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East vs. West


Ok it's not entirely, but in a general sense, this is true.

My mum's schoolmate came down from Japan recently and we were just having dinner yesterday (look at the time, you'll understand). When I heard that she was coming down, I requested for two books to help me in learning the Japanese language. So while she was at it, she thought that she'd help me with my "Japanese Immersion Programme". (It's a programme I started myself, for myself, all in preparation for our trip to Japan next year, as well as eventually to allow me full access to Japanese media without the need for a translation. i.e. cutting the middleman.)

Discussing the remenants of some of the Japanese customs and habits of today, it became very apparent to me that most of it still exists, or at least the essence. Respect for the elderly, politeness, orderliness, and very settled (you know, not wild).

While the Japanese may be a little over the top with customs, traditions, and maybe too smothering a culture, the Chinese are not very far off either. In fact, the Chinese are arguably more renowned for such respectful and polite behaviour. Confucious and Mencius teachings are very well known throughout the globe when discussing Chinese culture. And I assume that you'd know what those teachings are all centered around.

In comparison, the west, mostly the Americans, have terrible habits. I shall not attempt to make an exhaustive list here (and neither will I attempt to provide a fully substantiated argument as it'd take too much time and text), but the ones that stick out to me are basically, financial habits, and family values. Russel Peters himself also noticed the latter, and while he uses it for amusement of others, it is generally true. Because western parents tend not to put their foot down as hard as our asian parents can possibly do when we cross the line, the result is a different upbringing. I can't say less or more, since that would be rather vague. But we all know the result. The crime rate, and stuff that they get themselves into, is terribly, terribly, worse than what you would know of most asians.

In the financial arena, this makes itself apparent enough already. Americans spend most of their earned money. Sure, it increases the money velocity and spurs the GDP ever upward but at a price, like the recent credit crisis showed. They don't save, splurge on unecessary stuff, don't pay off their credit loans, and the worst, use credit to pay of credit bills. Habits die hard. All of them. This one is no different. If that guy is not making wise choices with his own money, he's not going to do it for his company either. Sure, there will be some exceptions, but it's not probable that ALL the people running the banks are those with the exceptions.

Now, the West also includes Europe, and while they are possibly less messed up than the Americans, they too got hit quite badly by the credit crisis, which means, that they too, did something wrong there... enough said.

The result of the difference between these two sides of the globe is that countries in the East had lower GDP, technology levels, and slower development than the West. BUT, it is rather clear, that the East is vastly more stable than the West, and one proof of that is Japan, who's economy has been soooo stable, it's not moving up nor down over the last few decades, regardless of the economic situation. Even recently, with their natural disaster, economically, they've not been shaken much, and are still chugging slowly and steadily somewhat.

So what would you rather be? Slow and steady like a gigantic cargo tanker, or speedy and unstable like an F1 powerboat that flips up into the air and gets catasrophically destroyed at the slightest bump?

00:45 30 May 2011
Thoughts

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