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You'll never be Chinese

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Re: You'll never be Chinese

#101

Post by bilbo0s »

xiaoma wrote: post #38
colmvp wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whereas most Asian men in Western countries get rejected by Caucasian females for not being Caucasian. (Source: OkCupid studies, anecdotes, Quora, etc.)

This whole, "oh the west is just as bad" troupe needs to die. But if they do have children, they don't have to endure this: http://www.chinasmack.com/2009/stories/shanghai-black-girl-l... Can you even imagine a "mixed" kid who grew up entirely in the US being cussed out by well over half the commenters on a talent show, and for even the kids mother to be attacked relentlessly for being with a man of a different color…

Yes. Yes I can.

Having been a competitive runner in my youth, I am big into track and field, but I do not own a television. Only mentioned that to admit that I do not know a lot about popular culture. But I do know Track and Field. When you read about the past of LoLo Jones and this girl in Shanghai, they seem basically identical. Complete with the hate from the respective national medias.

If you are feeling brave, take a gander at the Twitter comments from many men, I assume they are American, about LoLo Jones and her mother. NSFW. And NOT for the timid.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#102

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Shenglong wrote: post #85

Bitterly biased. The China that the author describes is not the China I've seen. Housing prices may be high, but he neglects to mention that it's common for companies to provide housing to their employees. Yes, people will ask you about your money - but that's culture, and it's not impolite. There are a lot of untruths in his article, but it's too long to pick apart. A big one, though, is about appreciation for forei…

Companies still provide housing? Are you serious? That went out with the 90s in the big cities! And even then, how many people actually work for the government or an SOE qualify for this housing provided by the company?

Its very easy to judge China through a western perspective; you just say "it was judged through a western perspective." Judging is always relative to a perspective and is useful to evaluate your situation. The author's article is not meant for Chinese, perhaps, but for other foreigners, and therefore its useful and not "bitterly biased."

Foreigner laws in China are designed to protect us? Ya, by not letting our kids go to any but the most expensive international schools? By making us re-register with our local PSB whenever we go on a business trip? By limiting how we can spend our money..which we earned in China and paid (high) Chinese taxes on? By making us pay social security taxes and then telling us we will only see that money at all if we work here for 15 years?

Why do Chinese always take criticism on China so personally as a face problem? Its common western practice to criticize something that you don't think is working right, we just treat China as an equal topic in that regard. Its not an attack, its just commentary.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#103

Post by mcantelon »

jisaacstone wrote: post #95
mcantelon wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Sorry, yes, they don't play fair. But I am hopeful at the turn of the next century China will be as prosperous and egalitarian as my own United States of America. Why would a one-party system evolve into being egalitarian? The US has devolved into being more or less ruled by lobbyists. The egalitarian phase in the US was largely due to workers being economically valuable and hence useful to maintain physically and m…

False. Factories are having increasing difficulty in retaining workers and are therefore having to either raise wages, improve conditions, or bully them into submission. Supply and demand, no? Demand is currently high. Things are not great for workers, but there is hardly a surplus anymore.

Good to hear.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#104

Post by scott_s »

rubashov wrote: post #93
superchink wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ohhhh. So, yes. I knew there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Well it's also somewhat true, and as a quotation an interesting commentary on American ideals which I hold. Whereas the inverse is clearly not. I'm a little surprised people around here are thrown into conniptions by the mere use of the word "gook". What are you, a bunch of faggots?

I have downmodded and flagged you. Derogatory slurs are not part of civil discussion.

In response to the inevitable response of it just being a joke or a reference, I submit three things: 1) jokes do not come across well on internet forums, as tone is lost and we lack the familiarity that friends have where we can easier infer intention; 2) even given that, it makes the level of discourse likely to decrease; and 3) the attitude of "can't you take a joke?" is one of privilege, that is, it is most frequently adopted by people who haven't been on receiving end of the kind of discrimination that sometimes comes packaged in with such words.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#105

Post by rubashov »

scott_s wrote: post #104
rubashov wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's also somewhat true, and as a quotation an interesting commentary on American ideals which I hold. Whereas the inverse is clearly not. I'm a little surprised people around here are thrown into conniptions by the mere use of the word "gook". What are you, a bunch of faggots?

I have downmodded and flagged you. Derogatory slurs are not part of civil discussion. In response to the inevitable response of it just being a joke or a reference, I submit three things: 1) jokes do not come across well on internet forums, as tone is lost and we lack the familiarity that friends have where we can easier infer intention; 2) even given that, it makes the level of discourse likely to decrease; and 3) t…

This is the most spergy demo of in-humorlessness I've yet seen.

I am PC and easily offended therefore beep-boop-beep...

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#106

Post by glhaynes »

rubashov wrote: post #105
scott_s wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have downmodded and flagged you. Derogatory slurs are not part of civil discussion. In response to the inevitable response of it just being a joke or a reference, I submit three things: 1) jokes do not come across well on internet forums, as tone is lost and we lack the familiarity that friends have where we can easier infer intention; 2) even given that, it makes the level of discourse likely to decrease; and 3) t…

This is the most spergy demo of in-humorlessness I've yet seen. I am PC and easily offended therefore beep-boop-beep...

No. There's something to be said for at least some places to be about adult-level conversation.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#107

Post by vacri »

w1ntermute wrote: post #81
tokenadult wrote: post #73

As Confucius said, 三人行，必有我師焉 ("wherever three persons are walking, my teacher is surely among them"). This is a very interesting article for an American who has lived in east Asia for two three-year stays (mostly in Taiwan) and who has been learning the Chinese language since 1975. Much of what has been said about China in the first decade of the twenty-first century reminds me very much of what was said about Japan…

> Native-born Americans like me who have lived in east Asia are APPALLED at the wasted opportunities that United States schools have with their lavish resources to provide a truly world-class education. United States schools do not do as badly as they possibly could, but they also don't do as well as they reasonably could be expected to do. I know this is a popular refrain about American education, but it's only a ha…

From your linkd article: "So much for the bigoted notions that Americans are dumb and Europeans are smart." > "There are 3 parts to the PISA test, Reading, Math, and Science."

There is more to an education than reading, math, and science. The US is particularly famous for frequently forgetting that other countries even exist. Most of the Anglo world (including, but not just US) is seen with some derision in Europe for being so proudly monoglot. A comment of "My god, that person was so dumb" is usually about their lack of worldliness, not their skill with calculus.

Quite the opposite - take a student from anywhere in the world, and on average, he or she will receive a better education in America

The people that get to immigrate to the US are the best and brightest, otherwise they don't get in. It's unsurprising that their children perform well. Yes, the US education system is far better than the third world's (what a boast!) but even if you're talking about Finnish immigrants, they're not going to be unskilled louts. The mere fact that they're allowed in means that they have already passed a bar.

I agree that the real problem is the disparity and locally-sourced funding for schools, but that doesn't mean that there's no problem with the curriculum across the board. There are squillions of articles out there bemoaning all aspects of the US school system's race to teach the test rather than provide an education.

I think that probably the most telling is when you hear of tertiary educators saying that they have to dumb down intro subjects and teach students the skills they used to get in high school - things as simple as how to construct an essay (which doesn't sound like it's an objective 'reading, math, science' measure)

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#108

Post by xentronium »

travisp wrote: post #43
wensheng wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in China, i often ride in friends' cars. The first thing I do when I get in cars is buckling up, and I'm often ridiculed for fearing of death (i really am). Twice I sit on the passenger side and tried to put the seatbelt plate into buckle but I couldn't, because there's already a key holder in there. I learned since no passenger wear seat-belt, the driver just put the key holder there to silence the warnin…

This isn't just a Chinese thing. I've experienced it personally in Russia, and I've heard of it in other countries too.

> I've experienced it personally in Russia

I call bullshit. You get fined almost always for driving unbuckled. It's actually one of the better effects of bad and greedy traffic police, who will otherwise fine you at the first available possibility (and, sigh, oftentimes impose bribe on you).

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#109

Post by vacri »

scott_s wrote: post #104
rubashov wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's also somewhat true, and as a quotation an interesting commentary on American ideals which I hold. Whereas the inverse is clearly not. I'm a little surprised people around here are thrown into conniptions by the mere use of the word "gook". What are you, a bunch of faggots?

I have downmodded and flagged you. Derogatory slurs are not part of civil discussion. In response to the inevitable response of it just being a joke or a reference, I submit three things: 1) jokes do not come across well on internet forums, as tone is lost and we lack the familiarity that friends have where we can easier infer intention; 2) even given that, it makes the level of discourse likely to decrease; and 3) t…

Stop feeding obvious trolls.

Re: You'll never be Chinese

#110

Post by vacri »

jisaacstone wrote: post #22

Take a moment and conciser how a similar piece, written of the United states around the turn of the last century, might read. Remember the 'roaring 20s?' Materialistic society, ambivalence about foreign affairs, widespread corruption, distrust of foreigners. A Chinese who owned a tea shop in a small town may well have to beg for a renewed lease, yes? Well, China is not the United States, but lets put things in perspe…

China is not yet a rich country. Its Per Capita GDP (PPP) is about the same as Ecuador or Belize.

Very, very misleading. Ecuador and Belize could disappear from the map tomorrow and the world's economy would be unchanged. Similarly, Liechtenstein has one of the highest PPP ratings in the world... yet it has no political clout or economic leverage.

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