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There was a TED lecture from a Thai guy saying how happy and relaxed he was in Thailand. They just worked on their farms for 15 minutes a day and spent the rest of their time having fun and socializing. Then he heard he was supposed to go to college, and he got all stressed for no good reason. He quit and went back to his happy rural life. That's the only TED lecture worth watching. Almost all TED lectures are so dumb, I feel like I lose IQ points watching. Often, public perception goes directly against reality. You think all people in Third World countries, in rural areas, are poor, struggling, and unhappy. What's usually the case is that they have less in material goods, but they're much happier, more closely-knit, more accepted, less stressed, and much happier than people in urban areas of Western countries.
Denmark and other Nordic countries often top the "happiest" country list. A lot of that has to do with the fact that these countries are very homogeneous and overwhelmingly white, so they're accepted and seen as belonging.
Asians in the US have some of the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation because of the built-in, all-round discrimination they face. And it's almost all implicit, not overt, so it's impossible to prove, and therefore much more debilitating.
Most of the English speaking world uses Oriental and Asian interchangeably. The US and Canada are the exceptions where Oriental is not commonly used. I wouldn’t take it as a word to be insulted by. The Orient is a region that has no clear definition and can be used to mean different regions of Asia or even all of Asia. I grew up in the Orthodox Church and we view the Orient from the holy lands all the way to Japan. Even the Byzantines were at one time considered Orientals and they have a lot of Europeans ancestry.
Well context is very, very important.
Again, from an Asian American perspective, to be referred to as an "Oriental" in a way means that you're perceived as an exotic, rather than a normal person or to even be part of the mainstream. We've been in North America for over 150 years, we're part and parcel of the land, and it's a bit disconcerting to be 'set apart'.
In any case, it's an archaic usage at least where I am. I love to point out that it tends to refer to the East. My classic answer is - well Shanghai is due west of San Francisco, so where is the real point of reference?
01-17-2020, 05:20 PM
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Hopefully, there isn't too much competition. And enough room for relaxation in exact daily lifestyle. Europe economic wise is winning by the way over Asia. Let the young people wait older. Ecological Ethical over Profits Monthly Salaries is at higher frequency of often. Increasing variety of countries that are adequately wealthy to classify. Life outside of economics. Let rigid strict rules along types of conformity go away. Or at least significantly reduced. Europeans are further overweight, and have some natural tendencies to laziness at the right days off. People in Europe are absolutely using longer vacation, are further overweight, and less sociological pressures. At least compared to Asia.
Although, mainland Asians are International Countries Traveling beyond what average Europeans are doing with the EU circle compared to their own, and might even have a solid later average schedule for people with some specialized well paid work opportunity. And there is tons of native cuisines not found that ubiquitously in Europe. For the final, the best mainland Asian countries have equal amount of happiness.
A Chinese store owner went to Burma,in some remote villages,villagers will catch a fish in the river,cover it in mud ,bake it on a makeshift stove,eat it and go back to his hut and take a nap.
Do they worry about their 401K,Medicare premium and deductibles,or their cell phone bills?
The Dutch went to Indonesia and found all these rich minerals and wondered why the locals dont take advantage,figure they are lazy.
Then they built a railroad to move these minerals,monsoon seasons come every year and wash the tracks away,now you wonder why the locals dont bother?
Now they do,Freeport McMoran used to export the raw material,now the goverment wants them to further refine and add value so the locals can make more money to keep up with their rising cost and standard of living,to match their Western counterparts.
I would say Asians are happier in their own country as they face less discrimination.
Asians do not ski,climb mountains,they spend their weekend watching movie,shop and eat.
either in town or countryside,and it is part of their culture to have savings.
MC,VISA line of credits are not savings.
Face, maybe. Money, I don't think so.
Westerners worship money to the same extent.
They both like money,worship is an insulting word to describe people who value money,
In some cultures,people have seen civil wars,famine ,invasion and goverment can flee the country,so they are left to fend for themselves,they realise how important it is to have some savings for rainy days.
Thats not worship,thats good planning.
Face, maybe. Money, I don't think so.
Westerners worship money to the same extent.
Can't agree with that. Chinese society is much more obsessed with money and its acquisition and retention than Western society. Perhaps the main difference is with the latter, with retaining that money... In China there's much more emphasis on saving, perhaps obsessively so, while in the West it's more acceptable to blow savings on major things or experiences - cars, TV's, computers, concerts/festivals, and vacations, for example. Westerners have more of a "money comes, money goes" attitude, which you don't see here.
I dont think that either Chinese nor American society has it right, with both emphasizing divergent extremes.
Since the Chinese and Vietnamese economic reforms, most people are looking for more money which was discouraged in a few decades. The hardworking and entrepreneurship of East Asians and Vietnamese are the reasons behind their economic miracles. Foreign companies had or have factories in China and Vietnam simply because of this reason. The arrogant westerners let East Asian labourers worked in their countries but commented "They are hardworking, from great past civilisations but are now poor" while the western rulers in colonial Southeast Asia noticed Chinese love to run business.
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