So anyways, over the last week in Taiwan, I’ve been reading the local newspapers and chatting to taxi drivers, hotel staff, tour guides, my friend’s work colleagues and anyone else with a smidgeon of English.

It’s what I do to try and fill the space between the rhetoric of tour books and the reality of life in the place that I’m visiting. Having said that, I’m well aware that the gap is way too large to be filled without a complete absorption in the day to day- and that just isn’t possible in a holiday…or indeed, sometimes a lifetime!

Taiwan’s history has been an interesting one- to say the least. I won’t bore you with it here, but there’s been a combination of occupiers over the years, and the influences of those, especially the Japanese, linger.

Just now it’s a democracy…there’s an elected president and prime minister and town mayor and…so on…it’s complicated. Officially it’s a constitutional republic- the Republic of China…not to be mistaken with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), which claims sovereignty as a Chinese province. I told you it’s complicated.

Anyways, I asked a few people about the involvement of PRC. Has Taiwan really been left alone to run itself? The answer to that question differed, but everyone that I asked spoke of how the Taiwanese government is now “talking” to the PRC with a view to finding common ground.

But what of independence, I asked?

They said that the latest indications are that people are coming around to the idea of formalising economic ties with PRC- even though everyone knows it means more than that. They said that sometimes it simply isn’t practical to fight a fight that would cost too much in so many different ways to win, they said. Our economy is too important to risk, they said. Sometimes we have to consider an alternative in order to keep what we have, they said.

I don’t know if the people I spoke to are representative of the population- I suspect there are a million different perspectives. I don’t know if the attitude is right or wrong- this isn’t my country and I wouldn’t presume to pass judgement on any other countries political situation- I have no right to do so- but the attitude seems to me to be supremely Capricornian. A little like when decisions are made at work and explained away as “business decisions,” thereby removing the emotion and replacing it with something so much more practical. Again, who knows what’s right and what’s wrong, so please don’t write to me.

Anyways, as this post goes to press I’ll be commencing my descent back into Australia. The Moon will be opposing Jupiter and about to square Uranus- kicking off that cardinal t square we talked about yesterday. This is about respecting the tried and true structures, keeping an eye on the practicalities of the situation, but also opening your mind to the concept of a new and different normal.

It raises in my mind the question of Egypt, but again, I’m not prepared to comment on that….although something tells me that Venus in Libra is going to be called upon more for her valued diplomacy skills this time around than her fashion sense.

If you’re interested in the mundane astrology behind Egypt, check out Planet Waves…