81–90 of 138 posts
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Is there any place with comparable population density with a substantially better social environment? If so, have you any theories that could explain the difference?
Some say the genocides of Communism and the Cultural Revolution wiped out a lot of the old civilized ways and made the survivors callous.
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Really not. Spend some time in China. It won't take long (hours to days) before you notice the utter callousness with which people habitually treat strangers and the environment around them. It can't be believed until it's experienced.
Is there any place with comparable population density with a substantially better social environment? If so, have you any theories that could explain the difference?
People who have grown up in comfort do not fully comprehend the effect of widespread hunger on a large population. Natural selection rewarded those that put their families above everything. The families that did not died. Parents that did not do everything in their power to feed their children watched them starve to death in their hands.
Many things about modern China can be directly linked to this shared national pain.
The absolute, obsessive drive of Chinese parents to have their children study and reach a higher station of life is a direct result of the culture of hustle instilled by their parents and grandparents. Devotion to families, incredible work ethic, creativity and innovation can all be traced back to the skills necessary to survive the Cultural Revolution.
However, many of the problems in modern China can be linked to this phenomenon. Bribery, open piracy, corruption are common in every walk of Chinese life. Chinese people put themselves, and their families, first and they've never had a compelling argument against it. People in the West believe in their institutions in a way that doesn't exist in China.
But, time will change this. There is clear precedent in the West that each successive generation that grows up outside of poverty will be less and less cutthroat compared to the generation prior.
Having been an expat traveled to over 25 countries, I can confidently say our natural world is fucked. Modern industrialism has given the third world too much manufacturing power. And they aren’t aware of the consequences and don’t care, because “fuckit I want kids toys and double ply toilet paper for my family too, not just the Westerners”
We would be hypocrites if we tried to suppress their development after we've had our turn on the ride.
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Usually if something is made in America it is a product of very high quality (except for food). This must be a deeper cultural thing and not just regulatory culture.
Nope. It's just regulation.
Culture plays a huge role. Source: first hand experience living in China (highly broken culture), Taiwan (pretty mature and functional culture, but with some problems like “the boss knows best even if he doesn’t”), India (seriously broken with the caste system but also a strong sense of propriety) and the US (mixed bag, comparable to Taiwan in a lot of ways).
I mean, let's be honest here: is this really a surprise? There's a business culture of dishonesty throughout the country that is unprecedented. Their food supply is poisoned by factories that simply don't care about life and only care about money. There have been articles about how cooking oil is recycled from waste, and how fish are fed feces instead of food and packed in ice from polluted waters. Fake milk, fake ba…
I also don’t think that a ‘culture of dishonesty’ is an actual thing, or at least an appropriate application of the word ‘culture’. More close to reality is that China has a system of incentives which, perverse or otherwise, make ‘dishonesty’ more likely. This operates in Western culture as well, for example the activities of investment banks in the subprime loan crisis.
The distinction is important because it is difficult to change a culture but incentives can change overnight.
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Nope. It's just regulation.
Nope. Definitely not just regulation. China has regulation in spades but the culture breaks it. Culture plays a huge role. Source: first hand experience living in China (highly broken culture), Taiwan (pretty mature and functional culture, but with some problems like “the boss knows best even if he doesn’t”), India (seriously broken with the caste system but also a strong sense of propriety) and the US (mixed bag, co…
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America has the same business culture; what's saving (most of) us is our better-functioning regulatory culture.
> America has the same business culture; what's saving (most of) us is our better-functioning regulatory culture. The difference in America is it's not good business practice to hurt your own customers. i.e. reputation matters. You mess up just once, and it takes years for your brand to recover (this includes non-brand brands, like store brands or generics). In China it seems like there's a never ending supply of new…
I mean, let's be honest here: is this really a surprise? There's a business culture of dishonesty throughout the country that is unprecedented. Their food supply is poisoned by factories that simply don't care about life and only care about money. There have been articles about how cooking oil is recycled from waste, and how fish are fed feces instead of food and packed in ice from polluted waters. Fake milk, fake ba…
Not only banned flourocarbons, China and Asia are the main source of plastics entering the oceans through their rivers. Some are calling for environmental mercenaries, like Earth First! or GreenPeace, who will reek havoc on those who pollute or endanger the planet, ourselves included.
As much as I hate to see the environment getting destroyed, eco-terrorism is not the way forwards. Every normal person is empowered to help: purchase from people whose ideals you agree with, win the hearts and minds of those around you, re-use everything you safely can.
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Nope. Definitely not just regulation. China has regulation in spades but the culture breaks it. Culture plays a huge role. Source: first hand experience living in China (highly broken culture), Taiwan (pretty mature and functional culture, but with some problems like “the boss knows best even if he doesn’t”), India (seriously broken with the caste system but also a strong sense of propriety) and the US (mixed bag, co…
Culture is shaped by enforcement of regulation. It's the same thing.
But if you're saying they shape each other, that I can agree with.