In 1993 my company and business associates in Beijing were arranging shipments of construction grade lumber and timber to China from the United States. Unfortunately, we were subsequently victimized by a network of ruthless American criminals that stole a large amount of money from me and imposed severe damages upon all of us.

Paull Anderson and his wife [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]?

I sought legal help to recover our losses but was informed by American lawyers that the realistic prospect for remedy and justice in the American legal system was poor to none. That was because the network included powerful and wealthy criminals comprised of a former US Congressman, former Kentucky Senator, former FBI Agent, a prominent law firm, a wealthy real estate mogul, and other such individuals. Their wealth and influence would easily overpower me in the largely corrupt American legal system.

At that point, one of my honorable Chinese colleagues in Beijing suggested I look to ancient Chinese wisdom and values for inspiration, guidance, and strength to help me take the right course of action. He sent me several works by China's very wise scholars, philosophers, poets, and authors to reflect upon. They included the Confucian concepts from the Daxue texts that examine the "Zhi ?I" notion of justice and the noble goals to manifest exemplary character, to abide in the highest good, and to find truth to do justice. My fledgling, two-hundred-year-old nation and the American Jurisprudence could learn much from China's six-thousand-year-old civilization and its great wisdom.

Unfortunately, my nation has evolved from the noble ideals and dreams of its founding fathers into an ugly and ruthless "capitalistocracy," where a relatively few powerful and wealthy maintain a stranglehold on the masses through the laws and political body they control. It reflects the heavy handed control by the "United Snakes of America" — the slimy Washington Snakes and their brethren Wall Street Snakes — who together ruthlessly enhance their insatiable, greedy interests at the expense of the United States and its "little people" citizens. That is the sad and practical reality of what my country has become. This is reflected in the American general public's feeling of utter frustration and hopeless inability to drastically change our course and restore our ideals and values — regardless of which party is in power.

After studying the Chinese writings, and with the encouragement of my Chinese colleagues, I decided to pursue litigation in the American courts to seek justice because it was the honorable course to take and despite the reality that my prospects were dim. I began legal action and fighting pro se, representing myself, in the American legal system.

For the next fifteen years I fought those powerful forces of evil through many state and federal courts where I encountered examples of many of the worst, and a few of the best, examples of American courts, judges, and lawyers. It was a very difficult, costly, and often painful experience. Eventually I was able to gain judgments against some of the criminals but I never was able to recover any of the money they stole from me or any damages. I succeeded in helping put some of the criminals in prison and getting some of the lawyers disbarred.

Although I had to pay a high price in the end, from my decision to follow the ancient Chinese wisdom and values, I have never regretted doing the honorable thing. Recently, a distinguished scholar, Jai Bez, published a documentary, THE SNAKE HANDLER, which chronicles those fifteen years of legal battles against the forces of evil. It has brought me many calls and letters from kind and concerned folks around the world who cherish justice and the values of the ancient Chinese from which I gained the strength and inspiration to fight against the forces of evil. I shall always be beholden for the unforgettable lessons and guidance I learned from those very wise and honorable Chinese ancients that were there for me in my time of great need. And I thank the Honorable Zhu Rongji, Guoming Song, and Zhou Tommy for their guidance.

The author is the CEO of Entre Nous, International conducting major business in China since 1980. He attributes their success to the wise counsel of his dear wife and the stellar abilities of his colleagues. He does volunteer work in the courts advocating for the legal interests of abused and neglected American children.

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