuit, it may still involve reconsidering appropriate technology as Anabaptist groups such as the Amish or Mennonites have done.

Technology can make a simple lifestyle within mainstream culture easier and more sustainable. The internet can reduce an individual's carbon footprint through remote work and lower paper usage. Some have calculated their energy consumption to show that one can live simply and in a satisfying way by using much less energy than is typically used in Western countries. Technologies they may embrace include computers, photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and water turbines.

Technological interventions that appear to simplify living may actually induce side effects elsewhere or in the future. Evgeny Morozov warns that tools like the internet can facilitate mass surveillance and political repression. The book Green Illusions identifies how wind and solar energy technologies have hidden side effects and can actually increase energy consumption and entrench environmental harms over time. The authors of the book Techno-Fix criticize technological optimists for overlooking the limitations of technology in solving agricultural problems.

Simplifying diet

Figs, berries, and cheese

In contrast to diets like vegetarianism, a simplified diet focuses on principles rather than a set of rules. People may use less sophisticated and cheaper ingredients, and eat dishes considered as "comfort food", including home-cooked dishes. Simple diets are usually considered to be "healthy", since they include a significant amount of fruit and vegetables. A simple diet usually avoids highly processed foods and fast-food eating. Simplicity may also entail taking time to be present while eating, such as by following rituals, avoiding multitasking when eating, and putting time aside to consume food mindfully and gratefully, potentially in the company of others. Practicing mindfulness and awareness while eating promotes a deeper sense of connection and responsibility toward understanding food as a meaningful and fulfilling process, rather than merely consuming a product. Moreover, it is common to cook one's own food, by following simple recipes that are not particularly time consuming, in an attempt to reduce the amount of energy necessary for cooking.

A simple diet looks different from person to person and can be adapted to suit individual needs and desires. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the Movement for Compassionate Living was formed by Kathleen and Jack Jannaway in 1984 to spread the message of veganism and promote simple living and self-reliance as a remedy against the exploitation of humans, animals, and the planet.

Politics and activism

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is inspired by simple living, as harmony with nature is intrinsically dependent on a simple lifestyle. For example, Green parties often advocate simple living as a consequence of their "four pillars" or the "Ten Key Values" of the Green Party of the United States. This includes, in policy terms, their rejection of genetic engineering and nuclear power and other technologies they consider to be hazardous. The Greens' support for simplicity is based on the reduction in natural resource usage and environmental impact. This concept is expressed in Ernest Callenbach's "green triangle" of ecology, frugality, and health.

Some avoid involvement even with green politics as compromising simplicity, however, and instead advocate forms of green anarchism that attempt to implement these principles at a smaller scale, e.g. the ecovillage. Deep ecology, a belief that the world does not exist as a resource to be freely exploited by humans, proposes wilderness preservation, human population control, and simple living.

Minimalist lifestyles may contribute to reduced carbon emissions, although further research is needed to quantify their impact.

The White House Peace Vigil, started by simple living adherent Ellen Thomas in 1981

Arts

The term "bohemianism" describes a tradition of both voluntary and involuntary poverty by artists who devote their time to artistic endeavors rather than paid labor. The term was coined by the French bourgeoisie as a way to describe social non-conformists. Bohemians sometimes also expressed their unorthodoxy through simplistic art, for instance in the case of Amedeo Modigliani. Minimalistic art inspired "rebel" artistic movements into the 20th century.

Positive attitudes towards living in poverty for the sake of art are becoming less common among young American artists. One recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design said "her classmates showed little interest in living in garrets and eating ramen noodles."

Economics

A new economics movement has been building since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, and the publications that year of Only One Earth, The Limits to Growth, and Blueprint for Survival, followed by Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered in 1973.

David Wann introduced the idea of "simple prosperity" as it applies to a sustainable lifestyle. From his point of view, "it is important to ask ourselves three fundamental questions: what is the point of all our commuting and consuming? What is the economy for? And, finally, why do we seem to be unhappier now than when we began our initial pursuit for rich abundance?"

James Robertson's A New Economics of Sustainable Development inspired work of thinkers and activists who participate in his Working for a Sane Alternative network and program. According to Robertson, the shift to sustainability is likely to require a widespread shift of emphasis from raising incomes to reducing costs.

The principles of the new economics, as set out by Robertson, are the following:

• systematic empowerment of people (as opposed to making and keeping them dependent), as the basis for people-centred development
• systematic conservation of resources and the environment, as the basis for environmentally sustainable development
• evolution from a "wealth of nations" model of economic life to a one-world model, and from today's inter-national economy to an ecologically sustainable, decentralising, multi-level one-world economic system
• restoration of political and ethical factors to a central place in economic life and thought
• respect for qualitative values, not just quantitative values

Taiwan Miracle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Miracle

The Taiwan Miracle (Chinese: 臺灣奇蹟; pinyin: Táiwān Qíjī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-oân Kî-chek) or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to Taiwan's rapid economic development to a developed, high-income country during the latter half of the twentieth century.

As it developed alongside South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Taiwan became known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers". Taiwan was the first developing country to adopt an export-oriented trade strategy after World War II.

Background

GDP per capita development in Taiwan

Premier Chen Cheng has been widely regarded as a leading architect of the Taiwan Miracle. In He promoted and relied upon a cohort of technocrats, including Yin Chung-jung, Yen Chia-kan, Yang Chi-tseng, and Li Kwoh-ting, while remaining the ultimate decision-maker in economic policy. Yin was often considered the first chief technocrat, succeeded after his death by Yen, and later by Li and Sun Yun-suan.

After a period of hyperinflation in the late 1940s when the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China military regime of Chen Yi overprinted the Taiwanese dollar against the previous Taiwanese yen in the Japanese era, the government introduced a new and stable currency to address hyperinflation. Along with the $4 billion in financial aid and soft credit provided by the US (as well as the indirect economic stimulus of US food and military aid) over the 1945–1965 period, and a more direct infusion of 41 Billion US dollars in free development aid up until year 1975 (Now worth $242 Billion US Dollars in 2024 values as adjusted for inflation). Taiwan thus had the necessary capital to restart its economy. Further, the Kuomintang government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China.

A land reform law, inspired by the same one that the Americans were enacting in occupied Japan, removed the landlord class (similar to what happened in Japan), and created a higher number of peasants who, with the help of the state, increased the agricultural output dramatically. This marked the beginning of capital accumulation. It inverted capital creation, and liberated the agricultural workforce to work in the urban sectors. However, the government imposed on the peasants an unequal exchange with the industrial economy, with credit and fertilizer controls and a non monetary exchange to trade agrarian products (machinery) for rice. With the control of the banks (at the time, being the property of the government), and import licenses, the state oriented the Taiwanese economy to import substitution industrialization, creating initial capitalism in a fully protected market.

It also, with the help of USAID, created a massive industrial infrastructure, communications, and developed the educational system. Several government bodies were created and four-year plans were also enacted. Between 1952 and 1982, economic growth was on average 8.7%, and between 1983 and 1986 at 6.9%. The gross national product grew by 360% between 1965 and 1986. The percentage of global exports was over 2% in 1986, over other recently industrialized countries, and the global industrial production output grew a further 680% between 1965 and 1986. The social gap between the rich and the poor fell (Gini: 0.558 in 1953, 0.303 in 1980), even lower than some Western European countries, but it grew a little in the 80's. Health care, education, and quality of life also improved. Observers have noted that the flexibility of Taiwan's industrial structure enabled adaptation to global shifts.

The economist S. C. Tsiang played an influential role in shifting towards an export-oriented trade strategy. In 1954, he called for Taiwan to deal with its chronic shortage of foreign exchange by increasing exports rather than reduce imports. In 1958, the policymaker K. Y. Yin pushed for the adoption of Tsiang's ideas.

In 1959, a 19-point program of Economic and Financial Reform, liberalized market controls, stimulated exports and designed a strategy to attract foreign companies and foreign capital. An exports processing area was created in Kaohsiung and in 1964, General Instruments pioneered in externalizing electronic assembly in Taiwan. Japanese companies moved in, reaping the benefits of low salaries, the lack of environmental laws and controls, a well-educated and capable workforce, and the support of the government. But the nucleus of the industrial structure was national, and it was composed by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, created within families with the family savings, and savings cooperatives nets called hui (Chinese: 會; pinyin: Huì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hōe; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Fi). They had the support of the government in the form of subsidies and credits loaned by the banks.

Most of these societies appeared for the first time in rural zones near metropolitan areas, where families shared work (in the parcels they owned and in the industrial workshops at the same time). For instance, in 1989 in Changhua, small enterprises produced almost 50% of the world's umbrellas. The State attracted foreign companies in order to obtain more capital and to get access to foreign markets, but the big foreign companies got contracts with this huge net of small sized, familiar and national companies, which were a very important percentage of the industrial output.

Foreign investment never represented an important component in the Taiwanese economy, with the notable exception of the electronic market. For instance, in 1981, direct foreign investment was a mere 2% of the GNP, foreign companies employed 4.8% of the total workforce, their production was 13.9% of the total production and their exports were 25.6% of nationwide exports. Access to the global markets was facilitated by the Japanese companies and by the American importers, who wanted a direct relationship with the Taiwanese brands. No big multinational corporations were created (like in Singapore), or huge national conglomerates (like South Korean chaebols), but some industrial groups, with the support of the government, grew, and became in the 90's huge companies totally internationalized. Most of the development was thanks to the flexibility of family businesses which produced for foreign traders established in Taiwan and for international trade nets with the help of intermediaries.

After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang learned from his mistakes and failures in the mainland and blamed them for failing to pursue Sun Yat-sen's ideals of Tridemism and welfarism. Chiang's land reform more than doubled the land ownership of Taiwanese farmers. It removed the rent burdens on them, with former land owners using the government compensation to become the new capitalist class. He promoted a mixed economy of state and private ownership with economic planning. Chiang also promoted a 9-years compulsory education and the importance of science in Taiwanese education and values. These measures generated great success with consistent and strong growth and the stabilization of inflation.

Era of globalization

In the 1970s, protectionism was on the rise, and the United Nations switched recognition from the government of the Republic of China to the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of mainland China. It was expelled by General Assembly Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. The Kuomintang began a process of enhancement and modernization of the industry, mainly in high technology (such as microelectronics, personal computers and peripherals). One of the biggest and most successful Technology Parks was built in Hsinchu, near Taipei.

Many Taiwanese brands became important suppliers of worldwide known firms such as DEC or IBM, while others established branches in Silicon Valley and other places inside the United States and became known. The government also recommended the textile and clothing industries to enhance the quality and value of their products to avoid restrictive import quotas, usually measured in volume. The decade also saw the beginnings of a genuinely independent union movement after decades of repression. Key developments in 1977 strengthened Taiwan’s emerging independent labor movement.

One was the formation of an independent union at the Far East Textile Company after a two-year effort discredited the former management-controlled union. This was the first union that existed independently of the Kuomintang in Taiwan's post-war history (although the Kuomintang retained a minority membership on its committee). Rather than prevailing upon the state to use martial law to smash the union, the management adopted the more cautious approach of buying workers' votes at election times. However, such attempts repeatedly failed and, by 1986, all of the elected leaders were genuine unionists. Another, and, historically, the most important, was the now called "Zhongli incident".

By the 1980s, Taiwan had developed a mature and diversified economy, with a strong presence in international markets and substantial foreign exchange reserves. Its companies were able to go abroad, internationalize their production, investing massively in Asia (mainly in People's Republic of China) and in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, mainly in the United States.

Higher salaries and better organized trade unions in Taiwan, together with the reduction of the Taiwanese export quotas meant that the bigger Taiwanese companies moved their production to China and Southeast Asia. The civil society in a now developed country, wanted democracy, and the rejection of the KMT dictatorship grew larger. A major step occurred when Lee Teng-hui, a native from Taiwan, became President, and the KMT started a new path searching for democratic legitimacy.

Two aspects must be remembered: the KMT was on the center of the structure and controlled the process, and that the structure was a net made of relations between the enterprises, between the enterprises and the State, between the enterprises and the global market thanks to trade companies and the international economic exchanges. Native Taiwanese were largely excluded from the mainlanders dominated government, so many went into the business world.

In 1952, Taiwan had a per capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing the island's economy squarely between Zaire and Congo. But, by 2018 Taiwan's per capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had soared to $53,074, around or above some developed West European economies and Japan.

According to economist Paul Krugman, the rapid growth was made possible by increases in capital and labor but not an increase in efficiency. In other words, the savings rate increased and work hours were lengthened, and many more people, such as women, entered the work force.

Dwight Perkins and others cite certain methodological flaws in Krugman and Alwyn Young's research, and suggest that much of Taiwan's growth can be attributed to increases in productivity. These productivity boosts were achieved through land reform, structural change (urbanization and industrialization), and an economic policy of export promotion rather than import substitution.

Future growth

Taipei, the capital city and financial centre of Taiwan

Economic growth has become much more modest since the late 1990s. A key factor to understand this new environment is the rise of China, offering the same conditions that made possible, 40 years ago, the Taiwan Miracle (a quiet political and social environment, cheap and educated workers, absence of independent trade unions).

One major difference with Taiwan is the focus on English education. Mirroring Hong Kong and Singapore, the ultimate goal is to become a country fluent in three languages (Taiwanese; Mandarin, the national language of China, and Taiwan; and English, becoming a bridge between East and West).

According to western financial markets, consolidation of the financial sector remains a concern as it continues at a slow pace, with the market split so small that no bank controls more than 10% of the market, and the Taiwanese government is obligated, by the WTO accession treaty, to open this sector between 2005 and 2008.

However, many financial analysts estimate such concerns are based upon mirror-imaging of the Western model and do not take into account the already proven Asian Tiger model. Yet, recently, credit card debt has become a major problem, as the ROC does not have an individual bankruptcy law.

Generally, transportation infrastructure is very good and continues to be improved, mainly in the west side of the island. Many infrastructure improvements are currently being pursued, such as the first rapid transit lines opening in Kaohsiung in 2008 and a doubling in size of Taipei's rapid transit system by 2013 now underway; the country's highways are very highly developed and in good maintenance and continue to be expanded, especially on the less developed and less populated east coast, and a controversial electronic toll system has recently been implemented.

The completion of the Taiwan High Speed Rail service connecting all major cities on the western coast, from Taipei to Kaohsiung is considered to be a major addition to Taiwan's transportation infrastructure. The ROC government has chosen to raise private financing in the building of these projects, going the build-operate-transfer route, but significant public financing has still been required and several scandals have been uncovered. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the completion of these projects will be a big economic stimulus, just as the subway in Taipei has revived the real estate market there.

Technology sector

Taipei Neihu Technology Park

Taiwan continues to rely heavily on its technology sector, a specialist in manufacturing outsourcing. Recent developments include moving up the food chain in brand building and design. LCD manufacturing and LED lights are two newer sectors in which Taiwanese companies are moving. Taiwan also wants to move into the biotechnology sector, the creation of fluorescent pet fish and a research-useful fluorescent pig being two examples. Taiwan is also a leading grower of orchids.

Taiwan's information technology (IT) and electronics sector has been responsible for a vast supply of products since the 1980s. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was created in the 1973 to meet new demands from the burgeoning tech industry. This led to start-up companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the construction of the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park (HSP), which includes around 520 high-tech companies and 150,000 employees. By 2015, a bulk of the global market share of motherboards (89.9 percent), Cable CPE (84.5 percent), and Notebook PCs (83.5 percent) comprise both offshore and domestic production. It placed second in producing Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD panels) (41.4 percent) and third for LCD monitors (27 percent) and LED (19 percent). Nonetheless, Taiwan is still heavily reliant on offshore capital and technologies, importing up to US$25 billion worth of machinery and electrical equipment from Mainland China, US$16 billion from Japan, and US$10 billion from the U.S.

In fact, the TFT-LCD industry in Taiwan grew primarily from state-guided personnel recruitment from Japan and inter-firm technology diffusion to fend off Korean competitors. This is due to Taiwan's unique trend of export-oriented small and medium enterprises (SME) – a direct result of domestic-market prioritization by state-owned enterprises (SOE) in its formative years. While the development of SMEs allowed better market adaptability and inter-firm partnerships, most companies in Taiwan remained original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and did not – other than firms like Acer and Asus – expand to original design manufacturing (OBM). These SMEs provide "incremental innovation" with regard to industrial manufacturing but do not, according to Dieter Ernst of the East–West Centre, a think-tank in Honolulu, surpass the "commodity trap", which stifles investment in branding and R&D projects.

The Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enacted policies building on the continued global influence of Taiwan's IT industry. To revamp and reinvigorate Taiwan's slowing economy, her "5+2" innovative industries initiative aims to boost key sectors such as biotech, sustainable energy, national defense, smart machinery, and the "Asian Silicon Valley" project. President Tsai herself was the chairperson for TaiMed Biologics, a state-led start-up company for biopharmaceutical development with Morris Chang, the CEO of TSMC, as an external adviser. On 10 November 2016, the Executive Yuan formally endorsed a biomedical promotion plan with a budget of NT$10.94 billion (US$346.32 million).

At the opening ceremony for the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA) in December 2016, Vice President Chen Chien-jen emphasized the increasing importance of enhancing not only local R&D capabilities, but also appealing to foreign investment. For example, the HSP now focuses 40 percent of its total workforce on "R&D and technology development". R&D expenditures have been gradually increasing: In 2006, it amounted to NT$307 billion, but it increased to NT$483.5 billion (US$16 billion) in 2014, approximately 3 percent of the GDP. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018 profiled up to 140 countries, listing Taiwan as 16th place in university-industry collaboration in R&D, 10th place in company spending on R&D, and 22nd place in capacity for innovation. Approved overseas Chinese and foreign investment totaled US$11 billion in 2016, a massive increase from US$4.8 billion in 2015. However, the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEAIC) monthly report from October 2017 estimated a decline in total foreign direct investment (between January and October 2017) to US$5.5 billion, which is a 46.09 percent decrease from the same time period of 2016 (US$10.3 billion).

Cross-strait relations

Debate on opening "Three Links" with the People's Republic of China were completed in 2008, with the security risk of economic dependence on PR China being the biggest barrier. By decreasing transportation costs, it was hoped that more money will be repatriated to Taiwan and that businesses will be able to keep operations centers in Taiwan while moving manufacturing and other facilities to mainland China.

A law forbidding any firm investing in China by more than 40% of its total assets on the mainland was dropped in June 2008, when the new Kuomintang government relaxed the rules to invest in China. Dialogue through semi-official organisations (the SEF and the ARATS) reopened on 12 June 2008 on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, with the first meeting held in Beijing. Taiwan hopes to become a major operations center in East Asia.

Regional free trade agreements

While China already has international free trade agreements (FTA) with numerous countries through bilateral relations and regional organizations, the "Beijing factor" has led to the deliberate isolation of Taiwan from potential FTAs. In signing the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China on 29 June 2010 – which permitted trade liberalization and an "early harvest" list of tariff cuts – former president Ma Ying-jeou wanted to not only affirm a stable economic relationship with China, but also to assuage its antagonism towards Taiwan's involvement in other FTAs. Taiwan later signed FTAs with two founding members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2013: New Zealand (ANZTEC) and Singapore (ASTEP). Exports to Singapore increased 5.6 percent between 2013 and 2014, but decreased 22 percent by 2016.

In 2013, a follow-up bilateral trade agreement to the ECFA, the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA), faced large student-led demonstrations – the Sunflower Movement – in Taipei and an occupation of the Legislative Yuan. The opposition contended that the trade pact would hinder the competency of SMEs, which encompassed 97.73 percent of total enterprises in Taiwan in 2016. The TPP, on the other hand, still presents an opportunity for Taiwan. After the APEC economic leaders' meeting in November 2017, President Tsai expressed deep support for the advancements made regarding the TPP – given that U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the trade deal earlier in the year. President Tsai has also promoted the "New Southbound Policy", mirroring the "go south" policies upheld by former presidents Lee Teng-hui in 1993 and Chen Shui-Bian in 2002, focusing on partners in the Asia-Pacific region such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia and New Zealand.

Defence mechanism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_mechanism 
 

In psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that protect the self from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and external stressors.

According to this theory, healthy people use different defence mechanisms throughout life. A defence mechanism can become pathological when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot cope at that moment.

Examples of defence mechanisms include: repression, the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness; identification, the incorporation of some aspects of an object into oneself; rationalization, the justification of one's behaviour by using apparently logical reasons that are acceptable to the ego, thereby further suppressing awareness of the unconscious motivations; and sublimation, the process of channeling libido into "socially useful" disciplines, such as artistic, cultural, and intellectual pursuits, which indirectly provide gratification for the original drives.

Some psychologists follow a system that ranks defence mechanisms into seven levels, ranging from a high-adaptive defence level to a psychotic defence level. Assessments carried out when analyzing patients such as the Defence Mechanism Rating Scale (DMRS) and Vaillant's hierarchy of defense mechanisms have been used and modified for over 40 years to provide numerical data on the state of a person's defensive functioning.

Theories and classifications

In the first definitive book on defence mechanisms, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936), Anna Freud enumerated the ten defence mechanisms that appear in the works of her father, Sigmund Freud: repression, regression, reaction formation, isolation, undoing, projection, introjection, turning against one's own person, reversal into the opposite, and sublimation or displacement.

Sigmund Freud posited that defence mechanisms work by distorting id impulses into acceptable forms, or by unconscious or conscious blockage of these impulses. Anna Freud considered defense mechanisms as intellectual and motor automatisms of various degrees of complexity, that arose in the process of involuntary and voluntary learning.

Anna Freud introduced the concept of signal anxiety; she stated that it was "not directly a conflicted instinctual tension but a signal occurring in the ego of an anticipated instinctual tension". The signalling function of anxiety was thus seen as crucial, and biologically adapted to warn the organism of danger or a threat to its equilibrium. The anxiety is felt as an increase in bodily or mental tension, and the signal that the organism receives in this way allows for the possibility of taking defensive action regarding the perceived danger.

Both Freuds studied defence mechanisms, but Anna spent more of her time and research on five main mechanisms: repression, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation. All defence mechanisms are responses to anxiety and how the consciousness and unconscious manage the stress of a social situation.

• Repression: the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness, though in certain circumstances they may resurface in a disguised or distorted form
• Regression: falling back into an early state of mental/physical development seen as "less demanding and safer"
• Projection: possessing a feeling that is deemed as socially unacceptable and instead of facing it, that feeling or "unconscious urge" is seen in the actions of other people
• Reaction formation: acting the opposite way that the unconscious instructs a person to behave, "often exaggerated and obsessive". For example, if a wife is infatuated with a man who is not her husband, reaction formation may cause her to – rather than cheat – become obsessed with showing her husband signs of love and affection.
• Sublimation: seen as the most acceptable of the mechanisms, an expression of anxiety in socially acceptable ways

Otto F. Kernberg (1967) developed a theory of borderline personality organization of which one consequence may be borderline personality disorder. His theory is based on ego psychological object relations theory. Borderline personality organization develops when the child cannot integrate helpful and harmful mental objects together. Kernberg views the use of primitive defence mechanisms as central to this personality organization. Primitive psychological defences are projection, denial, dissociation or splitting and they are called borderline defence mechanisms. Also, devaluation and projective identification are seen as borderline defences.

Robert Plutchik's (1979) theory views defences as derivatives of basic emotions, which in turn relate to particular diagnostic structures. According to his theory, reaction formation relates to joy (and manic features), denial relates to acceptance (and histrionic features), repression to fear (and passivity), regression to surprise (and borderline traits), compensation to sadness (and depression), projection to disgust (and paranoia), displacement to anger (and hostility) and intellectualization to anticipation (and obsessionality).

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association (1994) includes a tentative diagnostic axis for defence mechanisms. This classification is largely based on Vaillant's hierarchical view of defences, but has some modifications. Examples include: denial, fantasy, rationalization, regression, isolation, projection, and displacement. However, additional defense mechanisms are still proposed and investigated by different authors. For instance, in 2023, time distortion was proposed in a publication as a newly identified ego defense.

Different theorists have different categorizations and conceptualizations of defence mechanisms. Large reviews of theories of defence mechanisms are available from Paulhus, Fridhandler and Hayes (1997) and Cramer (1991). The Journal of Personality published a special issue on defence mechanisms (1998).

Vaillant's categorization

Psychiatrist George Eman Vaillant introduced a four-level classification of defence mechanisms: Much of this is derived from his observations while overseeing the Grant study that began in 1937 and is on-going. In monitoring a group of men from their freshman year at Harvard until their deaths, the purpose of the study was to see longitudinally what psychological mechanisms proved to have impact over the course of a lifetime. The hierarchy was seen to correlate well with the capacity to adapt to life. His most comprehensive summary of the on-going study was published in 1977. The focus of the study is to define mental health rather than disorder.

• Level I – pathological defences (psychotic denial, delusional projection)
• Level II – immature defences (fantasy, projection, passive aggression, acting out)
• Level III – neurotic defences (intellectualization, reaction formation, dissociation, displacement, repression)
• Level IV – mature defences (humour, sublimation, suppression, altruism, anticipation)

Level 1: pathological

When predominant, the mechanisms on this level are almost always severely pathological. These defences, in conjunction, permit one effectively to rearrange external experiences to eliminate the need to cope with reality. Pathological users of these mechanisms frequently appear irrational or insane to others. These are the "pathological" defences, common in overt psychosis. However, they are normally found in dreams and throughout childhood as well. They include:

• Delusional projection: Delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature
• Denial: Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening; arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it does not exist; resolution of emotional conflict and reduction of anxiety by refusing to perceive or consciously acknowledge the more unpleasant aspects of external reality
• Distortion: A gross reshaping of external reality to meet internal needs

Level 2: immature

These mechanisms are often present in adults. These mechanisms lessen distress and anxiety produced by threatening people or by an uncomfortable reality. Excessive use of such defences is seen as socially undesirable, in that they are immature, difficult to deal with and seriously out of touch with reality. These are the so-called "immature" defences and overuse almost always leads to serious problems in a person's ability to cope effectively. These defences are often seen in major depression and personality disorders. They include:

• Acting out: Direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action, without conscious awareness of the emotion that drives the expressive behavior
• Hypochondriasis: An excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness
• Passive-aggressive behavior: Indirect expression of hostility
• Projection: A primitive form of paranoia. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the undesirable impulses or desires without becoming consciously aware of them; attributing one's own unacknowledged, unacceptable, or unwanted thoughts and emotions to another; includes severe prejudice and jealousy, hypervigilance to external danger, and "injustice collecting", all with the aim of shifting one's unacceptable thoughts, feelings and impulses onto someone else, such that those same thoughts, feelings, beliefs and motivations are perceived as being possessed by the other.
• Schizoid fantasy: Tendency to retreat into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer conflicts
• Splitting: A primitive defence. Both harmful and helpful impulses are split off and segregated, frequently projected onto someone else. The defended individual segregates experiences into all-good and all-bad categories, with no room for ambiguity and ambivalence. When "splitting" is combined with "projecting", the undesirable qualities that one unconsciously perceives oneself as possessing, one consciously attributes to another.

Level 3: neurotic

These mechanisms are considered neurotic, but fairly common in adults. Such defences have short-term advantages in coping, but can often cause long-term problems in relationships, work and in enjoying life when used as one's primary style of coping with the world. They include:

• Displacement: Defence mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable or less threatening target; redirecting emotion to a safer outlet; separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening.
• Dissociation: Temporary drastic modification of one's personal identity or character to avoid emotional distress; separation or postponement of a feeling that normally would accompany a situation or thought.
• Intellectualization: Excessively analytical or abstract thought patterns, potentially leading to increased distance from one's emotions. Used to block out conflicting or disturbing feelings or thoughts.
• Isolation of affect: The detachment of emotion from an idea, making it "flat." Frequently observed in obsessive–compulsive disorder, and in non-disordered people following traumatic events.
• Reaction formation: Converting unconscious wishes or impulses that are perceived to be dangerous or unacceptable into their opposites; behaviour that is completely the opposite of what one really wants or feels; taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety
• Repression: The process of attempting to repel desires towards pleasurable instincts, caused by a threat of suffering if the desire is satisfied; the desire is moved to the unconscious in the attempt to prevent it from entering consciousness; seemingly unexplainable naivety, memory lapse or lack of awareness of one's own situation and condition; the emotion is conscious, but the idea behind it is absent

Level 4: mature

These are commonly found among emotionally healthy adults and are considered mature, even though many have their origins in an immature stage of development. They are conscious processes, adapted through the years in order to optimise success in human society and relationships. The use of these defences enhances pleasure and feelings of control. These defences help to integrate conflicting emotions and thoughts, whilst still remaining effective. Those who use these mechanisms are usually considered virtuous. Mature defences include:

• Altruism: Constructive service to others that brings pleasure and personal satisfaction
• Anticipation: Realistic planning for future discomfort
• Humour: Overt expression of ideas and feelings (especially those that are unpleasant to focus on or too terrible to talk about directly) that gives pleasure to others. The thoughts retain a portion of their innate distress, but they are "skirted around" by witticism, for example, self-deprecation.
• Sublimation: Transformation of unhelpful emotions or instincts into healthy actions, behaviours, or emotions; for example, playing a heavy contact sport such as football or rugby can transform aggression into a game
• Suppression: The conscious decision to delay paying attention to a thought, emotion, or need in order to cope with the present reality; making it possible later to access uncomfortable or distressing emotions whilst accepting them

Perry's defence mechanism rating scale (DMRS)

The defence Mechanism Rating Scale (DMRS) includes thirty processes of defence that are divided into 7 categories. Starting from the highest level of adaptiveness these levels include: high-adaptive, obsessional, neurotic, minor image-distorting, disavowal, major image-distorting, and action. The scale was originally created by J. Christopher Perry for the purpose of being able to provide patients with a "defence diagnosis." Additions have been made by Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe and colleagues to enlarge the application of the DMRS, creating the DMRS self report and DMRS-Q sort.

Level 1: Action defences

Action defence mechanisms are used unconsciously to help reduce stress. Examples include passive aggression, help-rejecting complaining, and acting out, which channel impulses into appropriate behaviors. These processes offer short-term relief but may prevent lasting improvements in the root causes.

Level 2: Major image-distorting defences

Major image-distorting mechanisms are used to guard a person's own image and their ego from perceived dangers, conflicts, or fears. These processes involve simplifying the way a person sees themselves and others. Splitting of one's self or other's image and projective identification both work on an unconscious level and help to alter reality, enabling these individuals to uphold a more positive view of their lives or situations.

Level 3: Disavowal defences

Disavowal defence mechanisms include the rejection or denial of unpleasant ideas, emotions, or events. People sometimes distance themselves from certain parts of their identity, whether they are aware of it or not, in order to avoid feelings of unease or discomfort. Mechanisms such as autistic fantasy, rationalization, denial, and projection, can help shield one's ego from feelings of stress or guilt that arise when facing reality.

Level 4: Minor image-distorting defences

Level four defence mechanisms serve the purpose of protecting an individual's self-esteem. There are several processes that people may use, such as devaluation and idealization of self-image and others-image, as well as omnipotence. These mechanisms assist in preserving a healthy self-perception during times of psychological instability.

Level 5: Neurotic

These defences are strategies that the mind uses without conscious awareness in order to manage anxiety, which is often a result of ongoing conflicts. There are several mechanisms that people use to cope with distressing thoughts and emotions. These include repression, displacement, dissociation, and reaction formation. These defences may offer brief relief; however, they can inhibit development in oneself and contribute to harmful habits.

Level 6: Obsessional defences

Obsessional defences refer to mental techniques that individuals utilize to cope with anxiety by exerting control over their thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. People may rely on strict routines, a desire for perfection, or a strong need for order to maintain a sense of control and avoid facing uncertainty or undesirable impulses. These defences, such as isolation of affects, intellectualization, and undoing, provide a short-term solution but can result in the development of obsessive-compulsive behaviors and hinder one's capacity to express and adapt to emotions.

Level 7: High-adaptative defences

This level of defences allow individuals to cope with stressors, challenges, and trauma. Mechanisms, such as sublimation, affiliation, self-assertion, suppression, altruism, anticipation, humor, and self-observation play a role in building resilience. They allow individuals to redefine challenges in a beneficial way that maximizes positivity. In doing so, they enhance their psychological well-being and encourage adaptation.

Relation with coping

See also: Coping (psychology)

There are multiple different perspectives on how the construct of defence relates to the construct of coping. While the two concepts share multiple similarities, there is a distinct difference between them that depends on the state of consciousness the process is carried out in. The process of coping involves using logic and reason to stabilize negative emotions and stressors. This differs from defence, which is driven by impulse and urges.

Similarities between coping and defense mechanisms have been extensively studied in relation to various mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Research indicates that these mechanisms often follow specific patterns within different disorders, with some, like avoidant coping, potentially exacerbating future symptoms. This aligns with the vulnerability-stress psychopathology model, which involves two core components: vulnerability (non-adaptive mechanisms and processes) and stress (life events). These factors interact to create a threshold for the development of mental disorders. The types of coping and defense mechanisms used can either contribute to vulnerability or act as protective factors. Coping and defence mechanisms work in tandem to balance out feelings of anxiety or guilt, categorizing them both as a "mechanisms of adaptation."

Criticism

Criticism regarding defence mechanisms focus on the lack of empirical evidence as most of the evidence for defence mechanisms comes from clinical observations and subjective interpretations.

Critics have stated that due to the difficult nature of studying defence mechanisms that future research should distinguish more between the theoretical constructs of defence mechanisms and actual behaviors.