Entry #3 - Let God be the Judge? I Think Not.
God and I Differ in Perspective, So I'll Be Doing My Own Judging Thank You Very Much
It seems that the most difficult task one faces as an American abroad is how not to judge a different culture according to our own values. I will be the first to admit that I have utterly failed at this task. I might as well be walking the streets wearing a t-shirt made of our star-spangled banner and whistling to the toon of Yankie Doodle. So, often times, usually periods where I am too lazy to care about things like propriety and tact, I will let my ignorant and inflammatory opinions run amuck and allow my mouth to spew out a number of things that I am sure to regret in hindsight. This is one of those times.
People in China are Shallow
Although this may hold true for a large number of other cultures, I believe that it is especially apparent in China. Here is why.
China is a developing country and as with any developing country, the gap between the rich and the poor will be greatly widened in the initial stages. In the later stages, the rapid upward movement of people in the middle-class will create a social vacuum which will bring up the the social-economic conditions of the lower classes. Therefore, as of now, the chasm between the rich and poor or even between the rich and moderate are reaching new lengths. With 1.3 billion people and so many who are newly wealthy, a widening aspiration for wealth and riches is taking the country's population like some malignant cancer of insatiable greed. Homeless women and their children eat out of trash bins on streets lined with boutiques selling overpriced merchandise aimed to profit from people's need to chase meaningless trends. People go to starbucks not for coffee but to see and be seen. They value anything foreign and belittle things grown from the soil on which their homes are built. In the largest and most worldly city of China, it seems almost that a wave of treason has taken its residents.
By shallow, I don't mean that they are merely materialistic but also that they are guilty of trivializing the grander things of life such as love and truth. It seems that in China, love is the equivalent of a successful job interview while truth lies in the decisions of those who wield the power. Even the holy institution of marriage, that which gives rise to families and act as the bedrock of nation-states, has been besmirched here. The other day, I heard about a "Marriage Corner" in People's Square where parents bring resumes of their children in hopes of making a match. The usual list of personal statistics includes, first and foremost, salary, the ownership of any vehicles and real estate, the background of the family, and the most important factor for women - the equivalent of salary for men - a photograph. While some may argue that this is perfectly reasonable in cultures where families are close-knit entities and parents are very much involved in the lives of their children, I personally - perhaps due to an overly idealistic outlook on life - feel that there is something inherently foul about turning marriage into a contract where both parties are vying for the best terms possible. The entire notion of it seems absolutely Medieval to me.
Everywhere I go, I see beautiful women with men who are, well, not quite so. This phenomenon is more prevalent here than even in the US. Now, while you may think that saying this makes me shallow as well (or bitter if you think I say this out of spite), you would be thinking so under the impression that these women might be with these men for their personalities, which, while might be true occasionally, surely cannot account for all of the couples that have come across my observation. The general rule is that 9s date 9s while 3s date 3s and although this rule may not be hard and fast, it certainly cannot be the exception. So, what are we left with? Could it be possible that these women date these men for the lifestyle they provide them with? Would it be entirely inconceivable that certain women who otherwise have relatively few career choices, would choose to find themselves a comfortable home in the arms of men who offer it? I think not. 3s become 9s through compensation and the same is true in reverse.
Just so that people don't think I'm a sexist, the men here aren't much better. A large number of them think women are undate-able after the age of 25 and near death at 30. The real tragedy is, this general outlook on the peak age of women has been so widely accepted that even women begin lose confidence in themselves as they get older. There is a possibility that this may also contribute to the aforementioned prevalence of "mismatched couples". To cause a person to lose his/her sense of self-confidence is the worst kind of psychological enslavement.
Obviously, the problems I have so far described have all been formed from my own personal views. It might be that in reality, none of these problems exist in China or at least are not perceived as being problematic. I realize that these problems of life are shared by the world's population as a whole and that a great many countries in the world have much more devastating problems to tend to. But as I have said before, if God wanted to do my judging for me, then he would not have given me the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
It seems that the most difficult task one faces as an American abroad is how not to judge a different culture according to our own values. I will be the first to admit that I have utterly failed at this task. I might as well be walking the streets wearing a t-shirt made of our star-spangled banner and whistling to the toon of Yankie Doodle. So, often times, usually periods where I am too lazy to care about things like propriety and tact, I will let my ignorant and inflammatory opinions run amuck and allow my mouth to spew out a number of things that I am sure to regret in hindsight. This is one of those times.
People in China are Shallow
Although this may hold true for a large number of other cultures, I believe that it is especially apparent in China. Here is why.
China is a developing country and as with any developing country, the gap between the rich and the poor will be greatly widened in the initial stages. In the later stages, the rapid upward movement of people in the middle-class will create a social vacuum which will bring up the the social-economic conditions of the lower classes. Therefore, as of now, the chasm between the rich and poor or even between the rich and moderate are reaching new lengths. With 1.3 billion people and so many who are newly wealthy, a widening aspiration for wealth and riches is taking the country's population like some malignant cancer of insatiable greed. Homeless women and their children eat out of trash bins on streets lined with boutiques selling overpriced merchandise aimed to profit from people's need to chase meaningless trends. People go to starbucks not for coffee but to see and be seen. They value anything foreign and belittle things grown from the soil on which their homes are built. In the largest and most worldly city of China, it seems almost that a wave of treason has taken its residents.
By shallow, I don't mean that they are merely materialistic but also that they are guilty of trivializing the grander things of life such as love and truth. It seems that in China, love is the equivalent of a successful job interview while truth lies in the decisions of those who wield the power. Even the holy institution of marriage, that which gives rise to families and act as the bedrock of nation-states, has been besmirched here. The other day, I heard about a "Marriage Corner" in People's Square where parents bring resumes of their children in hopes of making a match. The usual list of personal statistics includes, first and foremost, salary, the ownership of any vehicles and real estate, the background of the family, and the most important factor for women - the equivalent of salary for men - a photograph. While some may argue that this is perfectly reasonable in cultures where families are close-knit entities and parents are very much involved in the lives of their children, I personally - perhaps due to an overly idealistic outlook on life - feel that there is something inherently foul about turning marriage into a contract where both parties are vying for the best terms possible. The entire notion of it seems absolutely Medieval to me.
Everywhere I go, I see beautiful women with men who are, well, not quite so. This phenomenon is more prevalent here than even in the US. Now, while you may think that saying this makes me shallow as well (or bitter if you think I say this out of spite), you would be thinking so under the impression that these women might be with these men for their personalities, which, while might be true occasionally, surely cannot account for all of the couples that have come across my observation. The general rule is that 9s date 9s while 3s date 3s and although this rule may not be hard and fast, it certainly cannot be the exception. So, what are we left with? Could it be possible that these women date these men for the lifestyle they provide them with? Would it be entirely inconceivable that certain women who otherwise have relatively few career choices, would choose to find themselves a comfortable home in the arms of men who offer it? I think not. 3s become 9s through compensation and the same is true in reverse.
Just so that people don't think I'm a sexist, the men here aren't much better. A large number of them think women are undate-able after the age of 25 and near death at 30. The real tragedy is, this general outlook on the peak age of women has been so widely accepted that even women begin lose confidence in themselves as they get older. There is a possibility that this may also contribute to the aforementioned prevalence of "mismatched couples". To cause a person to lose his/her sense of self-confidence is the worst kind of psychological enslavement.
Obviously, the problems I have so far described have all been formed from my own personal views. It might be that in reality, none of these problems exist in China or at least are not perceived as being problematic. I realize that these problems of life are shared by the world's population as a whole and that a great many countries in the world have much more devastating problems to tend to. But as I have said before, if God wanted to do my judging for me, then he would not have given me the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
posted by Peter at 11:05 PM
1 Comments:
I LOVE this post. So precisely described, yet with hints of sarcasm.
We will need to hang out when I go back to China, hopefully in February. Hope you had a good Christmas, even though I'm aware most people do not celebrate it in China. Do enjoy your stay. It's a great experience. :)
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