Separating culture from prosperity
I first came to China with my university study abroad program. I had never been to Asia before and wanted to get the most out of my time. I decided that I wanted to experience the “real” China and shunned western food for hole-in-the wall “local” restaurants. I even considered moving into a run down apartment complex and living with 4 Chinese people in a room; I thought that this was what it meant to be Chinese.
China is a third world developing nation. Almost nothing is up to first world standards, but that is understandable as they don’t have the resources to be. There are many restaurants that are bug infested, companies and banks that aren’t up to date with the latest technology, streets that are dirty, and cash is still king. I used to bundle all of these experiences up in a “culture” package and call that understanding.
But this is not Culture; This is the Third World.
If you don’t make the distinction between what is the contributing factor to your experience, i.e is it Chinese culture or is it third world country, then you will find it hard to like or understand Chinese culture, or Vietnamese culture, or any culture at all. The reverse is the same: you have to distinguish between what is first world and what is American. When most people think wasteful consumerism they think America, but it is not unique to America at all, but rather the same for any country or any person who has a lot of money. You will end up blaming things on culture that perhaps were exactly the same in America/Europe/wherever 30-100 years ago.
I used to believe that Chinese culture meant dirty restaurants, uncomfortable living, and poor business practices. Now that I can separate culture from prosperity (people from money), I have realized that actually what I was seeing was poverty and I dislike it, but I love Chinese culture. When I adopt this mindset to make judgements about things around me I become cheerful and positive about China, instead of thinking about how much I want to like China but don’t. I no longer force myself into uncomfortable situations and instead allow myself comfort. I no longer blame things on culture, but instead accept things that are due to lack of prosperity, push them aside, and focus on positive things in culture that have flourished in spite of poverty. I know that I understand and love Chinese people and see a bright future for them.
If I were here to learn about poverty and how to help people in need, I may be willing to give up my own comfort and live side by side with those I look to help; however, I am not here for that. I am here to learn about the people, and by attaching their worth to the number in their bank account (or their education, etc) I am wronging them from the start. In the same way, Americans are not their abundance of money.
Look past the money and the living situation and into what their culture really represents, and even more importantly what values each person that you meet holds. This is hard even for me still, as it’s hard to see past dirty, smelly clothes, a thick accent, missing teeth, and an obvious lack of education. Remember though, and this is a reminder for myself as much as everyone else, that teeth can be replaced, clothes can be washed, accents can be fixed, and writing can be learned. Be conscious of what lense you are seeing people through, and strip the money out of your equation.
I can see clearer now that the green is gone.
[...] separate prosperity and poverty from cultural understanding b…/b [...]
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Thanks.
Hey Whitney, I sent you an email. I’m always interested in new opportunities, so perhaps we can work something out. I checked out your website - it seems interesting and definitely has a good idea.
Hope you keep coming back!
As a Chinese,I know we have a lot shortcomings like you mentioned above, and we are working on it~in fact ,you just came to China 2 years,you don’t know what happened in last decade
by the way,great article!
Hey DanLong! I definitely know what has happened in the last decade, and I realize that China has come a long way. What I’m trying to point out that poverty is a thing that no one LIKES, and of course it’s great that countries are fixing that problem as I believe all will someday. It is when people connect poverty and people / culture that problems are created.
I hope you see that I wasn’t saying that Chinese have shortcomings, but rather the country’s economic situation does. In order to really accept other people you have to separate these things in your mind - even if it’s about your own people. You are not your economic situation.
Thanks for reading!
Hey Jason,
Great article, and definitely a necessary point. I think there are lots of complicated issues here. I would argue that wasteful consumerism is part of American culture, as much of American culture is based on and derived from extreme consumer capitalism. The free market is a strong historical and political tradition in America in a way it is not in Europe–hence the lack of socialized health care, employee benefits, vacation time, etc in the States. American identity often comes from buying things–hence the “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality and the pressure to buy, buy buy.
But I think you make a really excellent point that people often confuse poverty with culture and this leads to a really dangerous way of thinking that says, “hey, they’re happy being poor, it’s their culture!” The question, I think, is how to preserve culture while pulling people out of poverty.
Sarah: I think we have to be careful when we label wasteful consumerism as purely an American phenomenon. Having social systems doesn’t mean that there isn’t wasteful consumerism - they are separate things: One is a governmental philosophy while the other is personal spending habits. By attaching wasteful consumerism to American culture, you are dooming us to be incapable of changing the system within the next few generations, as culture doesn’t change overnight. Americans and America is very capable of adapting socialized health care / employee benefits / vacation time, but the story isn’t a simple want / not want.
Europeans are just as wasteful in their consumption habits as Americans are. Affluent societies for ages have gotten caught up in wasteful consumption - it’s a vice of prosperity, not one of culture, or else we would have seen the effects long ago when we were poor, not only when we get rich.
One note I want to make about non free market cultures - it doesn’t mean automatic health care / benefits / vacation time. Look at China. They do not have a history and culture of free market principles, but people here work longer hours with less benefits and vacation time than anywhere else (well close). Chinese have just as many issues with identity / status coming from weath and owning things as Americans do.
Pulling people out of poverty is really a tough subject, that’s for sure. Are you involved in that?
[...] Sharp presents Separating culture from prosperity posted at International Insider, saying, “This is an article to help people understand what [...]