Btw, I am just curious. Maybe I am naive.... Why I never feel any racism in California? :S Maybe I am too lucky that people I met are very friendly to me. I never feel disrespected or looked down upon even I finished high school in Taipei. Even my close friends happen to be all Asian, a lot of Caucasians are super friendly to me. Some Africans are sweet and friendly too. I just NEVER feel racism. The instructor treated me fairly too. I just have the impression that many of them are quite decent. Maybe different people have different life experiences. : Dude, I have to say...All sorts of shitheads exist in this world, : whether they're American, Taiwanese, French, British...you get my point. : There's really no reason to be ashamed to be Taiwanese, though I do admit : that I am not particularly fond of the human race either. : The grass is always greener on the other side. : Anyhow, every culture has its own pros and cons, and although I agree that : some Taiwanese rich brats and smartasses are indeed annoying, egoistic jerks, : I think this lack of compassion within rich/smart/successful people is not : really a cultural thing, but rather a common pattern in human nature : regardless of race and nationality. : Not that there aren't compassionate rich people in this world, but you know, : the possibility of a person to be both filthy rich AND compassionate is... : well. Pretty slim. Of course, they still have to donate and do : charity and all because they're so fucking rich (from avoiding tax, perhaps?) : and they have to maintain a good reputation. : Rich, powerful saints? Maybe they DO exist. But how the hell do we know : if they're just maintaining a false reputation for the sake of reputation, : or if they truly are decent? : We'll never be able to know. : Reality is reality. Not being able to understand this is just being plain : immature. People change. It's the same everywhere in the world. : Can compassion earn you bread? : No. : Bread first, compassion later. How do you earn your bread? : By stepping on others. By taking a job, you eliminate someone else's chance : of getting that job. Maybe that person desperately needs money to take : care of his/her family. We never know. : But should you give up this opportunity you have spent a considerable : amount of time and effort earning and preparing for, just because you : aren't sure whom amongst your countless competitors are in grave situations? : No. : Unless you're just plain stupid. You'll never get a job because they'll always : be someone who is in grave need of a job. If you give up the opportunity, : maybe some other dude who is also pretty well off will get the job instead of : the one who really needs a job. : Having too much compassion is just stupid. : Go ahead and say that I have no culture or whatever, but you'll realize that : if thinking selfless compassion is stupid = having no culture, : then there is no such thing as culture in the world. : Of course there are more important things than just plain success, though it : really depends on what a person values more. What right do you have to place : judgment on the decisions of others? Anyhow, the Devil Wears Prada does : a pretty good job portraying differences in values, how there's no right or : wrong in the final decision, and the consequences thereof. : You can't have both. Oh yeah, is the "Devil" Taiwanese? No. : However, regardless of what a person values, humans are programmed to : survive, don't you forget that. It's not just in Taiwan. It's the same : everywhere. Don't know where the hell you got the idea that only : Taiwanese "justify" this "evilness". : As for morality and whatnot... : There is a philosophy called Moral Nihilism - the belief that there is no : good and evil, that there is no such thing as morality. : Morality is not relative, as there is no fine line between what is correct : and what is not. People's opinions differ based on their viewpoints. : I'm more of an existential nihilist so I don't particularly agree or : disagree with moral nihilists, but I'm just saying that some people don't : give enough shit about morality anymore, whether they're rich or smart or : successful or not. : The originator of Moral Nihilism? Obviously not some Taiwanese smartass. : What is up with you and thinking that Taiwanese don't give a damn about : morality and loyalty and whatever? Ever heard of that old geezer Confucius? : FYI Confucian Values plays a critical role in Taiwanese Culture. : Anyhow, the type of personality you are describing is called "antisocial : personality." Real antisocial people, by the psychological definition, : are the type of people you are describing. They use others, they hurt others, : and they don't feel a shred of guilt doing so. They don't give a flying : fuck about whether they have real friends or not, therefore the emotion : called "loneliness" does not touch them. They aren't necessarily rich, and : again, people with antisoocial personalities aren't limited to Taiwanese. : Therefore, it is rather inaccurate to say that these rich/smart Taiwanese : "have no culture." It just doesn't sound right to my ears. The best you can : say is that they have no manners or no etiquette, that they have low-ass EQs. : Not to start a flamewar or whatever but... : Despite the little note in the bottom of your rant, I still get a strong : feeling that you look down on the Taiwanese in Taiwan--just because you've : lived in the States before. Exactly how much do you know about the States? : Have you met selfish, self-centered Drama Kings/Queens in the States before? : Man, they exist in greater flocks and they come in all sorts of colors : (their so-called "personality"). Oh, don't get me wrong-- : I wholeheartedly agree with you that the Taiwanese education shit system : produces a twisted value and destroys personality. However, I don't really : think that many Americans with so-called personalities have very : endearing personalities either. : In the first place, conformity exists everywhere. Conformity is a limitation : on personality. Americans simply chose which "clique" they wanted to be in : and molded their personalities accordingly during middle/high school. : In middle/high school, they were shit-scared of falling into the loser : category so they conformed to a certain standard. : High school stereotypes, if you will. Not a particularly : admirable system to develop personality but...I guess it sort of works : to create some limited diversity. Of course, these little kiddie-plays : don't exist in College, at least according to my friends and my sister. : As for money...hell, : you don't know how stuck-up those Americans can be when it comes to money. : Everyday in school, you are observed--the way you dress, the way you eat, : what you eat, etc. If you don't dress well...WELCOME TO THE LOSER CROWD. : Who are the popular? The best dressed and better looking. They aren't : necesarily smart--hell, they can be dumb as fuck for all I know--but you : know what? They're RICH (or at least well off). They wear brand clothing. : They drive sweet cars. They party and drink and think they're THE shit. : They look down on those who aren't dressed well (even if said people : can't afford to dress well)...though, of course, movies and : television dramas exaggerate. : No matter what race and what country--the rich will be the rich 90% of : the time. : Luckily, the best part of school in the States is that you don't need to : personally know those "popular" people who think they're THE shit too well. : Most rich kids go to private schools anyway, when they go to college they : mostly hang out with the people of the same class. And they don't hang out with : Asians, unless said Asians are white-washed and rich too. And passable looking. : Normally people group together by race. It's just a connection thing. : (Not like I feel connected to the Taiwanese in Taiwan either.) : But man, you said you were ashamed to be Taiwanese? : Did you need to go that far? : Of course, there are still a lot of decent people in the States. I'm just : pointing out the negative aspects of the fruits of their "culture" because : it seems like you idealize American culture a bit too much. : Also, acting snobby just because one is intelligent is not a trait : limited to Taiwanese smartasses. : If you are as much of a geek as I am and surf forums from time to time, : you'll realize how many "elitists" exist in the world. Smartasses will remain : smartasses, regardless of race and nationality. : Conclusion? All sorts of shitheads exist everywhere in the world. There is : no such thing as superior or inferior cultures. I am sort of disgusted by : the way you bashed the entire Taiwanese culture. It's not that I don't : have my own long lists of complaints against Taiwanese culture myself, : but the way how you seemingly placed American Culture above Taiwanese : Culture--that just killed me. That really killed me. : I think it's pretty insulting to Taiwanese people how you generalized : their culture based on a fucktard, and that it was pretty hypocritical : of you to write-off the entire Taiwanese Culture as the blame of what : you've experienced when the cause was really simply one fucktard. : Or several fucktards. Either way, it's still not sufficient enough : to write the entire Taiwanese Culture off. : Which is why, earlier on, I said I sensed this holier-than-thou vibe : from you, a similar vibe you were describing about those "rich, smart : successful Taiwanese". I think this...how do I put it...this superiority : is a disease that afflicts many Taiwanese who have lived out of country : before. I think it's pretty sad that a portion of Taiwanese reject their : own culture and idolize Western culture when things really aren't THAT good. : Sorry if this reply was offensive, cynical, and prickly-- : but I just don't look kindly upon people who think one culture is better : than the other. You didn't offend me but you did piss me off. Writing that : sort of thing is bound to have repercussions. --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 75.43.42.119