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The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

americanaffairsjournal.org

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Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#61

Post by walshemj »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #59
roberthluo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your statement, but if you turn around that logic, it is meaningless. Will you read about a blue collar worker's view on Chinese society? Probably not, since they are unlikely to have experienced it. Only Western elites will have been likely to experience Chinese society. Obviously someone who will be published in a magazine is elite. I am willing to wager than all the other writers are 'elites' in some…

I am the child of modest workers (my dad didn’t even have a bachelor degree) and have even experienced bankruptcy as a pre teen. I’m definitely not a western elite by background, but was able to experience Chinese society. Heck, there is a whole stereotype, not completely unjustified, of western losers coming to China to make a long term living as rockstar English teachers.

There used to be a British acronym FILTH Failed in London, Try Hong Kong :-)

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#62

Post by fspeech »

zcase wrote: post #55

"Rather, the increase in inflation was due to things like tax increases, exchange rate fluctuations, oil price moves, etc." It seems to me that tax cutting could lead to increased consumption and therefore a reduction in GDP slack and upward pressure on prices (inflation). Why is it that tax increases would lead to inflation?

An increase in sales tax or more likely VAT in the UK will immediately show up in prices as inflation. You may be thinking of income tax which may indeed have a different effect depending on the circumstances.

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#63

Post by walshemj »

ordu wrote: post #39
fahayekwasright wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really so sure? It’s not an easy thing to maintain awareness of the workings of one’s emotions, especially for someone raised in a repressive, collectivist culture that doesn’t value the internal life of the individual, and especially if that individual is on the spectrum, in which case the emotions are “buried” even deeper.

If his emotions are buried so deep, that there no way to see real world consequences of them, than maybe it is better to say, that there are no emotions? I think, that mottos in Western culture are just pathetic ones. Western culture knows nothing about how to raise steady emotions in people. I was born in USSR, and I saw how it should be done. But there is one consequence: with experience comes tolerance to external…

what does "steady emotions in people" mean? are you suggesting that brainwashing / political indoctrination is a good thing

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#64

Post by asdffdsa »

mcguire wrote: post #22

Could someone explain the point of this article? All I'm getting are: * Everything is random. * A generic Chinese man, who did really well on one test is smarter than most people in Britain. * Americans, who are capitalists, don't seem to want to focus their lives on the supposed end goal of capitalism. * MBA programs are nuts, especially if you are on the spectrum. I'm probably wrong about most of those, but like th…

I definitely think it was intended that way. From the beginning, the language seemed loaded with judgmental terms and obsessed with status. So the article seemed purposefully not to resolve itself, most likely because the natural conclusion according to the article's tone and content would probably be some asinine assertion like China > USA, Americans/British/people from Western society are silly/irrational/incompetent, communism > democracy, etc. of course all while being blissfully unaware of ones (and ones culture's) own biases, shortcomings, and contradictions. So really the article lacks a point so it won't make a crude/distasteful one. Like a polite person who gives a vague noncommittal answer in a group instead of a patronizing one.

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#65

Post by walshemj »

aluhut wrote: post #46
ordu wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If his emotions are buried so deep, that there no way to see real world consequences of them, than maybe it is better to say, that there are no emotions? I think, that mottos in Western culture are just pathetic ones. Western culture knows nothing about how to raise steady emotions in people. I was born in USSR, and I saw how it should be done. But there is one consequence: with experience comes tolerance to external…

> Really, I can hardly believe that any adult can be touched by such a motto. I grew up in the east block too and I come upon this quite often. The peak of it is the current political situation in the USA. I wonder if this is connected with the pressure to be young and healthy for as long as possible or at least looking like it which allows you to participate in "young culture" whith everything that comes along with…

As opposed to work nine to five like a nice corporate drone retire and die within 2 years as was common a generation ago?

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#66

Post by typetehcodez »

This story immediately reminded me of Scott Adams. He spent some time working on financial models before writing Dilbert. If you can stomach polarizing political viewpoints from a cartoonist, I would highly recommend reading his non-Dilbert books and giving his blog a thorough reading. His reflections on life touch on the role of luck, the limitations of prediction models, and framing worldviews from multiple perspectives as a way to narrow down on success, influence, and the very meaning of life.

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#67

Post by iheartstartup »

he misses many points, including the meaning of the phrase "long-term greedy". It is not about "everyone else in the market was short-term greedy and, as a result, we took all their money. Since traders like money, this was inspiring.", but a philosophy of enlightened self-interest, which I suspect would resonate with the class and professor more. Yet he subtly uses this as an anecdote about how MBAs are dumb and the classes "herd mentality". What aarogance!

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#68

Post by analog31 »

fahayekwasright wrote: post #26
analog31 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was brilliant. He "innocently" exposed the whole class as a hoax.

Are you really so sure? It’s not an easy thing to maintain awareness of the workings of one’s emotions, especially for someone raised in a repressive, collectivist culture that doesn’t value the internal life of the individual, and especially if that individual is on the spectrum, in which case the emotions are “buried” even deeper.

I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt, that he knows his own emotions. I simply assume that I know the inner workings of my own mind better than anybody else can. If somebody tells me that they have a magic window into my mind, I assume that they're trying to manipulate or bullshit me.

It's not just repressed Communists. I work with scientists and engineers, and they also roll their eyes at corporate slogans. In turn, the managers know this.

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#69

Post by andrewjl »

mcguire wrote: post #22

Could someone explain the point of this article? All I'm getting are: * Everything is random. * A generic Chinese man, who did really well on one test is smarter than most people in Britain. * Americans, who are capitalists, don't seem to want to focus their lives on the supposed end goal of capitalism. * MBA programs are nuts, especially if you are on the spectrum. I'm probably wrong about most of those, but like th…

Western capitalism strongly believes in meritocracy and that each of us can architect our own destiny. In reality, that's not the case and we can be affected by luck, historical forces, or force majeure. Our best laid plans may not turn out as we had hoped or we may experience the equivalent of winning the lottery for no reason other than being in the right place/right time.

As I read it, his conclusion in the end is that accepting this nebulosity is possibly the key to happiness.

Re: The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

#70

Post by aluhut »

walshemj wrote: post #65
aluhut wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really, I can hardly believe that any adult can be touched by such a motto. I grew up in the east block too and I come upon this quite often. The peak of it is the current political situation in the USA. I wonder if this is connected with the pressure to be young and healthy for as long as possible or at least looking like it which allows you to participate in "young culture" whith everything that comes along with…

As opposed to work nine to five like a nice corporate drone retire and die within 2 years as was common a generation ago?

As opposed to work 8-7, be reachable 24/7 retire and die within 2 years as is common this generation?
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