Getting Rich

BY 

LIOR PARITZKY

 – NOVEMBER 13, 2010

An unprecedented number of people are getting rich in a single country in the world today. The effects of this phenomenon on society are widespread. Money changes personal values and the relationship one has with its peers and with its country.

It is evident that China is getting richer. Fewer people are poor, and more money is available for consumption. More cars, bags, sunglasses, watches and jewelry are being sold in China than ever before. According to Bain and Company, a consultancy, the growth of the domestic luxury market has picked up speed in the second quarter of 2009 and reached 68 billion RMB, while this year is expected to be even more prosperous for luxury goods in China.

More money influences the relationship one has with his surroundings, whether it is at home with a spouse or a child, or outside with co-workers or with service providers. When one has money he or she tends to look at the world from a different perspective. A famous Chinese saying is: “安贫乐道” which means to be content with poverty, caring only for one’s principles or the way (the last character means dao, which means ideas or way of life). Along with the evident advantages of the rise of social standards, an ongoing concern for solidarity was brought to my attention by some of my Chinese friends. A deep concern was raised by them when a deadly earthquake hit Sichuan province in May of 2008, killing  approximately 68,000 people while leaving millions homeless. My friends, as many other Chinese, were worried that the decrease of level of solidarity in Chinese society will cause many people to stay indifferent to the deadly results of the earthquake. They were happy to find out that people from all across the country swarmed to Sichuan with food, water, presents and anything else thought to be helpful. At some point, the government had to seal the area due to the large number of people who wanted to come to help.

Nevertheless, concerns for solidarity are still very much prominent. Solidarity means stability, and stability is crucial for future growth. In that context, cultural values are very important to preserve. However, cultural values are difficult to preserve when society is changing, especially when money is the cause for the change.

Let me share a story that describes such a clash between cultural values and money: I rented an apartment last year in Beijing. During winter, Beijing gets very cold, so apartments are heated with gas. As I was planning a trip to go back home, to Israel, to visit my family and friends, the landlord asked me to buy gas to keep the pipes heated while I am away, so they would not freeze. He promised to pay me back the money once I return. I agreed. After my return, the landlord came to see me. I asked for my gas money back, but the landlord refused to return it, claiming that the decision to spend the money was mine and that I should be responsible for my own decisions. After arguing for a while, I realized that I might be able to convince him to pay me back by causing him to “lose face” – to feel ashamed. In Chinese culture, to lose face means to feel embarrassed or ashamed in front of other people. This is usually seen as a signal that one has done something wrong. I thought to myself that I needed to do something drastic. So, I got angry and tore up the gas bill while saying to him “I don’t want your money. I would prefer to pay for it myself than to get money from a person like you”. The landlord was confused. Obviously money was important enough for him that he was willing to cheat me, yet his cultural values caused him to second guess his actions. Eventually, he did not pay. Obviously, in this case, money was more important than cultural values. This incident, to me, was a perfect example of the changing values in China. Money is more important than “saving face” even if the amount of money is relatively small.

Confucius is known to have delivered current Chinese cultural values such as respect for elders or the relationship one has with his peers. These cultural values have survived in China for thousands of years, and now they seem to be changing. These changes will influence relationships among individuals. The challenge now facing China is how to preserve cultural and ancient values while a growing number of people is becoming rich and thus more separated from the overall group of citizens. This challange is a very difficult one to overcome, since China is growing economically and is getting richer. Social change is inevitable. I wonder whether the government will take action in preserving cultural values among its growing rich upper class or whether these values will simply disappear.

Water or Wood: Social Behavior in China

 BY 

CARYN VOSKUIL

 – JANUARY 31, 2012

Social behavior in China is fascinating. Home to more than 1.3 billion people, China possesses unique cultural characteristics that allow its citizens to live in harmony. Nevertheless, cutting in line, being loud over the phone or invading other people’s personal space are all valid forms of social behavior in China. Dr. Caryn Voskuil dives into some of the unique patterns of behavior in China and compares them with those in the West

When I first moved to China, I was baffled by what I considered the excessive patience of the Chinese people. On the streets, people often stood in front of or blocked other pedestrians, oncoming automobiles, and bicycles. This is an acceptable form of behavior in China. In the public transportation, shops and narrow lanes of China, there is regularly intense competition for seats, access to doors, and access to products or services. And what is the response of the average Chinese citizen? Complete indifference! It is as if no one even notices that their opportunities and comfort are being negated by the actions of those around them. Watching an elderly woman as her place on a bus was usurped by a younger person, I saw in her wrinkled face neither disgust nor concern. In fact, what I saw seemed to be nothing at all – a supreme resignation. This amazed me – and I wondered how behavior in China, which results in the suffering of such unpleasantness without complaint, or indeed even without the acknowledgement of any displeasure, is socially normal. Familiarizing myself with Chinese culture, I have come to understand that there is a reasonable explanation for accepting such social behavior in China, and it is not that the Chinese are fundamentally an unaware or indifferent people. What the Chinese are, however, is quintessentially tolerant.

If there is one thing that we see little of in the West, it is tolerance. I am not talking about the legal tolerance of other peoples and individual differences that is legislated by western laws and rules of social behavior. Certainly there is much of that type of tolerance in contemporary western societies. The tolerance I am speaking of is far more internal and essential. It is the tolerance that is synonymous with ‘forbearance’ and with ‘patience’. It is measured by either the ease or the tightness that one feels in one’s chest when faced with circumstances that are less than ideal or comfortable. It is a reflection of the deeply-held belief that life is fundamentally difficult, and that we do not and will never have complete control over our surroundings or those around us. In most western countries, being pushed or shoved in public, or having your place in line violated, would certainly result in protest and in some cases, violence. Toleration is rare and viewed as a sign of weakness.

In the west today, the industrial and technological revolutions that were spurred on by Renaissance humanism and Enlightenment confidence have led individuals to believe that the world can be molded according to their precise specifications into a sort of social utopia. Absolute comfort is seen as a reasonable expectation and indeed, as a right. For this reason, being pushed in public, inhaling second-hand smoke, or having one’s ears assaulted by excessive noise elicit intense and often violent emotional responses that many feel they must (and have the right to) express. Such responses are often the cause of a great deal of stress, and a single perceived ‘injustice’ can ruin one’s day. Behavior in China, however, dictates otherwise, and one notices little anxiety being produced over what westerners would perceive to be ‘injustices’.

Metaphorically, it is as if people who exercise social behavior in China are temperamentally like water, and Westerners are like wood. Water flows around impediments and is not cut by sharp corners or eroded by rough edges. It continues on its path regardless of impediments, and if momentarily diverted or delayed, it will eventually find a path and continue unaffected on its way. Like water, wood has a sort of strength – but it is a strength of a different sort. Wood is firm and substantial. It holds its shape and effectively resists pressure and counter-forces. However, when faced with barriers, wood must crush that which impedes it or be stopped in its path. It can not conveniently change form or momentarily split in half to avoid an obstacle. Because it can not bend, it must succeed or break.

When faced with the difficulties and discomforts imposed by daily life, a Chinese person will more often approach these as water, not letting themselves be bothered or impeded, but simply moving around and through them without becoming substantially agitated. Such is the social behavior in China. Westerners, on the other hand, tend to feel they must change those around them or manipulate uncomfortable situations when difficulties arise. As rigid as wood, they try to force life to yield to their wills, and as a result they more often get their way, but they also experience a great deal of stress and anxiety.

Certainly, western societies have gone to great lengths to legislate civil behavior and to smooth the rough edges from social interactions in an effort to improve the living conditions and standards of their citizens. One might well wonder then why it is that a recent poll has claimed that the Chinese are more satisfied with their lives than westerners. The accuracy of the poll may be challenged by some, but in my experience the Chinese I know certainly seem less troubled and apprehensive about the trials and tribulations of their daily lives than my western friends and colleagues. History and expectations are indeed part of this, but I also am convinced that the patterns of behavior in China and how the Chinese approach daily difficulties in the manner of water is the underlying key to their admirable composure in the face of life’s storms.

Westerners and Chinese often see each other as inscrutable. While acceptable norms of behavior in China, such as long-suffering and patience, may be seen as a form of weakness by many from the west, Western impatience and stubbornness when dealing with daily discomforts can equally be viewed as unseemly by many Chinese. It is only when we understand that our differences arise from varied cultural learning – a water-like approach as opposed to a wood-like approach towards managing life’s difficulties – that we can truly begin to appreciate and learn from one another.