Random Thoughts 1: Death is a cultural construct.

I recently read a blog post recommended by Sina Blog: “Frequent Suicides Among Rural Elderly Are a Disgrace to Society” (2013-12-13 23:24:11). This reminded me of a more serious sociological paper I read not long ago: “A Survey Report on the Happiness of Urban and Rural Residents.” This report provides irrefutable evidence that rural people are happier. This reveals a phenomenon currently prevalent worldwide: happiness is separated from material wealth. Highly developed societies are not as happy as people in underdeveloped areas because the latter are closer to a natural life, a so-called primitive kind of wealth. Ancient Chinese intellectuals even had a tendency to admire the freedom of birds, believing that animals were happier. For the convenience of readers, I am reposting these two articles on my blog today.

I strongly agree with the author’s viewpoint in the article “Frequent Suicides Among Rural Elderly Are a Shame on Society as a Whole.” Suicide is an extremely painful event that deserves the attention of the entire society. However, I would like to mention another aspect of the issue that is often overlooked: death is a cultural construct, and attitudes towards death differ fundamentally across cultures. Western cultures, influenced by Christianity, believe that the body and life are gifts from God, and individuals have no right to relinquish them. Such Christians, of course, do not wish to commit suicide.

After dividing human society into genetically encoded primordial societies and artificial secondary societies, the author found that rural China before the late 1950s lived in a quasi-primordial society, closely resembling a primordial society. A direct result was that rural life in China was closer to natural life, more influenced and constrained by natural human nature. Furthermore, natural societies and the current artificial secondary societies have different understandings and attitudes towards death.

The author once wrote that kinship and equality were the main values ​​of primitive society. In the secondary society, women were less influenced by secondary societal ideologies than men, young people less than adults, and those who loved art less than those who were pragmatic. The idealized characters in *Dream of the Red Chamber* are precisely women, young people, and art-loving poets and actors. (See this blog, Literature: Different Artistic Thoughts in Two Societies: A Look at Confucius and Plato’s Different Attitudes Towards Poetry, 2013-12-06 21:38:54)

The author, who lived in rural China for many years, observed that men, and especially those with education, were more prone to anxiety and fear about death than women or illiterate farmers. Ancient China had a concept of “returning to the Jiazi at sixty,” which encouraged people to die naturally after the age of sixty, a practice widely observed in primitive tribal societies. Similar to the land property rights mentioned in “Frequent Suicides of Rural Elderly are a Disgrace to Society,” the “Grandma Theory” of human history posits that the rise in the social status of the elderly, accompanied by social progress, leads to greater respect for their knowledge and experience.

Our current understanding of death comes from our culture; it is a complete cultural construct. The author wrote several years ago in his book, *Looking at Life and the World from a Different Angle: 21st Century Chinese Taoism*:

We can observe the death of others, but we cannot experience our own. Philosophers like Heidegger noted that we cannot vividly imagine our own death. Nor can we imagine a world without ourselves. Conversely, people can vividly imagine the circumstances of their birth.

Human understanding of death naturally changes with age. Children think of death as sleeping, adults think of death as going to somewhere else. This afterlife is certainly not the daily routine of going to and from the house, nor is it some distant, insurmountable otherworld. Different people go to different places, not so different from where we live. Religion and culture idealize and sanctify it, making it various specific places: the Christian heaven and hell, the Buddhist six realms of reincarnation and the Western Paradise.

Young adults often view death as a heroic act, imbuing it with aesthetic qualities. (See this blog post: 2013-12-07 00:41:46, Literature: Death and Immortality)

I am only describing another side of the issue here: suicide is influenced by the degree of hardship in life, as well as by cultural perceptions and individual attitudes towards death. The author does not disagree with the views expressed in the article “Frequent Suicides Among Rural Elderly Are a Shame on the Entire Society.”

Random Thoughts 2: The Difference Between Two Societies as Seen Through the Presence or Absence of Lunch Breaks

I remember when I was young and working and studying in China, we always had a lunch break, especially in the summer, which could last two or three hours. Later, after living abroad for many years, I realized that lunch breaks were practically nonexistent overseas, at least not in the hospital where I worked. Everyone hurriedly ate lunch and went back to work, with a set time of half an hour, including travel time. So most people just had a cup of coffee and a snack. Of course, this was related to the fact that during the Mao Zedong era, workplaces provided dormitory accommodation for employees, and the workplace was only a few minutes’ walk from home. But Chinese farmers have had lunch breaks since ancient times, and their lifestyle is closer to that of humans in their natural state.

For a time, I developed a habit of waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep due to years of receiving harassing phone calls. This forced me to take a nap every day. A white neurologist said that my habit of sleeping twice a day was normal, but sleeping only once a day was abnormal, adding that our ancestors, the apes, slept more than once a day. Later, my father, a doctor in China for many years, sent me a sedative, which allowed me to sleep for seven or eight hours at night. Those white doctors then said that something that could be cured with a single sedative wasn’t considered an illness, and that it didn’t need treatment. This shows that even the concepts of disease differ between East and West.

In my blog, I introduce my two-tiered society theory, arguing that Chinese civilization is based on a primordial society coded by genetics, while Western civilization is based on a man-made two-tiered society. The people in this two-tiered society are also man-made, and their lives are, of course, man-made. From ancient Greece onwards, the West has divided all people into ranks and organized them into a social and economic hybrid, much like society today. In what way do our lives and lifestyles today resemble those of ancient humans and apes? We have created our own civilization and a completely new way of life: for this new life, we are willing to sacrifice our lunch breaks and endure minor abnormalities without labeling them as illness.

It’s worth mentioning the differences between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine here: If you go to a Western doctor and describe your various symptoms and ailments for half an hour, they will conduct examinations and tests, and after many days, tell you that you have no illness at all. If you insist on your opinion, they will say: you have neurasthenia and prescribe some vitamin C tablets. The Western medical community then describes neurasthenia as a disease unique to China without a precise definition. If you go to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, they will never say you have no illness, and may even analyze your condition in great detail, talking to you for half an hour, and finally prescribe Xiaoyao Wan (a traditional Chinese medicine formula), telling you to relax and enjoy yourself. This shows the differences between Eastern and Western cultures.

In the late 1950s, rural China was still living in a quasi-primitive society. Only then did they have midday rests and lifestyles similar to those of ancient humans. This blog reposted on December 15, 2013: “A Comparison of Urban and Rural China Shows Farmers Are Happier Than Urban Residents.” Unlike artificially created secondary societies, people in primitive societies maintained the leisurely, amateurish perspective of ancient humans, embracing an aesthetic life rather than pursuing wealth or other artificial cultural values. Therefore, Chinese farmers are often criticized for absolute egalitarianism.

Ancient Chinese secondary societies did not interfere with the original society, allowing villages to govern themselves and letting nature take its course. The government only levied small taxes. Officials sent by the emperor only reached the county level, and a county’s population ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. This tradition of non-interference in grassroots rural areas was particularly emphasized in the Ming Dynasty. During Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign, all officials were forbidden from going to the countryside unless specifically authorized. Anyone who went to the countryside without permission could be punished with death for “disturbing the people.” This practice of enclosing the countryside within family and village communities made rural life relatively stable. Except during times of war, drought, or flood, life was generally as Lao Tzu described: “They find their food sweet, their clothes beautiful, their dwellings comfortable, and their customs joyful,” leading a simple and happy life. They had plenty of leisure time, especially in winter when they had nothing to do. They also used their leisure time for spiritual pursuits, including religious pursuits such as praying to gods and Buddhas. Their numerous festivals, elaborate weddings and funerals, and frequent and large-scale recreational activities often led to farm work being neglected in favor of everyone working. Such a spectacle would surely evoke envy in today’s urban office workers. Compared to modern life, their existence was closer to that of a prehistoric, primitive society. Their weakness remained the anarchy’s utter inability to resist secondary socio-political forces; their lives could be wiped out overnight by chaotic armies, leaving no trace in history.

Random Thought 3: Participating in an online discussion on animal liberation.

Thanks to the reminder, I briefly browsed the article about animal liberation here (http://www.artssalon.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5155&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=20), but I didn’t read it carefully. I can only say a few words to express my own feelings and understanding of this issue:

1) I fully agree with and appreciate Peter Singer’s (1946) efforts and the basic stance of his book *Animal Liberation*. I have divided human society into two levels: the genetically encoded primitive society and the artificial secondary society. Corresponding to these two societies are: natural humans and artificial (man-made) humans. Modern society is characterized by the Western secondary society and artificial humans, backed by escalating wars. In the post-Cold War era, we should have a longer-term perspective and a broader vision: recognizing the necessity of liberating animals. Since Chinese civilization is based on a primitive society, Peter Singer hoped that China would not follow the Western path.

2) In previous years, I participated in Master Ching Hai’s Guanyin Dharma activities for many years. The activities emphasized that vegetarians can enjoy the various tastes of meat, saying that as long as you are skillful and know how to cook, you will not lack anything after becoming a vegetarian. In modern life, there is no need to worry about nutritional deficiencies.

3) Having worked in the medical system for many years, I have never conducted any animal experiments in my hospital work, nor do I recall ever witnessing any animal experiments. In the early 1980s, when I was working and studying at Cambridge Hospital in England, the hospital internally notified us to prevent animal rights advocates from infiltrating and releasing animals, but this did not happen. As an ordinary person, I don’t know where the hospital’s animals were kept. At the time, the prevailing saying in the hospital was: “If we don’t use animals, we have to use humans. If you oppose using animals, are you willing to replace them?” I believe that minimizing animal testing and hoping to one day completely eliminate it is possible.

4) Peter Singer’s *Animal Liberation* emphasizes the feelings of animals, while humans possess what is called empathy: that is, humans are born with the ability to understand the feelings of others, and this sharing of feelings is the foundation of primitive societies: emotional aesthetics. In some ways, civilized humans are inferior to the natural beings of primitive tribes, and even inferior to animals. The following is quoted from a book I published in China (Looking at Life and the World from a Different Angle: 21st Century Chinese Taoism):

Chimpanzees have a habit of extending a hand to beg for food from their companions. If the one with food dislikes the beggar, it will still give the food, but throw it on the ground to show its displeasure. This illustrates that the chimpanzee’s emotion when sharing food—pity for the beggar—is paramount, unaffected by past impressions, and is an example of how immediate emotion overrides reason (or past memory) among animals. In modern, crowded cities, many beggars often line the streets, asking not for food, but for small change. They have so much; you can’t give to everyone, but every time you pass them without taking a coin, you feel a sense of shame, like a child who has done something wrong in front of their parents. The chimpanzee’s displeasure after giving and the human’s shame after not being able to give highlight the difference between primitive and secondary societies; the former is a victory of emotion, the latter a victory of reason.

5) The contradiction between emotion and reason: All animal societies are primitive societies, while human societies are divided into primitive societies and secondary societies. The emotions of primitive societies cannot solve many problems of secondary societies, and the emotions of primitive societies cannot be used to coerce the reason of secondary societies; conversely, the reason of secondary societies should not coerce the emotions of primitive societies. The best solution is the separation of primitive societies and secondary societies, that is, the separation of the emotional world and the rational world: this is the direction of the ideal society in the future.

Random Thoughts 4: Differences Between Western and Eastern Societies as Seen Through the Different Attitudes of Chinese and Western Parents in Raising Their Children

　In his essay “How I Decided My Life” (see: Wang Meng’s Autobiography: My Philosophy of Life. People’s Literature Publishing House, 2003), Wang Meng begins by mentioning that an American woman who married a Chinese man told him: Chinese parents often say “no” to their children and grandchildren—don’t play in the water, don’t climb high, and so on. American parents, on the other hand, prefer to say “Try it! Do it!” to their children.

This difference in parenting attitudes between Chinese and Western parents directly reflects the different origins of Chinese and Western civilizations. Chinese civilization originated from a genetically encoded primitive society, and in the early 1950s, vast rural areas were still quasi-primitive societies. That is to say, Chinese civilization, rooted in a primitive society, faced an unfamiliar secondary society, and naturally had to warn its unsuspecting children to be cautious. Western society, on the other hand, was a secondary society from the beginning; they have lived in it for five or six thousand years, and this secondary society, along with its various rules, was built by themselves. A nation and people who have lived in their own constructed world for five or six thousand years would naturally encourage their unsuspecting children to be bold, because that world is old for adults but new for children.

This is where Lao Tzu’s saying comes in handy: “Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.” (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 60) China’s society, based on a small, sparsely populated primitive state, faces a secondary society when governing a large country. To avoid social chaos, it must proceed with extreme caution. Western large countries, based on secondary societies, have clear goals and plans, requiring everyone’s effort, and naturally, children should be encouraged to be bold. China is groping its way forward without rules, while the West operates with clear rules and relentless effort.

I’ve lived in the Western world for many years, but before going abroad, I spent many years cycling around Beijing, and now I’ve been cycling in the Western world for many more years. The boldness and speed of Westerners cycling have left a deep impression on me; years later, I’m still amazed when I see white people speeding past me. This includes children. On a steep slope two or three meters high, I have to push my bike down several times before carefully trying to ride down. And I’ve seen toddlers as young as two or three years old riding their tricycles downhill at high speed, making my heart race, yet they are all safe and sound.

A woman told me that her son broke his leg in a bicycle accident. After being taken to the hospital and having his leg put in a cast, he wanted to invite many people to a party, where everyone would sign the cast as a lifelong memento and a symbol of his youthful bravery. It was clear from asking that this kind of heroic act of breaking a leg did not stem from any disregard for traffic rules.

Compared to me, a cyclist from China, Western children and adults alike are bolder on their bikes, but also more attentive to traffic rules. After living in the West for so many years, I’m still far less law-abiding than Westerners. At intersections, if there are no vehicles in my direction of the green light, or if there are vehicles but they’re far away, I push my bike across the intersection against the red light—something white people rarely do. But I’m not the only one; I only do it after seeing someone else cyclist or pedestrian run a red light. This shows that Chinese disregard for traffic rules also contains an element of caution, rather than boldness and originality. Therefore, Western children’s boldness stems from countless laws and social rules; Chinese children’s caution arises from facing a new world lacking readily available rules. The result: Western children have broad interests and are more likely to innovate; Chinese children focus on academics, achieve good grades, but have poor innovative abilities.

Wang Meng described his decision to write the novel “Long Live Youth” at the age of nineteen as a bold one. This decision led to his being labeled a rightist in 1958; he was probably the only rightist in the entire country, fortunate enough to have Mao Zedong intervene and exonerate him. Even so, he and his family were sent to Xinjiang for sixteen years of labor reform. After more than twenty years away from writing, Wang Meng was able to resume his work in 1979 after being removed from the rightist label. He was one of the lucky few; most people either died, were maimed, were forced to change careers, or became despondent. Westerners who, like Wang Meng, decided to dedicate themselves to writing at nineteen would never have had a similar experience. Their writing future was determined by their talent and diligence. Talent cannot be changed, but diligence comes precisely from parental encouragement in childhood. Wang Meng’s decision to write at nineteen was his own; at that time, most parents would have tried to dissuade their children, as science and engineering studies were less risky. In the West, parents might have discovered Wang Meng’s writing talent much earlier, encouraging and nurturing him in his teens, perhaps even starting to write at eleven or twelve. From this perspective, even in terms of Wang Meng’s writing, Eastern and Western parents differ: one should warn their children to be careful, while the other should encourage their children to be bold.

In his article, Wang Meng continued, discussing his literary creation, saying, “The novel becomes a brand new world you create; your writing process can only be compared to God’s creation of the world!” I share the same thought as Wang Meng. I once wrote, “Human beings can use language to create a completely new, fantastical world, just like some novels, especially science fiction. Every science fiction novel actually represents a new world created by humankind. Our secondary society is one of many such worlds created by humankind. Only this one is not a fictional world in a novel, but a reality of the real world, created by billions of people over thousands of years.” (Li Yousheng, “Looking at Life and the World from a Different Angle: 21st Century Chinese Taoism.” Beijing: Thread-Bound Book Bureau, 2009.)

Wang Meng’s creation myth comes from the Bible. God created Adam and Eve at the same time as creating the world, but their sons began to kill each other, leading God to regret creating humankind. The Bible provides detailed genealogical records, and scholars estimate that God created humankind around 4000 BC, the beginning of Mediterranean civilization. The Mediterranean civilization, originating in the West, began as a two-tiered society, divided into different city-states. Facing different civilizations, they were constantly at war, leading to humankind killing each other, just as the biblical story describes. In such a context, even if the rules of this two-tiered society were not yet fully developed, parents should encourage their children to be bold, because it was a necessity for survival in a war-torn civilization.

The Chinese version of the creation myth is entirely different because China, starting as a primitive superpower, like the United Nations today, was able to maintain a relatively peaceful environment. A popular interpretation among Chinese scholars is that the character “帝” (Emperor) is an inverted triangle symbol representing female genitalia placed on an altar surrounded by cloth, a product of ancient fertility worship, consistent with the higher social status of women compared to men in the Yangshao culture. This character “帝” aligns with the legend of Nuwa mending the sky and creating humanity. In a relatively peaceful atmosphere, people could observe the world calmly and see the coexistence of heaven, earth, and humanity; therefore, Nuwa’s creation of humanity could only have involved mending the sky. Living in the brutal, war-torn ancient Mediterranean civilization where individuals had no control over their own destinies, people psychologically needed and thus dreamed day and night of an all-powerful God who created heaven and earth, rather than a Nuwa-like figure mending the sky.

It is precisely because of this difference that China experienced two thousand years of stability before and after the Warring States period, lacking the history of escalating warfare seen in Western history. The so-called modern world is actually the result of escalating warfare and dramatic socio-cultural changes in modern Europe over the past five hundred years. If large-scale wars become a thing of the past, we will face a relatively peaceful new era, a new era of returning to primal society and natural humanity—what we call postmodernism: we will no longer need to constantly teach our children how to be cautious, nor will we need to relentlessly urge them to be brave; instead, we will let them enjoy life and do whatever they want.

Chinese Taoist philosophy, based on primordial society and natural human nature, teaches adults to learn from infants and animals, and to forget the cultural customs left to us by the civilization of war. Therefore, what we need in the future is not to admonish or urge our children, but to emulate them.

Random Thoughts 5: Examining the Different Family Customs and Characteristics in China and the West from the Perspective of Two-Tier Society Theory

One of my tenants told me that three generations of his family had never held a job. This middle-aged man said his grandfather never worked, his father never worked, and as a man of stature, he couldn’t possibly work. If his family lived in a remote mountain area, it might be understandable, but his family had lived in large and medium-sized cities in Canada for generations. He lived a very comfortable life, frequently driving between Canada and the United States for many years. I didn’t want to ask him how he supported himself, but I guessed he relied on government welfare, occasionally did odd jobs, and inevitably had some minor debts and petty theft. Canadian welfare is better than in the United States, so he used Canada as a base to travel to the US, not the other way around. He didn’t marry, and after living with a woman who worked four half-days a week for a few months, he complained that he “couldn’t stand it,” saying she was too hardworking and a bit of a workaholic. It’s easy to imagine that his relatives and friends also led similar lives, forming a sub-society and subculture.

This is a characteristic of Western civilization, fostering a coexistence of diverse cultures and societies. It is within this context that we have communist villages passed down through generations and Amish villages that reject all modern technology. This coexistence of diverse social lifestyles began in ancient Greece. Aristotle stated that ancient Greece had over a hundred different city-states worthy of his record. They shared the same language and cultural traditions, and for a long period lacked political unity; medieval Europe was similar, characterized by political fragmentation but a shared Christian culture.

This is directly related to the fact that Western civilization began with a man-made secondary society. China’s Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties were a primitive social superpower, lacking the diverse forms of Western secondary societies. After the Qin and Han dynasties, peasants led a simple, quasi-primitive social life, while bureaucrats and intellectuals lived the life of Confucian officials. The eccentric intellectuals of the Wei and Jin periods were merely a temporary phenomenon in Chinese history.

Recently, Business Insider magazine selected the 23 most influential families in the United States based on their historical legacy, current influence, and wealth, stating, “Some of America’s most prominent families are household names in terms of wealth, talent, and public exposure. These include not only centuries-old empires, but also entrepreneurs, entertainment and sports stars who rose to prominence in the 20th century, and even political dynasties that wield absolute power in a democratic country like the United States.” However, modern Chinese families cannot match them. Compared to them, different Chinese families tend to be more evenly distributed.

Below are nine examples I copied from the internet, for domestic readers to appreciate:

Bush family

Members of the Bush family hold key positions in the U.S. executive and judicial branches, with two serving as U.S. presidents and two as governors. The Bush family’s net worth is approximately $60 million.

The Bush family has deep ties to Texas, and is therefore sometimes considered an oil tycoon. However, oil is just one of the Bush family’s profitable businesses. The Bush family is also quite well-known in investment banking; Samuel P. Bush, the great-grandfather of President George W. Bush, was involved in the founding of the US Chamber of Commerce. Samuel P. Bush’s business activities during World War I laid the foundation for the Bush family’s empire.

Samuel Bush’s son, Prescott (grandfather of President George W. Bush), amassed wealth through banking and oil fields. President George H.W. Bush entered an oilfield equipment company through his father, which was later acquired by oilfield services giant Halliburton. President George H.W. Bush had six children. John Ellis “Jeb” Bush was elected Governor of Florida in 1988, and George W. Bush was elected President of the United States in 2000.

President George W. Bush and his wife Laura have two daughters, Barbara and Jenna, and became grandparents last year. Jenna currently works as a special correspondent for NBC, while President Bush has devoted himself to painting and recently held a solo exhibition.

walton family

The Walton family is perhaps the wealthiest family in America. The cornerstone of their wealth is a motto: “Always offer low prices.”

In 1945, Sam Walton and his brother Bud opened their first store in Newport, Arkansas. In 1962, the Walton brothers established what is now Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1983, based on the Walmart model, the Walton brothers opened Sam’s Club, a warehouse-style supermarket.

Sam Walton’s brother, Jim, is estimated to have a net worth of $36.8 billion, ranking tenth on the Forbes list of billionaires. Jim’s sister, Alice, nearly made it onto the Forbes list of ten richest people, with a net worth of $36.4 billion. Alice has spent a fortune building the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. She is also a philanthropist and formed a political action committee with other billionaires to support Hillary Clinton’s future campaigns.

Bud’s daughter, Ann Walton Kroenke, married Stan Kroenke, owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises. Her husband owns teams in the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLS leagues.

The four members of the Walton family—Christie, Jim, Alice, and Robertson—together possess a fortune of $136 billion.

Vanderbilt family

The Vanderbilt family is one of the oldest and most prestigious families in American history. Of Dutch descent, the family rose to prominence during the last decade of the 19th century, known as the “Gilded Age.” Cornelius Vanderbilt, the family’s founder, was born into poverty in 1794 and worked as a child in his father’s canal transport business. He married a wealthy woman and transformed his father’s business into a transportation empire. He and his descendants expanded the business into other industries, such as railroad transport.

Connelius’s son, Billy, inherited 95% of his father’s estate and continued investing in the railroad industry. He built New York City’s central station and extended the railroad to the Midwest. But after Billy, the Vanderbilt family gradually consolidated its wealth, making significant investments in real estate.

Gloria, a descendant of the Vanderbilt family, was one of the early designers of American jeans. Her son, Anderson Cooper, is a well-known CNN presenter.

Kennedy family

The Kennedy family, originally from Ireland, is a quintessential representation of the American Dream. The first generation of the Kennedys immigrated to the United States in 1848. Just one generation later, Patrick Joseph Kennedy entered politics, serving as a Massachusetts state legislator and later being elected governor.

Patrick’s son, Joseph Patrick, served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. He had nine children, one of whom, John Fitzgerald, became President of the United States in 1961 and remained so until his assassination in 1963. His two youngest children, Robert Francis and Edward “Ted,” also became prominent politicians. Robert served as U.S. Attorney General from 1961 to 1964 and announced his candidacy for President of the United States in 1968, but was assassinated shortly after the California primary. Ted served as a U.S. Senator from 1962 to 2009 and died of cancer in 2009.

Many Kennedy descendants still serve in the U.S. government. JFK’s daughter, Caroline, currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. JFK’s sister, Eunice, has a daughter named Maria, who married actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2012, JFK’s nephew, Joe Kennedy III, was elected as a congressman for Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district.

Lauder Family

Have you or someone you know used Estee Lauder? This cosmetics brand, known as a “skincare dynasty,” has millions of fans worldwide. Today, the brand is incredibly valuable. But you might not know that the brand is actually named after its founder.

Estée Lauder was born into an immigrant family in Queens, New York. She initially made her own cosmetics and sold them in local beauty shops. With her father’s help, Lauder opened the Estée Lauder Companies in Manhattan in the 1940s. Her husband and their two sons, Leonard and Ronald, were also involved in the company’s operations.

Estée Lauder is still run by Estée Lauder’s descendants. Leonard’s son, William, is now the company’s general manager. Ronald is the president of the company’s Clinique brand, and his two daughters hold important positions in the family business. Leonard’s net worth is estimated at $8.1 billion, while Ronald’s is $3.8 billion.

Members of the Lauder family are frequently involved in philanthropy. Their Lauder Foundation donates to Jewish charities around the world. Ronald founded the Neue Gallery in New York City, and Leonard is a board member of the Whitney Museum.

The Ellison family

Larry Ellison is one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in the information technology industry. He came from humble beginnings, having been pregnant out of wedlock with his Jewish mother. His surname is said to derive from Ellis Island, a major island through which all immigrants to the United States must pass.

Ellison was adopted as a child and only met his birth mother once. This college dropout, who started from scratch, now has a net worth of $49.3 billion. He is also a real estate tycoon with countless properties, including the entire island of Lanai, Hawaii. His goal is to eradicate smallpox, and he has donated $100 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which he expects to achieve by 2018.

Ellison has a son and a daughter. Megan is 27 and David is 31. Instead of following in their father’s footsteps, they entered the film industry and each owns a successful film production company. Megan’s company produced *American Hustle* and *Her*, while David’s company produced *True Grit*, *Jack Reacher*, and the new *Star Trek* film.

Lauren family

You’ve surely heard of the clothing and luxury brands Ralph Lauren and Polo. Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifschitz to a Jewish immigrant family in the Bronx, New York. He showed an interest in clothing from a young age, attending school during the day and working at night. While working, he began designing ties. His ties were wider than the thinner ties popular at the time. This is how his “Polo” brand came about. He changed his name to Ralph Lauren, and his brand eventually became a leading force in American fashion.

Ralph Lauren has two sons and a daughter. His son, David, is the only one to have followed in his footsteps, currently serving as Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, and Corporate Communications. David’s wife is Lauren Bush, the niece of President George W. Bush. His other son, Andrew, is an actor and film producer. His daughter, Dylan, founded her own chocolate and dessert shop, “Dylan’s Candy Bar,” which claims to be “the world’s largest dessert shop and lifestyle brand.”

Ralph Lauren’s current net worth is estimated at $6.9 billion.

Solzberg family

Have you ever read *The New York Times*? This newspaper is a family business of the Salzberg family. Arthur Hays Sulzberger graduated from Columbia University and joined *The New York Times* in 1918, later marrying the daughter of the newspaper’s publisher. Under Arthur’s leadership, *The New York Times* grew significantly in the mid-20th century, nearly doubling its circulation and number of employees.

In 1992, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., Arthur Sulzberger’s grandson took over as publisher. He established the digital edition of The New York Times.

Kirk family

The CEO of Koch Industries is Charles Koch, and the executive vice president is his brother, David Koch. Koch Industries is the second-largest privately held company in the United States.

The Kirk brothers’ father, Fred Koch, opened an oil refining business in Texas, which he later renamed Kirk Enterprises. Their sons, Charles and David, took over the business.

author By Dr. You-Sheng Li

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