71–77 of 77 posts
not to defend Italians, but 20 (probably more) years of bad government and mafia collusion have robbed money from salaries and people, killing every real chance of growth and without giving back in turn any good social service to me these have at least influenced "Fatalism" and "Risk aversion"
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You are right, but those outside forces are really strong. I had to fight only to study abroad, which is seen as a waste of time and possible drawback on your cv (because you spent time studying abroad instead of studying for real...). The only way not to sound like an Italian just complaining about outside forces is to leave the country. But than that is also not useful for Italy. So, you see the problem?
how does B follow from A? The only way not to sound like an Italian just complaining about outside forces is to leave the country. there is by definition one simple way not to sound like someone complaining about outside forces: don't complain. If you start by the assumption that it's impossible to do so in country X you have already decided to be in the "it's not my fault" camp.
Those are outside forces that will come and knock to your door as soon as your activity start to be profitable. People will ask you for money or favors or they will just make your life difficult just so they don't have to envy your success.
So, you are right, but you are also taking a superficial look at the problem. Of course you can start a company, but you will have to be much stronger and determinate and be able to deal with the fact that nobody, not even your family and friends, will support you.
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Confucianism is historically the heart of Chinese culture. Taoism has never been as singularly influential in China as Confucianism has, nor is its "resurgence" sweeping away Confucianism. Assigning the idea of e.g. fatalism to "mostly Taoism" is also inaccurate. As far as popular beliefs go, Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist beliefs have mixed together in the past centuries when we're talking about the influence of th…
(sry posting from a different account, but same person) I think your views of Chinese culture is being colored by a skin deep look at China's past hundred years. I think as a a whole Chinese history would disagree with you. During times of dynastic change Taoism was the prevailing cultural trope. Because dynastic change isn't the majority of historical time it can give the impression that Confucianism is the dominant…
Unfortunately this applies to Spain, Greece and my home country Portugal. South european countries have the same base mentality when it come to entrepreneurship, you either get mocked/ignored/stigmatized for failing or you get jealousy/ignored when you succeeded. Also, we don't have the mentality of "self-made man" and "go get it", most of our population expect everything from the government. They get a degree and ex…
> They get a degree and expect to get a job the next day just because. Yes, and what is more, they expect to magically get a job even if they got a degree in Minoan pottery, or post-modern French feminist theory. But to be fair this issue is not limited to this countries, even in the US there are plenty of people who believe that if they got a degree that somehow magically entitles them to a job. Also, see this pictu…
I agree about the mentality problem, though I think it's mostly due ignorance in general and values that are often toward the wrong thing. Regarding taxes, it's pretty ridiculous, I would never encourage people to open a business here if they can avoid it. I'm moving to the US next year and I can't wait to stop paying the ridiculous amount of money (in proportion of what I earn) that I pay now as a consultant. I thin…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
how does B follow from A? The only way not to sound like an Italian just complaining about outside forces is to leave the country. there is by definition one simple way not to sound like someone complaining about outside forces: don't complain. If you start by the assumption that it's impossible to do so in country X you have already decided to be in the "it's not my fault" camp.
I am not sure where are you from. I come from the area described in "Gomorra" by Saviano. We have rampant criminality and corruption. People get actually shouted around here. Those are outside forces that will come and knock to your door as soon as your activity start to be profitable. People will ask you for money or favors or they will just make your life difficult just so they don't have to envy your success. So,…
I was only stating that the reasoning in your previous comment is incorrect (which, by the way, it's about italy, not your area).
I am not dumb enough to disagree on the general topic of "it's harder to start a company in corleone than in san francisco", I'm just worried by blanket statements from young people that the only chance to succeed is to change country.
Consider antirez, who ran a (successful, AFAIK) company from sicily or ciaopeople which has a decent business and is based in naples. It's harder yes, but the first N steps should be trying and failing, and only N+1 should be giving up to blaming outside forces.
National Geographic made an editorial describing how teen brains are more prone to risky behavior: >> Peaking during adolescence is risk-taking. We court risk more avidly as teens than at any other time. This shows reliably in the lab, where teens take more chances in controlled experiments involving everything from card games to simulated driving. And it shows in real life, where the period from roughly 15 to 25 bri…